Intel's new compute stick looks nice

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/18/472196.html

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Why not buy an Android streaming TV Box? They are super cheap, hook up to your TV, have quad core processors, external devices can be hooked up to boost memory, and you can hook up a keyboard and mouse. Forget NUCs a reliable name in the streaming field is TICTID with Android 5.1 upgradeable to 6, for $49 CAD at Amazon

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Bonus for the use of the phrase “RAT KING” instead of the more pedestrian “rat’s nest.”

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I don’t think it will be too long before that laptop/tablets will just be shells with a screen and keyboard as fancy you wish and you just plug in the guts.

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I’ve been building a mechanical switch keyboard from scratch- now I’m thinking about integrating one of these (or it’s equivalent) into the case. Make a laptop-minus-screen for myself.
Maybe?

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HPs LapDock

For use with the Continuum feature of your late-model Windows Phone

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What I wonder about the expression is how bad a tangle needs to be to be a “rat king”. Are lesser tangles “rat dukes” and so on?

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In case you hadn’t ever seen this:

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why choose something that fits your needs when you could save lots of money and buy something that’s one-fourth as speedy? Why indeed?

I see a question mark in that headline!

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these stick computers are great for telescope control at least. up till now the only really super small form factor stuff was arm-based, so no windows. unfortunately the bulk of telescope software runs on windows.

I mean more as a default. The PC itself is a phone sized brick that you can plug into an available shell.
I think we got a ways till then but who knows what will fit in our pockets 10 years from now.

Serious question, why isn’t it practical to just stick them into a display? Isn’t that what they’re meant to do?

I’m guessing that in a world of phablets and tablets and ultra-slim laptops the need for a headless CPU you can stick in your pocket is fairly limited, so if you mean “not practical” as in “not necessary,” okay.

Those lesser tangles are probably just dog’s breakfasts.

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they require (or at least benefit greatly from) other cables (ie power, audio, usb peripherals) that make it more practical to connect it to the display with a cable so you’re not hanging it all on the durability of an irreplaceable HDMI port.

Because Power Over HDMI isn’t a thing (much).

An HDMI port can power low-energy devices like hubs or adapters, but it’s not up to powering a full-blown general-purpose computer (yet). The HDMI specification requires 50 mA of power @ 5 V; for comparison, USB 2.0 requires 500 mA @ 5 V, USB 3.0 requires 900 mA @ 5 V, and the forthcoming USB Type-C requires 1.5-3.0 A @ 5 V.

This thing has built-in wireless and Bluetooth in addition to a decent processor (for that size) - I’m not surprised it needs more than 50 mA.

These can be hooked up through Bluetooth; I think the biggest drawback right now is power.

BlueTooth instead of USB.
802.11 instead of ethernet (or, better yet, use the ethernet embedded in the most recent versions of hdmi)
hdmi audio

power is still a problem. Some TV’s can supply power via a usb port.

So, the Sandbenders design from Gibson huh?

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Because Android isn’t a real operating system.

I’m doing it with a pi zero and a 2.4" screen.