I’ve been a “computer guy” (i.e., nerd) for as long as I can remember. As a child, my family had an original Macintosh and, later, an IBM PC. I learned how to use them early. Later, I learned how to write programs and build websites. And now, most of my life—professionally and privately—involves these amazing machines.
These days, I usually have two main “flagship” computers (a desktop and laptop), a home server, and various other machines that float around for secondary and testing purposes. See the Phones and Tablets page for info about those devices, which are computers too (sort-of).
Flagship Desktop
My flagship desktop is my “powerhouse” machine that can do anything I need it to do. I plan for them to last ten years, with allowance for a major upgrade (if needed) at the five-year point. 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.
Odyssey
Odyssey maintains my files, manages photos, edits videos, runs various operating systems in virtualization, and serves as my development machine for web and mobile applications. 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 (24H2) (native)
- Windows Subsystems for Linux
- VMWare Workstation
- Apple MacOS 15.1
- Haiku R1/beta4
- Tangential DE GNU/Linux
- Tangential EOS GNU/Linux
- 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
Flagship Notebook
My flagship notebook is my workhorse on the road (or the couch). I plan for them to last five years, but I can adjust the schedule as-needed if a machine dies early or holds up better than expected.
Nova
Nova is a reasonably-powerful notebook that is capable of doing most of what Odyssey can do, but from my lap instead of my desk.
- Model: Dell XPS 15 9500 (rev. A01)
- 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 (24H2) (native)
- Windows Subsystems for Linux
- VMWare Workstation
- 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
Yeah, I can’t only have two computers. That would be crazy.
Servers
- Eelserver 3 (Intersanity Toaster; Intel Pentium Dual 3.1ghz; CentOS 7.9)
Secondary Desktops
- Challenger (Apple Mac Mini; Apple M1 Octa 3.2/2.0ghz; Mac OS 15.1)
- Excalibur (Intel NUC 7; Intel Celeron Dual 2.0ghz; Windows 11 Pro [23H2])
- Valiant (Asus VivoPC VM40B; Intel Celeron Dual 1.5ghz; Tangential EOS)
Secondary Notebooks
- Nautilus (Dell Latitude 3190; Intel Celeron Quad 2.6ghz; Tangential EOS)
Embedded/Specialty
- RPi1 (Raspberry Pi 2B; Broadcom ARM 900mhz; Raspberry Pi OS 11)
History
See the Phones and Tablets page for a history of those devices, which are computers too (sort-of).
Flagship Desktops
- 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 5.0)
Flagship Notebooks
- 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
- 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)
Secondary Desktops
- 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)
- bbMac (Apple Power Mac; IBM G3 266mhz; Mac OS X 10.2)
Secondary Notebooks
- 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)
- Dinky Thinkum (IBM Thinkpad 770; Intel Pentium MMX 233mhz; Ubuntu Linux 7.04)