The monitor is a Sony Multiscan 100ES, donated in November 2003 by a short-term resident of my building (Mike). Notice the "stalk" just left of the monitor; that's my microphone. Two pairs of speakers are on both sides of the monitor, towards the rear. One pair hooks into the sound port in the back of the case, which then connects to the bottom CD-ROM drive. The other pair connects in front, directly into the topmost CD-ROM drive. So I can have both CD-ROM drives w/sound w/o plugging and unplugging the speaker cord.
Atop the monitor are (from left to right): digital alarm clock, PDA cradle...for my Casio PV-200A:
and my webcam (when it's not being used for anything...it's not there now). And on the left is the computer case, w/printer perched above, and mouse right in front.
Let's not forget the obvious keyboard hogging up the desk's center. It's covered in a sheet of plastic wrap...the poor man's solution to defending one's keyboard against the onslaught of a drinking/snacking PC junkie. I'm so butch, I don't even use scotch tape to secure the wrap ('cause it leaves unsightly dark smudges on the keyboard).
This donated system is only half as old as my previous one ( which was: 400MHz AMD-K6II CPU, 160MB RAM, 20GB hard drive). It's a 633MHz Celeron CPU, with 256MB RAM, 80GB hard drive, running Windows 98 SE. Underneath the desk is my UPS (uninterruptable power supply), the Belkin 350 VA.
Not only does it protect my PC, printer and monitor from power surges and spikes; but also contains a rechargeable battery that gives me up to 15 minutes on the system, before it shuts off. Very nice, since I live in an old building with lousy circuitry that would wipe out my system in a few short months. Six years ago, a 5-min. UPS cost me $100; now, a 15-min. one only costs $35. (But is this an aspect of evolving technology, or 3rd-world slave labor? I think it's a combination of the two, knowing the nature of hard-core capitalism that's destroying our world.) Now that's my new printer (handsome devil, ain't he?)...another donation from Mike.
It's an HP Photosmart 1215, w/separate slot for photos (which is nice, but not something I'd use). He also gave me a lovely hand-painted skull for a gift!
Now THAT'S my "CanoScan LiDE 20" scanner! Just ordered it online, cost only $37. Very sleek, elegant, a real pleasure to own. Interfaced with the printer, it can then be used like a photocopy machine...for mere pennies a page! Otherwise, I just scan pages from books, newspapers, magazines, etc....even a lost poem found blowing across a grassy park. Now, that's my webcam, the IBM PC Camera Pro:
Got it online for just $18 (when that model came out two years ago, it cost $80). So I've been using the webcam to take photos...and thus, could not appear in any of them. I just copy its image from the manual, onto this page.
The webcam's main purpose is for people who want to show their home, their selves, or their view from a window...on their website. The webcam can be set to take a pic in regular increments, which you can decide. I have it snap a picture every minute, then it send the photo to my website. Below left is a pic outside my window. Below right are the curtains of that window. (I set the webcam on that book you see, straddling the file cabinet and window ledge.)
But webcams can also be used to take pics anywhere you aim it. And...you can video record anything your widdle heart desires. So I've begun doing my skits...breaking them down into reasonable lengths, so each piece won't take too long to download and view. I'll eventually put all my skits on CD, and use it for promotion and sales. BTW, the bottom CD-ROM drive is also RW (read-writeable): the Memorex Ultra Speed CD Recorder. So now I can create my own CDs at home, for cheap.
Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoyed my little PC tour.
Zeke Krahlin - May 13, 2004
Remember: A hacking (or online)
activist is a "hacktivist", and a
queer hacktivist is a "quacktivist".