[Noisebridge-discuss] noisetable - furniture that is also a computer

[Jonathan Lassoff]

On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Dr. Jesus <j at hug.gs> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 9:28 AM, Patrick Keys <citizenkeys at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Today I discovered noisetable.
>> Noisetable has been sitting over there, unplugged and unused, behind the
>> sofas by the microscope.
>> I thought it was just a table... then i discovered a power cable, then a
>> monitor cable, then its usb cable.
>> Then I plugged it in... the middle of the table has an embedded working
>> flatpanel.
>>
>> Turns out the table is a complete computer running ubuntu.
>> Computer's network name is even "noisetable".
>> Be sure to check it out the next time you're up at noisebridge.
>>
>> Who else knew about noisetable?
>
> A few months ago Alex Handy and I poked at it for a while and got it
> on the network.  For a while it was on IRC too, but I guess it fell
> off.
>
> We're not sure who built it, or why.
>
> The screen surface is a capacitive touchscreen which we weren't able
> to get working.  The hardware seems to work, but Alex said there was
> some problem with the X drivers.

Indeed, it's an awesome table. I've spent some time hacking on it too,
and the hardware works ok, but we still need to hack together a
working driver for the touch surface.

I forget the manufacturer, but they have some awful driver packages
for Linux already, but for USB devices (the one in there is serial
RS232). If I remember correctly, it packages some pre-compiled binary
images for your kernel and some Qt application for configuring and
calibrating it all (ick).

I believe their USB version is just their serial screen with an FTDI
chip rolled in. We could probably stick an adapter in-line to the
screen, snoop the protocol, and hack together some serial drivers.
It just needs someone with time on their hands.

Cheers,
jof