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filkertomI have three computers at the moment. Later this week, I will have four. (Not counting the Amigas in the back room.)
The one is an old DIY number with an Athlon 2600+ XP. Currently slower than moose poop, although stable enough for emergencies. The Gateway laptop, I got with a friend because it simply wasn't working right with Vista. I intended to install XP on it; I may yet. If I can get it to power up.
My laptop, the computer I'm posting from, also has power supply issues. As in, the power supply cord has to be Just So for the darn thing to get power. And every once in awhile it decides to shut down anyway, HARD. And it's getting a little cluttered, a little long in the tooth. Newer software wants faster hardware.
So, I'm getting a relatively inexpensive Core 2 Duo number and a decent video card. Found 'em both on eBay. This morning, I am attempting to create an install disk with XPSP2 and a number of useful fixes already slipstreamed in, so I can save time and hassle. If this works, I should cut about a half a day off configuration. We'll see.
Any tech triumph or terror on your side?
The one is an old DIY number with an Athlon 2600+ XP. Currently slower than moose poop, although stable enough for emergencies. The Gateway laptop, I got with a friend because it simply wasn't working right with Vista. I intended to install XP on it; I may yet. If I can get it to power up.
My laptop, the computer I'm posting from, also has power supply issues. As in, the power supply cord has to be Just So for the darn thing to get power. And every once in awhile it decides to shut down anyway, HARD. And it's getting a little cluttered, a little long in the tooth. Newer software wants faster hardware.
So, I'm getting a relatively inexpensive Core 2 Duo number and a decent video card. Found 'em both on eBay. This morning, I am attempting to create an install disk with XPSP2 and a number of useful fixes already slipstreamed in, so I can save time and hassle. If this works, I should cut about a half a day off configuration. We'll see.
Any tech triumph or terror on your side?
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 12:42 pm (UTC)I manage about 150 laptops, and this problem becomes an issue as they age.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 12:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 12:42 pm (UTC)In the meantime, I'm rounding up her friends and--ssh!--we're going to buy her a new computer for Christmas. Probably either just a CPU, or else a new laptop.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 12:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 12:53 pm (UTC)I was sorrier for the way it screwed you and Rob over--everything I was shown to have done, I actually did, but all you did was write a song and get it hacked up by editors--but thanks.
In interviews, I've been saying that I wasn't so much arrogant as oblivious. It seems a lot of people are more understanding when they hear that. After all, if I had excellent social skills, I wouldn't have been on the show, would I? *grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 12:56 pm (UTC)It's basically a plastic chopping board, with an extra battery/power supply, cooling fans, 4port USB hub and multi-card reader bolted on in a cyberpunk-ish accretion of wires and circuit boards [and a few LEDS just for the "Oo! shiny!" factor]. So now instead of sitting surrounded by wires and widgets, it's all neatly built into this one thing I can just plonk down on my lap, and plug my laptop into.
Next up, converting an el-cheap-o wind-up torch into a hand-cranked recharging station for my iPod. [ie, fitting a voltage regulator and socket].
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:01 pm (UTC)As for your laptop woes - you do know that MacBooks can be loaded up with XP right? I know money is tight but they have some good refurbished deals out there. I bought mine for about $1k even after shipping and taxes. So maybe you can have a "Buy Tom a New Laptop" album? ;-)
In other tech news I'm currently learning the weird but interesting operating system VMS on my home Vaxstation. (Yes...I know how much of a geek that makes me...) That will be on hold here soon because I have to empty and re-do my home office so I actually have a space for all the systems and books and mixer and...well...stuff. :-/
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:30 pm (UTC)Shiny Shiny! ;-P
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 10:41 pm (UTC)Equivalents...
Date: 2007-10-16 11:26 pm (UTC)Anything that is Windows-only will run on Mac as well thanks to Boot Camp. You can reboot a MacIntel into Windows XP or Windows Vista that way. There are more clever ways of running Windows software on Mac too: Parallels and VMWare Fusion allow for virtual copies of Windows or any other operating system that will run on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. So those games of yours will also run.
If you are adventurous, there's even DarWINE which is the Windows API running on top of Mac OS without a need for Windows. A more polished version of DarWINE is CodeWeavers CrossOver Mac. However, DarWINE is free.
There is no excuse anymore not to come to the Light Side of the Force. We may not have cookies, but we have sweet, sweet Apples.
... How many times...?
Date: 2007-10-16 11:43 pm (UTC)I've got a great one. Several, actually. How about:
- I don't wish to?
- I've got bunches and bunches of programs for the PC that I don't want to suddenly become useless?
- I don't want to buy all those programs for a different computer?
- I don't want to learn a new OS and new software from scratch?
- It's way cheaper and easier to upgrade hardware?
- I've tried Macs, and I don't like the way they feel, or at the very least I'm not used to them?
- I want more control over the OS?
- I really love being able to buy software for my computer in pretty much any store that carries software?
- It's not your frickin' computer, it's mine?
Good Christ, I went through this bullshit back when I was an Amiga man. (Which is the number one reason I haven't gone to Linux: I've been a deep-system computer hobbyist.) When I was a Commodore 128 man. When I was an earlier Amiga man. When I had my TI 99/4A.Run what you want to run, and don't tell me what I want to run.
Re: ... How many times...?
Date: 2007-10-16 11:46 pm (UTC)Re: ... How many times...?
Date: 2007-10-17 12:15 am (UTC)Nobody's telling you what to run. But he is right in pointing out that Apple may not be an option you've thought about.
However since you've already spent for an upgrade I understand why you'd feel irritated by the suggestions.
I withdraw my suggestions and apologize for irritating you.
Re: ... How many times...?
Date: 2007-10-17 12:50 am (UTC)I actively resisted going to PC until there were several programs I really wanted that I couldn't get on the Amiga. Having gone to the PC, I like it here. Not love it; I miss my hardware-based multitasking, multitasking that could run with 256 KB(!) of RAM. I have lots and lots of problems with Windows and Microsoft. But I have more problems with Mac and Apple (and this is NOT a call for solutions, mitigating circumstances, rationales, or anything else of the sort).
And every single time I mention something about an upgrade, about a system glitch, whatever, I get someone who tells me, in essense, to drop all of it, spend a bunch of money I don't have, and start over.
And, something I didn't cover in my list above: I've dealt with OS overlays. Oh yeah, that's a good time. Especially if the basic system is the OS-shielded-from-clumsy-users Mac. Something goes wrong, I've got a minimum of two inscrutable mazes to sort through.
Anyway. I'm sorry I'm a cranky bastard this evening. But there's something very important that has to be said: If it works, it works, no matter who made it. I'm sure there's somebody out there happily goofing with their Timex Sinclair. I know for a certainty that there are active communities of people creating music with modtrackers based on the SID chip in the old C64.
For the reasons I gave above, I am not going to Mac any time soon. Those of you who use Macs, please understand that. Have fun with your 'puters, and I'll have fun with mine. All good?
Re: ... How many times...?
Date: 2007-10-17 03:54 am (UTC)It's ironic you're talking about this being a religious war now. On Pharyngula, PZ was talking about getting a new computer too but he's a Mac-fan. Two of the three blogs I read talk about getting new computers within a day of each other. Weird!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 02:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 10:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 05:05 pm (UTC)Some day I hope to have the electricity to spin up that 14" platter. I miss that jet-engine hard drive sound...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:42 pm (UTC)btw: the sheer speed of the core2duo is astounding. But a Athlon2600 is still plenty powerful to run XPpro or Ubuntu (which *I* like).
How is Reaper working out for you?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:54 pm (UTC)The Athlon was plenty fast for lots of things, but the reason I moved past it in the first place (to the Athlon 64 in the laptop) was a combination of portability, i.e., why I got a laptop, and multitrack recording, which I kinda desperately need if I want to make a living at this. More than a few tracks, and I mean like five, and the system would stutter like crazy every time I did anything besides simply press "play".
Haven't had the chance to dig into Reaper yet. Probably won't until after OVFF. I've got to finish some music, and this is not the most convenient time to investigate new tools. But I'm tentatively planning that for the time between WindyCon and Thanksgiving.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 02:52 pm (UTC)Partition Drive C: so that you have a 8 gig partition (drive d: ) and set the Virtual Memory to that partition. The head will have to move some but the VM file will never fragment so it'll be much much faster. Then you have a seperate physical hard drive E: for all the actual recordings. Have the C: drive and DVD on the primary chain and the E: drive on the secondary chain all by itself. I did video capture and manipulation in such a configuration on my Athlon2400 (with regular IDE drives) and it was flawless. The datarates on video are MUCH higher than audio so I can't imagine multitrack being problematic until you scads of VSTs running with it or something like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 10:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:51 pm (UTC)Other problems solved... My sister's computer needed a modem and I had an XP machine which did the weird thing. Dropped in a copy of XP on his new motherboard and it took the new MB with no problems nor reinstall required. (I was VERY surprised on that one. Just needed all of the drivers installed.)
Harold
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 01:54 pm (UTC)However, my wife's G4 crashed a while back and we haven't been able to get it back up and running. It probably just needs an OS install as we think the hard drive is fine. It can boot into OS9, but not OSX.
My iBook's hard drive died a couple months ago. I recently bought a new one but haven't had a chance to install it yet. Replacing the hard drive in that model is somewhat of a monumental task so I'm kind of nervous about it.
And my wife's newer iBook recently broke its third plug. The connector that plugs into the computer keeps breaking. So she's been using her G3 PowerBook lately.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 02:00 pm (UTC)bedroomstudio and record with. Though I'd rather use it for editing and set up a somewhat less powerful machine for recording. Provided I can figure out which of it's fans is noisy.(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 02:40 pm (UTC)-=ShoEboX=-
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 08:22 pm (UTC)My first computer was an Atari 800, until my big robbery. I eventually replaced it with an 800XL whose memory I upgraded to something ridiculous in a homebuilt job (it became a "virtual floppy drive" on the system). I gave up the poor beastie when I got my first Mac (one of the black-and-white jobs).
I also had a Sinclair which I couldn't make do crap. Sold it used and cheap.
Fondest memory I had of that computer was doing scripts for Rocky Horror on it, in a dual-column word processor (what the heck did I use for that, anyway?) and printing out copy masters on a dot matrix printer so I could sneak it into work, make multiple copies, bind them in a comb binder machine and hand it out to the ungrateful cast members.
Yeah, my fondest memory of Atari was grunt work for people who didn't care whether I did it or not. Pathetic, isn't it?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-17 12:59 am (UTC)My finest memory of Atari was my Dad teaching me how to program in BASIC. Thanks to him teaching me how to redefine the character set for the games I wanted to write (usually in Graphics 2 screens,) I inadvertently learned the binary number system well before I was out of elementary school.
-=ShoEboX=-
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 03:53 pm (UTC)The long story short. I struggled for hours to get data backed up. I couldn't find what happened to my registration key for XP so I downloaded and burned Ubuntu 7.04. I installed it on Monday morning and am happy as a clam.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 04:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 06:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-17 02:12 am (UTC)One of the fundamental ones is the fact that Unix was designed from the ground up to support multiple users, so every user has their own configuration files which are separate from the system's configuration files, instead of having everything piled into a single fragile and vulnerable registry. And things like preemptive multitasking, virtual memory, and networked graphics have been in there from close to the beginning instead of being add-ons.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 04:21 pm (UTC)Currently I'm using that Fosdex recorder with an audio mixer, and trying to do the traditional broadcast "mix minus" to do podcast recordings. MX Skype Recorder has a nice feature that will let you record two channels (you on one channel, your incoming Skype on the other) and that would work beautifully for a podcast. Only running it on any of my current machines is too damned slow. The recording is clear, but it stutters, undoubtedly due to slow processor speed.
So I have to set up a machine to run only XP Pro, minimal virus protection (say the free Avast), Skype and MX Skype Recorder only. I have a likely machine, a new mobo and processor, and an old computer I built for my old RPG group (to do con registrations and create characters). Its mobo and power supply got fried, literally going up in smoke. Hopefully I can get it running.
God help me if I ever became a Linux slave, sweating the weekly kernel upgrades.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 04:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 05:56 pm (UTC)The triumph is that I survived a dead power supply with little damage and fixed it on my own!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 07:19 pm (UTC)I wound up having to use an Ubuntu Live CD to pull the data off so we could re-install from the disk image (because of course companies never include a real OS CD unless you a) ask or b) pay way more than necessary).
When we started the install, I decided to write 0s to all sectors to make sure any bad areas were caught. Estimated time on this 200GB drive: 25 hours!!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-16 08:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-17 12:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-17 12:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-17 03:52 am (UTC)--Jer