Slashback: Virginity, Tininess, Kiosks

A computer that Madonna might approve of, ubiquitous boxes delivering Internet acccess all over paradise (and why not everywhere?), and some more insight about Moore's Law and Intel's tiny new transistors, from the horse's mouth. Read more below, in this edition of Slashback.

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.

Comments

How to hack the Virgin Webplayer...

[Anonymous Coward]

Full instructions here: http://www.larwe.com/techref/webplayer.html

Virgin Webplayer Coop

[Tiroth]

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.

Re:Hacking the Virgin WebPlayer

[The_Laughing_God]

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.

Answer: "Oooh! It's so cute and little!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Question: What are six words you DON'T want to hear your girlfriend say?

Not the smallest transistor?

[Jason Cain]

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

Hacking the Virgin WebPlayer

[Thalia]

If you are interested, this page has most of the known hacks for the WebPlayer.

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

Webplayer Coop...

[cr0sh]

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!