YourITronics

This is a project you don’t see every day. Could it be more practical and more cooler than it is ? probably not. I mean I want it, i know you will too. I think they should mass produce these things. Now for those of you who don’t get the ideea, this is a cube with a light inside, you hook it to your computer and when there is new mail the cube lights up green.

If you don’t happen to have a glowing cube lying around, you can modify this to work with almost any output device you could think of, from a simple LED, or a buzzer, to something far more clever like moving a servo. The interface between the cube and your computer its done via an Arduino board. The Arduino talks with your computer over a serial connection, which runs over the normal USB cable you use to communicate with your Arduino. This is quite simple to do, and fully documented on project page so follow the links if you decide to build this project.

Gmail Light Cube - New Email Notifier: [Link]

Since you liked my first post about the gOS and the green pc, i’m goint to add a fresh set of screenshots so you can see better how the gOS looks. It sure got my eye. Just click on the pictures to see full size.

Notice: This gOS screenshots were gathered from the web, so they belong to their original copyright owners.

You think that’s enough? No… here is more gOS screenshots.

And if you think this is enough, dont worry i’ve got more gOS screenshots …

Yes and even more gOS screenshots

Due to the holiday season up next the linux OS will get a great chance to become more popular than it is at Wal-Mart Stores. They were taking orders online Wednesday for a computer called the “Green gPC” that is made by Everex of Taiwan, costs $199 and runs Linux.

It will be available in about 600 stores, as well as online, Wal-Mart said. A comparable Everex PC preinstalled with Windows Vista Home Basic and more memory costs $298 partly because the manufacturer has to pay Microsoft Corp. for a software license, so I think people will like the new computer and discover the goods of linux.

Both computers come with keyboard, mouse, and speakers, but without a monitor. As you already may know Linux is developed and offered on a open-source basis by individuals and companies around the world.

It’s being used especially on servers because of its high stability on long term use. The variant of Linux on the gPC is called gOS and is derived from the popular Ubuntu variant. It’s mostly oriented toward Google’s Web sites and online applications, like YouTube, Gmail and the company’s word processing program, all of which can be used only when the computer is connected to a broadband line.

The PC comes with a dialup modem, but gOS doesn’t support it. So most users likely will get online using other ways. Google’s entrance to the OS market is relatively new and I think gOS will be a great chance for users who would like to move away from Microsoft and windows to something new and better.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said it is stocking the computer in about one in eight stores to test the demand for an open-source product. The gPC has a low-end processor from VIA Technologies, plus 512 megabytes of internal memory, an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a combination DVD drive and CD burner. Everex says the processor is very energy efficient, meriting the “Green” part of the name.

here is a screenshot of the gPC or you could call it a gOS screenshot:

Sources :

http://www.thinkgos.com

http://www.everex.com

http://www.walmart.com

Also if you would like to see more gOS screenshots you should check this article of mine.