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Of course such a device doesn't (yet) exist -- but believe it or not, the average hardware/software hacker could knock up something pretty impressive using readily available building blocks that can be found on the Net.

I recently stumbled across a really cool source of such components at a site called Spark Fun Electronics

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I don't often give commercial enterprises a free plug here but I have to say that when I saw all the goodies these guys have, my mouth was watering (can you tell I'm still a geek at heart?).

Do you want to build a tracking device that will report its position almost anywhere in the world?

No problems...

Just grab a GPS module, a matching tiny antenna, a cellular module and a microcontroller board to glue them together. Burn a little solder, hack a little code and voila (as they say in India)... you've built your own!

Want to communicate data over a distance of up to 500m without adding the overhead of a TCP/IP stack? Hell, for US$40 you can throw a wireless modem on each end of the link.

Felt like adding BlueTooth capabilities to your PC or laptop but been put off by the high prices? How about a USB-based BlueTooth dongle for just US$14.95. Incredible!

Want a cool MP3 player but would rather build one to your own standards? Well US$12 will get you a chip that does most of the work for you.

Right now I suspect that many readers are starting to glaze-over and wondering how anyone can get so excited about a few electronic bits and pieces...

Well obviously you've never gotten a buzz out of building something unique and very hi-tech from a bunch of components -- and that's a real shame.

There was a time when one thing that all geek kids got for their birthday or Christmas was some kind of electronic kitset -- hell, that's how I got started in the days when computers were still using valves.

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of vendors such as Dick Smith and JayCar, the number of young people who venture into the realm of hardware hacking has dwindled significantly - and that's a shame.

Of course you can't blame kids for not wanting to get into electronics as a career either - the trend towards throw-away consumer electronics has meant that there probably just aren't the number of jobs in this industry that their used to be.

However, for those of us who have the interest, experience and skills needed to build our own devices from the bits you can now buy off the shelf, the sky really is the limit in terms of what we can create.

If you've got a few minutes to spend, why not trawl through the Spark Fun site and see what cool ideas you could come up with for using these bits.

And, just for the record, I'm not on commission, I don't get any kickbacks and Spark Fun don't even know they're being mentioned in today's column. Indeed, if readers know of better sources for such fun things, please let the rest of us know.

Go have your say in The Aardvark Forums

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