In the Beginning

Here it is, May 20th. I discovered Arduino this Sunday after purchasing Make: magazine issue #18. After doing a fair amount of research (there is quite a community online) I purchased a bunch of parts and I'm now impatiently waiting for them to arrive. I figured while I wait I should get this blog up and running and detail out the specifics of the project.

The Project:
Create an Interactive Trail Map using LEDs and one of our existing 6 foot signs.

The Specs:
Read trail data from XML feed available online.
Wireless data transfer
Must display Open, Closed, and Groomed status for each trail
Has to be legible from a distance
No daily human interaction, must update itself on it's own.
Weather-proof
Stylish

With that, welcome to the project, this will be the place for updates and for me to keep notes. Up next packages in the mail?