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 (including Macromedia Suite 8), GNUCash (for finances), X-Plane (for flight simulation—a hobby of mine), Garage Band and Soundtrack 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: 200gb.
• Operating System(s): Apple Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’ (native). Apple Mac OS 9, Haiku, Microsoft Windows XP SP3, and Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (emulated or virtualized using VMWare Fusion, QEMU, and SheepShaver).
• 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): Ubuntu Linux 9.10.
• 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).

The Eelserver

The Eelserver (formerly Q-Who) has become our apartment file and network server as we’ve graduated from a personal-grade network to a small-business-grade network. The Eelserver runs Linux, has a 300gb redundant RAID array for data storage and backups, shares two printers (black & white HP LaserJet 1022; color HP DeskJet 940c), provides SSH/SFTP and VPN access for remote control of the server and secure file transfers from outside the network, and much more.

• Model: Dell OptiPlex GX300.
• Processor: Intel Pentium III 667mhz.
• RAM: 256mb.
• Hard Drive: 300gb (mirrored RAID array).
• Operating System(s): Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Server LTS.
• Display: None (managed via VNC and SSH 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): Ubuntu Linux 9.10.
• Display: Built-in 9″ wide LCD (LED-backlit) at 1024×600 resolution.

Support Computer Predecessors

• 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).