sugar
Computers
Windows XP On OLPC Gets Slowly Tested
12:30AM John Mahoney | We showed you the first footage of an OLPC booting the official Windows XP installation back in June, but now Laptop has given the XP-sporting XO a quick round of testing, and unsurprisingly, things are a bit sluggish. The XO’s hardware has gone unchanged for the XP edition, so Windows boots off of an SD card which also packs Office, IE, and other apps. While IE fired up in five seconds, the OS took 1 minute 24 seconds to boot, and no one should be surprised that multitasking on the little guy’s 256MB of RAM was not fun. Mesh networking is also not making it to the Windows version, unfortunately, but kids can still dual-boot into the Sugar OS for that. [Laptop] More »
Computers
First Footage: Same OLPC XO Boots Both Sugar and Windows XP
2:01AM Wilson Rothman | This is the first footage of the same XO OLPC doing a dual-boot of Sugar Linux and Windows XP—something skeptics have said wasn’t going to happen. Soon, XOs will ship with both Sugar and XP for Boot Camp-style dual-booting options. They will never come with only XP, though the team is working on adding more of the Sugar functionality, like the mesh network and the fun sharing apps, to the Windows side. Once again, little PCs are coming to the rescue of Windows XP. More »
Software
Intel Classmate OS Will Be as Sugary as the OLPC
11:11AM Gizmodo US Edition | Intel’s for-profit take on the OLPC concept will soon share a UI with its spiritual predecessor. Walter Bender, the guy who made the original child-friendly Sugar interface with the OLPC project, told PC Magazine that Sugar will be adapted to the Classmate PC. Intel had previously disassociated themselves with the OLPC program because they really wanted to continue developing the Classmate. Because I guess earning money from the emerging world is more satisfying and because, you know, Intel needs more. That and more gas on the OLPC and Classmate flame war. [PC World] More »
Computers
OLPC XO Laptop’s Sugar OS Being Shopped to Four Other Laptop-Makers
3:00AM Matt Buchanan | Even though the XO Laptop’s Sugar-coated OS wasn’t exactly the most vaunted aspect of the attempted laptop-for-all, following Windows XP’s invasion of the project, former OLPC exec Walter Bender’s newly formed Sugar Labs is shopping Sugar around. They’re in talks with at least four “ultra low-cost” notebook makers who would use it for kid computers. This is the second OLPC splinter faction to licence tech from the OLPC project, the first being Mary Lou Jepsen’s Pixel Qi, which is licensing the XO’s innovative indoor/outdoor display and aiming for a US$75 laptop. I’m waiting for someone to sell me that sweet XO-2 unveiled the other day. [Betanews via Electronista] More »
Science
Portable Urine Glucose Meter Hates Needles, Loves Pee
11:20PM Mark Wilson | Most diabetics are tough enough to routinely test their blood without crying about it (the alternative to death is certainly a good one), but Tanita has announced a portable digital urine glucose meter for those with sugar-management diseases like diabetes and metabolic syndrome that needs no blood. More »
Computers
Negroponte Moots Windows XP Version of OLPC-Is It a Case of So Long, Sugar?
10:30PM Addy Dugdale | The founder and chairman of OLPC has admitted that only using open-source software has not been good for the project. Just a day after the resignation of group president Walter Bender, Nicholas Negroponte admitted that the choice of the Sugar operating system has hit the XO laptop project in two places: usability; and popularity. More »
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New Battery Runs on Same Fuel as Geeks – Sugar
9:30PM Gizmodo US Edition | Sony has announced a new fuel-cell battery that runs on glucose. It works by breaking down carbohydrates with enzymes, in much the same way as us humans do. It doesn’t seem to be ready for release yet, but the video after the jump shows that it’s already capable of powering an MP3 player. More »
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