Chumby is a wireless Linux-based stuffed plush box that can do pretty much anything you can hack it to do. That was the promise when we wrote about it in the September issue of Linux Journal. Now it's also reality: Chumby is shipping.

Ours hasn't arrived yet, but we know they're moving because Dave Winer has one. What's more, he says,

First impression: This is a breakthough device, kind of like the Cobalt Qube was in the mid-late 90s.

Then he details some hacker-oriented specifics (widgets, feeds, customizations...) and concludes,

I got it set up and running my widgets within an hour and it was fun! I love this device, it just reeks of potential. And they did a beautiful production job. It's easily as innovative as the iPhone, but it isn't getting as much attention. Take a look you won't be disappointed.

I take this as a special challenge to Linux Journal readers. Meaning that I'd like us (you and we) to follow this thing and see where it goes.

Or better yet, make it go there.

So, whaddaya got? Or whaddaya wanna do when you get one?

Bonus linkage: be sure to read the comments to Dave's post. Especially the one by Chumby founder and CEO Steve Tomlin, who addresses my own first feature request: streaming Internet radio, like I get with my (also Linux-based) Sonos, among a pile of other things. Key point: Chumby is intentionally unfinished and open. Some additions are up to the Chumby folks. The rest are up to the rest of us.

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Doc Searls is Senior Editor of Linux Journal