And Now, the Last Post About the New Computer For a While
Posted on July 29, 2009 Posted by John Scalzi 46 Comments
Because I figure you’re all bored with it by now.
For those asking from whence the computer came, I bought it from IBuyPower.com. More specifically, it’s their Paladin XLC V2 computer, with some minor customizations. I bought it as a reward for finishing That Project I Can’t Tell You About Yet, and also (and as it turns out, presciently) because I figured the previous desktop was getting on in years and it was time to get a new one.
Aside from the issue of the hard drive damaged during shipping, everything about the computer is groovy, and when I contacted IBuyPower about the hard drive, they pretty rapidly made it right and shipped me a replacement without waiting for me to return the damaged one, which was convenient for me. So despite the damage my overall experience with IBuyPower has been positive so far. We’ll see if any additional problems crop up, but quite obviously I’m hoping not. Meanwhile the drive that is functioning is a 1TB drive, and I have a 1.5TB outboard archive drive, so I’m not exactly hard up for space at the moment.
And yes, the gameplay on the new computer is sweet like honey. That’s all I’m going to say about that. I will say that the computer is actually surprisingly quiet despite having two huge fans (it’s also liquid cooled). I can hear it if I pay attention but it doesn’t really impinge on my consciousness otherwise. I can’t complain about that.
Someone asked what I had named the computer; its name is “Mencken 7,” which as you may expect means it’s the seventh desktop I’ve had; I think the first Mencken was a Mac Plus 1MB rather some years ago, although I won’t swear to that. I name the desktops “Mencken”; the laptops are “Parker,” as in Dorothy (I’m up to Parker 4); when I got the netbook, I inaugurated the “Heinlein” naming convention, henceforth to be given to computers smaller than standard laptop. Why yes, I am a big fat geek.
And that’s the new computer.
Does it hover slightly above your desk like the ones on their product page? That would be wicked awesome.
You have to pay extra for that.
I used to name my computers after houses from Brust’s Vlad Taltos novels. Over the years, I had Jhereg, Orca, Yendi, Hawk, Tiassa, Dragon and Taltos. How is that on the geekiness scale?
I stopped after I got off the “build your own PC” wagon, which had more to do with tiring of that particular hobby than anything else.
I just call mine Desktop and Laptop. Not like they’re pets or anything.
Prior to this, I never had a desktop and a laptop at the same time, it was either one or the other.
Sweet computer, though.
Mine tend to be named after minerals that look like the case or can be refined into metals that the case is made of. Bauxite, Obsidian, etc.
Mine are the seven hills of Rome. So far, no more than 7 computers at a time, so it works. (There are other Roman hills I could use beyond the standard seven, so I could extend it to at least 10 or so I suppose.)
The desktop is “aventine”, the server is “capitoline”, the router is “palatine”, the laptop is “caelian”, and the Wii (hey, it connects to the wireless network too, so it needs a name) is “viminal”.
Names left in the traditional seven, if you don’t have them memorized (!), are “esquiline” and “quirinal”.
I’ve always named mine after sentient computers from Heinlein books.
I name mine after imaginary places and was surprised to find someone else online with the same naming convention (http://www.kith.org/journals/jed/2009/07/04/12215.html).
Nobody ever says, “Mine are all named after the credit card companies that financed them. The desktop is named CitiBusiness, the laptop is Chase Visa, and the netbook is Amex Optima Subprime.”
I’ve never named one of my many computers. I feel inadequate.
My desktop is always named ‘kimba’ (see my username) and the file server is astroboy. Should I change the name when I get a new one? That seems like such a waste! On the other hand, it would be easier to wax nostalgic about ex-computers. I could say, “Remember when Roger Ranger had his first ever X windows session? Good times.”
I never actually thought to give mine a special moniker, although I suppose you could call a nickname (“You Bastard”) a name of sorts.
My son named the desktop in the front alcove ‘Bob.” Of course a couple years ago, he named everything Bob.
http://namingschemes.com/Main_Page has some really creative suggestions. Also you can always add your favorite.
I name my computers after scientists and musicians. My former work tower/now network server is Albert, my music production box is Randy Rhoads.
Haven’t named this laptop yet. Hmmm.
My laptops have all been named Groucho – I’m on Groucho4 now. The peripherals have peripherally associated names – Cigar, Moustache, Duck, etc.
I pull names at random from my textbooks on ancient religions.
I name hard drives, rather than pcs, though.
I’ve got telmun, odei, (nebi) samwil, and when my desktop gets build it’ll have a drive named Ninhursag.
Heh, strangely enough, my last box which is similar was also from ibuypower – I had a PS go bad, which took out the motherboard, but they replaced both with no problems. Well, they shipped them to me and i replaced them, but I suppose I could have shipped the whole thing back instead.
For me, I name my PCs HALnnnn, with n incrementing, starting with 9000, I’m up to 9009 currently. PDAs get named counting downwards, I’m only down to HAL8997 though.
My desktops are “Yellow Rose” after my favorite photo…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2570/3768415200_f25e7fbfb5_o.jpg
And my laptops are “Defiant” after the little ship from DS9, and also because that was the network admin password in college…
I haven’t named my iPhone, yet…
well, if we’re talking about PDAs and things too, then I also name iPods after Muses. my original 1G (with the physical click wheel) was “Euterpe”, my current 5G is “Melpomene”, and my wife’s Nano is “Calliope”. Currently I have a (unnamed) Nokia cell phone that was out of date when I got it 6 years ago; if I get an iPhone as a replacement I haven’t decided if it needs to follow the Muse names or not.
I’m with William @10. Then again, what’s the matter with “computer”? It was good enough for Scotty and Spock.
Michael S: When you are the sort of geek who always has five computers running, and likes to log in remotely, you have to differentiate them somehow.
Azathoth (desktop), Cthulhu (laptop) Yog Sothoth (media server), Nyarlathotep (smartphone)… for some reason my friends keep telling me that I’m just asking for trouble.
I always just called them by the OS and when I had more than one running the same OS I would go with the CPU and or the speed. Like Kiran I also had pet names that are spelled with the shift key and numbers. Whether it was hardware issues or just me getting pummeled on a game. Like last week when my XP machine went into epic fail mode. No it wasn’t the power supply. I was over due for a new machine but money’s been tight. Of course it had to croak right after I got laid off and had a lead on a new job and needed it the most. Fortunatly I had another machine which saved my bacon.
My laptop is Max. And yes, he is a Mac. =)
Desktops were nicknamed (though never officially christened) Piece of Crap 1, 2, and now I’m on P.o.C. 3. They are not Macs.
I named a desktop Behemoth, because I got a huge 20in CRT monitor for it. That was a few years ago. I named my iPod Touch Mimir, after the Norse god and Planescape character. For some reason, I never gave either of my laptops clever names, but I never needed to for networking purposes.
You could always use the BrainPal names from Old Man’s War.
When I finally got around to building a home network a few years ago, I named the workgroup after the entertainment of choice at that moment: BEBOP.
Machines have come and gone since, but they all still follow this convention, and currently connected are Spike, Faye, Ed, and Ein. Jet’s awaiting replacement.
While the mainframes I used all had names, I didn’t seriously start naming my own computers until the Windows 95 era and networking. The first pair of Microns for home and office were HARTREE and FOCK, named for the Hartree-Fock equation needed for my research. Then came those named for some of my mentors: KUNZ, BECK and MARSHALL. The Sony laptops got K-names, KEPLER and KATSUMI, the Fujitsu tablets got seasons: AUTUMN, WINTER and SUMMER. Etc.
Dr. Phil
The bigger the fan, the quieter it is. Fan noise comes from the speed at which the fan spins, and bigger fans can push more air at lower rpms than small ones.
I use astronomical body names. Workstations and Servers get names of stars–I usually match brightness/diameter to relative power/size of the machine. Laptops, cell phones and netbooks get planets, moons, comets and asteroid names. Can you guess where my head is all the time? (Say it with me: Nerrrrrrrd!)
The “name the computer” thing is a bit of a mainframe/unix thing, since naming the machine is part of the basic configuration for exactly the reason outlined by Steve@22.
Kyle@23: You are asking for trouble. Everytime I name a piece of big iron Betelgeuse, it goes supernova on me. See also Shub Internet.
I’ve never named a computer, but back when I was a college student in the early 1990s and used to carry around 3.5 inch Mac floppies back and forth from the dorm to the on-campus computer labs, I’d give the disks whimsical names. They were thematic for a while: “Count Chocula”, “Frankenberry” et al., but there were some weirder ones as well: “An Evening of Polka Music”, “Nightsoil”, “You Will Roast in Hell”.
Good times.
That reminds me…that iPod touch you borrowed briefly at VP to show someone a pic on the Whatever?
It was named “BrainPal”.
I’m naming mine after gods and goddesses of wisdom. So far, all I’ve got is “Kukulkan”, from the Mayans (analogous to Quetzalcoatl), but hopefully someday…
All I’ve got is “Miskatonic Expedition”; mostly because of a HPLHS sticker (came with the “At the Mountains of Madness” adaptation CD) saying that glued to the front.
Though now that I think about it, I feel a burning need to have a computer to call “Gunvald”. (After G. Larsson, a character in the Martin Beck books/movies.)
Steve @ 22: Got me dead center, I’m not one of those. One machine is MORE than enough trouble let alone a home network, multiple machines, remote access. For me, and I think as it is for many, they are simply tools that I want to work but not have to fuss over much or at least as little as possible considering security and software updates. Just work, all the time, and did I mention simple and just a tool? My experience at work has been more machines always equals more trouble, therefore is not simple. I don’t have the time for more trouble regardless the fun factor, if nothing else I’ve got lots of SciFi on the to read list (hint, hint, John) and two really mean cats.
I guess this means I probably fail the computer geek test, miserably.
(whimpers, then hides his face)
I named mine Aphrodite… I’ve realized recently that I was unconsiously influenced by Heinlen’s Athene.
Sweet. My main rig was a custom quad-core, first time in ages I’d treated myself to a hand-tooled box rather than a “Good-Enough Off-the-Shelf” job. They are kinda sweet. Also, it was a break as I’d always named my previous machines after rocks: Juno, Vesta, Ceres, et cetera. Instead, as a hat-tip to both Spider Robinson and Peter F. Hamilton, she got called Lady Macbeth. The new laptop I picked up in NH started out as Serenity, but for various reasons now proudly bears the name “Dauntless” (and a large sticker on the lid reading “Fix It In Post” ;) )
Oh, and yeah… my iThingy’s called BrainPal as well. Outboard Brain and all that. Wonder how many peoples’ PDAs/Smartphones/Etc are called that? And if we were real fans, would we call them Asshole?
“when I got the netbook, I inaugurated the “Heinlein” naming convention, henceforth to be given to computers smaller than standard desktop”
John, I know that you always (or usually…often…sometimes) mean what you say, but I have feeling that you meant smaller than the standard *laptop* (maybe).
Anyway, my desktop is CosmicDog (like me) and my laptop is SpacePuppy, both with no appellations, though I’ve had a few of each.
CosmicDog:
Fixed.
Oh man. CosmicDog might’ve wanted puppies some day!
Harsh, man. Just harsh!
I didn’t name any of my early computers. But when the Windows installation insisted on calling my PC MY Computer I had to rebel against Bill (Windows 95 refused to let me call the Recycle Bin Bill Gate’s Ass.). I think I watched too much of Johny Carson as I have called all my PCs since Ralph the Wonder PC.
I *love* naming my gadgetery. The desktop is Heinlein, the Archos is Heinlein, Son of Heinlein, and the laptop with the biggest hard drive I’ve ever owned is Lucien. They’re my babies, and I love them.
Oh, and the iPod is Noggenfogger, and the car is called Cage. Because.
PS I am green with envy at your current computing power. Awesome rig.
Thanks for the info….
The new desktop looks great. Bigger than what I was expecting you to buy. I’d thought you would go for a slimmer profile instead of the bristling Deathstar that is sitting on your desk.
Can you illuminate why you went to ibuypower instead of the many other designer manufacturers if it’s not a big secret? I’m looking into having a desktop built for me for the first time because I just don’t have the time anymore to fiddle and tweak a homebuilt desktop even though I have the skills. Thanks!
-tt
tt:
I went with them because they had the closest overlap of what they were selling with what I wanted to buy and at what price, and because I had not heard bad things about them re: build quality and service.
Is this a dig at Heinlein? Or is he smaller only by contrast with the competition (Parker, Mencken)?
FWIW, my ‘puters are named after fictional detectives. Sherlock and Mycroft have been retired, Poirot is on the way out as soon as I finish buying parts for his replacement.