Apple TV - a $100 powerhouse
As some of you may know, I like some Apple products. I'm not what one would call a "fanboy", but I've been a Mac user since 1986 when my Pop bought a Mac Plus, and I never looked back. I've also got a gallery filled with native-resolution retina display wallpapers for the new iPad - even though I don't have a new iPad (I honestly can't think of a use for one, especially when I could put the funds towards buying more lenses).
Last night it dawned on me that the new Apple TV, while not a device I have any particular use for, is really quite a powerful computer for a hundred dollars. 1GHz A5 processor - same as the iPhone 4S (though admittedly single-core, not dual), 512mb RAM, 8gb flash storage... and it's essentially solid-state. With an Ethernet port, USB, and WiFi (N now supported), interfacing it with other devices could be extremely easy. If the power-supply was located outside the case, or if it were converted to run on DC, it'd make an excellent mobile-computing widget when jailbroken (especially at 3.9"x3.9"x.9" and .6lbs).
Obviously, I have a wishlist to make this a truly practical widget - SD card slot, external power supply, USB3, gigabit ethernet, bluetooth... but really, these things are overkill for most uses and not exactly necessary.
So what hijinks could we get up to with a jailbroken Apple TV3? Well, there's your standard computer-uses (providing someone could hack it to run Linux, which I believe is doable)... cheap web server, home media server, tiny hacker-box... But let's look beyond that. What if you removed the AC power supply and could feed it DC? Affordable, lightweight, reliable solid-state computer for cars, motorcycles, airplanes... I bet it's powerful enough to control a drone... or serve as a control center for multiple drones.
Imagine a flock of these badboys being controlled by a larger mother unit nearby on the ground or in the air onboard a larger quadcopter. What was the saying? "I for one welcome our new robotic overlords"?
I imagine Apple could actually bring in a lot of additional sales if they offered a version of the Apple TV that was a bit more like Raspberry Pi - fully open and programmable. In the meantime, I predict the hacker/jailbreak community will provide solutions that creative-minded engineers around the world will exploit well beyond my pallid imaginings.
Contest Update
I'm extending the deadline for the Motivational/Demotivational poster contest to March 5 - get your entries in today!
Motivational/Demotivational Poster Contest and Giveaway!
The prize will be a signed, limited-edition 16x20 print of the winning poster shipped to you, and a post of it on your Facebook wall by Rouge Planet Art. Instructions are as follows.
1 - "Like" Rogue Planet Art on Facebook.
2 - Share this link on your wall.
3 - Pick any photo on my site and write a caption for it.
4 - Post a link to your chosen photo on your wall with your caption (be sure to tag Rogue Planet Art in the post).
The contest will last until March 1st. Make as many entries as you like!
Did I mention this is a FREE CONTEST??? Get posting, folks!
Why a Multidisciplinary Approach?
Sometimes I worry that by using a broad swath of creative tools for self-expression, I'm spreading myself thin. I've been faced with the notion that a Jack of All Trades is truly a master of none. ...I've accepted that fact, and have decided to continue my trajectory. Here's why.
I've been a student of language for a long time. Growing up in San Diego, I heard plenty of Spanish as well as English, but as my Grandfather is Swedish, I heard that as well. It always baffled me that humans didn't just speak one single language. I studied Spanish, French, Swedish, and finally, Mandarin Chinese. As I grew older, it eventually dawned on me that even two people speaking English can be communicating in entirely different languages. Almost each individual person on this planet has their own language. Their own meanings that they attach to words, concepts. A sort of proprietary, subjective lens of interpretation and communication.
As an Anthropology student at Humboldt State University, I spent a lot of my time analyzing the art of different cultures, and the deeper meaning behind words. This has inspired me to make movies, write essays, create and enjoy all sorts of works of art including photographs, paintings, drawings, and sculpture in radically different ways. The scope of it all does rob me of the razor-sharp clarity of a singular perspective, and yet... I cannot abandon it.
Were I to limit myself to writing only, or photography, or music, or film-making, I would lose words from my vocabulary. Clearly, my focus is unclear, constantly shifting... but that which is murky can be as illuminating and important in the overall experience as that which is rendered in perfect clarity.
In truth, so very few people ever achieve true mastery of whichever form of art they decide to dedicate their life to, that I am willing to accept the notion that I may never master any of those that I practice, whether they were my singular focus or part of a broad lexicon of creative vernacular. I can accept that I may never find the way to perfectly express myself and reach another person via written language, visual metaphor, or filmic glory, but I cannot accept the idea that I can no longer try to with all of them.