I think I've mentioned it previously, but my SS idea/reccomendation for 2012 is to enhance the Lynx SSC utility to include the ability to use something BETWEEN "string mode" and "node mode" when programming the SSC.
For this example, lets talk about 120 node SS flex strip. When you program the SSC ... you would enter 120 as you do today ... but then you could select "Group Mode" [ or flexible hybrid mode ] ... and then specify any number that is greater than 1, but evenly divisible into that node count (i.e. 2,4,6,10,12,...) ... not to exceed the total node count itself.
Then the SSC software would create (n) resulting virtual 'node group' for you ... which could do a few significant things:
(1) it would allows something more than string level control (with just group size=total nodes)
(2) it would still lower total channel count on the SSC considerably
(3) because of #3, could reduce hardware requirements and make sequencing easier ... could also improve performance on certain sequencing software (most)
So in my example, if I wanted to make a SS Flex Strip arch and just build my 10 segments using the SSC "Group Mode" ... I would pick 120 nodes and then a group size of 12. Then each group of 12 RGB LEDs is represented by a channel (or group of 3 rgb channels). SO this way, I can have an arch with 12x3=36 channels instead of 120x3=360 channels. And it gives a lot more control than string mode does, but using a lot less channels than node mode would.
I see this is just an extension of string mode, because string mode just takes the total node count and makes a group with the same size. If we could vary the group size, this would be VERY powerful and could save people in cases when maybe they need some control, but not node level control ... and could save them from hitting total channel counts which end up costing them in terms of extra hardware or hitting software limits, etc.
I could see cases where you would use this on roofline of the house ... to get some control ... but realistically, you don't need node level control. I also see than with arches, you might not need 120 nodes, but find that 10 sections is pretty acceptable. This then translates to a lot of obvious benefits and capabilities.
So like RJ has time for any of this (doubtful) ... but I'd still like to put it on the 2012 wish list for the reasons stated. I think the validation used could be simple. Validation#1: MOD(#nodes,group_size,0)=ZERO Validation#2: group_size must be > 1 (node mode) and < #nodes (string mode)
FOr someone maybe looking at 50,000 channels for the whole house roofline, this might be able to reduce that channel count down considerably ... and I think even in 2012 ... a lot of our software won't be able to handle 50k channels and maybe could handle 16k or 32k channels.