[GreenKeys] NEWS and THOUGHTS - - -

[Geo. Hutchison]

GreenKeyers - - -

ITTY is indeed down. After three of the old Dell comps crapped out a few 
days ago, I realized that the old Dell GX150 and GX270/280 computers I 
have been using for the ITTY systems these past years have lived long 
after they had been put to pasture by Boeing, from whose surplus 
operation in Kent they originally were acquired..

Boeing did get their nickel's worth of use before being surplussed, and 
they have been pretty reliable since the advent of ITTY on the net.

Capacitors are bloating, and the hard drives are for the most part 
originals from the same source, but most likely have been pressed into 
service as their predecessors have bitten the dust.

I so many words, they are pretty much DEAD.

I was able to round up a pile (9) of Dell  Optiplex 160 units that were 
retired by the Eatonville, Wa., School District.

They are quite clean physically, and appear to be in good shape 
electrically.

They have licenses for Windows Vista on them, but all of the operating 
systems are Windows 7 Pro, indicating that there was some manner of 
upgrading in recent years.

They have all of the connections for monitor, Kbd and Mouse, audio and 
RS-232, and have the newer SATA w/80 GB HDDs, and easily upgrade to 4GB 
RAM. USB Ports are plentiful.

I am slowly learning the best ways to get these units up and running, 
but it is taking time.

Paul Heller's set-up is operational, and I think he will be able to get 
his gear running well in short order. Paul's equipment is some newer 
Dell stuff that I  gave him a couple of years ago and he has the skills 
to properly massage it into good operation.

As I muddle through the process of getting these new(er) machines going 
I hope you will bear with me. I am a believer in Win XP, but the demise 
of support for that opsys pretty much dictates it is time to move on, 
and even possibly consider Win 10, although Cortana bugs the hell outa 
me with its constant yammering.

I have a sort of "Hemlock" program that pretty well wipes out Cortana,
but that is only one of many issues.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome and encouraged. I'm not as fast as I 
used to be and I spend a lot of time going to see a veritable plethora 
of medical people. Old age REALLY SUCKS, but I am not yet ready for the 
bone yard.

Gotta run, and thanks for reading.

73,

George - W7TTY