Obsolete kicks...

The Cube

Well, the Power Mac G4 Cube (to give it its full name) arrived today.  Serendipitously, the KVM switch did as well.

Not particularly serendipitously, the connectors on the KVM will not fit ports on the Cube...

Figures.

I did connect the monitor and keyboard/mouse up, just to make sure the system works, and it does.  Beautifully.  Granted, a 450 Mhz G4 processor is not a speed demon, but it chugs along nicely.  And the 1.5 GB of RAM helps.

And it's a CUBE.  It's just freaking cool!  If Apple would bring this design back, updated, I might almost consider scraping together change to buy a new Mac.

Though I do have to say, those Kardon speakers are bleeding HUGE.  Why do all the pictures make them look so small?

Silly side note:  I remember reading somewhere that they used a bank of 16 Mac Cubes to control all the graphics and displays on the series Enterprise.  Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but...

I have a CUBE.

Now, if I could only find room for a G4 "Sunflower" iMac..........

When things start slipping...

Well, here I am...  Two posts in one day.

Right after I posted the last entry, with its stiff-upper-lippery concerning how things were going with the ToughBook...  Well, it started acting up.  I put it in standby mode, and it would not wake back up.  I would have to use the power switch to shut the system down, then go through the over a minute of the computer sitting on the "Panasonic" splash screen (with the progress bar at ¾) before booting into WinXP.

Obviously, I'm not happy.

However, there's a nest of PC techies who have a nest not far from where I live.  I may just drop the blasted thing off with them, if for no other reason than keep my nerves from fraying...

So, I'm back on my old MacBook Pro, which just works when I want/need it to.

Well, to just get away from things, I started doing my normal Internet trawling, and ended up on the now sadly quiet Tiger OSX blog.  Reading one entry there reminded me that I really needed to look for a KVM switch for my desk.

Why, you may ask...

Well, I guess I should mention...

I bought a Cube.

The G4 Cube

Dammit, I've always wanted one.  Has to be one of the coolest computer designs ever.  And this one was at a semi-decent price.  And it's pretty well jazzed up, with extended memory and a decent hard drive.  And it's got 10.4 & Classic preinstalled...

And that KVM switch?  Well, I can use it to hook the Cube up to my current keyboard, mouse, and screen, without disconnecting my Mac Mini.  And it'll also keep me from needing to buy another keyboard, etc., for the new system.  Clever, eh?

Yeah, things are definitely slipping...

I think I've already slipped right over the edge...

And So It Begins...

So, the holiday season is off and running...

I'm not a "Black Friday" person at all.  Never have been.  I'm a terrible holiday shopper.  I'm the type who can never figure out what to get people, and when I do decide, I just want to buy the @#$&%! thing and get out of the store.  I'm not a good bargain hunter.

Besides, aren't the holidays supposed to be about family, friends, good feelings, those sorts of things?  Just sort of saying...

I've been doing my hobby switching again.  Cleaned and inked fountain pens, and have been toting my favorite Montblanc 149 about with me.  (It's a 1980s model, with a medium nib that would count as a broad from any other company.  It's a pen that very obviously saw considerable use before it ever came to me, which is why I like it so much.  This was obviously someone's day-to-day working companion, which means to my mind that it's a good pen.)

Actually pulled out a truly offbeat pen, a Visconti Cosmopolitan.  It's a sort of hybrid model that I believe was made up for the gentleman dealer I bought it from.  It's a huge pen, and I for some reason had it fitted with a truly huge stub nib (think writing with a paint brush).  I cleaned it and switched ink, and the thing behaves so much better as a writer.  I was impressed.

However, I did get dragged back to my oddball laptops.  I've been sticking pretty close to the Power/Macbooks, as I just haven't been in the mood to put up with WinQuirks.  However, I just got a new battery for the ToughBook in, and decided to give it a whirl.  The system is still behaving somewhat oddly, booting slightly slower than I think it should.  (The ThinkPads seem to fly by comparison.  And, yeah, I am used to my MacBooks, which boot almost instantaneously by comparison.)  Oh well...

So far, I'm writing this on the Toughbook (as the new battery finishes charging), and all seems well.  Not sure I'm in the mood to play with the system later on to test it.

Had the fun of doing some research for the local historical society.  May end up going back to the courthouse Monday to read old court cases.  If I thought the laptop was working well, I'd tote it along to write up a nice report for the folks...

Oh well...  The holidays are starting.  Obviously, being focused is not exactly a high priority right now...

Odds and...those things...

Still no pictures...   Oh well...

I've been lost playing with the new electronic toys, which is kind of pointless, but...

The IBM ThinkPad A31 arrived.  The seller put a clean install of Windows 2000 Professional on it, which was interesting.  I suppose Win2000 is the successor to WindowsNT, which I used ages ago in another life, when I was a servant to a government agency that must not be named.  Let's just say it brings back memories.  (Though this particular ThinkPad is far superior to any piece of technology I had access to then...)

Sadly, I did break down and acquire a Panasonic ToughBook.  (Don't know if I mentioned that before or not.)  I found a CF-29 for the cheapest possible price possible, and...  Well, you get what you pay for.  Hardware wise, it was OK, though the trackpad is atrocious (at times to point of being non-functional). Thankfully, I can use the touchscreen capability to get 'round that.  Software wise, however...  It's running WinXP, like the R40, though this system has 2 ½ the memory of the ThinkPad.  Someone prior had installed Google Chrome, which I loathe.  However, the damned thing wouldn't allow me to download anything, so I finally had to go a slightly updated sneakernet route, and copy AVG and FireFox over from the R40 via USB thumb drive.  A run of AVG showed the thing loaded with malware, which I finally got cleared off.  The battery, "guaranteed to hold a charge" did, for about 15 minutes.  Luckily, I'd ordered a new one, which works fine.

However, in the best Microsoft tradition, I can't get the thing to download system updates.  I'm going to try a workaround, but I just get tired of fooling with it after a while, and stop working.

So, I now have a functional ToughBook that should work to take into work situations with me.  We'll see how that goes...

Right now, I'm trying to copy over some images to the R40 to customize it.  (My inner geek demands I put the cool "MI-6" background from Casino Royale on it.  I know, I'm sad...)  I need to install a new TrackPoint cover on the 380XD (which I haven't had back out).  Need to get OpenOffice onto the A31.  (Again, I'll USB it over.  I haven't installed the wireless card.)

All those terribly inconsequential things in life.  Where would be without them?

New Arrivals Again

I managed to keep myself mildly busy today, which was actually more of a chore than working would normally be.  Fun.

Got home to find that I had a couple new arrivals at home.  (Alas, no pictures taken.  Maybe later...)

Ages ago, I'd won yet another Powerbook Duo 2300 off eBay.  I should've learned, after the last Duo debacle, which I documented a while back.  But...  Fools don't learn.  And, occasionally, they get lucky.  This is the most functional Duo model I've come across.  Duo keyboards are notorious for gumming up, and becoming non-functional.  This particular one works fine.  And it came with a couple extra batteries, one of which might hold enough of a charge to make it salvageable.  It's running System 7.5, and still has a nice software complement on it.  I'm very happy, as the Duo 2300 is a wonderful little computer, fun to play with.

And, to my surprise, the IBM ThinkPad 380 XD I talked about a couple days ago showed up.  What a beast!  The old bit about the designer of the ThinkPad series using a bento box as his inspiration really comes through in this model.  It's thick, and built like a tank.  Even more surprising was when I accidentally flipped the power switch.  The thing booted!  Off battery!  In the best Bruce Campbell tradition, Groovy!  It's running Win98, and it also still has its applications folder largely intact.  I notice it's missing a few drivers here/there, but everything seems to be working OK otherwise.  Even the TrackPoint, though heavily worn, works perfectly.  (I've got some replacement TrackPoint covers on order, so...)

The ThinkPad seems roughly analogous to my Powerbook 3400C.  (About the same size, too.  Though the 3400 is much more streamlined, so it doesn't appear as thick when placed side-by-side with.)

So, I've got some techie stuff to keep me occupied.  At least until the two other ThinkPads arrive.

In the silly-season file, I actually found myself looking at a refurb'ed Alienware laptop.  (!?!)  Granted, they're cool machines, with scads of power and all sorts of neat (if useless to me) features.  It'd look damn good sitting on my desk, pulsating.  But...  I'm not a gamer.  I have no interest in gaming.  (And, with all the goo-gahs, the battery life is pretty slim compared to even the old computers I use...)

And, more importantly, I can't afford an Alienware system.  (No comment about the hordes of laptops on their way to me.  They cost only pennies by comparison.)  Even a refurb.  And, furthermore, I really don't have any interest in putting more money in Michael Dell's pocket.

I really have to stop looking at computers for sale.

But, if I do that, I'll just start looking at fountain pens................

Making Do, Techno-Style...

On the tail-end of the last post, I was thinking (oddly enough) about the idea of "making do."

I may have wandered through this topic before, I don't really remember.  But I occasionally go off on my "nostalgic for college" riffs, and when I get into that, I always start thinking about my computer-heavy days of grad school.

My computer back then was a little Panasonic CF-150, which I used for everything from writing to programming to (yes) browsing the Internet.  (The world wide web was still a ways off from my neck of the wood back then...)  The little Panasonic was all I had.  It was outdated even then, but I had to make do...

However, I keep looking at my first Mac (the Powerbook G4 AlBook), running OS X 10.4 Tiger with Classic installed, and I think, "Damn!  This would've been PERFECT back in the day!"  To my mind, it's the ultimate "making do" computer for college.  It was fairly inexpensive, it had good performance, and (the kicker) I can get excellent software for next to nothing.  How?

Abandonware.  The old Classic software has largely been left behind in the OS X world.  But that doesn't mean it's not good stuff.  I've written over and over about using Classic word processors, all of which I got through abandonware.  But there are literally programs of all types out there, from word processors to spreadsheets to graphics to integrated suites to programming packages.  And, yes, games. And on and on...

If I were going off to college, the first thing I would do would be to grab an old Powerbook or iBook G4 running 10.4 (which is a bit on the abandoned side itself, though there is still good support for it via the user community), make sure it had Classic, and then hit a site like Macintosh Garden, and go to town.  You can load up the computer with incredible software, and the price can't be beat.  The most expensive thing you'd have to do would be to possibly upgrade the memory, and possibly get a new battery...

I'd have a cheap, easy to support computer with more power than most people need, and a boatload of high-power programs at my disposal.

Of course, having said that, I realize the very idea of doing this would be anathema to kids today.  Use something like, ya know, like... old???  Like, ya know, like not...  new???

I guess I'm weird that way.  I like the thought of being able to make do with something vintage.  You wouldn't think that of a guy who collects/uses fountain pens and old Macs, now would you?  (I haven't mentioned my Swiss Army Knife collection, have I?  The ultimate "make do" tool.)

I think I'm going to go play on an old Powerbook now.  And think about how I'm going to set up those old ThinkPads when they arrive....

When You've Done Something Stupid II: The Return of the Ludicrous

OK, you know something really good is going on when...

Let me just start this by saying that, yes, I am a die-hard Mac user.  (You've picked that up, haven't you?)

Well, years and years ago, i was a die-hard DOS/Windows user.  I had a whole string of Win systems, both laptops and desktops.  One of the systems I had was a low-end IBM ThinkPad.

I can't remember for the life of me what model it was.  I believe it was a 300-series model.  I bought it at Radio Shack back in the late 90s, and as I remember, it came with a 500 MB hard drive loaded with Windows 95.  And I loved it.  The ThinkPads were some of the finest laptops of their day, and this one lived up to that.  I remember toting it on the road with me, adding a 56K modem card that had a little pop-up phone jack...

After using this computer for ages, I decided I was going to experiment with this new thing called "Linux" which had just started its climb to popularity.

Stupid idea.

I don't remember all the particulars, but there was something about partitioning the hard disk, and a bunch of other stuff.  And then the hard drive decided to...  Well, something about it being unreadable...

Of course, I had never done the "create system disks" for my Win95 install (it was set up to use floppy disks, and I didn't feel like "wasting" around 20+ disks to create a backup).  I didn't have a copy of Win95 to my name, and I'm surprised the Linux CD survived the event intact.  (I actually tripped across them not too long ago, and was even after all this time, just seeing them gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.)

The little ThinkPad got packed away somewhere, replaced by a a string of generic desktops.  And many, many years later, I made the jump to Macintosh, and all that ancient WinBox history went by the wayside.  Until a few days ago...

I won't go into the silliness that caused me to remember the little IBM.  Needless to say, I got to thinking about trying to find it, and fix it up.  I have a good idea where it was entombed, and I even thought about excavating it...

But...  That would require effort.  If I really want to play with an old ThinkPad, why not find one already refurbished..?

(Now, why the blazes would I want to fool with an obsolete Win Laptop?  Well...  I read things like this...   And my eyes glaze...)

Mom always used to tell me that I get interested in something and promptly go overboard, so...  Without further ado...

My THREE new ThinkPads...

IBM ThinkPad 380XD, the oldest

IBM ThinkPad A31, which just looks cool.  Sort of James Bond-ish....

IBM ThinkPad R40, which is the latest model, and probably still somewhat usable in the "Modern" world.

Granted, I didn't pay much for these individually.  But, it adds up, as acts of stupidity usually do.  (It could've been worse.  I found myself looking at a Panasonic ToughBook CF-29 that was going fairly cheap, as these machines go.  It ended up going for more than I paid for all three of the ThinkPads combined.)

I have no bleeding idea what I'm going to do with these.  The R40 might be loaded up and used in situations I don't want to put my MacBooks in.  (Like in various courthouse record rooms when I'm working.)  The A31 might be a cool thing to take to the local coffee house and write with occasionally...  Maybe I can dig out some of the old games, etc., I have, and run them on the 380XD...

Oh, when stupidity strikes..........