Since you can take your netbook almost anywhere this post covers some great mobile entertainment options you have when you have some spare time.  I have provided a few hand-picked options below.

1.  Streaming Music
If you are a US resident you might want to try the Pandora internet radio station. It was started by the Music Genome Project which aimed to breakdown music down to root attributes.  The station will select songs that it thinks you will like based on previous songs that you like.  Try it out here.

2. Downloading Movies & TV
One of the most popular streaming sources out there at the moment is Hulu. Again, only available to US residents the site offers steaming of Fox, NBC and other networks in flash video format. Many films and shows are available in 480p and high definition. Hulu released a desktop version of their software which netbooks aren’t powerful enough to run just yet, but running 480p resolution through the browser with current netbooks should be fine.  Try it out here.

I found a great document on Bit Torrents that you should also check out here.

3. Playing Video Games
You aren’t going to have much luck trying to play current video games on your Netbook – they just aren’t powerful enough and don’t carry the necessary graphics card. You can however play games that are a few years old which you can pick up in the budget packages from video game stores. Here are a few classic titles that you can try:

• Diablo II
• World of Goo
• Neverwinter Nights
• The Sims & The Sims II

Basically any game more than 5 years old should have a good chance of running – so have a look in your old collection or get on EBay.
You should also have no problems running emulated Amiga, SNES and other old-school systems.

4.  Social Networking
Due to their portability you can really be active on your Facebook/Myspace profile if you own a netbook. Whether you are watching TV, in the park or on holiday – wherever!

This may be a blessing or a curse as you can burn a lot of time but you’ll probably make a few more friends!

5.  Travel Entertainment
If you are getting further away from civilization on your travels (like camping) or want to travel lighter then your netbook has a real advantage over its more powerful siblings. A lot of netbook users have really got a lot out of their machines on their travels with longer battery life and more mobility.

It’s worth trying out if you miss the internet after a day or two.

That is the ambitious goal revealed by Intel at the recent Linux Collaboration Summit in San Francisco.

“The aim of Moblin, is to improve the quality of the Linux user experience on Atom-based devices.” said Intel Open Source Technology Center director Imhad Sousou.  Tests of the latest Moblin 2 alpha release show that the major components of the stack, including the graphics system, can start up in mere seconds. Intel intends to build on this effort and hopes to eventually reduce total startup time to two seconds.

“We think that two second boot is possible” said Sounsou during his presentation.  It is Intels aim to make Moblin a more viable OS for embedded systems like car and appliance controllers as well as enhancing the Netbook user experience.

He also discussed Intel’s new partnership with the Linux Foundation which aims to increase the accessibility of the project to third-party developers and other Linux vendors.

Other companies like Asus and Nokia have also developed systems with low boot times so clearly this is a trend for the future.

See full article at arstechnica.