The BlackDog server

Haven't seen any other threads on this (!!!!), despite searching.

http://www.projectblackdog.com/

Anyone else really intrigued by this little gadget? I purchased one (believe it or not, I think it will actually be extremely useful to me) and I can't wait to get it.

For those who are too lazy to click the link, it's:

* A 400MHz PowerPC CPU
* 64MB RAM
* 256MB or 512MB Flash Storage
* Debian Linux preloaded
* Biometric security device

All on a device roughly the size of your thumb. It goes like this:
1. You plug the device into a USB (1.1 or 2.0) port on a Windows PC.
2. The BlackDog identifies itself as a CD-ROM. Windows (being @#$%ing retarded) automatically runs the software on the "CD-ROM", which installs drivers that allow the BlackDog to take control of the host PC's keyboard, video, and mouse.
3. The BlackDog identifies itself as a USB->Ethernet adaptor and then acts as a DHCP server that provides the new, fake interface with an IP.
4. The BlackDog then launches an X11 instance. You type your essay, send your email, or whatever.
5. Then you detach the device. It unloads all drivers and shuts itself down cleanly on battery power, saving your work precisely at the point where you leave off.

Price? $199 for the 256MB version, $239 for the 512MB version.

pulsewidth947 said:

Thats actually pretty stunning! Especially for the price.. I think my mate would love to know about that.

Click to expand...

That's what I thought I bought the 512MB one last night. My heart was pounding, and last night I had a dream about it

tag said:

This is really cool, I would so buy one of these but I don't have anything at home that I could use this with. It says it is only compatible with Linux or Windows XP Operating System so I could say use it at friends/relatives houses, though I wouldn't be able to access the info on the drive when I got it home with my Mac from the sounds of it.

Click to expand...

My understanding (I haven't tested this) is that OS X's filesystem drivers are installed basically through drag-n-drop... so being able to mount an ext2/ext3 fs should be a matter of searching the Internet for the proper driver.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsx/ should work, but again I haven't used it. So that way you could get the data directly off the device's disk.

I'd also assume that OS X drivers are not far behind -- they discussed it a bit on some site. They implied that they would have OS X done already, but the messy USB implementations of Windows and Linux delayed them. Dunno how true that is. I doubt it'll work the same, but you should be able to ssh in, VNC in, or use Disk Utility to back it up.

I dunno -- but the possibilities just look too awesome to deny.

Should have it in a week and a half. Can't wait. Of course, the first thing I'll try to do is get OS9 running on it, just for ***** and giggles.