Finally got my slice of Raspberry Pi

Pretty cool and as promised invoiced / shipped affordably.It is indeed very very small the packaging could quite simply be mistaken for a box of playing cards.It does indeed ship w/ no manual/instructions of any kinda just this PCB.Powered via a std microUSB cable.I also tried to boot via USB stick into XBMCbuntu but was unable.There is a SD housing that does seem bootable.Had initial issues loading XBMC until I realized XBMCbuntu was not just supported. OpenElec has announced support for their port of XBMC but has yet released an image to general population. Found Raspbmc variant and it did boot albeit a string of Linux stuff I didn't understand to know if some errors were important or not.  Unable to get any audio no matter if changing to analog / hdmi or any other combination I tried. (In fairness didn't have the opportunity to test fully).The initial image from raspbmc would not fully install and found a beta image via an obscure FB post on their page.  Subsequently they have a new RC2 out I will endeavor to try.The performance left some to be desired but the Raspberry Pi is new and so are these ports so I'm hopefully it really can stand up to delivering 1080p video and its not a HW limitation. Also I the NIC on the Raspberry PI is only 10/100 so concern there w/ large file sizes / bandwidth but I think I had media center connected to a 10/100 switch before w/o issue. 

I do think its a bit odd how some of the ports are flush w/ the board and some aren't and also of varying degrees to each other. And the ports are all over so thicker cables and add leverage to the board pulling it in different directions since there is no weight to it. I'm not a developer but the tinkering aspects still intrigue me but ultimately if this can be a legit stand up media center I'll be very pleased...otherwise I have no immediate ideas on how I will personally put it to use quite yet, since I'm a Linux novice that seems like the most applicable way to go to have the least overhead on something such as this.

UPDATE: RC2 is drastic improvement, after being provided to gen pop. I think possibly still some errors but silent/unattended install and much much faster than previous.  Sound working out of the box now, even DTS audio.  Still some choppiness w/ playback of 1080p hopefully further refinement will help and not HW. Looking much more promising though. Good job Raspbmc.

Going to try to develop a case. Thinking HDPE foam, plexiglass/plastic, machined aluminum or LEGOs. 

UPDATE 2: RC3 Released 6.20.2012One click download / installer disk creation
Instant boot load. Good feedback GUI. Silent / unattended install. Plug / play out of box. 1080p improved as promised no lag thus far. Couldn't recognize my usb wifi dongle that openelec did, that would be terrific. Outstanding work, much thanks.

UPDATE 3: Frustrated as my main machine is running base Eden11 while the Raspberry Pi is running a nightly build variant and thus uses a new schema to the centralized mySQL media library for those whom have it setup. Thus to utilize the mySQL library all connected devices MUST be on the same code level. Frustrated how XBMC is handling these database schema changes and how flawed the migration path is.

Admittedly I'm not an avid reader. I can't recall the last book I read, but it would have had to be in the last 7 years, and likely a Michael Crichton novel or perhaps Matt Reilly's The Contest.
I'm a reader that when I get interested I can't put it down however. 
As a technology enthusiast I've long been intruiged by the Amazon Kindle. I always thought I wonder if more convenient would I, a rabid tv/movie fan, actually READ?
Those whom know me, know I use my 'stuff' extensively / exhaustively. Would this be something I procured then subseqently never used? I would hope not. However being hardened through several versions and priced at a deal I couldn't pass up, I bit the bullet and picked one up.  Its TERRIFIC. 
As a previous owner of an original Apple iPad and a HP firesale TouchPad.  I refuse to read on a backlit screen as its clearly irritating to my eyes.
The contrast on these is terrific. I literraly sat on my portable hammock this weekend and read in broad daylight. The latest Kindle firmware update was painless and effortless to load and even improved the contrast/font a bit.  With Calibre a freeware (portable app available) you can even load RSS feeds to convert and auto send to Kindle and convert other files for viewing.
An ancillary use case I see for this is loading all your manuals, for easy access. Your TV manual, computer manuals,....etc all preloaded here for easy acess when you need and handy when actually using / fixing something.
The weight (balance) are great, in the hand to read and it fits a rear jeans pocket easily. A great impulse buy. Read a 1 1/2 books on a single charge with a SLOW reader. Not since the Nintendo DS have I been so pleased with battery life. Totally reminds me of being inspired by PADDs by Star Trek.
I traveled abroad about 9 months ago and am kicking myself I didn't have this for the 14+ and 6+ hour flights!