The second OLPC meet at SF State was interesting. We now have a momentum that is reassuring. Initially I was not sure about attendance. Many people tend to lose interest in their XO laptops after two to three weeks. However, we had a little over 20 people who attended the get-together.
We managed to update some XOs to build 656, which is labeled Ship2.2. This build is considered stable and is being pushed by OLPC automatically in batches to different laptops (See item # 9 at http://lists.laptop.org/pipermail/community-news/2008-February/000098.html). You can either wait for the push from OLPC or ask one of us to help you update it. For instructions, see http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Update_paths . Also see helpful instructions from Doug Jones at http://frombob.to/XO/
One other thing that keeps people interested in the laptop is the Linux base that it runs on. Some people indicated that it could be used as a neat platform to run environments other than Sugar, the GUI that XO comes with. This would allow for applications other than the ones that come bundled with the XO, and still stay within the bounds of processing capabilities of the XO. Chris Raleigh, who works at SF State's Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies is interested in using his XO laptop to gather environmental data that is usually spit out by measuring equipment via a serial port. A serial-to-USB connector should work. a recommended list of adapters are posted at http://wiki.laptop.org/go/USB_peripherals#Serial_Port. The laptop is rugged enough to take on boats and treks where regular laptops would fall apart. Go XO!
We had an attendee from the Sacramento area! Now, that's dedication  Maybe we can hold a meeting in the Sacramento area. If there are any XO owners in the Sacramento area, please let us know. This bring me to another point - meeting space. I would love to have these meetings in locations other than SF State. This would give others a chance to attend, especially those who don't live close to San Francisco. Any suggestions? Let me know. sverma@sfsu.edu
I've been meaning to test the mesh capabilities in terms of hopping between three laptops, where the first laptop hops over the second to reach the third one. The first and third are so far apart that they cannot reach each other directly. So, we took three XOs and meshed them. Then we set up pinging in two terminal activities each.
Let's say the three laptops are A, B, and C.
Ping A-> B
Ping A-> C
Ping B-> A
Ping B-> C
Ping C-> A
Ping C -> B
Next, we leave A at one location (between BUS and ADM buildings) and walk with B and C towards the ATMs by the Student Center. Leave around the ATM location (about 260 meters). Walk with C to the garden on top of the health center (about 165m). At that point, A pings B, but A pings C via B. Also C pings A via B. Laptop B becomes the hopping point. B is able to ping both A and C directly. As C walks back towards B and gets closer to A, the hops from C to A (and vice versa) will go directly and not via B.
So, the mesh works. If one of the laptops (say, A) was also on the Internet, the mesh would be able to route packets from C to B to A to the outside.
C-> B -> A-> Internet
The mesh is intended to be used in both configurations. In a state where all laptops talk to each other, we can share activities. If one of the laptops is on the Internet (say, the teachers' laptop via a USB dongle to her cell phone) then the rest of the class can piggyback on that connection. We were contemplating how two neighboring villages can connect to each other by tying an XO on a rope and hoisting it on a pole or a tree to improve distance. Two such XOs will become nodes for the mesh on both ends. If one school has an Internet connection, the other school could then piggyback out to the Internet. The possibilities are endless!
We also had Christian Einfeldt on site, documenting the ongoings on tape for the Digital Tipping Point project. Think of this project as a source code project where digital video is the source. The video is available from DTP in its raw glory under a creative commons license. You can then remix, cut and paste and "produce" meaningful documentaries. DTP needs help in production. Contact Christian if you are interested.
As we started to wrap up, we had another enthusiast join us. Sarah Mei, who has been expecting her XO any moment now, got a notification that her XO was delivered to her office. Given that it was a Saturday, she couldn't get her hands on it! What better way to see the little green machine than to show up at the meet. She got a preview of the XO. All she has to do now is to hold her excitement until Monday morning
In all, it was four hours well spent. See photos (taken by me and Joachim Pedersen) at http://joachimp.fotki.com/events/olpcevents/20080209olpcmeet/
A big thank you to IMSA for organizing and assisting. Next meet should be in a month. Stay tuned. Better yet, sign up on the list. http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-sf
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