Technology

I really need to rename this section “Computers.” When I finally dust off The Gimp for some graphics work, I will. These graphics are left over from something like ’97 when I was using “Image Editor” or whatever it was that shipped with FrontPage back then.

People my age, that is, born around the late 60′s, are unique in that we are the first generation to grow up with computers. A by-product of this fact is that is that it seems to be much more common to find people who truly understand computers among my age bracket. Any older, and computers just weren’t very common. If someone older than me is into computers, they probably get it on an even deeper level than I do, because they were closer to the circuits. Any younger than me, and it’s very likely that they just view computers as a tool, and not as a hobby in and of themselves. Even someone just 10 years younger than me probably cut their teeth on Windows 95, and maybe never had to think about something like making peripherals stay on their own, separate interrupts.

I had to understand how to do things like “bootstrap” the computer. Most of the interaction with an Atari or Commodore required a basic understanding of BASIC and how computers actually worked. Now, everyone expects to just turn on the computer and have their email magically appear in their mail program. While that may be nice, without a fundamental understanding of all the steps it took to get there, if it breaks, you can’t fix it.

Computers have become so ubiquitous now that they are nearly everywhere and a part of everything. In the dustbin, I have a Timex DataLink watch. It could be programmed to remember phone numbers, to-do lists, and appointments from flashes of the computer’s screen. That was pure science fiction in the 50′s. It has the same amount of memory the Commodore 64 had 15 years before it. My first real PC had 40 times the power of the computer that launched the first manned space vehicles. My cell phone has about 20 times the memory of my first PC, and it’s only holding half what it can handle. It’s not just incredible what computers are achieving in terms of progress and capability; it’s incredible that they are still accelerating in complexity and power.

My Computers
A run-down of all the hardware and software I use, with some reasoning as to why.

Screenshots
This is just a collection of screenshots from various OS’s I have run on my computers. I find them amusing.

Topics
I have opinions. Oh, you noticed. Okay. Well, go here to see what I think about technological issues.

Programming
So far, a script I have pieced together, but I am hoping to do some more real programming (for myself, not my job), and I am the type that would share it for free on the net.

Tips
Here’s my chance to give something back, no matter how small. I hope these things will be of some use to someone, somewhere, sometime.