Computer stuff
Here are a few updates on the computer front. I swapped Girija for my parents' old Celeron computer, so that they could have a decent desktop PC. I kept the graphics cards and blue LED fans.
I moved my personal email to Google, which makes life much easier with multiple PCs. It also will make it easier to change web hosting plans. I like my provider, but I think I can move to something cheaper.
I mentioned somewhere that I bought a little 15" LCD TV to use as a spare monitor, mostly for new system builds. Well, I hooked it up to Aparna as a secondary monitor and it's been pretty cool. I had tried dual monitors before and realized mixing CRT and LCD didn't work, but this is different. Because the second monitor is small and off to the side, I'm not constantly dragging windows from one to the other where I notice how different things look. Mostly I've been running Media Center on the second screen playing J-pop video playlists, and it's been working really well.
I've fired up the GPUs again for Folding@home, this time for team [H]ard|OCP. I'm trying to decide what to do with Gauri, though. It's still a powerhouse, but technology moves on and many people are switching to more power-efficient systems.
I think the Great Windows 7 Migration is about to begin. I've had Win7 installed on a few new machines and I upgraded the laptop a while ago, but I'm looking at the Vista HTPC and XP desktop and thinking it's time. The question now is what, if any, hardware changes should accompany the OS upgrade. For example, I like everything about my desktop except the motherboard, and I do have a better one available, but tearing everything apart just for that hardly seems worth it. The HTPC could definitely use some bigger drives and an HD tuner card.
Actually, I'm taking a second look at all my PCs and re-evaluating their roles. I think it's time to ditch not just the ancient Pentium boxes but also some relatively more recent hardware. It doesn't make sense having Core i7s sitting around underutilized while my critical Windows Home Server box runs on a single-core Athlon64, for example. One of the many benefits of having many PCs is that I can tear down a machine, or even strip two to build a third, while still keeping daily operations (email, backups, TV recording) running smoothly. However, I don't have the space to house all of my current PCs and parts, nor the time to manage those boxen that are up and running. Some consolidation is in order, and I think there are big changes ahead. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the old stuff I don't need.
I moved my personal email to Google, which makes life much easier with multiple PCs. It also will make it easier to change web hosting plans. I like my provider, but I think I can move to something cheaper.
I mentioned somewhere that I bought a little 15" LCD TV to use as a spare monitor, mostly for new system builds. Well, I hooked it up to Aparna as a secondary monitor and it's been pretty cool. I had tried dual monitors before and realized mixing CRT and LCD didn't work, but this is different. Because the second monitor is small and off to the side, I'm not constantly dragging windows from one to the other where I notice how different things look. Mostly I've been running Media Center on the second screen playing J-pop video playlists, and it's been working really well.
I've fired up the GPUs again for Folding@home, this time for team [H]ard|OCP. I'm trying to decide what to do with Gauri, though. It's still a powerhouse, but technology moves on and many people are switching to more power-efficient systems.
I think the Great Windows 7 Migration is about to begin. I've had Win7 installed on a few new machines and I upgraded the laptop a while ago, but I'm looking at the Vista HTPC and XP desktop and thinking it's time. The question now is what, if any, hardware changes should accompany the OS upgrade. For example, I like everything about my desktop except the motherboard, and I do have a better one available, but tearing everything apart just for that hardly seems worth it. The HTPC could definitely use some bigger drives and an HD tuner card.
Actually, I'm taking a second look at all my PCs and re-evaluating their roles. I think it's time to ditch not just the ancient Pentium boxes but also some relatively more recent hardware. It doesn't make sense having Core i7s sitting around underutilized while my critical Windows Home Server box runs on a single-core Athlon64, for example. One of the many benefits of having many PCs is that I can tear down a machine, or even strip two to build a third, while still keeping daily operations (email, backups, TV recording) running smoothly. However, I don't have the space to house all of my current PCs and parts, nor the time to manage those boxen that are up and running. Some consolidation is in order, and I think there are big changes ahead. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the old stuff I don't need.
posted by David at
8:43 PM
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