New (used) Computer. What about the old one?

Well today I purchased a used white Intel iMac and got a great Deal on it too. But thats not our subject for today. This post is about my old G4/400 tower and what I will attempt to do with it.

Since  the raid and multi hard drive towers  are fairly expensive I will be turning a computer tower into a basic Hard Drive unit. No need for the motherboard but I will be using the  built in power supply to provide the Hard Drives with the juice they need. I will purchase a 7 port USB 2.o hub and some USB to IDE cables off of ebay in order to wire it all up. I really don't see why it wouldn't work. I will take pictures and post them when get started. It shouldn't cost more than $30 CDN from what I can tell and I have a bunch of Hard Drives I can use (and need to use since they are my artwork backup).

More Later

MacPhreak out

True Nature

Hey all, I just changed my blog name to reflect more of myself. As in the title pretty much describes me and what I am capable of. A few other titles came to mind like "making everything out of everything" or "making anything out of everything" but "Making everything out of nothing" seems like the one. It symbolizes to what degree people simply discard items that mean NOTHING to them that can be used to fix  or modify something else. 

As far as I can tell in todays society it is a lot easier to simply go out and buy what it is you need instead of thinking of an alternate way to use something you already have. I am not talking about making a new car or building a computer from scratch. Rather taking a dresser that has outlived its usefulness can be converted into another piece of furniture or combined with something else to save on space. 

Last year we took  my son's 2 dressers and a box-spring and created a captains bed. That is, the box-spring was dissembled to leave only the top layer, that top layer frame was mounted on the dressers on one side and the rest of the box-spring pieces were used to create the rear part of the support system. all this stuff we already had and therefore it cost us nothing to build it. Of course if you don't have tools then your gonna have to buy some but then these tools won't be  part of the cost on your next project. By the way, always respect your tools as they can be dangerous if used incorrectly. If you do not know how to use them get someone to show you.

My journeys have been mostly related to Radio Controlled cars but I have fixed and made things out of items that were headed for the trash and I will be posting more on this as I can get pictures and other info together to show you.

In the meantime in a challenge to you and myself I am asking you (the reader, if any) to take an item that you would normally toss out into the garbage and try to use it. At the same time letting me know what this item is and I will do the same as long as its something that I use as well and do not have to go out and purchase it.

MacPhreak out!

Used Computers and you!

Hey peeps, Just thought I would share my 2 cents on what seems to be some sort of epidemic in the used computer world.

I am currently shopping for a new/previously owned iMac and in my search found something to be a little disturbing. Individuals and companies selling used machines are trying to up the price of their sale by including pirated software. This means they are not including the serial numbers or the CD/dvd's of the original software and if you do not have the install disks then most likely the software is pirated. There are exceptions to this but in most cases it applies.

Maybe some people don't realize that they are buying pirated software but I am sure many buy knowingly. Now I am not one to say you cannot have this software on your machine nor will I spill the beans on people who do. 

My point here is why should I pay for something illegal when all I want is to buy a used machine for a decent price. In my searches I seen some machines priced the same or close to the same as a newer model because of the so called included software. One even had a list of applications so long and varied I wonder if there is even any room left on the 320 gig Hard drive not to mention the total cost of the pirated software to be between 30 000 to 50 000 $$$$. 

I think you get the point! Just be aware that if you buy the computer with pirated software your just as prosecutable as the person who pirated it. Unless you delete it once you get home. But that brings to mind my dilemma. Why pay for it in the first place if your just gonna delete it.

MacPhreak out.