Create Digital Music

Asus Eee PC Gets SDK; Anyone Using Eee for Music?

While mentioning the OLPC XO laptop, I have to point, as well, to Asus’ Eee. Sure, it’s not necessarily designed for being in the middle of a sub-Saharan desert, but it has some of the other hallmarks of OLPC — low power use, light weight, extremely low cost, and open-source, Linux-based software. These little machines are underpowered for many digital audio tasks, but MIDI and basic live audio are certainly feasible. I’ve heard at least a couple of readers using them. Anyone using them for musical tasks?

Asus has launched an “SDK” — a bit of a misnomer, as you don’t really need specialized tools to make Linux software for these machines. But it is a nice, packaged set of free tools you’ll need, as a ready-to-go distro. Curiously, it requires an installed partition on your machine; there’s no live CD mode. Digital wunderkind Brad Linder is all over it:

Asus launches Eee PC SDK [Eee Site]

OLPC XO, Eee, or other Small Computer reports? We’d love to hear them. And maybe someone can tell us how to pronounce Eee. Now, back to my desktop behemoth to burn some non-renewable resources.

Photo: raster. And yeah — it’s that small. (What, AP, not Strunk & White?)

See also: Computer Music Magazine’s mini Eee PC review [musicradar.com], though it still leaves some questions unanswered … let’s keep the chatter going!

Related: asus, development, green, laptop, Linux, mobile, open-source, PC, programming, SDK, trends & more.

26. By Peter.

2008-Mar-26@19:13.

Aug 01 2006

Solar-Powered Music Studios: Could Solar Stop Climate Crisis?

By Peter Kirn

With New York City close to breaking its all-time record heat record of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s over 38 degrees Celsius), non-renewable energy costs soaring, and Con Edison unable to deliver reliable electricity, it seems like an odd time to be advocating electronically-powered music. It must be time for solar power. Via Rozling on the forums, here’s a thought: go solar, instead:

Friends of the Earth Climate Case Studies: The Premises, Solar-Powered Studio, via Synthtopia (originally) and Treehugger
BBC News on Eco-Studio
The Premises official site

This London studio has hosted Jamie Cullum, Franz Ferdinand, Hard Fi, Bloc Party, and Charlotte Church, and they’re now entirely self-powered via rooftop solar panels. They cut down on power costs, via low-power air conditioning and a low-power mixer, but here’s a bonus: sound insulation is also great heat insulation. Even if you don’t care about a climate crisis, you’ll save money; they estimate they’ll recoup costs in a decade. (That time could be vastly reduced if power costs went up — and increased production drove solar panel costs down.)

For further inspiration, here’s an important announcement from Al Gore, once he fights robot insurrection:

… via his film, An Inconvenient Truth. Now, come on, this isn’t a political post. I just think Al is the best summer movie action hero yet. Watch Apple Keynote go. Damn.

I’ve seen solar backpacks for laptops, and a lot of the interfaces we use are bus-powered. Any chance for a solar-powered computer setup? Suggestions, anyone?