Another day, another PC. That's how it goes here in Spalls-Central.
This time, it's not a curb-side find (things have been rather bare on
that front recently, actually). Rather, I was helping a colleague with
some electronics work at his residence, and I spotted an older
computer hidden beneath some books on a shelf.

"Golly," says I (yes, I really say stuff like that IRL), "An old retro
PC. Man, that's a classic."
"What, that old thing? That's just junk. I was going to throw it out."
"Reeeeaalllly...." You know how misers in cartoons have dollar signs
that pop up in their eyes when they see a business opportunity? I'm
pretty sure I had little PC cases appear in mine when I heard that.
"Can... can I have it?"
"You want that old computer? Why?"
"Because it's beige!"

Long story short, there is now another PC in my possession. And this
is a classic; a mid-90s tower, with goodies ranging from a Sound
Blaster AWE to a ReelMagic MPEG Decoder card. It's got 128MB RAM, a
Pentium II, an ATI Rage IIc, and a hardware modem. The only thing
missing was a hard-drive, and I'm sure I can scrounge one of those up
somewhere. ;-)

I've no idea if any of it works, much less its performance. I spent a
few hours cleaning it all up - the previous owner shared residence
with a cat so there was A LOT of hair - but my testing bench and my
cleaning station aren't proximate so I didn't get an opportunity to
turn it on. Still, everything looks in good condition - no leaky caps,
not even in the power supply - so I'm hopeful. But even if the magic
smoke does leak out, that's okay. I'm sure there will be SOMETHING to
salvage, and besides, I enjoy repairing old PCs.

I'm mostly interested in the chassis, though. It's so incredibly
beige. As you may remember, I was forced to settle for a mid-2000s
chassis when I built my "Windows95" PC a few months ago. It worked
well enough, but it doesn't LOOK the part. It was all black and silver
and had blue LEDs everywhere. This new chassis is a lot more suitable
to the hardware inside. And it just /might/ have room for my Gravis
Ultrasound. Bonus!

Anyway, it was a great way to end the day. I've no need of another PC
(and God knows, no room for one either) but even if I ultimately am
forced to get rid of it (or bounce another PC from the herd to make
room), it's a fun way to while away a few hours.

And, God, it's just so beige!

No photos? You're becoming like Clint from Lazy Game Reviewer. :P

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> Another day, another PC. That's how it goes here in Spalls-Central.
> This time, it's not a curb-side find (things have been rather bare on
> that front recently, actually). Rather, I was helping a colleague with
> some electronics work at his residence, and I spotted an older
> computer hidden beneath some books on a shelf.

> "Golly," says I (yes, I really say stuff like that IRL), "An old retro
> PC. Man, that's a classic."
> "What, that old thing? That's just junk. I was going to throw it out."
> "Reeeeaalllly...." You know how misers in cartoons have dollar signs
> that pop up in their eyes when they see a business opportunity? I'm
> pretty sure I had little PC cases appear in mine when I heard that.
> "Can... can I have it?"
> "You want that old computer? Why?"
> "Because it's beige!"

> Long story short, there is now another PC in my possession. And this
> is a classic; a mid-90s tower, with goodies ranging from a Sound
> Blaster AWE to a ReelMagic MPEG Decoder card. It's got 128MB RAM, a
> Pentium II, an ATI Rage IIc, and a hardware modem. The only thing
> missing was a hard-drive, and I'm sure I can scrounge one of those up
> somewhere. ;-)

> I've no idea if any of it works, much less its performance. I spent a
> few hours cleaning it all up - the previous owner shared residence
> with a cat so there was A LOT of hair - but my testing bench and my
> cleaning station aren't proximate so I didn't get an opportunity to
> turn it on. Still, everything looks in good condition - no leaky caps,
> not even in the power supply - so I'm hopeful. But even if the magic
> smoke does leak out, that's okay. I'm sure there will be SOMETHING to
> salvage, and besides, I enjoy repairing old PCs.

> I'm mostly interested in the chassis, though. It's so incredibly
> beige. As you may remember, I was forced to settle for a mid-2000s
> chassis when I built my "Windows95" PC a few months ago. It worked
> well enough, but it doesn't LOOK the part. It was all black and silver
> and had blue LEDs everywhere. This new chassis is a lot more suitable
> to the hardware inside. And it just /might/ have room for my Gravis
> Ultrasound. Bonus!

> Anyway, it was a great way to end the day. I've no need of another PC
> (and God knows, no room for one either) but even if I ultimately am
> forced to get rid of it (or bounce another PC from the herd to make
> room), it's a fun way to while away a few hours.

> And, God, it's just so beige!
--
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." --Acts 2:17. Boo 2 no hangout with old college buds, BUSYness, itchy compound eyes, bad Z, leaks, delays, sun, etc. again! :(~
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 7/17/2023 6:56 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> Another day, another PC. That's how it goes here in Spalls-Central.
> This time, it's not a curb-side find (things have been rather bare on
> that front recently, actually). Rather, I was helping a colleague with
> some electronics work at his residence, and I spotted an older
> computer hidden beneath some books on a shelf.
>
> "Golly," says I (yes, I really say stuff like that IRL), "An old retro
> PC. Man, that's a classic."
> "What, that old thing? That's just junk. I was going to throw it out."
> "Reeeeaalllly...." You know how misers in cartoons have dollar signs
> that pop up in their eyes when they see a business opportunity? I'm
> pretty sure I had little PC cases appear in mine when I heard that.
> "Can... can I have it?"
> "You want that old computer? Why?"
> "Because it's beige!"
>
> Long story short, there is now another PC in my possession. And this
> is a classic; a mid-90s tower, with goodies ranging from a Sound
> Blaster AWE to a ReelMagic MPEG Decoder card. It's got 128MB RAM, a
> Pentium II, an ATI Rage IIc, and a hardware modem. The only thing
> missing was a hard-drive, and I'm sure I can scrounge one of those up
> somewhere. ;-)
>
*cue Fibber McGee's closet of hard drives*

> I've no idea if any of it works, much less its performance. I spent a
> few hours cleaning it all up - the previous owner shared residence
> with a cat so there was A LOT of hair - but my testing bench and my
> cleaning station aren't proximate so I didn't get an opportunity to
> turn it on. Still, everything looks in good condition - no leaky caps,
> not even in the power supply - so I'm hopeful. But even if the magic
> smoke does leak out, that's okay. I'm sure there will be SOMETHING to
> salvage, and besides, I enjoy repairing old PCs.
>
> I'm mostly interested in the chassis, though. It's so incredibly
> beige. As you may remember, I was forced to settle for a mid-2000s
> chassis when I built my "Windows95" PC a few months ago. It worked
> well enough, but it doesn't LOOK the part. It was all black and silver
> and had blue LEDs everywhere. This new chassis is a lot more suitable
> to the hardware inside. And it just /might/ have room for my Gravis
> Ultrasound. Bonus!
>
> Anyway, it was a great way to end the day. I've no need of another PC
> (and God knows, no room for one either) but even if I ultimately am
> forced to get rid of it (or bounce another PC from the herd to make
> room), it's a fun way to while away a few hours.
>
> And, God, it's just so beige!
>

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote in
news:jdqbbipdf2o5e1ntqbencdvt2b15n1iq5s@4ax.com:

>
> And, God, it's just so beige!
>

I always painted my beige towers. I liked a pale blue with gray sprinkles
job, and a black with gray marbling effect the best. It was long ago when
photography wan't yet digital so film cost money, so no photos.

ymmv hth wrote a song:

https://www.nelsonpics.com/mpn/writing/aiaioops.html

--
Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos -- the only sysadmins that matter

On Mon, 17 Jul 2023 20:12:00 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 7/17/2023 6:56 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> Another day, another PC.
>> Long story short, there is now another PC in my possession. And this
>> is a classic; a mid-90s tower, with goodies ranging from a Sound
>> Blaster AWE to a ReelMagic MPEG Decoder card. It's got 128MB RAM, a
>> Pentium II, an ATI Rage IIc, and a hardware modem. The only thing
>> missing was a hard-drive, and I'm sure I can scrounge one of those up
>> somewhere. ;-)

>*cue Fibber McGee's closet of hard drives*

I admit, I had to look up that reference. ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9FGC68YcwM

But I'm not quite THAT bad. My storage is very neatly organized. But I
admit, once I get started, everything gets yanked out of storage so
the overall effect is the same.

So right now, yeah, it is all a bit of a mess.
https://imgur.com/a/G3b4s28
(Behold chaos unfolding. But at least those of you who wanted pictures
of the beige box can see it in all its (unfinished) glory. It's so
wonderfully bland, in the way mid-90s PCs all were.)

* * *

Anyway, after some fiddling, I'm happy to report the PC boots. It took
a while to get there - for one thing, I had to find a manual for the
motherboard so I could plug in the front panel connectors. But no
magic smoke, the voltage rails are pumping out 11.97 and 4.91 Volts,
and the newly lubricated fans are as quiet as you'd expect the fans
from a mid-90s PC to be. The only real disadvantage to the system is
that the BIOS doesn't recognized HDDs larger than 32GB, so I have to
use one of those disk-overlay programs. Oddly enough, I haven't hung
on to a lot of older PATA drives ;-)

But it all works. So, what to do with it?

* * *

Okay... new plan. This new beige-box is designated the 'new'
DOS-Win3-Win95 machine. I was /hoping/ to use my Canopus 3DFX 6MB, but
- whether it's a fault with the card, the pass-through cable, or some
hardware incompatibility - I just can't get image to display when it's
running through the Canopus. So that's out.

Instead, I'm pulling the Voodoo3 from earlier Win98 machine and
putting it into this one. The Gravis Ultrasound, I am /thrilled/ to
announce, actually fits into this case, so that's in. I've also jammed
in a Sound Blaster Pro 1.5, for maximum compatibility with DOS games.
With a Pentium II/400 and 128MB RAM, it should make an excellent Win95
computer.

I've yet to decide what 'bells'n'whistles' this newest PC will get.
Should I use that ReelMagic card? Pop in the LS-120 super-floppy drive
(maybe tranfer the Zip drive from the Win98 PC). Do I need a network
card? And should I retrobrite the slightly-yellowed-but-not-too-badly
front panel?

* * *

That 'old' Windows98 PC will eventually get a reworking too. I'll
probably swap out the motherboard for an AMD board (I will probably
use my old Athlon 900MHz), coupled with a GeForce something-or-other.
I'd like to keep Windows98 on it, but I might need to upgrade it to
Windows XP. Anyway, the hardware will be a better fit for its
black-n-chrome chassis.

Of course, then what to do with my WindowsXP computer... maybe upgrade
it to Vista?

* * *

I had to boot this latest acquisition off of a floppy disk. Do you
know how long it's been since I last did that? Old hardware is great!
;-)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
....
> But I'm not quite THAT bad. My storage is very neatly organized. But I
> admit, once I get started, everything gets yanked out of storage so
> the overall effect is the same.

> So right now, yeah, it is all a bit of a mess.
> https://imgur.com/a/G3b4s28
> (Behold chaos unfolding. But at least those of you who wanted pictures
> of the beige box can see it in all its (unfinished) glory. It's so
> wonderfully bland, in the way mid-90s PCs all were.)

You need a bigger place!
--
"Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." --Ephesians 4:15. 2 many iOS app updates. Quiet Tues.? Z, poopy, & hot.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Tue, 18 Jul 2023 22:53:04 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>...
>> But I'm not quite THAT bad. My storage is very neatly organized. But I
>> admit, once I get started, everything gets yanked out of storage so
>> the overall effect is the same.

>> So right now, yeah, it is all a bit of a mess.
>> https://imgur.com/a/G3b4s28
>> (Behold chaos unfolding. But at least those of you who wanted pictures
>> of the beige box can see it in all its (unfinished) glory. It's so
>> wonderfully bland, in the way mid-90s PCs all were.)

>You need a bigger place!

That's what I keep saying! Something with a giant hall that I can
display all my PCs at the same time.

Alternately, couldn't we just repurpose those rooms with the stove or
that other one with the bed? If we got rid of all that stuff, I'd be
able to hook up ALL the computers at once! But NO. We need space to
"sleep" and "eat" and "entertain" and "bathe", I'm told. Sounds like a
lot of nonsense to me. Like falling asleep in front of a 40" screen
isn't so much more relaxing, and everyone knows the radiative energies
emitted from PCs are far more cleansing than any shower. ;-)

In truth, though, what you're seeing is just the corner dedicated to
the "assembly" area of the workbench. It's close to where I stash most
of the bits-n-pieces of my PC hardware collection. I don't have to
jump around much to find anything; everything is within arm's reach.
But I've more space for when I need to solder or do anything more
intricate. I don't have sufficient light there for that sort of stuff.

On 7/18/2023 1:08 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Jul 2023 20:12:00 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> On 7/17/2023 6:56 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>>> Another day, another PC.
>>> Long story short, there is now another PC in my possession. And this
>>> is a classic; a mid-90s tower, with goodies ranging from a Sound
>>> Blaster AWE to a ReelMagic MPEG Decoder card. It's got 128MB RAM, a
>>> Pentium II, an ATI Rage IIc, and a hardware modem. The only thing
>>> missing was a hard-drive, and I'm sure I can scrounge one of those up
>>> somewhere. ;-)
>
>> *cue Fibber McGee's closet of hard drives*
>
> I admit, I had to look up that reference. ;-)
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9FGC68YcwM
>
> But I'm not quite THAT bad. My storage is very neatly organized. But I
> admit, once I get started, everything gets yanked out of storage so
> the overall effect is the same.
>
> So right now, yeah, it is all a bit of a mess.
> https://imgur.com/a/G3b4s28
> (Behold chaos unfolding. But at least those of you who wanted pictures
> of the beige box can see it in all its (unfinished) glory. It's so
> wonderfully bland, in the way mid-90s PCs all were.)
>
You ARE Fibber McGee and I claim my five quid!

>
> * * *
>
>
> Anyway, after some fiddling, I'm happy to report the PC boots. It took
> a while to get there - for one thing, I had to find a manual for the
> motherboard so I could plug in the front panel connectors. But no
> magic smoke, the voltage rails are pumping out 11.97 and 4.91 Volts,
> and the newly lubricated fans are as quiet as you'd expect the fans
> from a mid-90s PC to be.

So something like this? "My nightmare is the Boston Red Sox at playoff
time, and 100 users who arrive at work at 8:00 AM and decide to log in
and watch some highlights from last night's game. Total gigabytes-wise,
this isn't too scary. But the fans in the Cisco racks go from a quiet
hum to something that sounds more like a C-130 Hercules spooling up for
takeoff."

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:12:36 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 7/18/2023 1:08 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> Anyway, after some fiddling, I'm happy to report the PC boots. It took
>> a while to get there - for one thing, I had to find a manual for the
>> motherboard so I could plug in the front panel connectors. But no
>> magic smoke, the voltage rails are pumping out 11.97 and 4.91 Volts,
>> and the newly lubricated fans are as quiet as you'd expect the fans
>> from a mid-90s PC to be.

>So something like this? "My nightmare is the Boston Red Sox at playoff
>time, and 100 users who arrive at work at 8:00 AM and decide to log in
>and watch some highlights from last night's game. Total gigabytes-wise,
>this isn't too scary. But the fans in the Cisco racks go from a quiet
>hum to something that sounds more like a C-130 Hercules spooling up for
>takeoff."

It is not quite so bad, no, but you definitely know the machine is on.
It's only got the two fans (CPU and PSU) after all, and even at full
speed they aren't loud... but they do make a constant noise that seems
extraordinarly raucous compared to modern PCs.

(I do wonder about the cooling potential of that CPU fan. Slot-1
Pentium IIs used a cartridge form-factor, with the CPU embedded in a
plastic case and the fan clipped to the outside of the case. But I
guess Intel must have known what they were doing, right? Anyway, the
BIOS has a configurable option for shutting down the PC if it gets too
hot. It's currently set to 60C, and it hasn't triggered yet, so I
guess things are okay so far)

But boy-howdy, I'd forgotten how SPOILED we are with modern
plug-n-play hardware. Both my soundcards are ISA, and wrangling the
two of them into playing nice together was a challenge. Alas, I had to
give up on my SoundBlaster Pro; Windows95 completely refused to
acknowledge the existence of its FM Synthesizer, which meant that -
although it played digital fine, there was no music. So I swapped in
the SoundBlaster AWE64 instead.

The Gravis Ultrasound works too, which honestly was something of a
surprise. Lacking compatible hardware, the card has been sitting
unused in storage for close to 20 years, and I had no idea if it was
still functional until I actually got it running. But it's fully
operational... if as finicky as ever. The GUS cards were excellent for
their time, but getting them to play nice with software was always a
challenge. My GUS Max plays in Windows95... but only barely. It's
crackly and lacks DirectSound support. But in DOS, it's as good as I
remember. I'm fine with this, though; I mainly want it for DOS games
anyway. And hearing it running on "Doom" again for the first time in
20 years? I almost teared up.

Other than that, the hardware is coming together nicely. While I'm
still not entirely sure I want to go with the Voodoo3, for the time
being that's what I'm using. I've also added an SMC 10/100 networkcard
(not that I'm ever really going to use it) and threw in my other
Zip-100 drive. It took ages too, but eventually I got Win95 to
recognize flash-drives too, which GREATLY sped up the installation (no
need to burn a CD or transfer drivers over by floppy!)

Now it's mostly down to software: what games and apps to install. Once
that's done, it will be time to benchmark the beast. And after that, I
have to turn my eye to the 'old' Windows98 PC (from whence came the
Voodoo3 card) and decide how to upgrade that.

Such is the life of a manic retro-computer fan. ;-)

On 7/19/2023 5:34 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:12:36 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> On 7/18/2023 1:08 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>>> Anyway, after some fiddling, I'm happy to report the PC boots. It took
>>> a while to get there - for one thing, I had to find a manual for the
>>> motherboard so I could plug in the front panel connectors. But no
>>> magic smoke, the voltage rails are pumping out 11.97 and 4.91 Volts,
>>> and the newly lubricated fans are as quiet as you'd expect the fans
>>> from a mid-90s PC to be.
>
>> So something like this? "My nightmare is the Boston Red Sox at playoff
>> time, and 100 users who arrive at work at 8:00 AM and decide to log in
>> and watch some highlights from last night's game. Total gigabytes-wise,
>> this isn't too scary. But the fans in the Cisco racks go from a quiet
>> hum to something that sounds more like a C-130 Hercules spooling up for
>> takeoff."
>
> It is not quite so bad, no, but you definitely know the machine is on.
> It's only got the two fans (CPU and PSU) after all, and even at full
> speed they aren't loud... but they do make a constant noise that seems
> extraordinarly raucous compared to modern PCs.
>
>
> (I do wonder about the cooling potential of that CPU fan. Slot-1
> Pentium IIs used a cartridge form-factor, with the CPU embedded in a
> plastic case and the fan clipped to the outside of the case. But I
> guess Intel must have known what they were doing, right? Anyway, the
> BIOS has a configurable option for shutting down the PC if it gets too
> hot. It's currently set to 60C, and it hasn't triggered yet, so I
> guess things are okay so far)
>
>
> But boy-howdy, I'd forgotten how SPOILED we are with modern
> plug-n-play hardware. Both my soundcards are ISA, and wrangling the
> two of them into playing nice together was a challenge. Alas, I had to
> give up on my SoundBlaster Pro; Windows95 completely refused to
> acknowledge the existence of its FM Synthesizer, which meant that -
> although it played digital fine, there was no music. So I swapped in
> the SoundBlaster AWE64 instead.
>
> The Gravis Ultrasound works too, which honestly was something of a
> surprise. Lacking compatible hardware, the card has been sitting
> unused in storage for close to 20 years, and I had no idea if it was
> still functional until I actually got it running. But it's fully
> operational... if as finicky as ever. The GUS cards were excellent for
> their time, but getting them to play nice with software was always a
> challenge. My GUS Max plays in Windows95... but only barely. It's
> crackly and lacks DirectSound support. But in DOS, it's as good as I
> remember. I'm fine with this, though; I mainly want it for DOS games
> anyway. And hearing it running on "Doom" again for the first time in
> 20 years? I almost teared up.
>
>
>
> Other than that, the hardware is coming together nicely. While I'm
> still not entirely sure I want to go with the Voodoo3, for the time
> being that's what I'm using. I've also added an SMC 10/100 networkcard
> (not that I'm ever really going to use it) and threw in my other
> Zip-100 drive. It took ages too, but eventually I got Win95 to
> recognize flash-drives too, which GREATLY sped up the installation (no
> need to burn a CD or transfer drivers over by floppy!)
>
> Now it's mostly down to software: what games and apps to install. Once
> that's done, it will be time to benchmark the beast. And after that, I
> have to turn my eye to the 'old' Windows98 PC (from whence came the
> Voodoo3 card) and decide how to upgrade that.
>
>
> Such is the life of a manic retro-computer fan. ;-)
>
But it does help explain why you don't _play_ many of the games you
hoard.... ;)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 18/07/2023 02:56, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> I'm mostly interested in the chassis, though. It's so incredibly
> beige. As you may remember, I was forced to settle for a mid-2000s
> chassis when I built my "Windows95" PC a few months ago. It worked
> well enough, but it doesn't LOOK the part. It was all black and silver
> and had blue LEDs everywhere. This new chassis is a lot more suitable
> to the hardware inside. And it just/might/ have room for my Gravis
> Ultrasound. Bonus!

It's weird really how fashion enters something like what a PC looks
like. It felt like everything was beige and then all of a sudden
everything was black. Saying that my PC case of over twenty years is a
deep mauve colour.

On Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:18:17 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>It's weird really how fashion enters something like what a PC looks
>like. It felt like everything was beige and then all of a sudden
>everything was black. Saying that my PC case of over twenty years is a
>deep mauve colour.

Ooh, is it an SGI?

(For those not in the know, Silicon Graphics computers for the longest
time used shades of purple on their PC chassis. It was sort of their
trademark thing. as an example, their Indigo2 from 1994
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/67/c4/9c/67c49c64f937c6b740ab285fca080e12.jpg)

I've never owned an SGI machine (I used one briefly for a job in the
early 90s). It had - IIRC - an early optical mouse that required a
special mousepad to work. Its OS - while a GUI - was fairly barebone.
But the machine was fast; I remember that). It's not quite a "white
whale", but were one to cross my path I wouldn't be averse to
snatching it up. ;-)

Meanwhile, back to PC fashions... Between "beige" and "black" you must
not forget the awful iMac days, when every PC maker seemed to be
trying to emulate Apple and it's awful transparent Bondi blue design.
Black was such a relief after that era...

On 21/07/2023 13:39, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:18:17 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>
>> It's weird really how fashion enters something like what a PC looks
>> like. It felt like everything was beige and then all of a sudden
>> everything was black. Saying that my PC case of over twenty years is a
>> deep mauve colour.
>
>
> Ooh, is it an SGI?
>
>
>
> (For those not in the know, Silicon Graphics computers for the longest
> time used shades of purple on their PC chassis. It was sort of their
> trademark thing. as an example, their Indigo2 from 1994
> https://i.pinimg.com/originals/67/c4/9c/67c49c64f937c6b740ab285fca080e12.jpg)
>

Similar but a darker shade. I've never seen the need to buy another case
as it's a relatively good quality one (nasically metal) and being a full
sized tower there's lots of space to work in.

> I've never owned an SGI machine (I used one briefly for a job in the
> early 90s). It had - IIRC - an early optical mouse that required a
> special mousepad to work. Its OS - while a GUI - was fairly barebone.
> But the machine was fast; I remember that). It's not quite a "white
> whale", but were one to cross my path I wouldn't be averse to
> snatching it up. ;-)
>
Never used one myself but the Sun workstations I worked on required a
special metal mousepad with a very small grid on it.

>
> Meanwhile, back to PC fashions... Between "beige" and "black" you must
> not forget the awful iMac days, when every PC maker seemed to be
> trying to emulate Apple and it's awful transparent Bondi blue design.
> Black was such a relief after that era...
>

Could be worse, imagine if the fashion was for transparent sides and
lots of LED's!

On Sat, 22 Jul 2023 10:11:20 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>On 21/07/2023 13:39, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 Jul 2023 10:18:17 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>>
>>> It's weird really how fashion enters something like what a PC looks
>>> like. It felt like everything was beige and then all of a sudden
>>> everything was black. Saying that my PC case of over twenty years is a
>>> deep mauve colour.

>> not forget the awful iMac days, when every PC maker seemed to be
>> trying to emulate Apple and it's awful transparent Bondi blue design.
>> Black was such a relief after that era...

>Could be worse, imagine if the fashion was for transparent sides and
>lots of LED's!

<looks at current PC>

That's just mean, man. ;-)

(the /really/ sad thing is, I now own THREE PCs with transparent side
panels. Of course, one of them I got simply to satirize the whole
idea. Who knew that just a couple years later I'd actually /pay/ for
the privilege?)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 22 Jul 2023 10:11:20 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
....
> <looks at current PC>

> That's just mean, man. ;-)

> (the /really/ sad thing is, I now own THREE PCs with transparent side
> panels. Of course, one of them I got simply to satirize the whole
> idea. Who knew that just a couple years later I'd actually /pay/ for
> the privilege?)

Mine just has vents to see through, but they get dusts easily. :( I
never cared for fancy looking cases. I just want good designs for air
flows, access, etc.
--
"[The Lord, the everlasting God,] gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." --Isaiah 40:29. Lots of humans outside after a BUSY very warmy outty worky Fri. 1883 ep. #6 was a meh.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Sat, 22 Jul 2023 20:52:37 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, 22 Jul 2023 10:11:20 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>> <looks at current PC>
>> That's just mean, man. ;-)

>Mine just has vents to see through, but they get dusts easily. :( I
>never cared for fancy looking cases. I just want good designs for air
>flows, access, etc.

Me neither, but it wasn't an option in my case

(well, it was an option, of course... but it would have required me to
pay more if I wanted a machine with the same performance AND a decent
looking case)

It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
definitely draw the line.

On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:01:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
>chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
>looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
>definitely draw the line.

Aquarium PCs are definitely a thing. I don't know about He-Man, but
Hot Wheels PCs were also definitely a thing.

Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:01:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
> <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> >It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
> >chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
> >looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
> >definitely draw the line.

> Aquarium PCs are definitely a thing. I don't know about He-Man, but
> Hot Wheels PCs were also definitely a thing.

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/03/05/22/1236213/ant-farm-pc :P
--
"Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." --Ecclesiastes 7:10. Finally, back 2 church after not going since <2020! Thanks God. 2 many medias this quiet weekend.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 11:02:35 PM UTC-7, Ant wrote:
> Mike S. <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> > On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:01:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
> > <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
> > >chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
> > >looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
> > >definitely draw the line.
>
> > Aquarium PCs are definitely a thing. I don't know about He-Man, but
> > Hot Wheels PCs were also definitely a thing.
> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/03/05/22/1236213/ant-farm-pc :P

Unfortunately the page is dead. It shows up in archive, but pictures aren't
archived. You can see one thumbnail from PC mag saved somewhere in
google from PC mag Australia on a search, but that pic & page don't exist
anymore either.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1HLDY_enUS717US717&sxsrf=AB5stBhfL5Pth3J5tbe0mMo8jYKBcPDAAA:1690214251151&q=ant+farm+PC+case+mod&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipp6Lg2qeAAxVMHTQIHVqYAVoQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1

- Justisaur

On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:02:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 11:02:35?PM UTC-7, Ant wrote:
>> Mike S. <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>> > On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:01:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
>> > <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> > >It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
>> > >chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
>> > >looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
>> > >definitely draw the line.

>> > Aquarium PCs are definitely a thing. I don't know about He-Man, but
>> > Hot Wheels PCs were also definitely a thing.
>> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/03/05/22/1236213/ant-farm-pc :P

>Unfortunately the page is dead. It shows up in archive, but pictures aren't
>archived. You can see one thumbnail from PC mag saved somewhere in
>google from PC mag Australia on a search, but that pic & page don't exist
>anymore either.
>https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1HLDY_enUS717US717&sxsrf=AB5stBhfL5Pth3J5tbe0mMo8jYKBcPDAAA:1690214251151&q=ant+farm+PC+case+mod&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipp6Lg2qeAAxVMHTQIHVqYAVoQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1

Okay, now I am disappointed. /NOBODY/ has made a custom PC case out of
the He-Man castle? It seems purpose built to be glued to the outside
of a PC chassis!

People of the Internet, you have failed me.

(No, brain, we are NOT searching EBay for a He Man castle playset
tonight. No, I say. NO!)

On 7/24/2023 9:38 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:02:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 11:02:35?PM UTC-7, Ant wrote:
>>> Mike S. <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:01:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
>>>> <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>>>> It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
>>>>> chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
>>>>> looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
>>>>> definitely draw the line.
>
>>>> Aquarium PCs are definitely a thing. I don't know about He-Man, but
>>>> Hot Wheels PCs were also definitely a thing.
>>> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/03/05/22/1236213/ant-farm-pc :P
>
>> Unfortunately the page is dead. It shows up in archive, but pictures aren't
>> archived. You can see one thumbnail from PC mag saved somewhere in
>> google from PC mag Australia on a search, but that pic & page don't exist
>> anymore either.
>> https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1HLDY_enUS717US717&sxsrf=AB5stBhfL5Pth3J5tbe0mMo8jYKBcPDAAA:1690214251151&q=ant+farm+PC+case+mod&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipp6Lg2qeAAxVMHTQIHVqYAVoQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1
>
>
> Okay, now I am disappointed. /NOBODY/ has made a custom PC case out of
> the He-Man castle? It seems purpose built to be glued to the outside
> of a PC chassis!
>
> People of the Internet, you have failed me.
>
> (No, brain, we are NOT searching EBay for a He Man castle playset
> tonight. No, I say. NO!)
>
"Too late."

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
....
> > Okay, now I am disappointed. /NOBODY/ has made a custom PC case out of
> > the He-Man castle? It seems purpose built to be glued to the outside
> > of a PC chassis!
> >
> > People of the Internet, you have failed me.
> >
> > (No, brain, we are NOT searching EBay for a He Man castle playset
> > tonight. No, I say. NO!)
> >
> "Too late."

I used to have that castle as a callow during the rad 80s. I loved He-Man! ;)
--
"Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." --Ecclesiastes 7:10. Finally, back 2 church after not going since <2020! TY God. 2 naps (1 hr. total), humid, & very lite rain on Sun.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Monday, July 24, 2023 at 9:38:51 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:02:20 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
> <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 11:02:35?PM UTC-7, Ant wrote:
> >> Mike S. <Mik...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> >> > On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:01:04 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
> >> > <spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> >> > >It could be worse, though. I could have one of those gimmick PC
> >> > >chassis which are designed to look like something (e.g., "a PC that
> >> > >looks like He-Man's castle", or an aquarium, or something). THERE I
> >> > >definitely draw the line.
>
> >> > Aquarium PCs are definitely a thing. I don't know about He-Man, but
> >> > Hot Wheels PCs were also definitely a thing.
> >> https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/03/05/22/1236213/ant-farm-pc :P
>
> >Unfortunately the page is dead. It shows up in archive, but pictures aren't
> >archived. You can see one thumbnail from PC mag saved somewhere in
> >google from PC mag Australia on a search, but that pic & page don't exist
> >anymore either.
> >https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1HLDY_enUS717US717&sxsrf=AB5stBhfL5Pth3J5tbe0mMo8jYKBcPDAAA:1690214251151&q=ant+farm+PC+case+mod&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwipp6Lg2qeAAxVMHTQIHVqYAVoQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1
> Okay, now I am disappointed. /NOBODY/ has made a custom PC case out of
> the He-Man castle? It seems purpose built to be glued to the outside
> of a PC chassis!

(bad dubbing) "My Google-fu is stronger than yours!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO2i0Ext2zc

- Justisaur

By the power of Greyskull!
(I was a bit old for He-Man when it was popular to be a fan,
but know a bit of it of course.)

Ant <ant@zimage.comant> wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> ...
> > > Okay, now I am disappointed. /NOBODY/ has made a custom PC case out of
> > > the He-Man castle? It seems purpose built to be glued to the outside
> > > of a PC chassis!
> > >
> > > People of the Internet, you have failed me.
> > >
> > > (No, brain, we are NOT searching EBay for a He Man castle playset
> > > tonight. No, I say. NO!)
> > >
> > "Too late."

> I used to have that castle as a callow during the rad 80s. I loved He-Man! ;)

I had to ask: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_tech/comments/advyl9/castle_greyskull_gaming_pc/ :)
--
"Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." --Ecclesiastes 7:10. Finally, back 2 church after not going since <2020! TY God. 2 naps (1 hr. total), humid, & very lite rain on Sun.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
....
> > Okay, now I am disappointed. /NOBODY/ has made a custom PC case out of
> > the He-Man castle? It seems purpose built to be glued to the outside
> > of a PC chassis!

> (bad dubbing) "My Google-fu is stronger than yours!"

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO2i0Ext2zc

> - Justisaur

> By the power of Greyskull!
> (I was a bit old for He-Man when it was popular to be a fan,
> but know a bit of it of course.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_tech/comments/advyl9/castle_greyskull_gaming_pc/
--
"Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions." --Ecclesiastes 7:10. Finally, back 2 church after not going since <2020! TY God. 2 naps (1 hr. total), humid, & very lite rain on Sun.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )