DISQUS

The cost of being "green" is higher than status quo. With budgets shrinking to dangerous levels, who is going to pay for these very expensive "green" initiatives? Oh sure, putting solar cells on all building roofs will save a few dollars a year -- we here in the Southeast and our tropical summer climate have daily rain showers and clouds -- but the cost of installing the solar cells is too much for any particular budget year.

If these "watermelons" -- "green" on the outside "red" on the inside -- want universities to go "green", they should put their money where their mouth is and fund an endowment to pay for these expensive "green" initiatives.

You had me up until "no HDMI" although the Intel GMA950 did sour it until the deal breaker at the end. I already have an Asus B202, so the only thing the MSI has is the DVD-RW drive. If I didn't already have the B202, I'd be more interested in the CS120.

Once someone comes out with a model with HDMI, and preferably something better than an Intel GMA, I'll be ready to buy.

Or... and here's a wild thought... since it is a "cap", just cut off access when you reach the cap? And have a procedure where one can call a 1-800 number to authorize going over the cap. Presumably one has to use client software to use the wireless adapter as a modem, the software can warn the user as they approach their monthly cap, and when they reach the cap, to require the user to approve going over the cap.

You might be able to make an abacus for $10. That could be described as a "computer", right?

Or maybe they'll use discarded surplus computer parts from a toxic waste dump in China to build frankencomputers. That can probably be done for $10.

Or the government will use XO computers and pay for them with Monopoly money (or whatever they got over there) and sell them to government schools for $10 with no thought as to how much they REALLY cost to produce. If the sticker price for a full computer is $10, even though (in the real world) the keyboard alone costs $10, it's still a "$10 computer" even though somebody took a $190 loss for what costs (in the real world) $200.

This would certainly be more useful as a HTPC if it had a discrete video adapter and a HDMI port. As it is, it is IMHO one step above the Asus Eee Box B202. The main difference is the addition of a DVD drive.

I'm waiting for the Asus Eee box B203/B204 (if memory serves me correctly) which has the discrete video adapter and HDMI.

I agree, "Easy Peasy" is the *worst* name in the world for a Linux distro. At least "Ubuntu Eee" sounded reasonable and had name recognition. "Easy Peasy", on the other hand, sounds like a Hasbro product as a toy for toddlers.

If someone asks what OS you're running, and you say "Easy Peasy", the first thing they are going to do is laugh their ass off.

I hope this is a joke and he'll give it a reasonable name on 1 January.

This may also be a laughable question but what would be faster: 1.6 GHz Atom or 1.2 GHz Celeron? Both are single core but Atom is hyperthreaded. Some applications, e.g., Folding@Home, can only use one core so it only uses half of an Atom CPU but it would theoretically use all of a Celeron. Yes, the Celeron would run hotter and consume more power than Atom, but it's not a power hog like a full Core 2 Duo, et al.

Hey, that's a good point! Surely a modem can't be that expensive or take up that much space. These little low power boxes don't NEED gigabit connections. One could argue that the wireless network adapter is overkill.

There are more usb wireless network adapters than there are usb modems out there. For a low cost low power computer, it would be good for someone who doesn't have an expensive broadband connection. A low cost dialup isp would be more appropriate for someone to get basic internet connectivity.

I agree with you, Nate. A modem would be more appropriate for these boxes than, say, wireless or a gigabit network adapter. It would certainly expand the potential customer base to those who don't have a broadband connection.

According to the photos on Newegg (http://bit.ly/khYS), the keyboard of the blue version looks awesome. Or at least, much better than my Asus Eee 900 keyboard. I like that the right shift key is in the correct location (instead of the next county like Asus does).

I am soooo tempted to get one except I already have a 900 and a B202. Maybe I'd get more use from the NC10 than the 100 because of the larger display and larger (and better layout) keyboard? I could get one for less via personal purchase from a vendor with my employer, but they never had the blue model in stock. I am tempted to bite the bullet and get it from Amazon.

Or I can put that $500 in the bank for a rainy day. Decisions, decisions!

Grr! The white is available but not the blue. Yes a linux version would be nice, but I'm sure Linux can always be installed if XP is too slow. Although I'd pop in extra RAM to give it a fair chance.

I found it available for pre-order on GovConnection (the personal purchase side of the site) for $470. According to the site, it is the version with XP, 160 GB hard drive, and 6-cell battery.

I already have an Eee PC 900 (when it had the rebate). From what I've read about the NC10, it looks like a better keyboard layout. The Eee keyboard layout is a PITA especially when I keep hitting the wrong keys when reaching for the bottom row keys.

I don't know. I know I shouldn't but it looks cool, and the larger screen and keyboard would make it a bit easier to use than the 900.

At least now he knows how he will be eulogized by the media and be able to correct any errors. :-)

As Bender said, "thank you for giving me a reason to live by showing me how much my funeral would suck."

That will DEFINITELY get confiscated by the TSA! They confiscated a guys' homebrew battery pack for his portable DVD player because *somebody* might *think* it was an explosive device.

This is soooo tempting! First I had my heart set on a MSI Wind, but then they broke my heart a couple times. Then I had my heart set on a 901, but ASUS has broken my heart by not making the 20G with Linux available until later.

Doesn't the 901 also have the over/under-clock button that the 900 doesn't have?

"One unintended consequence of plans like these are that they could discourage customers from watching TV and video online."

That's why they're doing it. They want people to watch their cable TV (and ads) and not watch TV and movies online.

"Comcast is going to test an alternative, which I find much more compelling. It involves slowing the transfer of files to individual subscribers who are its heaviest users during congested period."

I like the idea but the problem with this is how do they define "heaviest users"? Are the "heaviest users" the P2P folks who suck up all the bandwidth trading illegal copyrighted material? Are they the folks watching Hulu or [legally] downloading movies from Netflix, thus taking away from cable TV's ad revenue? Or are the "heaviest users", as defined by Time Warner Cable in Texas, those who download more than 5 GB/month?

If "IP addresses identify a computer, not the person using it. It’s not possible to determine your identity solely based on your IP address." All they have to do then is subpena the ISP to find out who you are and then say, "while we can't say that you were the one who did it, it was your computer which was your property and in your possession and since possession is 9/10 of the law, we can safely say that it was you who did it. So give us half of everythign you own or we'll sue and take all of it."

This is the same myopic thug tactics that the RIAA takes. They don't have to prove that anyone accessessed the files, but because you left file sharing enabled on your Win XP computer, you are automatically guilty.

If IP addresses is not personally-identifying information like the judge and Google says, then IP addresses cannot be used by Viacom or RIAA in their lawsuits. But then again, judges have ruled that RIAA does not have to prove damages, i.e., prove that anyone downloaded files from your hard drive or that you downloaded files from someone else's hard drive, to win their case. The RIAA (and now Viacom) just have to say that you are guilty in their opinion, and the court will rubber stamp agree with them.

I think the big surprise is Iran. I would not have guessed that they had 100K computers, much less 100K users able to download FF3.

China is an oppressive regime but they have a lot of people so even a small fraction will give them >100K.

I'd *love* to help them with their goal as soon as they offer the 901 for sale in the U.S. This stimulus rebate check is burning a hole in my pocket. :-)

Whatever happen to Michael Fey? Did he survive his six strokes of the cane?

Did he continue to run wild through the streets of Singapore vandalizing property? Are you booking a flight to Singapore to run wild and vandalize property? If the answer to both questions is "no", I'd say that the punishment served it's purpose.

You did forget to mention in one paragraph that if you say something on Mashable that is just plain stupid (as opposed to civilly or criminally actionable), you are subject to the readership calling you an idiot. :-)

But you are right in one regard. People are filled with their own sense of "rights" but choose to not acknowledge that with those rights come "responsibilities" and "consequences". People get offended and upset when someone responds negatively to something they say. As if they have the right to say whatever they want but nobody has the right to respond except in the affirmative.

If you do something that you know is illegal and you get into trouble for it, don't whine and moan and beg for help from your fellow travelers. Take your punishment like a man and accept responsibility for your actions.

I'm running Win XP SP2.

I don't know what version of Firefox 3 RC2 and Portable Firefox 3 RC2 y'all are running because I have a COMPLETELY different experience than you.

Portable Firefox 3 RC2 (and RC1 and it's predecessor) runs EXTREMELY VERY SLOWLY. Even with no add-ons, it runs extremely very slowly. Even after adding some of my usual add-ons, it still runs exactly as extremely very slowly. It takes forever for the application to load. It takes forever for my home page to load. It takes forever for ANY web page to load, including GMail.

Firefox 2.0.0.14 is lightning fast compared to Firefox 3. Of course when Firefox 2 was just an RC, I thought it was slow as molasses compared to Firefox 1.5.

IMHO, Firefox 3 is the MS Vista. Sure, you can tell me how much better and cooler it is, but it runs like a dog and doesn't do what it is supposed to do.

What is the latest word of when the 901 w/ Linux will be going on sale? I've got a few C notes burning a hole in my pocket.

I think either Dell already has or had an ultraportable laptop or I saw a guy who time-traveled from the future. I was in a meeting where a guy a couple rows in front of me had a tiny Dell laptop. It was very small, maybe a 9" display, laptop running Win XP. I looked on the Dell websites but couldn't find anything with a <10" display that wasn't a tablet or something completely different than a laptop form factor.

These obscenely wealthy musicians, e.g., U2, are all for other people giving their money away to other people, e.g., governments taking individuals' income away by force and giving it to Marxist/Islamist/what-not third-world countries. But when it comes to interfering with their free flow of income, they get all ticked off.

If U2 wants people to be forced to give up their income to be squandered by others, then it is only fair that the people get some recompense from U2. It's only fair!