Main Computers

Katia 2

On this one machine I have tons of web browsers (for testing the site), lots of web and graphic design software, GNUCash (for finances), X-Plane (for flight simulation—a hobby of mine), Garage Band for recording and mixing my music, my entire music collection, and much more.

• Model: Apple MacBook Pro 15″.
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16ghz.
• RAM: 2gb DDR2.
• Hard Drive: 320gb (7200rpm).
• Operating System(s): Apple Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’ (native). Haiku, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, and Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (emulated or virtualized).
• Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X1600, 128mb.
• Displays: Built-in 15″ wide LCD at 1440×900 resolution and 19″ Westinghouse LCD at 1280×1024 resolution.

Robin 2

Robin 2 is my main home machine (stationary), though it does usually share duties with Katia 2. When the two are running side-by-side, I have a pretty slick two-machine three-display setup all linked together using ‘Synergy’, a piece of software that allows you to control multiple computers from a single mouse and keyboard.

• Model: N/A (custom built).
• Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1.8ghz.
• RAM: 1gb.
• Hard Drive: 60gb + 15gb.
• Operating System(s): Xubuntu Linux 10.04.
• Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9500 Pro, 128mb.
• Displays: 22″ wide Acer LCD at 1680×1050 resolution.

Main Computer Predecessors:

• Katia (PowerBook G4 1.67ghz; Mac OS X 10.4).
• Robin (Dell Dimension 4100 1ghz; Ubuntu Linux 6.04 to 8.04).
• Nadia (Power Mac G4 733mhz; Mac OS X 10.0 to 10.3).
• Maurice (Compaq Presario AMD K6-II 266mhz; MS-DOS 7.1/Windows 98).
• Ziggy 3 (Acer 486 90mhz; MS-DOS 7.0/Windows 95).
• Ziggy 2 (Gateway 2000 386 25mhz, upgraded to 486 75mhz; MS-DOS 6.22/Windows 3.11).
• Ziggy (IBM PC-AT 286 6mhz; MS-DOS 5.22).

Eelserver 2

The Eelserver is our home file and network server. It runs Windows Home Server, has three 1tb hard drives for data storage and backups, shares two printers over the network (black & white HP LaserJet 1022; color HP DeskJet 940c), provides remote network access, streams iTunes music across the network, and much more. It replaced the venerable Eelserver which served long past its expected useful life (it was ten years old when we retired it).

• Model: HP MediaSmart EX490.
• Processor: Intel Celeron 64-bit 2.2ghz.
• RAM: 2gb DDR2.
• Hard Drive: 3-disk array (1tb x 3).
• Operating System(s): Microsoft Windows Home Server.
• Display: None (managed via RDP from remote machines).

Kitka 3

Kitka 3 is an all-purpose secondary sub-notebook that I use when a small size and extreme portability comes in handy (e.g., on an airplane) or when Katia 2 is hooked up like a desktop and busy.

• Model: Asus Eee PC 900A.
• Processor: Intel Atom N270 1.6ghz.
• RAM: 1gb.
• Hard Drive: 4gb (solid state).
• Operating System(s): Xubuntu Linux 10.04.
• Display: Built-in 9″ wide LCD (LED-backlit) at 1024×600 resolution.

Support Computer Predecessors

• Eelserver (Dell OptiPlex GX300 Pentium III 667mhz; Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Server LTS).
• Kitka 2 (Asus Eee PC 4G Surf Celeron M 900mhz; Ubuntu Linux 8.10).
• Kitka (iBook G3 500mhz, Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.3).
• Dinky Thinkum 2 (PowerBook G4 550mhz; Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.3).
• Dinky Thinkum (IBM Thinkpad 770 Pentium MMX 233mhz; Ubuntu Linux 7.04).
• Bloomaroo 2 (Apple iMac DV SE G3 500mhz; Mac OS X 10.3).
• Bloomaroo (Apple iMac G3 233mhz; Mac OS X 10.2).
• bbMac (Apple Power Mac G3 266mhz; Mac OS X 10.2).