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Surfing on a Surfboard
JamesD_UK writes "The BBC is running an article about a surfboard developed by Intel with an embedded, solar powered, wifi capable, laptop with web cam attached. It features a 1.7GHz processor and a 80GB hard drive. The camera is able to create videos and transmit them through an access point located on the beach. Jools Matthews of Gulfstream surfboards designed the board itself and pro surfer Duncan Scot helped with the design of the board to make sure that the board still performed well with the extra weight. The board debuts at the Gold Coast Ocean Festival 2004 from 18 to 20 June at Croyde beach in North Devon."
Hmmm.
For the Flashless people out there, a link to the actual content of the Gold Coast Ocean Festival 2004 site. I really don't know if you want to see it though, as you'll end up seeing what seem to be Intel engineers in wet suits. That page still has some flash, but at least you can access most everything without it.
This should be filed in the "What will they think of next" category.
;-)
Interesting idea, but I'm not sure of the real-world application besides the coolness/geekness factor
-Henry
--- #@$DF@#2%@^%3^&*$%FRHG%%[NO CARRIER]
Other than PR value? When do I get my wi-fi enabled rollerblades and sandals? I mean, after all, God forbid any of us be off the grid for more than a microsecond.
Don't be a looter...and yes, I know that it's spelled with an "A" instead of an "E".
In Brighton (UK) you can surf on the beach with the free PierToPier wifi connection.
Hopefully the rider can surf the web and surf a wave if he/she is more talented enough. Brings a new meaning to "Surf the Web" or, Surf surf the web?
Paul Lenhart writes words!
"What's wrong dude?"
"I was getting ready to catch this narly wave when my surfboard caught a Blue Screen Of Death."
"Bogus!"
I suppose while you are ar beach you are supposed to be away from your boss, work, geek collagues, and such. At least it is eco-friendly (solar powered).
Dude! You're getting a centrino.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
I wonder what OS it runs? It's almost bedtime I'm just copying mp3s over to the mp3 player, no time to RTFA!
Seriously though, this is cool, but what happens when the guy falls off the board and it smacks him in the head? All that extra weight has to transfer into some kind of force on impact. This kind of thing would feature better at a tech conference or display rather than a surfing comp up north (I live in Sydney).
--
The last digit of pi is four.
Marketing, that's why. Nobody wants to think about being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of their life, but everyone loves surfing.
While research into this area does benefit further miniaturization, putting it into a surfboard doesn't really help anybody. I mean, we've gotten footage from that point of view without having to build it into the surfboard.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
If you can read this sig - the bitch fell off.
...worthless application of technology. Will it help the surfers style? Will it calculate the odds of the next wave being the big one? Or will it just give a big boost to nude webcam surfing?
A better application of technology would have been to put a micronized mp3 playing into the board so you could have your own sound track playing while barreling down a wave.
It take more faith to believe in evolution than it takes to believe in God
I however am thinking of the future. How many "surfer dudes" are going to learn about computer and science because of this? How many of them will subsequently combine their interests and become marine biologists or oceanographers? If the cause is increased understanding of our world then I say "Put those chips in surfboards!"
shoot the tube
not to mention crashing and wipeout!
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
Yeah those wacky teens were doing "Skeet Surfing" (shotguns, skeet & surfing) in that movie. This sounds just as wacky - hope that HD is shock mounted. Will the Wifi signal attract sharks? (just kidding)
But I've always thought of surfing as a great escape from the day to day grind of IT, it just doesn't seem right to mix them together...
This solves the problem I've had for years. How do I turn athletic, good-looking people into nerds? Once I do that, I can rule the world and get their women!
Best Windows Freeware
*glub* *glub* *glub*
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
It was my understanding that all you had to do to be awarded a patent was file for it, obvious or not (see amazon, M$, et al).
my pet machine
"Dude, that last set was l33t. I'm stoked that we decided to DP by that wifi convention so the we could haxor their train."
"yeah, their tube was way glassy...no dropped packets...so easy to shred"
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Daft idea. I think it will go down the tube. Or, failing that it it will /.ed (wiped out).
By the way... is there a patent on it yet?
For problems, seek only the simplest solution, complexity brings with it more problems.
This is right up there with the M$ toilet..
infact probably even closer depending where you surf..;)
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9293
As a geek who also surfs, I scoff at this device. The point of surfing is to separate yourselves technology, from the daily grind, from Google, and become one with the power of the ocean. The only useful application I could see it having is weather reports and surf reports, which a cellphone can accomplish these days.
Well it's atleast not a "jump to conclusions" doormat.
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
To all those that are wondering what uses this has, the thing has an onboard webcam which can broadcast from the surfer's point of view riding the wave. Granted, the same thing could be done with the surfer holding a camera to shoot with, I could see the possibilities of some interesting footage from this board. Depending on configuration, being able to see the tube from the surf board level would be pretty cool all by itself. Is spending all that money to put all that equipment in a board practical? Nope. Is it cool? Hell yeah, and hang ten dude!
I really wish someone at intel had anticipated all the lame jokes this is going to cause and killed the project before it began.
Good PR I guess - although you would think that the time and effort that obviously went into this could have produced better results if directed elsewhere...
It's a good idea, it's going to start of all bulky, and in time it will be scaled down. Anyone that lives at a prime surf spot, as I did. J-Bay, would like this sort of technology. I could catch some waves and if the boss called or I got some work that needed attention, I could read what it was and then decide to spoil my perfect surf session.
Surfing is something that you LOVE with a passion. Work sadly has to be done, and if I can avoid work by reading my mail and making choices out there on the backline waiting for the next set, then hell yeah, I'd do it.
Technology has to start somewhere. It's taken man how many years to build the 747 from the first flight, it's just a matter of time, before pda/pc surfboards are practicle.
It would be nice to see what is going on at other surf spots too, and to capture that perfect tube ride and email to friends, or post to site straight away.
Thats my 2 cents worth.
I was half expecting to find this thing was water cooled :P
Intel has a history of supporting weird uses of their chips, like these
If you get an arm bitten off by a shark, at least you can email the coastguards to get rescued.
If the hard drive is constantly being moved a lot wouldnt it be in danger of being damaged?
#####Free and Open Source Game Directory#####
Seems to be a very good testing ground for durabl touch screen displays. Sun, sand, water and salt. Gotta be more fun than testing for resistance to these things in a lab.
I'd laugh if it didn't work when they got it out of the water though!
I hate this argument. Yes, it would be nice if more people were to help solve our problems, but it's unreasonable to expect that everybody focuses thier attention on that. Besides, who's to say that this technology isn't adapted successfully for wheelchairs?
--
"Insert witty quote here."
The BBC is running an article about a surfboard developed by Intel with an embedded, solar powered, wifi capable, laptop with web cam attached. It features a 1.7GHz processor and a 80GB hard drive.
Imagine a beowolf cluster of these...
You'll have that sometimes...
while bouncing up and down in the waves, endless ocean in front of me, waiting for a big(ger) one... the last thing i would want is a laptop in front of me... but apart from that, there is other limitations that make this not just pointless, but actually stupid:
1) it will be impossible to do anything while riding out in the waves. as any surfer knows, the waves, well, go up and down, and the surfboard is not exactly a stable surface. it would be impossible to see anything on the screen, let alone move a mouse pointer etc
2) if i slam into the coral the centrino will be a goner
3) if the centrino slams into my head and breaks while i surf, i will be suing intel (if i ever had one, that is, which i won't).
the best application of this technology is to put it in your room, or in a surfer hangout cafe, as some kind of geeky, not-that-funny prop.
can anybody think of a more useless location for a wireless laptop than inside a surfboard? what are your ideas?
You dont want to get the Blue Wave of Death...
Sometimes people do things for no good reason. It is their time and money to do what they wish with it.
It seems like another prank like that portapotty with the internet in it...
I mean come on, a dang surf board?
-----
Who is that masked man?
While most people seem to be passing this idea off, this really could lead to some cool photos/videos coming from the water. Granted, the technology would probably need a lot of tweaking. It may not seem all that worthwile of a product to develop, but I do think there is slightly more use to this than most people seem to be giving credit for.
Plus, I am a geek, so I will probably be the one on those beaches trying to get onto the wireless networks that they are using.
-mike
Jools Matthews of Gulfstream surfboards designed the board itself and pro surfer Duncan Scot helped with the design of the board to make sure that the board still performed well with the extra weight. The board...
/the board
The board board then board after the board, board. Well, the board board the board the board only if the board board the board the board.
Something unique to good of ameri/aussie/hawaiian culture: Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore: "Charlie don't surf! " (Apocalypse Now) Try offshoring that !
Apache being installed in golden orb spider.
Tech support will never be the same...
A computer makes it possible to do, in half an hour, tasks which were completely unnecessary to do before.
Jesus Fuck! This is, I believe, the biggest amount of lame attempts at humor I have ever seen on slashdot... and the In Soviet Russia jokes haven't even started... so here's one:
"In Soviet Russia, the surfboard logs onto you!"
And here's some others that I've seen:
"Surf the web!" HAHAHHAHAHHAH! OF COURSE THAT IS SO FUNNNY !!!!!
"COWABUGNA"!!! THE TEENAGE MUTANTNT NINJA DUCKS are here! L:OL!
For fucks sake, the "Imagine a Beowolf cluster of these" is actually a good line this time because it would actually be pretty interesting to load up a beach full of surfers with these and then use them as a massive computer.
Casual Games/Downloads
under the surfboard to cool the processor. If you had some heat-sink that was constantly under moving ocean water I'm thinking that would draw more heat off of the chip than just blowing air from a heat sink fan. Of course, you certainly wouldn't want ocean water on the motherboard.
When Keanu catches you with pirated MP3s:
"I AM AN F..B..I.. AGENT!"
While I rather like the idea of War Surfing, there are not going to be too many free access-points on a beach.
One nasty side-effect will be that ships are liable to become rather more paranoid about passing windsurfers. San Diego (there is a naval base there, right?) might even have to ban them from certain areas. Not my problem, but 'thanks Intel'. NOT.
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
forget that.
i just ran that search i got this ad:
Surf Science (Surfology)
Oceanography for Surfers plus hot
surfing instruction. DVD/VHS $29.95
www.mermaid-pictures.com
Conceptualize, tenderize, prioritize, !
Hivemind harvest in progress..
Yes, it would be nice if more people were to help solve our problems, but it's unreasonable to expect that everybody focuses thier attention on that.
Yeah, but if it's that or surfboards, which one seems like it should take priority?
I mean, if they were working on something else which seemed more serious I'd agree with you. Most kinds of personal portable computing would seem more serious. Even something like shoes with a built in GPS would seem more serious than this. But surfboards?!
I don't think that this is a good idea with all that equipment and a surfboard. I mean, wouldn't all that surfing wipeout that hard drive?
- ba-da-boom!
So, hey, someone put some electronics in a surf board and my opinion on that is - People must have a lot of time and money laying around and if it keeps them busy and out of trouble....
I just don't see the "Wow" factor that would justify the cost and trouble - So, here's an idea to give it a "WOW!" factor. Use it to capture a surf board's "eye view" of the rider.
Give a few of these surf boards to a group of bikini clad super model surfer gals and you can sell time on that hot spot.
Mod me troll, if you must, I can't help it.
Someone has invented a chocolate fireguard, along with a special line of condoms for geeks.
I still get to surf quite a bit, and I did rabidly while in college. For me at least, the whole purpose of surfing is to get away from life and enjoy the beauty and serenity of the ocean while still giving the adrenals a little workout.
To me, an internet surfboard is completely antithetical to the whole sport. I have a hard time believing that if these collaborators were indeed a "pro" and a legit shaper, they would have nothing to do with this.
You know what?
There are millions of people in wheelchairs who need a small, waterproof, integrated communication system. My fiance's little brother will soon be one of them. Luckily, I'm smart enough to hack one together. A lot of people aren't so lucky.
So while this does help in development, it wastes time with gimickry at the cost of resources devoted to an actual need.
This isn't technology news. It's a marketing gimmick.
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
Google keeps on throwing these gmail invitations to existing account holders. I've already given one to all that asked for one, so I thought I might just as well give them away the The General Public. :-)
Send an email to wallclimber33-gmail@yahoo.com to get one...
Tom
Deos it surf linux?
You can probably use it as WEBSERVER (get it? get it? get it?)
w00t, tihs is raellay funny! I think im go tell it ALL uv my AOL buddies!!!
Well I've got an E450 on *my* surfboard to play mp3s!
eleven plus two / twelve plus one
1) When you get attacked by a shark for looking like an oddly colored hour'derve from below, you can fire off your last messages to loved ones with time to spare before you bleed to death.
2) The next James Bond movie, where a support hacker team is stationed off-shore to help James. Of course, the team is off'ed very shortly into the island-fortress infiltration by sharks with freakin' "lasers" on their heads.
3) Florida surfers can pull up video of real waves while sitting on their boards in the Lake^H^H^H^HGulf of Mexico.
oh, yeah:
4) ????
5) Profit!!!
You are checking your backups, aren't you?
What's the point of this? I want to be in the water, watch the waves, enjoy other surfers' rides and get my own. Unless there's some serious satellite imaging that will let me see the sets coming, this will be completely useless on the water, and even then reading the conditions is a critical part of surfing. I don't think I'd give up that challenge.
I do wear a watch, though (geek factor: it has a tide chart on it). Gotta get back home in time to get the kid to school...
..like the dude made an mp3 player out of 6 stories ago.
Embedding a wireless camera in the surfboard sounds interesting, as does the idea of a wireless camera attached to the surfer -- the PC just seems superfluous.
Besides, Endless Summer has some great surf footage, including on-board footage, and that was done with film cameras in the 1960s.
Wow, if you combine all the redundant jokes into a single post you get one positive mod point!
And all you people were complaining about how lame the surfing lightsaber battle between obi-wan and anakin was going to be. Ha, in your face now! They'll be on centrino surfboards!
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
All this technology helps.....how?
This being Slashdot and all, SOMEONE has to ask if it has Linux support.
I'd be holding the surfboard so I can get some classic pics of the meter maids in gold coast.
That would depend on whether you are a surfer or a cripple.
1. Make Surfing Geeky
2. ????
3. Profit!!
...to have some stuff in the world that wasn't Wi-Fi capable with a built-in HD and streaming audio and video? Seriously. Enough already, people.
that Donatello the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle would "invent".
But wasn't he every young geeks favorite turlte?
If this thing runs Windows, will it sink when Windows crashes? What will happen when the surfboard catches a virus or a worm?
that is about the gayest thing i've ever seen!
I was sure this was a joke (Photoshop altered surfboard) and it wasn't until I saw it on Intel's website ( and even then I was wondering if Intel got hacked ) that I believed ...
They have been mounting cameras on surfboards for years. You can get some pretty cool footage and pics this way. In addition, this type of technology could be very useful to oceanographers and/or engineers to study wave mechanics. And finally, please don't talk about surfing here anymore. It makes my stomach hurt to read what geeks have to say about one of my favorite pasttimes. :|
"Patience is not a virtue, it's a waste of time."
Sounds to me like a cubicle daydream....
With an idea like this and a crappy bussiness plan, imagine how many millons any unscrupulous dotcommer could have get from the venture capitalists five years ago.
A wet dream indeed.
LG.
I guess they get water cooling for free!
This wont work. The 2.4ghz frequency is affected too much by water molecules, you wont get _any_ wireless signal while in water.
Same reason why tree's are known to kill wifi connections.
-Adam
Get a life
My photo's.
Now all I have to do is switch my wetsuit for a Tron-suit, pick one of these new surfbnoards up and I'll fit right in at any beach.
TRONSUIT
http://www.ibiblio.org/jmaynard/TRONcostume/
serenity now!
This is an interesting stunt, but the best surfing photography is a form of artistic expression. I doubt very much that it will function well when limited to one camera position. Surfers and surf photographers will likely realize this and avoid this thing in droves.
Don't forget that boards often get pretty severely thrashed. Most of the surfers I know wouldn't want to put a very expensive board in peril on the best, and therefore also most dangerous, waves (particularly when it's not the best-performing board).
I may be completely wrong in my predictions on this thing, but surfing is really about getting as close to the water and the waves as you can. It's a form of recreation and sport that relies on technology, but only so long as it doesn't get in the way of the fundamental experience of being out in the ocean, waiting for the next big wave.
Geeks who get excited about the latest toys may find it hard to believe, but the surfing crowd is on the whole motivated by desires that are sometimes almost diametrically opposed to those of the geek crowd. That's not to say that there aren't surfer geeks, but when you're out in the water, the surfer takes over and the geek goes into hiding.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Much of a surfers time is spent standing out on the sandbar with board nearby waiting for a good wave. Sometimes only one or two decent waves come by every hour (if that), and what better cure for an hour or two of lousy waves then the ability to surf the net. Everyone seems to think that a surfer is constantly riding a wave and would never have the chance to actually use the computer, other than for video.
i'm planning a trip down under this year, and have been considering my options for beach video to bring home with me, keep me warm in the dismal greyness of europe.
i figure it'd be nice to have a wi-fi cam in a small waterproof capsule, like you can get from sony
anyone know if they're available? i wouldn't mind having my laptop sitting on the beach with the folks, ready for off-loading from a digi-cam setup, but if there is something i can actually -broadcast- with, from the waves, this would be rockin'-est...
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Is it TCPA compliant?
Oh come on! Would this be called the mother board.... ar ar ar ar *) groan
You're going to need pretty good anti-glare technology for that, no? And I really worry about surfers out in the murky waters looking at porn.
All I can think about as far as this tech goes is Real Time Shark Attacks!
This should be a big productivity enhancer for most corporations after the IT pit witnesses one of their buddies getting eaten off the Great Barrier Reef via a streaming webcast.
Boss: "Congrats people, we've beat our release deadline, how about some of that paid vacation time?"
Development team: "For the love of God, Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!"
"Surfing on a Surfboard" Sweet, what's next, biking on a bicycle? Crashing in MS Windows? Isn't this a bit redundantly redundant?
--- "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all..."
This is a perfect example of convergence gone all wrong. Who in there right mind would ride something like this? Besides wifi has a limited range and is not well suited to such applications. Surfing is all about getting away from the bump and grind of life and becoming one with nature. What were the people who designed this thing thinking?
411 Y0UR 8453 4R3 8310NG 70 U5!! -NSA
Now I can Google up "how to repel sharks" and "how to bandage a half-eaten leg" and "*gurgle*gurgle*how to *gurgle*gurgle* swim"
...
all the answers, right at my fingertips
The last thing I ever thought I would have to buy for my laptop is a wetsuit. I can't wait for the skateboard version to come out(!), because honestly, I won't buy it either. -Barry
60 percent of the time, my comments are right everytime.
Okay so I've worked in IT my whole life and been a major geek, my passions are computers, astronomy, and physics... and about 6 months ago I fell in love with surfing since I moved to this lazy surfing town in CA. I suck at it, I look like a dork, I'm sure I'll suck until I can practice a couple more years - but this board would come in handy for me.
a wi-fi camera mounted on the end of a hammer. Discovery channel hired me. It hurts to watch
So why doesn't the whole thing use eco-friendly wave power instead of batteries?(!)
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Monkey in a Bucket!
Not quite what you expected, huh?
2) Frito lay has announced they will begin to manufacture "computer chips", a new semiconducting snack to monitor your diet
3) Western digital announces that their new line of "hard drives" will dispense viagra (or cialis, based on customer preference)
4) Dragon announces a new line of "motherboard" which will actually reproduce and bear children
WWJD? JWRTFA!
This has got to be one of the dumbest ideas ever. Anyone who actually surfs will realize that this is an idiotic idea and a contradiction to the peaceful and overall concept of surfing.
I realize this may be marked as a troll, but the plain fact is that lots of people surf to get away from computers, cell phones, etc.
It works great until it gets wet.
-- No sig for you!
Does Dave Letterman know about this yet? Perhaps he could do.... WIPEOUT CAM! ;-)
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Who remembers this awesome idea?
The MSN iLoo
Too bad it turned out to be a hoax
I cant help but wondering the same thing...
Intel has way way too much money.
-Raydude
beatdown if its not water cooled
to the term "floating-point."
Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
word. ...and how do you see the display after you've waxed?
All your surfboards are belongs to us.
Surfboard... Check Sun block... Check
beach towel... Check
Sex Wax... Check
500' extension cord... Check
life insurance... hmmmmmmm...
flinging poop since 1969
Holy shit, those are some of the funniest pictures I have ever seen. That guy is a dead ringer for Milton from Office Space. Thank you for the laughs!
"Patience is not a virtue, it's a waste of time."
If there are computers in surf boards, we need computers in shoes, too. They would totally complement those Al Bundy shoe lights...
What's next? A web server in a football? I don't think they'll be selling many of these!
Jock 1> Hey dude, did you see the Gators play last night?
Jock 2> Yeah, they would've won if the ball didn't get slashdotted!
For those who are quick to think in binary, the phrase "Hang 10" will perhaps have new meaning...
...and Perth, Western Australia is way south of the Equator. If you want serious Australian temperatures, try Marble Bar, Pannawonica or Paraburdoo, all of which routinely hit and pass 50C (120F) in summer.
:-)
Apparently, places like Sudan are hotter, but we have much better beaches, including the not-named-in-jest "Eighty Mile Beach" up near Broome. And better waves. (-: And better tarts too.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing