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Topic: Quick [tech] Questions Thread (Read 1186483 times)
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Lantyssa
Terracotta Army
Posts: 20848
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Are you sure it's not your virus scanner working through Firefox?
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Hahahaha! I'm really good at this!
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NiX
Wiki Admin
Posts: 7770
Locomotive Pandamonium
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Straz is talking about a default feature of Firefox. It automatically does some quick scan of everything you download when it finishes.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23612
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Sky
Terracotta Army
Posts: 32117
I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.
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What does it allow you to do? Control your components from the computer?
Nothing. It just sits there. But it's the only way to get digital surround sound to my receiver. I got spoiled with the old Soundstorm chip, that was the best onboard sound evar. DD5.1 hardware on a mobo? Hell yeah. When that died, I tried running an Auzentech X-Plosion, which was based on the Soundstorm setup. The drivers were god-fucking-awful, Oblivion was unplayable due to a (still) unresolved sound bug that cropped up in a few other games. I finally bit the bullet and went for the X-Fi, then had to scramble to find the way to connect it digitally to my setup. Pain in the butt and cost me $$ (the linked box was more like $100 a couple years ago, plus the X-Fi), but now I have great sound, so it's worth it in the long run. Murgos brings up the main problem, though I haven't really seen any tangible effects: It's D/A to A/D rather than a straight digital signal. Fucking Creative. Trippy, thanks for that link. Very informative! (and thanks for not letmegooglethatforyou'ing me) There is always one Listener object (per audio context), which represents the position where the sources are heard -- rendering is done from the perspective of the Listener. That seems like a silly limitation. What it you wanted to have a speaker that is playing real-time sound from another area. You'd need a Listener for the main actor and a Listener for the microphone feeding the speaker.
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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HomePlug. Somehow I managed to forget all about this technology but it could solve my LAN problem. Has anyone had any experience with this? Gotchas?
Answering my own question for the benefit of everyone. It's really cool, assuming your outlets are actually connected. Summary is that my 360 and PS3 are now wired, and my DirecTV receiver will be as well once I put in the IP config. I got the ZyXEL PLA-470 (four port brick) from newegg.com but I had to get the PLA-401 (one port wall wart) from somewhere less awesome since newegg only has the 470 for some reason. Unfortunately my remote equipment just disconnected and I'm not sure what's up. I can see both MACs from the local side (router/DSL/rig side upstairs) but the PS3 isn't getting connected after some great downloading. I will try a few things, such as going back to DHCP, before I get angry and punch a cat.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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Can anyone give me some simple advice on connecting a TV, PS3 and surround sound system? I've got a Sony Bravia TV, a PS3 and a Sony Home Theatre all-in-one thingy and there's so many connection options that I'm confused. I presume that just an optical cable from PS3 to the HTSS will do for that bit of it, or would HDMI be better? And for the TV do I want an HDMI for audio output from the HTSS to the TV and an optical cable for TV output to the HTSS (i.e. for broadcast channel viewing)? Does that sound reasonable or would there be a better way?
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Murgos
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7474
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Can anyone give me some simple advice on connecting a TV, PS3 and surround sound system? I've got a Sony Bravia TV, a PS3 and a Sony Home Theatre all-in-one thingy and there's so many connection options that I'm confused. I presume that just an optical cable from PS3 to the HTSS will do for that bit of it, or would HDMI be better? And for the TV do I want an HDMI for audio output from the HTSS to the TV and an optical cable for TV output to the HTSS (i.e. for broadcast channel viewing)? Does that sound reasonable or would there be a better way? HDMI from everything to the HTSS. HDMI out from HTSS to TV. Done. Optical cable, despite being called optical (it means fiber optic) is often only a digital audio transport. edit: Let me rephrase before Trippy corrects me. Optical out on Home Theater/Audio equipment is generally only used to transport digital audio and not digital video (although it could, I guess they don't due to DRM issues). HDMI carries both digital video and digital audio. edit2: wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK
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« Last Edit: January 29, 2009, 06:45:52 AM by Murgos »
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"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
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rattran
Moderator
Posts: 4257
Unreasonable
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Can anyone give me some simple advice on connecting a TV, PS3 and surround sound system? I've got a Sony Bravia TV, a PS3 and a Sony Home Theatre all-in-one thingy and there's so many connection options that I'm confused. I presume that just an optical cable from PS3 to the HTSS will do for that bit of it, or would HDMI be better? And for the TV do I want an HDMI for audio output from the HTSS to the TV and an optical cable for TV output to the HTSS (i.e. for broadcast channel viewing)? Does that sound reasonable or would there be a better way? HDMI carries video and sound, and makes everything easier. toslink is just for sound. hdmi from the ps3 to the Home Theatre, hdmi from the Home Theatre to the tv. If your television signal is from an antenna using the tv's internal tuner, then optical out (sound only of course, the pics already on the tv!) from the tv to the htss. If you're using a cable/sky/plus/whatever box for tv signal, hdmi from that to the htss. That's pretty much how I have my system set up. hdmi for everything except ota sound, which goes from the tv to receiver, so I can watch the occasional program over the good speakers.
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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Awesome thankyou guys. So all I need to get is one more HDMI cable and I'm good to go. Right.... off to Argos then
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345
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Awesome thankyou guys. So all I need to get is one more HDMI cable and I'm good to go. Right.... off to Argos then Just because your back is better doesn't mean you have to travel to Greece just to get an HDMI cable. If you do, say hi to the Darkfall guys for me!
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NiX
Wiki Admin
Posts: 7770
Locomotive Pandamonium
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23612
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The 4850 is the faster GPU (the 4850 is actually a match for the 9800 GTX/GTX+). Only you can decide if that's worth the extra $20.
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NiX
Wiki Admin
Posts: 7770
Locomotive Pandamonium
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Eh, what's $20. Anything wrong with Sapphire that you know of? Reviews check out, but I've never really seen a terrible review.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23612
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Sapphire used to make ATI's "reference" boards. Dunno if that's still true post AMD acquisition.
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Jobu
Terracotta Army
Posts: 566
Lord Buttrot
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Anyone know a tool to test video card RAM the same way I would test system RAM with Memtest?
I suspect my video card is on the fritz. I re-installed XP over Vista64 (thinking it was a driver issue) but I still get the same weird behavior. I don't have a spare video card to throw into the mix, so I need to find a way to test it out.
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Sky
Terracotta Army
Posts: 32117
I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.
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Eh, what's $20. Anything wrong with Sapphire that you know of? Reviews check out, but I've never really seen a terrible review.
When I had an ATI board, it was Sapphire. Partly for the reason Trippy mentioned, partly because it was a great board. This was a while ago, though.
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Trying to add two more 1gb sticks to my computer. Mobo is Asus P5N32-E C2D E6600. I bought it with 2gbs already installed (two sticks of 1gb DDR1). So I purchase two more sticks from Newegg, the same type (Corsair XMS2) and install them.
The first time I did that was a week ago. Computer would crash right before the Vista login screen. One stick would work (for 3gbs) but not the second (for 4gbs). Figuring a bad RAM stick, I return the bad one. Then I get told I needed to return both, so do that.
Today I get the new set and install. This time the computer won't even get the Asus screen. And I cannot enter the BIOS setup menu. Just hangs, no matter how long I leave it. So I pull out one of the sticks and it works fine, albeit with 3gbs. Some guesses:
1) Is it possible I get ANOTHER bad RAM stick? This would be extreme for me. I have never ever received bad RAM, in 20 years of mucking with the innards of computers.
2) Could I have a bad RAM slot? That would suck but I'd live with it, probably return this RAM and buy two 2gb sticks. If I understand the manual correctly, since this is dual channel, whatever I put in the left two slots I need to match in the right two. So if one slot on the left is out, to get 4gbs, I'd need to remove all RAM and just put in to two 2gb sticks. Question here: can I go to 6gb down the road by adding one more 2gb even if I leave the last (broken) slot empty?
3) Could I be missing something in the BIOS? There's an option on the Extreme Tweaker tab at the bottom called "Memory Config" or something like that, but it is greyed out.
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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Sounds like you need this update from Microsoft. Take out the additional RAM, download the update and install. If it prompts you to restart, go ahead and do so. After getting back to desktop, shut it down, install the RAM. Then power back up. Bing badaboom badda bing. Also, there's some setting called Extended Memory (I think) in the ASUS bios that you need to enable otherwise it won't recognize the additional 2GB. At least there is on my ASUS P5N-D 750i SLI.
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« Last Edit: February 04, 2009, 06:14:52 PM by SnakeCharmer »
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Hmm. That seems to only apply to 64bit Vista. I should have mentioned I only have Vista 32. I think it was the Extended Memory thing in my BIOS that was grayed out. I can't remember the last time I updated the BIOS. Maybe that alone should inspire me to?
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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I don't think Vista 32 supports more than 3GB of RAM. Might be your problem? A quick google search revealed quite a few people that seem to have had the same problem. Anyway, according to this page, that same KB929777 update works for both 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Bios updating? Eh, I don't update unless I start having problems but that's just me. Same for drivers. Then again, it might be worth removing what your old RAM that you know is good, and trying the new 2GB you're not quite sure about.
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« Last Edit: February 04, 2009, 07:13:38 PM by SnakeCharmer »
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Viin
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6159
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I had 4GB of RAM in my 32bit Vista install no problems .. are they the same speed/type as your originals? (DDR2 800s maybe?) Do both new sticks by themselves work?
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- Viin
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Yes on them being the same as the original. I'm going to try and swap them tonight. I didn't realize KB929777 would work for Vista32. That'll be step two.
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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I would say 'step up to Vista 64', but W7 is around the proverbial corner. So, meh.
But yeah, get that update and you should be good to go (assuming your RAM is, in fact, good).
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Thanks, trying that in a bit.
Separate question: Charter is going to cap my tier of cable modem speeds to 100g a month. What program can I get to get a sense for how much bandwidth I use? I think in way far south of 100gbs, but I want to be sure.
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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There's a widget gidget gadget thing for the Vista sidebar that keeps up with it I believe. I know Schild uses something that tells him how much bandwidth he consumes.
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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If they're capping you don't they have a webpage you can visit to check? My ISP has one but it's broken about 50% of the time and when it's broken they don't enforce the caps
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Web browsers on linux. Which one is the easiest to get up and running and will display at least 90% of what I surf to? Alternatively, maybe I want a codex pack for Firefox 3 so video.google.com doesn't make it go catatonic?
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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I'm using RHEL and ubuntu that come default with Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6 and after installing flash, it runs just fine. Can you define catatonia? This is on an old P4 with 512 ram and a Radeon X600.
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Catatonia = hangs up, at least when I'm trying to use video.google.com, requiring me to either wait some indeterminate period or terminate the process. It occasionally works but is choppy, perhaps due to CPU? It's a AMD XP 3000+. There were three choices for swf player, seems I chose poorly? If it matters, this is Firefox 3 on Ubuntu 8.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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I think I picked the, what, 3rd option down for Debian linux (Ubuntu)? But I think your problem may be slightly different. Sometimes Ubuntu doesn't really install the 'real' device drivers for your vid card and fudges it. Then flash will run like crap. Can you see if its running the right drivers? ATI cards, for example, have 'restricted' drivers that are not installed by default by Ubuntu and need to be specially 'authorised' by you to download and install.
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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I installed the "restricted" drivers for the vid card. Those might still be the problem, though. Stupid linux.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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Yeeeah, I've had touch and go luck with ATI. Its so odd how ATI drags its feet about Linux.
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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So, today one of the department heads decided it was time to clean out a back storage area filled with soil samples and ancient equipment. We discovered some ancient IBM PCs, so I am now typing from an ancient Model M IBM keyboard! Schild was totally right that this thing is the BOMB to type on.
Here's a few pics:
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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I don't think Vista 32 supports more than 3GB of RAM. Might be your problem? A quick google search revealed quite a few people that seem to have had the same problem. Anyway, according to this page, that same KB929777 update works for both 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Tried this finally. Didn't work. Said I didn't have the right configuration for it. And this was after I went to the page that said this patch was for "Windows Vista" generic. I also moved the RAM around. It's not the RAM slots (thankfully). I think the schmucks sent back to me what I just returned to them. I really can't calculate the probability that the second version of the same SKU also had one busted RAM stick. I'm trying to find a subtle way to mark these so when I return them I can see if they do it again. Wish my local Circuit Cities still had RAM left. @apocrypha: Good point. I can't find it at Charter.net, so will probably just call once I receive the official notice about this policy.
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345
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So, today one of the department heads decided it was time to clean out a back storage area filled with soil samples and ancient equipment. We discovered some ancient IBM PCs, so I am now typing from an ancient Model M IBM keyboard! Schild was totally right that this thing is the BOMB to type on. You found SOME IBM PCs? Get me another one plz.
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