My friend, Daniel, randomly brought me a couple of quite spiffy gifts. Apparently, he dismantled one of his computers and decided to send the leftovers my way. (a case (minus power supply), a motherboard, a 64-bit AMD 3200+ CPU, and a gig of DDR RAM) These leftovers are better than what I run in my primary system now. (barely) I was very shocked. It looks like my server/mythtv box is about to get a major upgrade. It needed it, but I was not about to spend the money on it. So, I backed up everything on it, and put the new hardware in tonight to see how it would react. It has a couple of major problems though. For starters, it looks like I need a new power supply in order to run it. The industry has decided to go "modify the standard" happy for the last few years, and the power supply I have in the server apparently just doesn't cut it. (Luckily, I don't need to record any TV shows for a couple of days) I'll probably just buy a new power supply tomorrow. It should be worth the expenditure for the amount of performance it'll bring. (I'll be able to start recording HD on there. woohoo!) I've got another problem though. That computer runs linux. I will have to do something about preserving (somehow) all the settings on that system. I'm hoping that I'll be able to boot it up and have it just work like the old one did. I did back them up though, and, even in that case, I would be better off reinstalling the OS and starting over from the data I retained in the backups. I'm just not sure that will work, and I'm a little scared of losing it all. Aside from the performance factor, that system was working exactly how I would want it to. (something I am particularly proud of when one considers it was Linux...) Ah, geek talk.
I still can't believe Daniel brought that stuff over and just gave them to me though. That just blows my mind. I mean, those may have been his leftover parts, but they are still pretty top of the line. It's been on my mind a lot lately to upgrade that system, but I haven't been able to afford it. Now, God has brought about a situation where I really don't have to afford it. (except for the power supply)
I really have too much of this crap lying around. Old computer parts, I mean. Some of them are so old that they are really just trash now. Unfortunatly, I have heard that there are now enviromental fees associated with throwing out computer parts, I live in an apartment complex, and I have a lot of these damn things. What do I do with them???
It always pains me to think of the stuff we throw out. I remember the old cliche, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Imagine what some of this junk could do for some of the poorer places in the world. It was all great until we decided we had to have better stuff so we could do more. So we replace our ok stuff with great stuff. Then, some people donate their ok stuff to charities, etc., and some people (like me) let it all sit around, collecting dust. When all of this stuff reaches the point where not even the charities want it anymore, it's all thrown out. The parts are sometimes smelted and recycled, but all the function and life of the components has gone away. Thinking back on what my old computers once meant to me, I find it sad that they are now deemed worthless. What's this sentimentality for a box of wire, plastic, and metal? Is it not now only the memory, the data, that's important?
The world today functions on the transfer and manipulation of data. So, those who know how to create the best methods and tools to manipulate it have a kind of power. It's frightening how they use it. Through their tools, the establish more efficient systems of control over everyday components of our lives. From the traffic lights on the street corner to the phone networks that provide avenues for speaking to each other, they not only give us more ability, but also more liability. I'm sure most people have heard this before. This kind of thinking has been spreading around. Yet, how many people still think about it when the idea has been hashed so many times that it becomes a cliche. "It will never happen," we say. But, it is happening. Our society has become so dependant on computers and technology that, if all of the power was cutoff, most of us would be completely incapable of sustaining our lives. That's a scary thought.
After Daniel left and the playoff basketball for the night was over (there was a late game between Pheonix and L.A.), I found myself watching Alias on TNT while I was trying to test and tweak the new server hardware. I've never really watched Alias before. I won't go out of my way to watch it again either. They had a semi cool sequence of a "dream state" going on, but whatever over arching story it is that they are telling, I didn't care. The show stank of common political and secret police/"organization" style suspense drama. Everyone thinks they make those shows better by double bending the plot a little further in on itself. I watched the main character kill "herself" in her own mind tonight, and it was obvious it would happen before "herself" even showed up! Maybe I just read too much and have lost interest in some of the lesser crafted tales in our lives. Most of the crap they put on TV these days is designed to either further a previous idea or shock you into accepting someone's bad idea of what a good idea should be. Maybe that's why I've always enjoyed science fiction so much. It's trying to crack open new ideas, and new interpretations on our surroundings. Sure, maybe it cracks open some pretty bad ones, but at least it makes a solid attempt to do actually new things. Even sci-fi on tv is starting to go the direction of shows like Alias though. Soon, the only real drama left on tv will be what we see in sports. At least there, it's supposedly authentic. (although, with all the steroid hype, etc., I sometimes even wonder about that. Reporters do a good job of shaping news stories to reinforce the ideas of the reader. So, maybe they even ruin sports, too.)
So, now I've pretty much insulted a bunch of things I normally enjoy. From sports and sci-fi to computers and the lost art of storytelling. Maybe I've ranted and raved enough for one night. It does feel good to do that once in awhile though. Now, I will go to sleep. After I feed my cat, of course. *sigh*
~ good night
The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loved to paint but is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.
- C. S. Lewis
"You know, they've each got three names. Yes. The naming of cats is a difficult matter, It's just not one of your holiday games; You may think at first that I am mad as a hatter, When I tell you that each cat's got three different names. See, they got their ordinary name and then they got their fancy name. And that makes two names, doesn't it? And now it's got a third name. Can either of you two guess what that third name is? (beat) Come on! (beat) Above and beyond, there's one name that's left over, and this is the name you never will guess. The name that no human research can discover, but the cat itself knows, and never will confess."
- The Old Man in Logan's Run (movie : 1976) (an abridged version of T.S. Eliot's The Naming of Cats)
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