Critical Mass
As the project deadline quickly approaches, I have been spending considerable time putting my ideas into motion.

Last week I decided that the power control unit, while simple, would benefit from being microcontrolled. I have spent a good portion of this week researching the options, and concluded that the Atmel Tiny series is perfect for this and other applications. It is amazingly versatile, simple to program, and conveniently has an on-chip clock (other chips need an external crystal). After programming, literally all that is needed is Vcc, Vss, and any inputs/outputs. Having spent over 20 hours so far practicing writing software for it, I am completely inpressed with this chip. The software will be simple to write, and the hardware will hopefully be easy to design.

Additionally, some time this week was spent creating the GTK theme for DashUI. A reference engine, HighContrast, is being used. The goal will be to thicken up borders so that they are several pixels thick, and possibly modifying the colour scheme so it is not as high contrast as it was originally designed to be. This still needs work.

Lastly, library research was performed to obtain research about ergonomics of vehicle multimedia hardware and its interaction with humans. Two excellent books were found: Automotive Ergonomics and Human Factors in Driving, Seating, & Vision. These books contain invaluable information and considerations regarding revolutionary human interaction mechanisms, as well as numerous related safety studies.