[sdiy] what is DIY?

[john mahoney]

Lots of good comments, folks. I don't pretend to have the answers, that's
why I raised the issue.

Ignore my comments regarding "free schematics."  I am leaning towards
*including* things rather than excluding them. The voters will decide what
doesn't qualify as DIY. So long as there is no pre-election violence, we'll
be fine. ;-)  If somebody nominates a MOTM module, well, I guess I'll put it
on the list.

I like the idea of separate Pro and Amateur categories, but it's hard to
draw the line that separates the two.

Why not include projects from before 2004? Because the field will be too
large! Besides, Juergen Haible's Korg PS-3200 clone would win, so there's no
need to vote. ;-)  (I'm being silly, but only a little.)

I don't want to ignore older projects, I just want this to be manageable.
We'll look back on some older projects, later.


> Problematic that John said there would be ONE award because he is making
ONE
> trophy.  If others are willing to create additional trophies, there could
be
> more awards.

I suppose so, sure. However, I'd like to think that we can collectively
recognize one project as being the best effort of the year. It's like having
the Oscars with nothing but a Best Picture award. (At least the award show
wouldn't last all night if they did that!)


> I could be wrong, but John may be:
>
> 1) laughing his butt off
> 2) asking himself "Why did I suggest this?"

Yes, a little of both! :-)  Like I told someone, I am just trying to run a
simple little contest.


> >How about making it more specific with awards for:
> >
> >Best new synth module
> >Most impressive overall DIY project
> >Best new (semi)commercial project
> >Best new BBD project ;)
> >and so on.

My feeling is that if we make the categories too small we will have very few
entries per category. Like, Paul Maddox will almost win the DSP category by
default this year 'cuz so few people here are doing that (nothing against
Paul winning, but competition is part of this game).

Summary:
Nominate whatever you want to, but limit it to 2004 projects.
We'll go back in time to award retroactive Soddys (2003, 2002...) later.
Only one category, this year: Best Overall DIY Project
--
john

P.S. Harry, can I borrow one of your flamesuits? ;-)