MetaFilter posts tagged with Laptop

Brilliant folding power plug

five fresh fish — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:45:09 -0800

A brilliant industrial design (IMO) for a slimline UK power plug. The UK plug is an exceptionally chunky and large lump; a real pain in the computer satchel. This video shows what appears to be a manufacturable design that turns it into an elegant device. SLYT. The UK uses a "ring" wiring system (a habit developed during the post-war copper shortages). This means that for outlets in series, the single line carries all the amperage for the loop: there is no individual return circuit for each plug. Essentially, every damn plug in the house is like your kitchen stove 240V monster gonna-kill-you plug, so the plug is designed to help you not get killed. Built-in fuse. Monster blades. Safety plastic. Maybe a switch? Anyhoo, here's a SLYT where the designer demonstrates CAD and 3D-Printed prototypes. At first glance, I see no reason why this can not be a successful design. Pretty slick solution, at any rate. previously

Fewer Twitters with caffeine jitters?

Shepherd — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:36:43 -0800

According to the Wall Street Journal, coffee shops in New York are starting to cut back on laptops -- by reducing WiFi privileges, removing outlets, or banning the machines outright. This article has spawned a vast number of spin-off pieces and conversations across the Web. Meanwhile, the quest for a place to lounge in the glow of unlimited Internet use continues to be a beacon... even here on MetaFilter.

60 sticker-plastered Apple laptops

mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:22:35 -0800

60 sticker-plastered Apple laptops

Software to track stolen laptops

signal — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:32:28 -0800

Prey helps you find your stolen laptop by sending timed reports to your email with a bunch of information of its whereabouts. This includes the general status of the computer, a list of running programs and active connections, fully-detailed network and wifi information, a screenshot of the running desktop and — in case your laptop has an integrated webcam — a picture of the thief. Free as in the beer you have to buy them if you ever use it to recover a laptop.

Clever girl.

allkindsoftime — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:28:39 -0800

One Velociraptor Per Child

To the bastards that stole my laptop...

Geekyblonde — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:35:39 -0800

Steal *MY* laptop, will you? Now I can track you down like the pathetic dickmonkey you are. Wish you could sneak up on the asshole who stole your laptop and beat the crap out of him/her with a baseball bat? Now you can! Thanks to the beauty and glory of open source and OpenDHT, researchers at University of California, San Diego and University of Washington have created free software that enables you to track down your missing laptop. The Mac OS version even has an option to capture photos of the aforementioned scumbag so you can know your victim before you beat him/her senseless. (Note: I'm not saying that you *should* beat someone up for stealing your stuff, I'm just saying you *could*.)

Eeek!

Artw — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:36:45 -0800

Tips for getting ahead in the increasingly competitive low cost small laptop market: When you go to Getty Images, grab some stock photography of smiling kids in a classroom and photoshop in your product, you better make sure your competitor hasn't used the exact same image.

Charlie Rose, Black Eye, Saves "Air"

doug3505 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:24:19 -0800

Charlie Rose Suffers Black Eye to save Mac Book Air Charlie Rose fell while walking on a NYC street the other day. He tripped in a pot hole. Rose happened to be holding his new Mac Book Air. On the way to the ground he chose to protect the laptop, rather than his million dollar face. Picture on Salon link. {via salon.com}

OLPC

jeffburdges — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:05:01 -0800

Seen any O L P C news stories for christmas??

Give 1 Get 1

Laen — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:06:56 -0800

One Laptop Per Child - Give 1, Get 1 Started by Nicholas Negroponte, the One Laptop Per Child project aims to put inexpensive durable laptops into the hands of millions of children in developing countries with the idea that the best weapon against poverty is education. For a limited time, people in the US can buy an OLPC laptop for themselves, and send one to a child in a developing country for $399 via the Give One, Get One program.

HOMOPHONI

hama7 — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:19:19 -0800

HOMOPHONI

The coming of the tiny cheap computers

zabuni — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:28:21 -0800

Computers get cheap. While Microsoft has seen fit to require a whole new generation of computers to run its latest operating system, a number of manufacturers have started the creation of cheap notebook computers. The list includes the infamous Palm Foleo, mentioned here previously, and the OLPC, mentioned pretty much everywhere previously. But also coming soon is the Asus EEE, a $200-300 notebook running Linux. And Intel's alternative to the OLPC, the Classmate PC. Even as the low cost alternatives to standard computer start to come on sale, the prices for traditional laptops dip ever lower. Can the digital divide, at least hardware wise, be consigned to the dustbin of history?

Etch-a-laptop!

dabitch — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 05:34:18 -0800

Forget ink. These days you have to tattoo your laptop. See how it's made as makezine shows how they etched a very cool bunny infused Tsunami on a powerbok, also see these made by a real ink artist, and more images of the making of the tarsier Powerbook. For atari lovers, there's the Atari laptop.

Laptopalooza

aerotive — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:47:48 -0800

Ever wondered where your laptop's parts come from, what it's made of, or what toxins are in it?

Poison Apple

NinjaTadpole — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:14:40 -0800

Following the results of a report into the foul constituents of many laptop computers, Greenpeace have decided that the sincerest form of flattery may get results. Imitating the main brand, they call on image-conscious Apple and its dedicated fanbase to push for a better product and a better world: "I love my Mac. I just wish it came in green."
[via]

Dude, you're getting a lame joke about the Dell battery recall!

kyleg — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:30:27 -0800

Due to recent fires, Dell is recalling over four million laptop batteries manufactured by Sony and sold worldwide in the past two years. Pictures of computers on fire (as well as their charred remains) circulated widely online, not allowing the company to easily dismiss the problem as an isolated incident. Other companies claim their products aren't affected by the same issues, but the nightmare might not be limited to Dell. The future of laptops on airplanes is not looking so good.

OLPC name $100 laptop

davehat — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:32:38 -0800

Al Jazeera have the scoop on the new name for OLPC's ~~$100~~ $140 dollar laptop.<via olpcnews.com>

broken laptop

bluefin — Fri, 26 May 2006 08:55:03 -0800

If you are going to sell a broken laptop on ebay, make sure you wipe the harddisk first (some photos NSFW)

One Laptop per Child

paulsc — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:41:50 -0800

A $100 Laptop for Every Kid. With a plan to distribute up to 15 million rugged, innovative, and very low cost laptop computers by the end of 2007, MIT Media Labs may be calling Steve Ballmer's year old bluff, in ways commercial vendors haven't. [more inside]

The eyes keep following me!

KevinSkomsvold — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:54:05 -0800

Build your own walltop computer. Take the guts out of an old laptop, stuff them into a picture frame and have a slide show hanging on your wall. This is uber-geeky but cool.

I'm thinking safe storage of my laptop in the backseat of my car with the door that doesn't lock

angry modem — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 15:13:50 -0800

I see Johnson has brought his pizza to the meeting again.

Accident waiting to happen.

radio_mookie — Fri, 26 Dec 2003 08:37:37 -0800

Laptop Steering Wheel Mount - Mount your laptop on your car's steering wheel? - Accident waiting to happen... Sure you are supposed to use it while parked but we all see idiots in traffic doing everything from applying make-up to reading the newspaper. Doesn't anybody just drive their car anymore?

Baked Apple

kirkaracha — Tue, 04 Feb 2003 09:45:41 -0800

Baked Apple. "PowerBook G4 cooked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The machine still booted, video and all..." [details at MacFixIt; no permalink]

sanitycheck — Thu, 03 Oct 2002 09:10:23 -0800

Evolution Robotics has just released the ER1 kit, which allows laptop owners to turn their machine into a robot. Users can point-and-click to link pre-defined behaviours together in order to "train" the robot for specific tasks (such as fetching a beer from the fridge) and can share these tasks with other robot owners by posting them on the company's website