Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Ambient Orb and X10 Devices
Visible devices are great as notifiers because you can set them any-
where (some don't even need to be connected to a computer), and team
members can simply look at a device to determine the build status.
Ambient Orb
We recommend using an Ambient Orb because it can be customized to
display lots of different colors to show you different things. It is more
expensive than a typical X10 device, so your team has to value its
greater capability. When considering an Ambient Orb as a feedback
mechanism, bear in mind the following.
Requires: Ambient Orb, special subscription with Ambient
Devices, 2 a script capable of sending HTTP get messages, a
build script (such as Ant), and a network connection (or 9-pin
serial connector)
Advantages: At-a-glance, nonbinary information; cool factor.
Disadvantages: Cost, presents no detailed information, and
need to be within visual range to notice need for action.
We refer to the Orb as a “glanceable device” because you can sim-
ply glance at it and determine the status of your project—without
receiving 20 e-mails indicating different thresholds the project may
have exceeded, and without receiving details that you are not prepared
for or want yet. Everyone on the project can glance at the Orb and get
the status of the latest build and/or quality metrics (if you have added
customizations). I set up the Orb in our project development room so
that it displayed different colors based on the build status. For exam-
ple, if the build has been failing for more than 30 minutes, it is a
deeper red.
Benefits of using an Orb is that it can be placed anywhere, and it is
not binary, like e-mail or an X10 device (discussed next). The Orb con-
tains a pager-like device that is a part of a wireless network. From a
build script, such as Ant, an HTTP get message can be sent to the
2. See www.ambientdevices.com.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search