Thursday 27 October 2005

Pic of the day: You think I would try MOVING this thing?

My computers

Yesterday* I mentioned how one of my Sims2 neighborhoods wandered from one computer to the next. (Not recommended - I still have small problems with calling some townies.) But how many computers do I really have, and why? In particular, why is my bedroom computer the "gaming computer"?

*) Actually I did not mention that yesterday. I mentioned it tomorrow. Sometimes I get a bit lost in the chronal dimension.

***

My current home network consists of 4 computers, but rarely are they all active at the same time. The two main computers are Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo minitowers running WinXP and having between 2.5 and 3GHz processors and 1GB RAM. The living room computer has an NVIDIA GeForce 3Ti 200, which is barely enough for modern games. They run, but with low detail. The bedroom computer is a year newer, slightly faster, has much larger hard disk (around 150 vs 40GB) and an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500, which runs anything I have thrown at it so far. So why is it in the bedroom?

The reason is that I bought it to replace an older computer (also a Scaleo) which was starting to smell of smoking rubber and which besides was having problems running the newest programs. This was my first WinXP computer, I think. It was my main computer for a while, but a lightning strike had brought an end to its Internet access. Luckily only the network card seemed damaged, and when I got my first wireless network up and running, I could use it quite fine. In the meantime, however, I had installed my favorite programs on the current living room computer.

When I replaced the older computer with an even newer, I thought it would only stay briefly in the bedroom. Then I would switch them around. But I have never gotten around to actually doing it. I am so used to my current environment, and hate the idea of losing my bookmarks once again, and having to download all the various open-source programs again.

So there you have it. The bedroom computer is for the newest games, the living room computer is for writing and Internet. The last part includes file sharing, roughly 250 GB of fansubbed anime. (Japanese cartoons translated by fans when there is no official English translation.) I don't trade in music or in movies which are simply rips of commercially available originals, but stuff you can't get in the shops. This anime server runs day and night unless I urgently need the whole machine for some other task.

The third machine is an older Scaleo running WinME and a GeForce 2 video card. It was replaced because it refused to accept the GeForce 3 card. This was when I had bought Shrouded Isles, the first expansion pack to Dark Age of Camelot. It came with a new "graphics engine" that showed more detail, but also pushed more of the work over from the main processor to the video card. So with a good card the game would run faster and smoother, but with an old card it would run slower. I bought the card but when I installed it, the screen went black. I could not get it to work. So I bought a new machine too. It doesn't exactly help that the CD-ROM station doesn't work either. But I still have some bookmarks on it, and old email from even happier days. Besides, it is the machine where I can view my favorite webcomics. On the newer machines the comics show up as blank rectangles. I have tried the things recommended: I set my browser to accept referrals. I not only opened my firewall but disabled it without getting to see the comics. I don't really have any more ideas now, so I view them on the Windows ME machine. It stands beside the other one in my living room, the screens almost side by side. I can also use it to play more than one game at the same time, but this is probably not the best idea for my wrist!

The fourth is a laptop, a HP with an ATI card. I recently took it back home from work, where it wasn't needed anymore. It is more of a backup thing, not often in use (except for the time when I used it to play Sims2 Nightlife). It is the only machine here with a modem, but hopefully I won't need that again now that I no longer have Telenor as my ISP... DOWN WITH TELENOR!

Ahem, got a little carried away there. Anyway, that's pretty much it. I have another laptop, but it's still at the job, and you know I don't write about the job. Though I'm sure you'd loved it if I did. Oh, and I can connect the PSP to the wireless network too. But that's mainly to say "I like totally surfed the interweb in my bed". It isn't really useful or even fun. But since when has that stopped any of us? The true nature of a gadget geek is "because it is possible".