Compaq Armada e500 Is (Almost) Immortal
By Ron Scott October 23rd, 2009
Apparently I cannot kill this laptop. Not bad for 2002.
This “portable” laptop computer has been mine since July of 2008. I didn’t pay anything for it, and it certainly doesn’t owe me anything. According to the BIOS information it was manufactured in 2002, but 7 years later (probably three or four beyond the expected lifespan) it’s still chugging along for me.
The Armada e500 would have been a top-of-the-line notebook in its day. Sporting a 20GB hard drive, 128MB of SDRAM, and a Pentium III 500MHz processor, my estimate of an original pricetag is about $2000. Interestingly though, it was built to run Windows 98. If I was able to get this thing for free, and if it largely works the same as on day one, I’m doing pretty good. The only thing that I can see doesn’t work is the battery. This is obviously limiting to the portable aspect of this laptop’s usage, but I doubt an original working battery would have much of a charge after 7 years, anyways.
When I got this machine nearly a year and a half ago, it was running an achingly slow installation of Windows XP. After trying (and failing) to install ReactOS on it, I ended up choosing a xfce-ified Ubuntu to serve as the operating system. I say “xfce-ified” because it began as just Ubuntu 6.10, and I added the XFCE to it once I knew the installation was stable.
For about 9 months this setup ran smoothly and efficiently on the e500. Then one day I powered it up and received the harsh (but epic) warning message about imminent hard drive failure. So I reformatted and installed a stripped-down Windows XP Home. Several months later (yesterday, incidentally), the same message appeared at bootup - this time I was sure it was a goner. I couldn’t even get a Linux live CD to run. But I managed to reinstall XP and, for another undisclosed period of its life, am back online with it. It’s been an exciting and even slightly rewarding experience.
Technology sure has come a long way. I’m currently looking into buying a Apple Macbook Pro (2.26GHz, 2GB RAM) for university, which will probably set me back approximately $1600. I would imagine that the Armada e500 would have been purchased for similar purposes in 2002.
Is there really anything more epic than an “IMMINENT HARD DRIVE FAILURE” warning?
Rediscovering My Old Film Camera
By Ron Scott September 6th, 2009
Today I was in conversation with my friend Natalie, who mentioned finding an old Minolta (point and shoot) film camera in her house. Like a flash of lightning illuminating a dark landscape, this triggered memories in my head. I recalled owning a little film camera years ago. The Vivitar AF620, It was a gift on my 10th birthday.
Today I was in conversation with my friend Natalie, who mentioned finding an old Minolta (point and shoot) film camera in her house. Like a flash of lightning illuminating a dark landscape, this triggered memories in my head. I recalled owning a little film camera years ago. The Vivitar AF620, It was a gift on my 10th birthday.
My first camera.
I loved it. And I kept it too, as you can see in the above photo. The first pictures I took with it were in O’Dell Park in Fredericton, NB. I took it on my first trip to New York City in 2004, where I can clearly recall feeling so privileged to be able to take pictures with my own camera, especially from the prestigious locale of the Empire State Building.
I am currently rediscovering how awesome an 8 years old film camera can be to use. The limitation of no zoom, no manual controls, and no digital LCD in the rear is almost truly exhilarating.
Who knows, from here I may venture into using my dad’s old Minolta SLR from the early 80’s.
In The Days Before School
By Ron Scott August 29th, 2009
Photos from my journeys in the small amount of time that I have left before going to my senior year at school.
Camp is over. And there are 5 days left til school starts again.
My flickr, if you’re interested.
Looking For The Living Down Among The Dead
By Ron Scott August 16th, 2009
A song which describes my mood right now. Camp is ending in 6 days’ time.
Lay my body down on Mercy Street
Or deep beneath the darkest seas
Lay my body six feet under down in Old
Noarlunga
Right beneath the ghost gum trees
Doesn’t matter where
You won’t find me there
No grave
Gonna hold my spirit down
Ain’t no grave
Hold my spirit down
Lord knows they’ll never keep me in the ground
Ain’t no grave
Hold my spirit down
It’s alright mama, now don’t be sad
It’s alright, don’t cry for me
They can lock my flesh and bones up until kingdom come
But my spirit will be free
It doesn’t matter where
You won’t find me there
It’s a dead end search
It’s a nowhere thread
Looking for the living down among the dead
No devil in hell
No angel above
Can separate the saints from the love of God
-newsboys.
Pagweak: lovely.
By Ron Scott July 11th, 2009
I love camp.
Yeah. I love camp. Camp is going awesome. I’ve met so many awesome people, and the summer is only a quarter over.
As a side note, check out Micah Linkletter on twitter. He’s a pretty cool guy.
I Go To Camp Today
By Ron Scott June 22nd, 2009
Yes folks, I leave in about a half an hour. With my new camera in tow, of course.
Yes folks, I leave in about a half an hour. With my new camera in tow, of course.
Over the course of the summer I’m hoping to be able to provide updates, but in case I don’t, please be sure to check my flickr and twitter. Hey, why not even add me on facebook?
Some Snaps From The Beast
By Ron Scott June 9th, 2009
Man, I love this camera.
Man I love this camera.
New Camera
By Ron Scott June 7th, 2009
I finally have it! The new Canon.
Yesterday I picked up my new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (aka the 450d). I’ll post some photos taken with it at a later date, but for now I’m really excited just to have it. Goodbye point-and-shoot!
For now I’ve just got the 18-55mm IS lens that came as part of the camera kit. The zoom is great and the picture quality is just amazing. I really can’t say much more than that.
The Day Ron Got Sick
By Ron Scott May 18th, 2009
It began like any other day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing.
It began like any other day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing.
But then Ron got sick. And the rest isn’t worth telling.
I’m really looking forward to buying a new camera. Being without one starts to sting after a few weeks. The Canon Xsi is currently looking like my best option at the moment.
I’m hoping to attend the Paul Colman concert in Quispamsis on the 30th. My brother claims to have the obtaining of the tickets under control, but we’ll have to see about that.
That’s all for now.
“Aw, My Camera Broke” (And Other News Stories)
By Ron Scott April 30th, 2009
In which I don’t try to, but end up anyway babbling about what’s happening in my life this spring.
Yes, my camera did break. Well, not technically break, as in the truest sense of the word (which has synonyms like fracture and snap). But it’s a goner.
But in greater news, I now have a month-(?)-long web design job which will handily allow me to purchase a new camera. I am now torn between the Canon XTI and the Nikon d60.
Oh, and I won the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia’s Education Medal. Lovely. I personally don’t think it’s a big deal, but people seem to be proud of me for it.
Today I had a great argument with my physics teacher over whether an object has to have an initial velocity in order to decelerate to 0.0 m/s. Yeah, I’m babbling.
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