I really wish the submission URL had been better, because this is wildly cool and very hacker oriented. It deserves more than 10 upvotes. Background: 1) A Pin

I really wish the submission URL had been better, because this is wildly cool and very hacker oriented. It deserves more than 10 upvotes. Background: 1) A Pinoccio Scout is a web-enabled microcontroller for DIY projects. Think Arduino, but with a network focus. 2) Minecraft is an open world game where you build everything out of blocks (or at least block-like objects). There are many, many different block types available (from wood to stone, to fences, to special blocks). One class of blocks, called Redstone, allow for the generation and transmission of power within Redstone circuits. Because of the way the game rules are written, it is possible to build very complex Redstone circuits. Summary: Pinoccio Craft couples the Pinoccio Scout to a "mod" for Minecraft. This means that virtual events which occur in game can cause real events on the microcontroller, providing a link between the Minecraft world and the real world. Comments: This is cool. This is beyond cool. This is stupendously cool. Anyone who has a son/daughter/niece/nephew/grandkid/whatever between the ages of five and fifteen can tell you that Minecraft is all the rage amongst kids. I never gained more street cred from the tween crowd than the day I set up a Bukkit Minecraft server and installed a handful of mods for my niece. If you ask her, she'll tell you with a straight face that I am, in actual fact, a wizard. I've contemplated an Arduino as an xmas gift for her on several occasions, but I worry that she'll lack the stamina and interest to complete a project. Her sustained attention for real world projects is in short supply... She'll build a 300 meter high replica of her Minecraft character entirely out of blocks of wool in the game though. I'm willing to bet that if I pick up a Pinoccio Scout, install this mod, and do something as trivial as turn on a light when she presses a button, she'll be over the moon about it, and that will lead to her learning a very valuable skill.