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 buttonEnter 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. I know Lifehacker Read more Read. GarageBand-for-PC-1024x666.jpg' alt='Hack Garage Band Onto Windows Movie' title='Hack Garage Band Onto Windows Movie' />Its hard to look at the movieor any of Cassinis hauntingly beautiful imagesand not think of something appropriately morose for its Grand Finale. The story behind one of Hollywoods biggest security breaches How Larson Studios got hacked and then hoodwinked by the Dark Overlord. 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.