Regarding shinies (or, "mixed feelings")

One of the cooler things GCC does is give all of its new students computers. Part of our orientation on Friday was the distribution of the computers and a lecture about the college internet and such. He also lined up the freshman setup. It consists of a dual 1.83GHz HP tablet computer, with most of Microsoft's creative software installed. There was also a laptop case, a backpack, a printer, an 8GB thumb drive, and a Zune media player. Otherwise, the main gist was basically "here is your computer. Touch it and die." When we went to receive the computers, they sprung something new - sophomores (such as myself) got the old machine, which has 3 gig of RAM instead of 4, and no widescreen. Also, no Zune for us. That was disappointing, but we got the last laugh. The freshmen just barely missed out on the Zune HD, which the new people will be getting, but none of us will ever see.

So, this morning, I power up my computer and the little "loading" lights blink, but... nothing happens on the screen. So, I stop by tech support. Turns out, everyone else was using this time to get their computers fixed from the damage they had done to them over the break. It took quite a while to get to the desk, where they determined I had a hardware problem. Thus, they brought the computer in the back. Later that day, they discovered it was software, and therefore wiped the computer clean. Fortunately, the only data I had on it was a URL of the 40*70" Serenity poster I would use to cover up the "Dumb and Dumber" poster over my desk. (Summer Glau is so much better looking than Jim Carrey, even when she's looking disturbed and he's holding his ears out.)

Still don't have the college laptop back, but I did get my Mac on the network, so I can get interwebs now and start my blag. All (both of) you GCC Mac people: it's your proxies. Set them ALL.

I originally meant to opt out of the computers, since my Mac is a dual 2.56GHz with 4 Gig of ram, and is a widescreen to boot. Not to brag... Nonetheless, the college-issue tablet has its advantages, like the 6-hour travel battery. I have also decided i'm putting GIMP on it first chance I get, for obvious reasons (aka, drawing directly on the screen).

I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow around lunch.