The ESP8266 lights up the built-in blue LED if you have GitHub notifications waiting.
An ESP8266 module such as a WEMOS D1 mini is running a simple esp8266/Arduino sketch. The sketch polls the GitHub Notfications API every 60 seconds using a personal GitHub token and lights the built-in LED if there ware notifications available.
3D print a nice looking case. Use transparent filament for the area where the blue LED will shine through.
Compile and upload the sketch to the WEMOS D1 mini (or another ESP8266 board) using the Arduino IDE and esp8266/Arduino.
Go to https://github.com/settings/tokens, click on "Generate new token", check "notifications", click "Generate token". Copy the resulting token into the sketch at
const String github_token = "...";
Upload the sketch. Connect to the AutoConnectAP WLAN access point, set up your WLAN credentials.
This is a simple sketch but we still have many ideas, have a look here and send pull requests.