Slashdot Mirror
A Scooter With Everything (For Certain Values of Everything)
An anonymous reader writes "The folks over at Thought Lab have produced an extremely high-density mobile computing platform in a scooter and have been kind enough to teach us all how to make our own! The end result was a rolling system capable of long-distance war driving, GPS navigation, Skype calls on the road, serving as an Internet hot spot or a low-power pir8 radio station, as well as recording your favorite TV program so you don't miss Lost because you are lost. If that's not over the top enough, you can actually drive your scooter to, say, the Grand Canyon, plug in your electric guitar and perform live over the Web at a whim!"
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
There was some guy who had a bicycle with all sorts of electronics on it about twenty years ago. He had an Internet connection using VHF amateur radio. He kept adding on more stuff, and ended up with a trailer on the bike and pedaling in low gear all the time.
Today, it's kind of silly. Devices in the iPhone size class can do almost everything, so building all this gear into a vehicle is kind of pointless.
That and Torrent Spy.
Clearly it does not include a spelling checker.
This seems to be impractical to leave on the street while you run into your local coffee shop or 7-11 for a drink. I also suspect that it wouldn't hold up to an accident very well.
High density mobile computing platform rolls right off the tongue. puts the geek in geek scooter.
if you get the grand canyon, don't stop at the ledge, keep going!
Here we have the USB Camera pointing out of the front of the scooter where the horn normally would be.
I suppose this is so you can capture the final expressions of horror from your victims as you crush them under the weight of your super-accessorized, all-powerful scooter from hell.
In all seriousness, this is a pretty neat build. Convergence to the point of absurdity is always fun.
I got a catholic block.
Scooters get better gas mileage than a car but if you are war driving maybe you need more privacy since some people still get tagged for war driving. Usually vibration is less in a car. I wonder how far they can drive before the connections become loose and the whole apparatus stops working?
Really, "pir8" -- not "pirate?" Wow, /. is so 1337 (rolleyes).
everything in moderation
Though range and speed would have been decreased greatly, the geekness factor could have been increased by putting all this equipment on a segway.
If it doesn't get as least 100 miles to the gallon, it shouldn't be allowed on the streets. Think fuel economy!
Profanity - The sign of a small mind trying to express itself.
To imagine a beowolf cluster of these?
cook my hot pockets?
Power does not corrupt - power attracts the corrupt.
before all of that crap is stolen!
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
..if it starts raining? That screen would get pretty messed up.
Jack My Ride!!
Well, this would be an interesting theft magnet. On the other hand, if you could set up the GPS with a script that would call home to a Web server with a location whenever it was able to get on wifi, it make recovery a bit easier.
Of course, it's not much help if the thing gets gutted, and it requires the computer to be powered up, but it could be an interesting idea.
Saying "I'll probably get modded down for this" in a post is the best way to get it modded up.
The ability to regain your self respect, dignity and your masculinity....because I'm sure riding that thing would really scream "PANSY".
WTF? Over?
Will it run Linux?
'sig' deleted due to the stupidity of it's 'nature'
Steve Roberts. Eventually the bike became too heavy to pedal (more or less), and he switched to a small boat. Eventually his small boat became to heavy to get around (more or less) so Steve got a big 44 foot sailboat. Sellout :-) But I think it beats sleeping in a wet sleeping bag every night.
http://microship.com/
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
is that it's full of idiots who think anyone wants them to drive a scooter to the Grand Canyon, plug in a guitar, and perform live on the web.
They should have chosen a better vehicle. Perhaps something like this they could have integrated the screen into the console and made it a really sweet ride. Somebody want to gift one to me so I can build it and post the results?
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
or at least a Gold Wing, I might be tempted. There's throughput and then there's speed....
Invenio via vel creo
pee wee?
I applied for a programming job there once. A couple of years later, a bunch of them jumped ship and wound up working for the company I work for now. I swear some of the guys over there make normal geeks look like hormone-enraged jocks.
..is to make you look like such a nerd that women will avoid you like the plague.
Is the pole on the back so you can pick up chicks and have them dance? At least you'd know why the guy behind you was following so close. Big screen plus being in traffic... I bet officers handing out tickets would get some very interesting excuses.
The mount on the LCD looks like it was made out of tin and I guarantee you that the LCD vibrates enough to be unreadable even on idle, let alone moving. Not to mention the LCD is going to act as a great sail to catch wind and crank your bars to the right in a wind gust.
What an ugly, slipshod project. Look, you can bolt a bunch of consumer shit to a piece of Plexi. Is that power regulated or are you just praying that the + line sits somewhere around 12V with no spikes?
Also, due to the inappropriate 10-15 degree backtilt on the omni 802.11 antenna, you're not going to get good wireless signal in a roughly 120-180 degree arc centered on the front of the scooter. Homeboys need to learn how to pack a deployable mast and Yagi for real DX 802.11. Terrible antenna placement for proper radio usage.
Also, the scooter is likely illegal now due to their thoughtful removing of the horn.
Verdict: Needs more pointless tech, NOS. You can rep geek rice WAY better than this, fellas.
Hey Taco! Looks like you're using the "infinite monkeys and typewriters" scheme to generate Ask Slashdots again...
Let me know & I'll tear all the gear off. Plus the Yamaha Vino 125 is one of the most expensive similar sized scooters out there @ $2700 base price. Adding what appears to be another $1000 bucks to that and making it useless in the rain coupled with an inability to park it anywhere, well I'm left wondering WTF good it is.
True. And of course one needs a Bluetooth antenna to hijack all those BMW sound systems ... if you can keep up on a scooter.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1c-jzYAH2gw
Back to the scooter; the camera's facing the wrong way. I am quasi-seriously thinking of a rearview camera on my bike; the
forward view is 100% and superior to any car, the rear view not so hot - my shoulders block the mirrors and there's a blind spot
right behind...
I use a scooter as my primary means of transport. I actually own 4 right now. I can see some value in the radio or repeator type things but most of it isn't needed. What I could use on a scooter is a cig lighter. That direct access to the scooters power system would be nice and with it you could plug any of the things on their list into it and go.
Though I have thought about installing an amp and a guitar jack in the past. It just seems so perfect for getting away so you can jam where people won't get in your way.
Ascii artist &
I would also add a satellite data link for those times when you are out in the wilderness with no wifi signals...
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain