Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Virginity, Tininess, Kiosks
Insatiable demand and a limited supply mean ... slashdoter writes " Remember the Virgin webplayer? The co-op has got a deal to buy the unsold units at $100 each, add on $10 for shipping and some extra for the Beer fund for our fearless leader and you too can have a hackable webplayer (without a TOS). You only have 2 or 3 days to get in so come on over and read the small print."
It may be officially too late to join, but this still would be a smart site to inquire at if you're looking to find one of these cute little machines, and just like waiting outside a ("sold out") Elvis Costello show, you might find a reasonable re-seller.
"Oooh! It's so cute and little!" rm-r writes "The New Scientist has an interview here with Gerald Marcyk, the head scientist behind the world's smallest transistor announced by Intel last week. The article also has some interesting pieces about the problems chip makers have as they get smaller and smaller."
Now if these were everywhere, where would be put the AOL CDs? The mysterious unnamed correpsondent writes: "This article was published on Securityfocus.com today about Linux Kiosks. It seems that with the Costa Rican Government providing free internet access to all citizens, this is a timely followup about how a country could use a RedHat Linux system to offer Free Internet Access much like we see present day telephones...on every corner, in every restaurant, and at every gas station. It was written by Anton Chuvakin, a Ph.D student in Europe, and maintainer of the Pocket Linux Distribution HOWTO."
This certainly is an interesting vision, and not far-fetched. Can't we all pitch in and lay some fiber like Hands Across America?
[Update]-- until someone pokes an eye out. Here is part six of the continuing reprint of Jon Katz' Hellmouth Saga. Parts five, four, three, two and one are also available to digest if you've not before.
OK, after looking at the interview again, the picture seems to show the gate length as 30nm, not the gate dielectric thickness as mentioned in the original article. Still, it doesn't seem as small as the Berkeley transistor.
-Jason
Keep in mind that in many countries the phone company is state-owned, so it's a pretty different scenario then.
-- It only takes 20 minutes for a liberal to become a conservative thanks to our new outpatient surgical procedure!
I haven't gotten to monkey around with the one I picked up for work much yet, but the ThinkNIC box ($199, no strings attached, Cyrix266 x86 + 100M ethernet + linuxfriendly modem -- no HD, runs linux/x/netscape/openssh/vnc off cdrom) looks like a kickass little box to me. (In fact, I'm rather stunned that slashdot hasn't been raving all over these things regularly.) If anyone knows of anything that delivers as much punch for $200 as the thinknic, by all means please let me know! ;-) (Man, imagine when the LinuxBIOS project has an image that'll run on this ...)
o/~ Join us now and share the software
I don't think that the telephone companies would be thrilled with the idea of ubiquitous free (or cheap) internet access like this, unless they manage to get a piece of the action. This would be just one more thing working at making pay phones less lucrative (along with cell phones, phone cards, etc.).
"Has he improved at all lately?"
He`s amusing, if you go for irony in a big way. I do occasionally, but i still have him blocked.
Perhaps he performs a useful function - i`m sure his poorly thought out articles serve only to spur on people who are considering a similar career in a `if he can do it, maybe i should give it a try after all` kind of way.
But ultimately, to answer your question: No. He sucks, and hard.
The last time I checked it was possible to use many other operating systems to provide internet access, and just since the software is "Free" that doesn't mean hardwear is, or bandwidth who would be paying for that,IP addresses and many other things that must be purchased. Also if there will be any censorship of the internet through these kiosks, I mean no one likes censorship but would you want to go to a coffeeshop and just happen to glance over at a kiosk and see the browser on www.beastality.com? Since they will be free the government will prolly pick up the bill for this access and governments in gerneral are notorious for censorship. Another consideration is will they be like pay phone 35cents for 15 or will it be really free? Simply I doudt it!
"The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows." -Aristotle Onassis
Full instructions here: http://www.larwe.com/techref/webplayer.html
While the coop is officially closed to new members, I'd encourage anyone interested to go to the above link and email Slach. There's a very good chance that at least some units will be available on standby because there have been signs of people backing out already. It's very important to do this ASAP though.
Some of them are even less than the $110 offered by the co-op.
I don't think that this is a fair statement. I can see why you made it, but *if* the coop arranges a second shipment at the current price (some of the members are discussing this), e-bay isn't really a competitive price alternative.
When researching E-bay prices, it is critical to search "Completed Items" [not "Active Items"] to see what the units actually sold for, since almost all the bidding takes place in the final hour, and the prices in the search results aren't updated particularly often.
At the time I write this, exactly one out of 70 Webplayers sold in the past several weeks went for under $110. (It had a crummy picture in the ad) Almost all (66/70) sold for $150-250 [one didn't sell and two sold for $120-145], so I wouldn't count on "beating the co-op price" on E-bay any time soon -- based on the observation that winning bids for I-Openers haven't dropped much in 6 months. (the lowball numbers in preceding search are mostly Iopener parts, like SODIMMs)
I have absolutely no stake in the Co-op.
Question: What are six words you DON'T want to hear your girlfriend say?
The article on the Intel transistor seems to refer to a 30nm thickness (I assume they mean the gate dielectric). But when most people talk about the "size" of a transistor, they refer to the gate length. As far as I know, the 18nm gate length transistors developed at UC Berkeley (and discussed in this Slashdot article) are the "smallest."
-Jason
If you feel left out, because the co-op is out of WebPlayers, check out ebay which has some WebPlayers for sale. Some of them are even less than the $110 offered by the co-op.
I'm planning on taking my WebPlayer apart, not reprogramming it. If you're into that as well, check out this page.
Thalia
I was in the coop, and still follow the list. When the poll came around, I updated my database entry to be zero units - what with the holidays and other obligations, I just really couldn't afford to participate (at least I backed out graciously - I know there will be some who said "yah", and will back out after he receives the units - not good).
Anyhow, I am in the "middle" of "hacking" my own box - an Acer NT-150. Full details can be found here. Both Acer and Liberate seem to be stonewalling me for information. That and the fact that it is only me working on it doesn't help matters...
However, you may still find one on Ebay from the guy I bought from! Search under "N/C Network Computer" - you are sure to find one. They tend to go real cheap - 15->20 dollars. I am certain they can be made to do some interesting stuff, we just need more people on it...
Worldcom - Generation Duh!
Reason is the Path to God - Anon