Some Asus EEE PC resources

The EEE PC (all the good names are evidently taken) is a wildly popular tiny laptop Linux PC with no hard drive. Here are some good links:

The Asus US EEE home page. (link)

A frequently updated blog, with a wiki, FAQS and active discussion groups. (link)

Another good blog. (link)

A big collection of EEE hardware hacks. (link)

A long, informative and entertaining introductive video, from ITIDIOTS. (link)

My personal interest in the EEE is as a super-calculator, to replace my TI Voyage 200 and HP 50G calculators. It is also a good opportunity for me to learn Linux, and get more familiar with open-source math packages, and probably a little bit of C, too.

I have long toyed with the idea of the super-calculator, which would have the advantages of current state-of-the-art calculators, without their disadvantages, mainly speed and low-resolution monochrome displays. The EEE PC looks like the ideal hardware platform for that project, and, since it runs Linux, there is plenty of free math software available.

The disadvantages are not showstoppers in my case. The typical battery life is about 3 to 5 hours, which is laughably shorter than the typical month I get from four AAAs in my Voyage 200. One of the biggest graphing calculator advantages is instant-on; reports are that the EEE boots up in about 30 seconds. This is too long, but I may be able to shorten that up. Another disadvantage is that the calculator has dedicated, specific function keys. Might just have to suffer with this.

Friday floobydust: The Hobbit, crocheted dinosaur skulls, and more!

Here is an audio interview with John Rateliff, author of History of the Hobbit. You can find this, along with a 70th anniversary edition of The Hobbit, at Amazon.

From Makezine: The 'Cloud' digital sculpture at Heathrow Terminal 5. This is a large, kidney-bean (sort of) shaped contraption incorporating thousands of small disks which can be flipped from a black side to a reflective side under computer control. Includes a video. A little disappointing, in that the animations are very ordered and repetitive - why not Conway's Game of Life?

Also from Make: if you've got a power screwdriver and a propane torch, you can make your own coffee roaster. (This is only the first page of the magazine article, but the picture is worth it).

Finally, the crocheted dinosaur skull.

Here is the home page for Makezine.