Current Computers
My flagship machines are those that I rely on for my day-to-day computing needs. For many years I relied on a single flagship desktop, and for a few I relied on a single flagship laptop, but in recent years I have adopted a ‘dual flagship’ arrangement where I have both a reasonably powerful desktop and a reasonably powerful laptop.
My typical upgrade cadence is that I perform a major upgrade to my flagship desktop when it is five years old, and then replace it entirely when it is ten years old. I replace my flagship laptop every five years. Of course I can adjust this schedule as-needed, and perform an upgrade early if a machine dies or late if it holds up better than expected.
Each hardware upgrade iterates my ‘revision’ number. For laptops, this is a simple two digit number (beginning with revision 01, as originally built). For desktops, revision numbers are prepended with an A (for revisions of the initial build) or B (for revisions following the major mid-life refresh).
Odyssey
Odyssey is my home powerhouse. It maintains my music collection, manages photos, edits videos, runs various operating systems in virtualization, and serves as my development machine for web and mobile applications. And I built it myself!
- Model: Intersanity Wormhole (rev. A01)
- CPU:
- Intel Core i7-11700K, octa 4.9ghz OC (x86-64)
- Geekbench 6 scores: 2,034 single, 8,836 multi
- Novabench 4 score: 2,020
- Intel Core i7-11700K, octa 4.9ghz OC (x86-64)
- RAM:
- 32gb DDR4 3,200
- Novabench score: 340
- 32gb DDR4 3,200
- Storage:
- 2tb (SSD) + 2tb (SSD)
- Novabench 4 score: 276
- 2tb (SSD) + 2tb (SSD)
- Operating Systems:
- Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (22H2) (native)
- Windows Subsystems for Linux and Android
- Google Android 13 (Amazon Appstore)
- Ubuntu Linux 23.04
- VMWare Workstation
- GPUs:
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, 6gb
- Geekbench 6 Vulkan score: 78,654
- Novabench 4 score: 1,422
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, 6gb
- Display:
- Gigabyte G34WQC 34″ LCDs at 3660×1440
- Input Devices:
- Logitech G Pro Hero mouse
- Logitech T650 touchpad
- WASD V2 Custom Mechanical Keyboard (Cherry MX Blue switches)
- Name Meaning: Reference to the fictional Star Trek starship Odyssey (NCC-71832). Odyssey was a Galaxy Class ship that was among the first to investigate the threat posed by the Dominion in the Gamma Quadrant, but was destroyed in the process. It appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode ‘The Jem’Hadar.’
- Revision History: Upgrades from the initial specifications iterate the revision number.
- Cycle A
- 01: Initial build
- Cycle A
Nova

Nova is a mobile workhorse. It is capable of doing most of what Excelsior can do, but it can do it anywhere. It is a pretty powerful laptop that can keep up with just about anything I throw at it.
- Model: Dell XPS 15 9500 (rev. 01)
- CPU:
- Intel Core i7-10750H, hex 2.6ghz (x86-64)
- Geekbench 6 scores: 1,419 single, 4,322 multi
- Novabench 4 score: 1,346
- Intel Core i7-10750H, hex 2.6ghz (x86-64)
- RAM:
- 16gb DDR4 2933
- Novabench 4 score: 238
- 16gb DDR4 2933
- Storage:
- 1tb (SSD)
- Novabench 4 score: 217
- 1tb (SSD)
- Operating Systems:
- Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (22H2) (native)
- Windows Subsystems for Linux and Android
- Google Android 13 (Amazon Appstore)
- Ubuntu Linux 23.04
- Oracle VirtualBox
- GPU:
- Intel UHD Graphics
- Geekbench 6 Vulkan score: 5,497
- Novabench 4 score: 820
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, 4gb
- Geekbench 6 Vulkan score: 38,013
- Novabench 4 score: 1,341
- Intel UHD Graphics
- Display: Built-in 15.6″ LCD at 1920×1200
- Input Devices:
- Built-in keyboard and touchpad (keycaps relabeled to Dvorak layout)
- Name Meaning: Reference to the fictional Star Trek starship Nova (NCC-73515). Nova was the prototype of the Nova class, a small but capable vessel designed for exploration and scout missions. It was shown on a tactical display as part of a Starfleet battle group in the film Star Trek: Nemesis. The starship Equinox, a ship of the same class, appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Equinox.”
- Revision History: Upgrades from the initial specifications iterate the revision number.
- 01: As manufactured
Other Machines and Peripherals
- Server
- Eelserver 3 (Intersanity Toaster; Intel Pentium Dual 3.1ghz; CentOS 7.9)
- Additional Systems
- Challenger (Apple Mac Mini; Apple M1 Octa 3.2/2.0ghz; Mac OS 13.6)
- Excalibur (Intel NUC 7; Intel Celeron Dual 2.0ghz; Windows 11 Pro [22H2])
- Valiant (Asus VivoPC VM40B; Intel Celeron Dual 1.5ghz; Linux Mint 21.1)
- RPi1 (Raspberry Pi 2B; Broadcom ARM 900mhz; Raspberry Pi OS 11)
- Peripherals
- CH Products Flight Sim Yoke
- CH Products Pro Pedals
- Datacolor Spyder4PRO colorimeter
- Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Pro M148dw printer/scanner/copier
- Logitech C910 HD webcam
- Logitech C920X Pro HD webcam
- Logitech F310 gamepad
- Logitech K380 wireless keyboard
- Logitech M585 wireless mouse
- PreSonus AudioBox USB 96 audio I/O device
Computer History
Flagship Desktops
These are the machines that served as my main, day-to-day, stationary workhorse.
- Excelsior (Intersanity Transwarp; Intel Core i7 4.1ghz; Windows 10)
- Nadia (Power Mac G4; Motorola G4 733mhz; Mac OS X 10.3)
- Maurice (Compaq Presario; AMD K6-II 266mhz; MS-DOS 7.1/Windows 98)
- Ziggy 3 (Acer Desktop; AMD 486 90mhz; MS-DOS 7.0/Windows 95)
- Ziggy 2 (Gateway 2000 Desktop; Intel 386 25mhz to Evergreen 486 75mhz; MS-DOS 6.22/Windows 3.11)
- Ziggy (IBM PC-AT; Intel 286 6mhz; MS-DOS 5.11)
Flagship Notebooks
These are the machines that served as my main mobile workhorse. Generally they augmented a flagship desktop, although occasionally they stood on their own.
- Phoenix (Microsoft Surface Book; Intel Core i5 2.4ghz; Windows 10)
- Intrepid (Asus UL80J; Intel Core i3 1.2ghz; Windows 8.1)
- Katia 2 (MacBook Pro; Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16ghz; Mac OS X 10.6)
- Katia (PowerBook; Freescale G4 1.67ghz; Mac OS X 10.4)
- Kitka (Apple iBook; IBM G3 500mhz; Mac OS X 10.3)
Servers
Not long after Melissa and I were married, we discovered that we had a need between the two of us for a server to back up our data, share files back and forth, and generally keep our home network under control.
- Eelserver 2 (HP MediaSmart EX490; Intel Celeron 2.2ghz; Microsoft Windows Home Server)
- Eelserver (Dell OptiPlex GX300; Intel Pentium III 667mhz; Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Server LTS)
Other Computers
Because I’m a nerd, it is rare that I limit myself only to my flagship machines. These other machines have floated in and out of my life as-needed, serving as backups, ‘coffee-table’ machines, and other ancillary purposes. Some are desktops, but most are laptops.
- Thebe (Asus Chromebook Flip C302CA; Chrome OS 78)
- Europa (Asus Transformer Book T100; Windows 10)
- Equinox (Apple MacBook Pro; Core 2 Duo 2.26ghz; OS X 10.10)
- Selina (Google Cr-48; Atom N455 1.66ghz; Google Chrome OS 0.13)
- Kitka 3 (Asus Eee PC 900A; Atom N270 1.6ghz; Ubuntu Linux 10.10)
- Kitka 2 (Asus Eee PC 4G Surf; Celeron M 900mhz; Ubuntu Linux 8.10)
- Robin 2 (Custom; AMD Athlon XP 1.8ghz; Ubuntu Linux 10.10)
- Dinky Thinkum 2 (Apple PowerBook; Motorola G4 550mhz; Mac OS X 10.3)
- Robin (Dell Dimension 4100; Intel Pentium III 1ghz; Ubuntu Linux 8.04)
- Bloomaroo 2 (Apple iMac DV SE; IBM G3 500mhz; Mac OS X 10.3)
- Bloomaroo (Apple iMac; IBM G3 233mhz; Mac OS X 10.2)
- Dinky Thinkum (IBM Thinkpad 770; Intel Pentium MMX 233mhz; Ubuntu Linux 7.04)
- bbMac (Apple Power Mac; IBM G3 266mhz; Mac OS X 10.2)