philo
Fri May 02 13:06:11 PDT 2008
"thanatoid" <waiting@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9A92832E87A3Dthanexit@66.250.146.158...
> "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in
> news:ujexJ2ErIHA.3456@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:
>
> <SNIP>
>
> > The thing with me is I abhor waste. As I have always:
> > We are going to put so much stuff into the landfills, the
> > earth will eventually grow
> > so heavy that it will fall out of orbit.
> >
> > (If anyone is about to point out the logical errors in that
> > remark... the problem is on your end.)
>
> /laughs/
>
> > I refurbish computers for a non-profit organization
> > and for all people with limited incomes. Each year I
> > rebuild or repair literally hundreds upon hundreds of
> > computers.
>
> If I wasn't such a useless fuck I would do the same.
I seriously doubt that you are useless. Though I go way back
and took my first course in FORTRAN IV at Milwaukee School of Engineering
back
in 1968. I was *shocked* that punch cards were being used. It seemed absurd!
Eleven years later when I went back to school to get additional education
for my job,
I was mortified that we were still using punch cards! It seemed insane.
After constructing a 68000 based machine for one of my advanced courses...in
May 1982
or so...I eventually grew to HATE computers so much that I swore I would
never touch one again.
I tossed my TV out and got a 1939 L.C Smith & Corona typewriter at a rummage
sale
for maybe $5 and fixed it up and got it working.
From then on I absolutely loathed computers...and the only thing I hated
worse than computers
were the people who used them.
I retreated inwardly to my own world and wrote non-stop for well over 12
years.(poetry and prose)
The first year it was all anger...but it took me many more years to get the
anger out of my
system. I had originally intended all my thoughts to be private...but
eventually started going
to poetry readings... I changed from an extreme introvert to an extreme
extrovert...
and did performance poetry in Chicago on a regular basis. Did tons of poetry
slams at the
Green Mill in Chicago and let me tell you that was tough. There is
absolutely nothing tougher!
I ROAR with laughter if someone on Usenet tries to insult me. There is
nothing like
a live Chicago crowd out to kill you!
I've performed in Manhattan too...and finally pretty much retired from
poetry
when I finally won a poetry slam in Milwaukee!
The highlight of my poetic career was in 1995... when I was invited to the
Peace Museum in Chicago
to read two of my poems at the commemoration of the ending of WW-II with the
bombing of Nagasaki.
The poem was deeply inspired by stories my father told me...as he was among
the first US troops
to go into the city after the bombing.
Through the poetry readings...I met my girlfriend Colleen. We have been
engaged for many years...
she has the ring...but since I am such an old fart...who knows when we will
get married.
Anyway...Colleen was the one who got me interested in computers when she
gave me her old Packard Bell
back in 1999. I was with her when she bought it new in 1995 for $1600. I
thought she was nuts!
Since the machine was a freebie...I took it home and figured..might as well
see what all this computer stuff is about.
Then I go hooked. When she owned the machine I would never go near it, and
if she ever wanted to show me something...
I literally ran out of the room screaming.
So there I was alone at home watching Windows 95 boot up for the very first
time. I knew *nothing*. I knew less than
nothing. I did not even have negative knowledge, I was so clueless.
But I raced home from work each day...to fool with the thing for countless
hours each day.
The first time Windows 95 booted up...I saw the start button and said to
myself: "Maybe start here?"
That was pretty much my ending.
Within about 6 months or so...I had also gotten a 386 with win3x on it...so
started going backwards rather
than forewords...going back and trying to learn all the stuff I missed in
all those years I had never looked at a computer.
I was going crazy. I was bringing old machines literally by the truckload
into my house and ripping them apart
and putting them back together. 286's 8088's even an old Kaypro running
CP/M.
By early in the year 2000 I felt familiar enough with the machines to tell
everyone that I had finally entered the 20th century...
and with humor they pointed out to me that (popularly) it was now the 21st
century. (Technically the 21st century did not begin
until the year 2001...but even joining the 20th century on the very last
year...was funny enough.
Then, after I had at least somewhat learned what I had missed...I went
forward and upgraded that PB
to win98...upgraded the CPU, RAM and harddrive...then installed Linux. Back
in those days...getting a Linux distro
installed was pretty tough...and it was a real challenge...but it taught me
a hell of a lot in the process.
I turned to Usenet and saw the beauty of it. I had been lurking on a Red Hat
group...
trying to gain as much knowledge as possible...when I saw a newbie
struggling to get a boot loader installed.
Since I had only figured that out myself a few days before...and since no
one had replied to his query...I
answered his question, he then posted back that my suggestion had
worked..then he asked me something
that was about a million times over my head. It was not for at least six
more months that I was able to successfully
compile a new kernel...and he had wanted to do so to enable some specialized
hardware .
Though I told him that I was not able to help him anymore as I was still
pretty new at it...
we ended up chatting a while and it turned out the guy was a computer expert
...
and NT systems administrator...who was trying to find out all about Linux.
(Gulp...OK nice talking to you.)
Eventually after repairing and rebuilding and building from scratch well
over 1000 machines...
probably many more , I was able to learn perhaps the first 0.01 % of it all.
Every time I repair a machine...I look at it as a new opportunity to learn
something. To me, it's a cheap
education...way better than any college course I had ever taken. I went to
school for more years than
I'd care to admit...but learned much more on my own.
So if you want to learn about computers...get some old junkers.
Even though I always end up formatting the drive and starting over from
scratch...
I have spent ages with old junk with horribly corrupted OS's on them
and repairing them first.
When you have an old junk machine to experiment on...
since you are not working with anything valuable...you can feel free
to do anything you want. I only blew up one machine..and that was a 286
that was missing a power supply...and I tried to rewire one from a 486
and definitely got some wires crossed! Poof. OOPs I said...too bad <G>
>
> > I firmly believe in re-using them and am really sickened by
> > all the waste!
>
> My sentiments EXACTLY.
>
> > Since I am Microsoft authorized
> > refurbisher...I can re-certify any machine that's a P-II or
> > above and license it with Win2k for just $5.
>
> Wow, THAT's interesting!
>
> > So basically
> > most of the donated
> > machines can be re-used.
>
> Great!
>
> > However not everyone I come in contact even has as much as
> > a P-II... and many of the folks I work with are still using
> > p-1's and sometimes even 486's...
>
> I have run 95B with internet on a 486 with an old Supra 28.8. It
> works, a little slower than the 166MHz I am on now, but probably
> NOT much slower than a brand new Vista machine with the "not up
> to snuff" Intel chipset!
>
> > but why waste them. Many people can get by fine with what
> > they have... and a very light browser such as OffByOne can
> > keep their machines still productive.
>
> Exactly. What you are doing is what I have always told people
> they should get into the "business" of doing. When I read about
> how computers are becoming as much of a landfill problem as
> diapers, it really freaks me out - especially since all those
> computers are perfectly usable, while diapers, well... though
> MAYBE fertilizer?
>
> > For DOS only machines...I've even set a few up with the
> > Arachne browser... I can even run it on my 286...and though
> > it will also run on an 8088... a machine of that vintage is
> > really only useful in the CLI mode of course.
>
> I don't know what CLI is. I started with computers around 1991
> or so.
> Ah.. would it be command line interpreter? (Mot that I know any
> more than the name :-)
>
CLI ...command line interface Viz : dos or linux bash shell for example.
In other words ...no GUI
> > So what do I do with the P-1's? If someone is using Win98
> > on the machine... I usually give them a choice. They can
> > trade it up to a P-II or P-III... or else I simply take
> > their existing win98 installation, clean it up and perhaps
> > add some RAM and send them on their way.
> >
> > But that still leaves me with a number of P1's.
> > I simply load a light Linux distro onto those. Generally,
> > Damn Small Linux (heck I can put that on a 100 meg drive
> > and have plenty of room to spare)... then offer the
> > machines on Craig's list.
>
> I wonder if you could strike a deal with the guy who makes the
> Lite PC IE remover and the 95-shell-instead-of-the-stupid-
> active-desktop-integration-of-98
> customizer. 98SE Lite would run just great on a P1 and probably
> on a 486 too. But then I imagine that would /rather seriously/
> impact your MS certification.
>
> > Last weekend I put a Compaq P1 200 mhz on my workbench at 8
> > AM. I loaded Linux on the machine...tested it...then posted
> > it on Craig's list. It was gone by noon!
>
> :-)
>
> > Before I could even kill my offer on Craig's...I got a 2nd
> > request... so quickly found an old Packard Bell in my
> > workshop... and loaded Damn Small Linux on the
> > machine...and by 4PM that one was gone too!
> >
> > Any parts or old monitors that I have that are worthless.
> > then go to a computer recycler in town...
> > But I keep close to 95% of the stuff in circulation...
> > and thus far have a 99% success rate with my repairs.
>
> That is just beautiful.
>
> > Since I have enough spare parts to rebuild a machine
> > completely from ground up...Only a crushed cased machine is
> > deemed unrepairable though of course..most of the parts can
> > still be re-used
>
> Another thing most humanoids fail to grasp.
>
> Best regards.
> t.
>
Well a lot of the machines are being recycled. I actually had a service call
at a recycling center
recently...and all the stuff is being stripped down, metal , plastic etc
and being shipped to China. I found it hard to believe that it would be
economically feasible...but I guess
it is. Even the recycling center told me that the old CRT's can be a problem
though.
Woah, did I go on and on ...
too much coffee I think. I should still be at work,
but I went home early.