Nerd Pics
Going to school at MSOE for a computer engineering degree almost by default makes me a giant friggin' computer nerd. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are the fruits of many wasted dollars and hours.
Desktop
Not exactly the fastest out there, but I'm content with it.
- Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
- Athlon 64 X2 @ 2.5GHz
- 1GB Corsair XMS @ 223Mhz, 3-3-3-7 timings
- 2 Western Digital 74GB Raptors in RAID 0
- eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX @ 489MHz GPU / 1.27GHz RAM
- Huge 20.1" Viewsonic VP201b monitor.
- 500W Ultra X-Connect modular PSU
- Sexy Lian-Li black brushed aluminum case
- Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS sound card
- Logitech Z-680 5.1 surround sound speakers
- Uberphat Sennheiser HD555 headphones
| Top half of the case with my room's space heater (the 7800GTX, not the A64 X2, n00b). | |
| The L337 Corsair XMS that I bought from Brad. Sorry for all the noise in the pic. | |
| Spooky pic of the front w/ the obligitary Musketeer analog gauge array. | |
| In case you were wondering if the flash on my camera deson't work or something, here's the case fully illuminated and stuff. No, I don't not have any optical drives; it's a stealth mod, you n00b. | |
| 10" woofer; shakes the house. | |
| Two of the five satellites...yes, that is an empty bottle of Frangelico along with TWO empty bottles of Jack. | |
| Amazing Sennheiser HD555 headphones that you've probably heard me bragging about. |
New Laptop
Soulless, but wicked L337 MSOE-issue laptop. omfg. This laptop can eat your laptop for breakfast and shit it out before lunch.
- 1.7Ghz P4-M 533MHz FSB
- 1GB DDR2 @ 266 MHz, 4-4-4-12 timings (yes, DDR2; I did not stutter)
- API FireGL V5000
- L337 15.4" TFT WUXGA Screen @ 1920 x 1200
| The only stickers L337 enough to handle the transfer from the previous laptop were the Stinger and RTFM stickers. All others have since been incinerated. | |
| The WUXGA screen that makes everything seem more life-like. |
Old Laptop
Soulless, but fast and thin, MSOE-issue laptop. I put stickers on the back to give it some personality.
- 2.2GHz P4-M 400MHz FSB
- 512MB DDR @ 266MHz
- ATI Mobility Fire GL 9000
- L337 15-inch display @ 1600 x 1200
| Everyone inquires about the "Ice Cream Drinks" list that I totally jacked from the JOT which, by the way, has the WORST WEBSITE EVER; look at the source if you want a good laugh. I think that the rest of the stickers speak for themselves. | |
| When coding 1000s lines of C++ code, you 1: have to have a nonsensical desktop wallpaper, and 2: need the resolution at 1600 x 1200. |
The LinuxCrate
One day during the summer of 2004, I was looking for a project to do. I needed a server to host my quickly growing collection of ISOs, music, and movies. The problem followed me to the JOT where I gazed upon a large stack of milkcrates in a corner of a hallway. The idea struck me like a plantation owner in the mid 1800's: instead of putting a bomb hard drive into a regular old computer chassis, put a bomb drive into an irregular old milkcrate. Finding a dirty, old, decrepit, orange milkcrate in my basement, I began taking dimensions and ordering (cheap) parts. Everything went together fine, and all was good for a few months until (surprise) the WinXP I had installed decided to crash one day. Being pissed off at Billy Gates, I decided to take the exact opposite track of the path I had taken before for the OS. Instead of using a heartless, but well-documented and supported OS, I was going to the soulful but very difficult (for Linux n00bs like me) Linux OS. So, I bought a new bomb hard drive and (after much help from Nick @ school) got a pretty decent Linux-Powered server running. The LinuxCrate was born.
- 2.0 GHz Celeron (I was on a budget)
- 2 X 250 GB bomb drives
- Linux Kernel 2.6.9
- Gentoo distro w/ Fluxbox window manager
- Very many green lights
| My room's floor for about 2 weeks. | |
| 250 GB bomb drive mounted on acrylic. Sorry, again, for the uncleanness of the floor. | |
| Initial Windoze install; what a tremendous mistake. I'd like to note, though, that the computer is running in this picture, even though it looks totally haggard. Very observant nerds will spot the sweet momentary on/off switch I made. | |
| The guts of the system, along with the tiny motherboard. That big chunk up there in the northern corner is for the PSU. Ingenious, no? | |
| Finished; yes it is that bright. | |
| Blurry; i know. |




