Thursday, June 18, 2009

There's a reason we geeks buy crap we don't need.


Like, say, the dozen 64-bit AMD laptops I own, which actually do have a purpose since they form the nucleus of a travelling classroom. But when I'm not teaching, they kind of sit there, lonely and forlorn (except when I need a test system or two for whatever the heck I want).

But a lady I know who doesn't deserve it has been diagnosed with MS, and it's getting harder and harder for her to go up and down the stairs to get to her computer, so she asked if I had a spare laptop she could keep downstairs and, yeah, I'm pretty sure I can spare one for however long it's useful.

So if you're a geek and your girlfriend keeps giving you evil looks about the geek crap you keep buying, just tell her that, sure, you might not need it right this minute. But, hey, you never know.

TWEET ME, BABY: Since there's very little left for me to hide, if you're interested, you can follow me on Twitter. But be warned -- that Twitter account is pure geek and CC-free. So unless you're sincerely interested in my random musings on Linux and open source, there's no point. The word "douchebag" will never come up.

Well, OK, I might slag Microsoft once in a while.

P.S. Just because you follow me on Twitter doesn't necessarily mean I'll follow you back. Again, it's the geek quotient. Nothing personal.

13 comments:

Zorpheous said...

Shit, you should my office at the moment, it looks like a super computer puked up in it,...

Time to thin out stuff,... build a few usable systems and Fedora on them and Free Cycle them to a needy home or two,...

Sparky said...

That's kind of you, cc
the good bit for me is my wife likes laptops on the different floors--wherever she is she has access to whatever (mostly recipies and baby stuff...)

David Webb said...

When I finally convince my technophobic bosses to switch to Linux, I now know who to call to train the staff. Far from being a bad day, the "outing" will be a financial boon to both parties. Thanks Dick!

As an aside CC, can you point me to where I can ask about running our "can't live without" software on Linux? It won't run on Vista, so we can't upgrade hardware without buying another copy of XP or buying a Vostro. Which is irritating. Sorry to be OT; delete if necessary.

CC said...

Thoughts on "can't live without" software (and I'm betting Zorph can chime in here):

1) Really can't live without? (Always have to ask that.)

2) Run under Wine on Linux.

3) Give it its own machine with virtualization (Xen, VirtualBox, VmWare, etc.)

I'd consider that third option -- virtualization is the cool thing these days.

Drop me a note offline, and we'll talk more.

Zorph?

David Webb said...

1)It really is niche software for a niche business. And mission critical.

2)Oh. OK. What I don't know could fill an ocean.

3)Guh? Has to be networked. I will drop you a line.

Thanks CC.

CC said...

David:

Here's the bare beginnings of tutorial on virtualization I started writing a while back. I try to add to it in my spare time. It's not that old but it's already frighteningly out-of-date

LuLu said...

Sigh ... dorks.

Anonymous said...

Since there's very little left for me to hide
I'm not ready for the full monty...

David Webb said...

Lulu,

I know, I know, we're goofballs. But I'm just trying to make some coin while working in a jargon-rich environment. I think you can appreciate that. And when I find experts, I try to be an information lamprey. 'Cause me not smrt...smat...mart.

Whatever.

Polyorchnid Octopunch said...

Microsoft isn't the answer. Microsoft is a question. The answer is no.

When you install Linux, you're installing... Socialism!

And about virtualisation software; sounds like an ideal solution to me. I'm partial to virtualbox, but I know some of the early developers so I'm prolly a wee bit biased. It actually started out as a way to run OS/2 software in a VM, written for a major corporate entity in Germany....

Anonymous said...

Ever try to install Sun Solaris on Parallels? Virtualization can sometimes give you more headaches than it's worth...

If you want to reach the mainstream, make it easy. Don't have people recompile the kernel, do some voodoo and change half their hardware/firmware and start arguing about arcane and inane points.

LuLu said...

You know what this blog needs? Less geekery and more pictures of my boots.

You're welcome I'm sure.

KEvron said...

smells like pocket protector in here....

KEvron