My XO laptop has arrived!

<--- Side by side, the XO laptop and my old Sony VAIO laptop.

From time to time, I've mentioned in this blog about "zero-cost computing" and the "$100 laptop". Well, this is the XO laptop, Nicholas Negroponte's contribution to education in the third world.

For a limited time, Americans and Canadians could participate in their G1G1 program, Give One Get One.

My contribution has helped to give one XO laptop... and from that deal, I also get one for myself. The price went up a little bit ($200 per laptop), but nonetheless, this is one heck of a laptop for that price.


<--- again, side by side, the XO laptop, seemingly dwarfed by fancy schmancy VAIO... with all its war marks. :) On the far left, the XO's 110V transformer and on the forefront a 30cm / 12-inch ruler.

One powerful impression... the XO is *very* sturdy. On a whim I would trade my VAIO for that little laptop!

When traveling, the stuff we carry can take a severe beating and a few times I've been worrying for my old VAIO. It makes you wondering why they don't build those expensive laptops like the XO!

After I unpacked the XO, there was a bit of deception. Why? Well, you were supposed to get a taste of how it's going to be... in the field.

For instance, the 110V wall transformer is nice here in America, but infrastructure being a problem in most third world countries, finding a wall outlet can be a problem.

On the internet I saw long discussions about solar panels, hand-crank generators and how XO's electricals have been designed to tolerate an extremely wide range of DC input voltage. There's none of that in the shipment.

Also missing is documentation. (There's a small flyer telling you very basic things, and then you're instructed to log on their web site for more infos. Mhhhh... )

For the same reason, to have a feel of what it's going to be in real life, I would love to see some educational materials (or to cut costs, links to the electronic version of these documents) that would come with the laptop.

So basically, from the G1G1 program, you get a laptop... and that's that as far as you are concerned. I hope for the donated XO laptop, it's another story.

In evaluating the XO laptop, you have to remind yourself that it's operating... in the Western world, which the XO is *NOT* designed for. So certain things are bound to happen, such as this screen, immediately after booting up.

<--- It remembers the wi-fi access point it was on the previous time... but *NOT* its password! So everytime I boot up the XO, I have to type the password of my wi-fi access point. Dang, another password to remember. :)

In Africa, most likely it wouldn't be a problem (who would be crazy to password protect an access point? Even more so... in a school ?!?).

Besides, the XO has a "mesh" wireless system to talk to other XO laptops (which seems to be the old Wi-Fi peer-to-peer mode), so an access point isn't really required.

One good thing, its Wi-fi antennas (those rabbit ears) have excellent range. It sees a lot more Wi-Fi signals than my VAIO laptop!


One feature I like, the screen can swivel, just like with those high-end laptops, and then you navigate with those buttons on each side of the screen.

It takes a little while to get used, but I love it!

I didn't have time to play much with the XO. There are some fun creative applications I want to play with (TamTamJam and Turtle graphics to name a few).

Its web browser is decent. Most web sites display well. One footnote: It doesn't handle Flash animation, but again, I'm in North America, so to be fair, I shouldn't apply our standards.

I might even add that there are some hidden benefits. Some of the most annoying ads are done in Flash... therefore they become invisible with this browser, heh! :)

All in all, this XO laptop is a great laptop. I'm impressed!

Wanna play with my XO? :)

Cheers,

-E

Chaotic triumph...

<--- Again, do I need to say anything? :) L'Arc de Triomphe. (Also called "Place de l'Etoile", and I was a bit surprised it got renamed again as "Etoile-Charles-de-Gaulle". Huh ?!? It always surprises me, with this crazy traffic whizzing all around L'Arc de Triomphe , and how discipline is a word that exists only in a dictionary, and this is especially true in Paris...

I was there observing for a while, this sheer docile maddness...

Amazing, just amazing...

An amazing nothingness! No accidents! No one injured!

In total chaos, comes order. People do get from point A to point B... apparently safe and sound... seemingly against all odds!!!

Cheers from Paris!

-E

Douce France.... / Modern " arts "...

<--- Do I need to say anything? :D

This is Paris' Inutshuk. Cough cough. :D

Yow... Talk about a cultural clash... and yet, at 10,000km away from each other and also being about 100 years apart (I'm referring to Vancouver's *true* Inukshuk on English Bay Beach, they both mean the same.

Inukshuk, they can be found in Western Canada and they mean "I was here".

Now, if you're a tourist and you come to Paris... what is the symbol you're looking for, the most striking one, of all... even it's been taken in photos a million of times?

[i]La Tour Eiffel[/i]. The Eiffel Tower. Probably close in second rank... [i]L'Arc de Triomphe[/i]. But I'm allowed one photo here.

Why the Eiffel Tower?

*I* was there. That's why! You have to be there, to feel its weight (well figuratively, of course! :) ).

To feel the distance from where I come from.

To me, to feel the boomerang effect. I'm back to my origins, in a way. Home in Montréal. Home is also Paris.

So, for that one mighty photo that FC allows me to put... What photo represents Paris? Yup, _that_ tower.

It's interesting, like many modern buildings, its art wasn't appreciated.

You probably know, without even visiting Paris, that when the tower was built, many people said that it was the most ugliest "pile of metal" sitting in Paris... and it was a very close call that The Eiffel Tower got demolished.

Imagine today! Paris without its Eiffel Tower? That tickles the imagination, a little bit.

So like many things... that defy orders, rules, conventional wisdoms... things that were deemed... ugly, provocative, shocking...

... are valuable, nice... are fully appreciate... *later*.

I was thinking of CongueroSeattle... and about the Seattle Library downtown, and things he said about that new building...

... Yet, it's a construction that recalls a bit the Montreal's biosphere (Expo'67) or even Vancouver's Science World (on a smaller scale for Expo '86). A simple geometric design, repeated millions of times.

And the sharp criticism all these buildings have gathered during their construction.

A pile of metals, people said. Ugly! Get rid of that junk!

And yet later... how we treasure them.

La Veille Dame, The Old Lady... is going well. Very well for her 100th year. :D

(Not showing on the photo, there was quite a light show to observe).

Cheers,

-E

PS: It was a balmy day today in Paris, after a rather damp and rainy morning. The sun came out, and it was a mix of clouds and sun all afternoon long... along with a nice +12C (mid 50s). No complaints.

Oh my feet!!! Walk and walk and walk, and grateful for Martine to show me Paris, with her own eyes!

It would have taken many days, along a tour of the museum... but what could be done in a day, from dawn to dusk... has been done.

Oh... enjoying bistrots while on our way.

It felt good, very good.

Voicemail to SMS text message...

I'm awfully behind in checking my mails.

A friend of mine has sent me this link. Rogers (who also owns the Fido brand name) is one of the three cellphone service providers in Canada. They announce a brand new service for cellphone users: Voicemail to SMS text messages.

(Of course, knowing Rogers, they'll charge top dollars for that service :) ).

They have implemented voice recognition software on their voicemail service. It understands several languages (English, French, German, Spanish).

So you can receive as a text message, what people are leaving on your voice mailbox.

Ahh... the wonders of computers. :)

Since Canada is trailing terribly, compared to the States and Europe, I would bet that they all have that for a long time... but it's coming to Canada. At last.

In the article I mentioned earlier, there's something that ticks me off:

-------

“It’ll appeal to a broad customer base … people who are in meetings quite regularly and can’t take a phone call; it’s very useful in those settings,” commented Alltel’s senior vice president of product management, Wade McGill. “It was one of those services that once you get it, you don’t want to give it up,” he added, describing the reaction of a product test group.

-------

Ooookay. What about people who are functionally hard of hearing (my case). What about deaf people? I'd bet they'd be delighted

It's often the problem with new technology. What their inventors think of the real audience of their new technology... and how it really turns out in reality...

Anyway, that's probably old news to everyone else, but I figure that's news still worthy enough for mention here.

Now, time to pack my luggage... or I'll miss my plane!!!

Cheers,

-E

Think spacially, express yourself spacially!

If you've been wondering why I like computers... :)

It's a bit by accident that I went to computer programming. It challenges my mind in a great way, and I'm paid for that. It's difficult to find a better job!

When I went to the university, my approach was that computers can help us, human beings. Whether to compensate for our own deficiencies... whether to provide an environment, to fully express ourselves and to organize our thoughts in ways that make sense. Computers have become powerful enough... that we are getting to that point.

Think spacially, express spacially. Also a matter of going beyond words... beyond links. It's all about... people.

Zubie has sent me the URL of this YouTube video:


PS: The music is pretty cool! The question is there: Is the machine us/ing us or are we using the machine to be... ourselves? (I rather think of the latter). A new breed of humans will result? Mhhhh... not so sure.

PPS: I enjoy a lot the end of the video. I agree that we need to rethink a lot of things. Enjoy the video!

PPPS: Have you noticed how writing text has been... non-linear? Up and down, left and right? Welcome to the realm of visual thinkers! :)

On a related topic:

Are you left brain or right brain? Here's the link to an interesting article: Right Brain vs Left Brain. Is the female dancer spinning to the right or to the left? It depends. (To make the dancer spinning, click on the miniature photo on the left).

If you think the animated .GIF picture is rigged, try this experiment with a laptop, or with an LCD screen which you can hold... sideway.

All of a sudden, you'll see the dancer spinning in the other direction. (If it doesn't work, place the monitor or laptop the other way around).

Better, if you can hold the monitor at the point the dancer spins in opposite direction, you'll likely see the dancer spinning one way and then the other way.

A proof that the .GIF animated picture isn't "rigged". It's up to your mind, and how it decodes reality.

Oh, my cubicle!

If you've been wondering why I traveled so much last year...

See Clevergirl's blog entry. The danger of the mighty cubicle world!!!

Since I value my sanity... this is why I spent so much time on the road, heh! :)

I hope you'll enjoy the giggles. :)

(And the fact that it's so true!!!)

Cheers!

-E

Hibernation... on the fast lane.

I love those quirky titles. :)

First thing first, to all my fellow bloggers... a Happy New Year!

Yup, we all made it. It's 2008. Incredible, isn't it? :D

I wish to all of you... Health, Happiness. The rest is also nice to have, I agree. :)

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<--- Photo taken this morning. I don't remember seeing so much snow so early in the winter season. Still four looooong months to go. If it continues to snow at this rate... mhhh, it's going to be interesting!!!

My house will _really_ be an igloo!!! :)

----

-I'm back from celebrating the new day with my parents. It goes without saying I couldn't leave Canada, on such an important day.

I've millions things to do, and on day like this one, it's windy, it's cold and it is snowing...

The urge to stay in my cavern, err... igloo is there. Sigh!!!

- Just finished the job (Yay!). However, I've to make preparations for the trip to France... and of course I have to hunt for those little sweet treats we have "in America" (I wish they say Québec, or as a last resort, Canada. If you have family relatives on the Old Continent, no matter where you are on the NEW Continent, it's America, and that's that! Whether basking in an igloo or wearing a sombrero, you come from America! :) ).

- Got the luggage packed with my stuff.

- Last tour of e-mail. Sigh... it's scary the amount of new mails. I must get done before leaving.

- I must see my landlord. Again, she will check my apartment everyday (and for Albertine, the garden spider. She has a big kick on her!).

It's not that I'm overly cautious, but in winter time in a nordic country like mine, there are extra steps that must get done while you're away at this time of the year. Otherwise, insurance companies won't pay. Mumble... mumble... mumble...

- A talk with Gamin and Filou. Once again, they'll be in the hands of my mom. Nor they understand much, but "the talk" is important for me. After all, these cats are my babies :) (If you're a cat owner, you understand what I mean. :) ). There's also the big guilt trip to leave them behind... even if I know they'll be in *VERY* good hands. :)

That being said, there's another weird feeling, because my cats don't miss much my absence. With my mom, they are pampered. She cooked for them all sorts of great meals (I wish I had the time to do so!), they are groomed and groomed (and they love that!) and they'll get all other niceties. Did I mention that my mom loves cats? :)

It feels as if they want to stay with my mom, when I come back. Sheesh. :)

- Laptop? Check. It will work on 220V.

- I have a bunch of adapters for those round wall outlets in Europe. It's in the luggage. (Yeah I know, I'm sure you have done this: leaving them at home!!! :) )

- Digicam charger? Check. It will also work fine on 220V.

- Ditto for the cellphone charger, and I spent a good deal of time with customer service yesterday, to make sure that the cellphone I have will work in France, and then to activate international roaming... and then asking a few basic things...

How do I dial an European phone number on a *Canadian* cellphone, if I have to? And vice in the versa, which numbering scheme I use when calling back to Canada when I'm in France? Answer: It's bisexual. :)

A bit of both numbering schemes. Not exactly like in Europe, not exactly like in Canada, but it's a bit of both. Roaming rates? Nawww... you don't want to know. I just hope there won't be any emergencies requiring the use of my cellphone, whether in France or in Canada.

-Got maps, guides all tucked in said luggage

-Now, if I can find time to sloooooooooow down and relax!!!

Yup, hibernation on the fast lane, it feels that way.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Cheers,

-E