OLPCXOLPotD: "Waiting for XO" TheVlog 20071213 +More XO Stuff

TheVlog for 20071213: I'm performing day 2 of my absurdist one-act play: "Waiting for XO".



Man, I hope it has a happier ending than the Beckett play!!
Mobile post sent by thepete using Utterz.  Replies.

OK, the above was everything I posted on Utterz, but since you came to ThePete.Com, you also get:

MORE XO NEWS!! WAHOO!

SO, here we go, Utterer Fricka Utterz on an XO-related BBC News article that let's a 9 year-old British kid named Rufus review the XO laptop. Here's a cutting:

"I just seemed to work it out. It was rather easy. I didn't even need help." Surprise, surprise, his first discovery was a game. "I found Block Party. It's like Tetris. I'm now up to Level 7."

I thought my young games fanatic might stick there but he moved on. "Then I discovered paint. You can use pencils, change the texture, use different sizes of brush."

Even better, there was an animation programme called Etoys.

"That's my favourite.You make things. You can see tutorials and demos. Then you can make a new project. I've made a crazy UFO which you can move."

But Rufus says it isn't just about play.

"I use the calculator - that can be rather useful for sums. You can even browse onto the internet. You can watch and learn stuff. You can write things and it can also remind you which is extremely useful."

What, I asked, does a nine year old need to remind himself about? "Christmas stuff," he said, with an air of mystery.

So, it's a computer so simple even a kid can learn how to use it. A BRITISH kid, no less!! ;)

What's even cooler is that Rufus goes on to say that he learned some Spanish from the kids in Nigeria--it seems he worked out how to use the XO to communicate with kids with other XOs. This makes me want mine even more!!! ARG!!

This brings me to an OLPCNews.com post on using the XO to communicate blogged by Robert Arrowsmith. See, the XO comes with Mesh networking technology which is essentially like a macro-WiFi (I think I'm using "macro" properly here) in that it allows you to create a Wide Area Network (WAN) with other XO laptops. You can then share files, apps (or "Activities" as they're called on the XO), even an Internet connection. What's amazing about Mesh is that it's range is said to be over half-a-mile--1 kilometer to be specific. Of course, I'll try to put that to the test, assuming any other XOers in the LA area want to hang out. :)

The nice thing about Arrowsmith's article is that, in the comments, we learn all sorts of other stuff about the XO and the Internet. Apparently, it not only spots XO users, but also, through your WiFi connection, spots other people on your network and on the Internet who are connected to the same Jabber network as you. The XO uses a Jabber network to connect other XOs but (I believe) it can also be used by other 'net users.

Finally, from the gadget-freak files, we have an awesome "Calvin and Hobbes" parody comic stript totally captures where most of us XOers are mental-state-wise. I liken it to the days leading up to the purchase of my first iPod back in 2003--a period in my life I recreated for a storyline in my Otis the Elevator comic, which you can check out at http://thepete.com/otis. I need to draw more. Perhaps, with the help of the XO, I will!

Anyway, so the strip is a riot and it's by DeviantArt-user Torokun be sure to check out his other art or swing by the OLPCNews post I found the strip at originally.

Also, stay tuned at ThePete.com for news on the unboxing of my XO when it arrives. That'll come later today.

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Orignal From: OLPCXOLPotD: "Waiting for XO" TheVlog 20071213 +More XO Stuff