Hack an Easy Button for Quick Slack Alerts. Working with headphones on usually means youd rather not be bothered, but sometimes it means youre just listening to something while you work. If you want to be available despite your cans being on, why not build your own alert button Enter developer Nick Sypteras, who wanted to solve the problem of coworkers requesting his attention while his headphones were on. Working in a cubicle, he wrote, Theres no way for a visitor to my desk to get my attention other than by waving their hand in my face, making loud noises behind me, etc. So he broke out the soldering iron, a Staples Easy Button, and an Adafruit microcontroller. Dear Lifehacker. I am condemned to being stuck in a small cubicle with low walls. Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium Windows For Homes' title='Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium Windows For Homes' />UpdateStar is compatible with Windows platforms. UpdateStar has been tested to meet all of the technical requirements to be compatible with Windows 10, 8. Windows 8. Flagship ZDNet weblog, covering a broad range of technology news. I know Lifehacker Read more Read. Sypteras wrote the code to send his Slack alerts in Micro. Python, a version of the programming language designed for microcontroller boards. The Adafruit Feather HUZZAH microcontroller listens for a change in value based on whether the button was pressed. Using Slacks API, he was able to send messages to a private channel he created specifically for his desks easy button. While the message just lets him know hes got a visitor, you can get fancy with it and use Slacks API to attach more info to your alerts. Between the Lines ZDNet. Larry Dignan. Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNets sister site Tech. Republic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at e. Week and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1. Wall. Street. Week. Interctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. Hes a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware. Zack Whittaker. Zack Whittaker is the security editor for ZDNet. You can send tips securely via Signal and Whats. App to 6. 46 7. 55 8. PGP fingerprint for email is 4. D0. E 9. 2F2 E3. 6A EC5. DAAE 5. D9. 7 CB8. C 1. 5FA EB6. C EEA5. Stephanie Condon. Stephanie Condon is a staff writer for CBS Interactive based in Portland, Oregon, covering business technology for ZDNet. She previously covered politics for CBSNews. CNET. Stephanie graduated with a B. A. in communication from Stanford University.