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I am interested in buying an 'iPad' type of device to use for only one specific purpose:
- Format the device and setup some kind of bare-bones operating system which allows me to...
- Copy 'Faststone Screen Capture' and 'Faststone Image Viewer' (x86 software) from my Windows XP computer into the device.
- Take photos using the built-in camera of the device and then edit/annotate/draw using 'Faststone Screen Capture' inside the device.
- Connect the device to my Windows XP desktop computer when I get home and copy out the images via USB cable.
That's it! ...I basically want something resembling a USB stick with a huge screen and some input/output controls ...or to put it another way, a mobile extension of my Windows XP desktop set up to run one single-minded task and all other functions removed/hacked/stripped out.
Does anybody have any tips, thanks.
P.S. :: I don't own any mobile devices, no tablet, no phone, nothing! ...I also have zero interest in Social Media, Cloud Computing, AppStores and anything else related to mobile internet connectivity.
(Score: 2, Informative) by chongo on Tuesday July 15 2014, @01:05PM
BTW: I'm not the troll who originally insulted XP
Due to fundamental design flaws in Windows XP, unless you have both OS source code and deep knowledge of your BIOS/Firmware you are unlikely to prevent the compromise of the integrity of your XP platform simply by unplugging it from the Internet.
You will be transporting data into and out of your fundamentally flawed XP system. That alone is a sufficient attack surface to allow a system cracker compromise the integrity of your system. And depending on what hardware you may or may not have physically disabled, you may be surprised at how large of an attack surface that hardware provides.
I would be surprised to learn if you recompiled XP and modified it to remove the fundamental design flaws of that OS. Surprised because the effort required is significant and the OS source code knowledge Is proprietary. But maybe you are someone who has such knowledge. I would be surprised to learn that you properly disabled hardware to prevent their attack surfaces from being exploited. Although people with deep knowledge of a particular hardware platform/BIOS/Firmware operates are more common.
Why would I be surprised? Because the effort to minimize the attack surface your typical XP PC platform is substantial. It is akin to modifying an old Ford Pinto to be competitive in the stock car racing circuit. Yes, one could DO it. But if successful you end up with something that has little resemblance with the original Pinto. And to gain what -- bragging rights to say "This started out life as a Pinto!" ?!? Possible but not plausible.
I would hazard a guess from your "unplugged from the Internet" remark that you probably did not "Stock car mod that Pinto". Call it just a hunch.
Now had you said something along the lines of: "My threat model does not include remote attacks against disabled or unused PC hardware, nor exploits of the XP operating system, nor compromising the integrity of the platform via data that I transport to/from my system, etc. AND external requirements imposed on me compel the use of particular software": in other words had you stated that you are "not interested in protecting against those sorts of issues", then I would have thought "reasonable positron and well done in not feeding the troll".
However, you didn't so that. Instead the way you responded to the troll suggest that you PROBABLY DO CARE at some level. Moreover the nature of your original question to SoylentNews suggests you are prepared to build your own platform rather than accepting some vendors imposed OS and cloud solution.
Given all that, you might want to consider a different platform that runs in common on both your PC and your tablet-like device.
Just a suggestion for you to consider.
chongo (Landon Curt Noll) ^..^
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @03:32PM
Ugh, way to talk to it like it's a person...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @10:43PM
I'm sure that the Original Poster is gravely concerned about the security of the annotated tablet pictures stored on his non-networked XP PC. Even deep, dark, elven knowledge of your BIOS won't protect you from the GoodTimes virus.