Chasing Nuts

Today was a very exciting day for me. This afternoon my OLPC XO-1 was delivered. I took several pictures while unboxing it and you can see them on my flickr account. The unit really is fun and small. It power up, asked me my name, I picked a color icon, and I was ready to go. The installed applications/activities are fun and I look forward to exploring them more over the coming holiday. I love the Turtle Art activity/application; it took me right back to middle school Logo.

One thing is that the programs on the XO are called activities. I have already installed some community activities from the web site. It is very simple, all one needs to do is download the .xo bundle file. The system takes it form there for you. The XoIRC is what I am using as I write this to talk in my favorite channels on IRC.

I have had one problem so far but it was not very significant. I am not able to have it join my home wireless with WPA enabled. I detected it as a secured network. I typed the password and click OK but nothing seemed to happen. I got frustrated after about 20 minutes of trying and waiting and just turned off wireless encryption on the WiFi for the moment. I will google around and see what I can find then turn it back on. I think I may just take the rout of having it off for the holiday. It will make it easy for my house guests to get online when they are in town.

Off to go play some more with my new toy!

The great thing about the holiday season is that it forces me to get many project wrapped up around the house. One project that has needed wrapping for some time is my 2nd floor remodeling. This project started the day I bought the house, 3 years ago, when my friend Scott and I pulled out our hampers and took out all the walls. We also moved some walls around to open up the space more. There really is something fun and therapeutic about demolition. With the walls gone I have completed many project. First my father and I rewired the whole house from the original 1920 wiring. Second I replaced all the windows, also original from 1920. Finally I insulated the whole house, spraying the insulation down the down into the 1st floor wall cavities.

If only this was the end of the home projects. Next up will be refinishing all the hardwood floors on the main floor and after that, the kitchen.