RANDOM JOTTINGS

Out and About

I've acquired a "new" computer. It's an IBM Aptiva, a mini-tower, with an AMD K6-2/500 MHz processor, 64 MB of Memory, a 13 GB hard drive, and a CD burner. Primitive technology, huh? But the thing is, I got it for free! At the dump!

It's no piece of trash, really, it obviously had a good home. No dents, jelly-fingerprints or scratches, little dust-buildup inside the case. I plugged it in, pressed the button, and it booted right up to Windows 98. The previous owner had cleared out all of his documents and data (although his name is on the Start Menu). I will be upgrading the memory to 128 MB, wiping the hard drive, and installing Windows XP on the wee beastie, and it will be perfectly serviceable.

So why was it disposed of? From the icons left on the Desktop and Start Menu, I assume that the owner was not a power-user; America On-Line, various Jump-Start educational children's CDs, Microsoft Office suite, typical household fare.

But it is not the latest and greatest, and Americans must utilize their disposable income (or bottomless credit) to acquire that. Otherwise, how would you play "Dark Metal Raging Doom XXIII" with 4-dimensional graphics rendered in the 20 Billion colours (of which we can only see 10 percent or so), practicing on a cutting-edge consumer simulator the deadly reflexes that will come in so handy when we need to lob Smart Bombs™ into Iran, or Pakistan, or Waziristan, or Angola, or...

I'll just note that this casually-disposed of computer certainly has far more processing power that it took to get Apollo 11 to the Moon in 1969; they would have been in awe of this little tower.

In honour of America's material propensity, I dedicate the following song: