Electron Hut: Kyle Bedell’s Blog

Rather than tell you about the many hours I’ve spent researching multivariate displays recently, here are a few cool things I picked up on some of my daily web scouring expeditions.

After switching from Trillian to Pidgin about a year ago, I saw a new instant messaging program over on Lifehacker called Digsby. Why the switch? Digsby integrates both Facebook (meh) and Twitter (yay) into its UI! Plus, the Google Talk integration actually works (compared to Pidgin). It just came out of closed beta, so give it a try.

I decided that I couldn’t wait for Apple to release their official 3rd party application support for the iPhone and iPod touch, so I found a fantastic unlocking program that’ll jailbreak either of those devices in under a minute. It’s called ZiPhone, and it supports all sorts of unlocking variants for iPhones (just one for the iPod touch!). You can just jailbreak an iPhone/iPod touch if you just want 3rd party application support, or jailbreak, unlock, and activate an iPhone unit for use on other providers’ networks. It’s quick, extremely easy to use, and best of all: it just works.

If sharing music via Internet and LAN is more your thing, head over to Deusty Designs and check out Mojo. Available for Mac and Windows (beta), Mojo lets you view the libraries of other iTunes users on your friends list and download any songs that catch your ear. The Windows version only works over LAN right now, and it autodetects other Mojo users on the network (although with limited success in my case; Matt and I couldn’t get our copies to see each other). The Mac version is substantially more robust and functions over the Internet.

On the web browser front, we saw the release of Firefox 3 (Beta 4) from Mozilla in the past week or so. It’s the first time I’ve really sat down and tinkered with the new interface, and I have to say I’m impressed. The biggest change that I noticed is the new address bar UI: check out the size of the back button! I know I rely on it all the time for navigation, and since the forward button doesn’t see nearly as much use (from what I’ve observed), I’m liking the disproportionate sizes. The other cool feature is the web address matching in the address bar. Notice how it scans through your history and attempts to autocomplete addresses it thinks you’re trying to reach? Nifty! If you’re looking to try the beta without mucking up your Firefox 2 install, try the Portable Apps version.

Fox and NBC have a new video site called Hulu with episodes and clips from a fairly large selection of current and former shows (House M.D., all of Firefly, the list goes on). There are also a couple decent movies (The Big Lebowski). There’s no uploading here; it’s strictly a “sit back, relax, and watch” sort of affair. Some nifty extras like Lower Lights (dims the rest of your screen, leaving the video bright) and embedding support make this one of the best ‘official’ online video offerings.

Enjoy!

Hey folks, I’m selling my OpenMoko Neo1973 developer’s kit up on eBay. Take a look!

I picked up a “Galaxy Black” Asus EEE 4G for Christmas. Originally designed to hit the magic $199 price point (this didn’t happen), the EEE is designed to be a low-cost laptop aimed at beginning and casual computer users. In fact, it’s been so successful that the EEE is Asus’s bestselling product ever.

Packing modified hardware from 2001/2002, my model is equipped with the following:

900MHz Intel Celeron-M @ 630MHz
Intel 910GMLE Express chipset
7″ WVGA (800×480) LCD Screen
512MB DDR-667 RAM (upgraded to 1GB)
4GB Solid-State Disk (soldered to the motherboard)
Intel GMA900 Graphics
10/100 Ethernet and 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
SD(HC) Card slot
3 USB 2.0 ports
1/8″ Audio Out/In jacks
VGA Out
Stereo speakers (mounted on screen sides)
Microphone
0.3MP Webcam (mounted on top of screen)

Here are some shots of the hardware itself. Note that the battery cleverly doubles as a sort of ’stand’ to prop the machine up at a positive tilt.

The EEE’s build quality is better than I would have expected from a $399 machine. Although its body contains a minimum of metal, the plastic feels sturdy enough.

The buldge on top of the image there is the battery. Directly below that is the RAM / Mini-PCI access slot. Ignore the “WARRANTY IS VOID IF REMOVED” sticker over one of the screw holes; Asus has stated that it is perfectly alright to add RAM to your machine without voiding the warranty. The numerous slits are for ventilation purposes.

Not much to see from the front…

Front the left, the SD(HC) card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, and a Kensington lock slot.

Just the power adapter’s port on the right side.

From the left, 10/100 Ethernet, a blocked-off modem port (not available on my model), a USB 2.0 port, and the microphone and stereo jacks.

There’s a substantial amount of ‘bezel’ around the screen; those are actually the speakers. Note the small size of the keyboard and the touchpad (more on that later). The indicator lights on the bottom right are for power, SSD activity, and wireless respectively.

The cramped keyboard layout of the EEE was mostly unavoidable, but it doesn’t take long to learn to type on it. Some of the key placements are a bit funky, especially the right-size Shift. I wouldn’t go writing a novel on this machine, but it certainly works for note taking purposes.

The screen is of decent quality; it’s only 7 inches, and sports a “Wide VGA” resolution of 800×480. It’s also one of the new LED-backlit types. I still can’t seem to figure out why Asus didn’t go with a much more ’standard’ 800×600 panel instead.

Now for the OS! The EEE is unique in that it comes prepackaged with a variant of Xandros Linux, specially modified with a simplistic icon-based UI. It’s organized into ‘tabs’ to make applications easy to find. Rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel, you can browse through eeeuser’s Flickr gallery if you’d like to see some shots of the Xandros interface. I forged ahead (since ASUS supplies Windows XP drivers for the hardware) and slapped a copy of Windows XP Professional SP2 on my machine. After some pagefile tweaking and a bit of hacking to get Windows to recognize my SD card as a “permanent” drive (so I can install application to it), I was in business!

(Matt thinks this was blasphemous, by the way.)

Performance is fairly snappy for underclocked five-year-old hardware. While you won’t be editing your next high definition film’s footage on this machine, it’s excellent for some light browsing, office work, and playing older games (especially SCUMM titles). Where the EEE truly excels is in the communications department. Its camera and mic setup makes it a great Skype machine (Skype actually comes preinstalled on the Xandros OS) and it works just fine for instant messaging.

Other than that, there’s not much to say. The 802.11b/g card in the EEE is one of the best I’ve used; not only does it connect more quickly than my ThinkPad X61, it maintains its connection in places the ThinkPad can’t even see the access point in my house. Battery life is decent; I get around 3-3.5 hours with maximum brightness and the wireless enabled. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll put up a reply and edit this post.

If the passenger with the iPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with iPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave.

See here.