Qi Hardware’s ultra-compact, open source Ben NanoNote (actually, 本 NanoNote) is now shipping for just $99. That will get you a bare bones device that can simply be used as a Linux-based “handheld laptop” out of the box or, as the company hopes, be turned into anything from a PMP to an offline Wikipedia device. (via Engadget)
Ubuntu’s new social ‘Me Menu’.
Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, is planning to overhaul the desktop panel and integrate social networking features in Ubuntu 10.04, codenamed Lucid Lynx. One of the key components of this effort is the Me Menu, which shipped in the Lucid alpha 3 last week.
New desktop wallpaper
I’ve had my previous wallpaper for about six months now, and have been itching to change it for a while.
Lettercase: The League of Movable Type’s social font manager
We want to change the perception of open source typography, and to do it, we’re doing some landscaping ourselves. […] We’re paying a lot of attention to Github, and in a broad sense, you can imagine Lettercase being a similar tool. Private & public projects, either for something you don’t want to share or for something open source; collaborators, working together on shared projects; forking, or duplicating existing projects, that both pay respects to the original creator & allow you to mess with it & make something new. These are important ideas that helped propel the crazy success of open source software, and we don’t see any reason typography can’t benefit from the same.
Google Chrome for Linux
It seems Google are now actively pushing Chrome on Linux users. Finally! The browsing experience on my netbook has been pretty rough: Firefox runs like an absolute pigdog. Epiphany is much better, but generally feels like a browser from half a decade ago, and Midori is much the same, but also tends to crash a lot.
NorhTec Gecko Surfboard: PC fits into keyboard, uses only five Watts
This looks like a neat toy. Cheap too, supposedly $99 with Linux and $150 with Windows XP.From linuxfordevices.com
Processor — Xcore86 (Vortex86MX) SoC clocked at 1.0GHz Memory — 512MB of DDR2 RAM Storage — SD/SDHC card or IDE-interfaced 2.5-inch hard disk drive Display — VGA and composite video output (resolution not specified) Networking:
- LAN — 10/100 Ethernet
- WLAN — 802.11b/g (optional)
- WAN — 3G module (optional)
Other I/O:
- 1 x VGA
- 1 x composite
- 2 x USB 2.0
- 1 x serial
- Audio — mic in and headphones out
Power requirements — 12VDC via AC adapter (requires only 5 Watts) Dimensions — n/s, but no larger than standard keyboard Weight — n/s Operating system — Linux or Windows XP
FontForge - Any other ways to build a typeface in Linux?
I have always had the ambition to design typefaces, but besides reading several books on the subject and creating one (very rough) font, I’ve not made any progress.Well, I still haven’t, but I have just installed FontForge. After much digging, it seemed to be the only real option for Linux (not that other Mac and Windows are exactly overflowing with options). I’m know Inkscape has some type-specific features - and I plan to explore these - but I really wanted to try a dedicated program. My first impression of FontForge was very negative - it looks old and rough around the edges. But I remember thinking the same of Fontographer (back when Macromedia owned it). The second impressions kicked in very quickly though: I really like the feel of the tools, everything is very quick to grasp. You seem to have a lot more contol than you get in a typical vector editor. It feels more precise - like CAD software, but still freeform - like you would expect a creative tool to be. Should be a fun project!
Fantasy GUIs
Mark Coleran’s portfolio of mock interface designs from movies has some lovely concepts. I wish more Linux distros looked like this out of the box. This is the kind of OS I want to drive!
Windows vs. Ubuntu, according to Dell
I don’t think this is a very fair comparison. ‘Open source programming’ my ass, the real selling feature is freedom, and they totally ignore that.
Of all the naff Linux propaganda art involving that bloody penguin, this is probably the best.
WikiReader
The WikiReader is a funky Hitch-Hikers Guide style gadget that gives you Wikipedia in your pocket. I love the form, the touchscreen, the low power consumption, the low price and that it uses a MicroSD card. You can subscribe to bi-annual updates and they will post you the cards, or you can download the (4GBs of) data yourself.
