[sdiy] Announcing the Soddy! (Please don't miss this!)

[john mahoney]

I decided a few months ago that Synth DIY needed an award. 2004 is over, so
it's time to do it. Here's the deal:
    There is a trophy -- I'm making it and I promise it'll look cool.
    There is "the academy" -- that's all of us.
    There will be nominees -- more on that, below.
    There will be a winner, of course. Only one winner, because there's only
one trophy.

I am now accepting nominations. Just email me (off the list) with your
suggestions. Don't be too shy to nominate yourself! Any Synth DIY project
completed in 2004 is eligible. It would be *extremely* beneficial if
pictures of the nominated project are available. I can host photos on my
website, if that's a problem.

Strictly commercial products are ineligible; small scale
I'll-sell-you-a-PC-board efforts are allowed. I may ask "the academy" for
help with resolving any issues like this. Since it's my award to give, I
reserve the right to appoint an advisory board to assist me.

The judging criteria will be up to each person voting. For example, some
people may place high value on the availability of schematics; others may
not care about that. I'm not going to establish those guidelines. Feel free
to discuss them on the list, if you want to, and maybe we'll come to a
consensus.

Although there's nothing additional to see, yet, I've got a web page for
this:
    http://www.bitshifted.com/soddy.asp
As of tomorrow, I will probably start another page where I will list the
nominees.

When nominating, please give me the builder's name and the project's name.
Optionally, tell me why you think this project is so good, and please send a
link to the project (if you know of one). Geez, I should've made an online
form for the nominations...

Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 great projects that were finished
last year. I will refrain from mentioning them, because I hope that others
will recognize them, too. (Note that JH gave everyone a break this year by
building a new house instead of another synth. Sorry, Juergen -- maybe next
year! ;-)

Let the fun begin!
--
john