birthday presents : workstation-lust

Tim Foster's Weblog All | OpenSolaris | Translation, language and tools | Off-topic Friday August 12, 2005 Some thoughts about birthday presents : workstation-lust I haven't written an off-topic post in a while, so here goes. I've got a milestone birthday coming up in the next few months and themissus has been at me to come up with some present suggestions. I'mgenerally pretty bad at coming up with present ideas - I have most ofthe stuff I need already.. For the same milestone, I got the missus a bunchof diamonds, but they wouldn't really suit me : I'm not into jewellery to be honest. I'm a tecchie. So, it seems to be coming down to two possible options - either an iPod, or a new computer. Oh by the way, if anyone's got alternative ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Well, for the last while, I've actually been using my laptop as a large, slightly unweildly, but amazingly multifunctionalmusic player. Okay, I'll admit for playing music, it's overkill and battery life isn't quite 8 hours, but it does the job for the 1hr walk into workwhenever I've got a puncture, so no problems there. I'm starting to think about a new computer. The missus thinksthat I don't need another machine - the last one I got was an iMac backin 2002, but since it's my birthday present, I get to choose ! (besides, she's wrongabout me needing another computer ;-) I saw the announcement of the Ultra 20 workstation and got excited. This is somethingthat I can run Solaris Express on, do development of the Open Language Tools and (gulp) install win32 (just so I can playHalf-Life2 you understand : I blame Glynn for showing me that back in March , I was hooked in less than 10 minutes. Installing windows will be extrememly gut-wrenching for me, but the game really does look so good that I'll willingly run an atrocious, buggy, insecure and unpleasant operating system just to be able to play it. Thank goodness for grub and firewalls!) I've never owned a Sun workstation - but have admired them for many years, andmentioned it before : we've produced some really cracking workstations over theyears, and this one is no exception. It screams along . In the past, for me as a home user, getting a Sun workstationwas always going to be way out of reach, financially : but this one seemspretty reasonable at only $800 - wow! Regarding workstation design, I've never seen better built systems than Sunmachines. Have a peek inside your machine. Which of the following match yours ?(now yes, this is a wildly unfair comparison - but induldge me for a bit, okay) Apple This is about as close to my Apple workstation as they'll allow me to get, exceptperhaps for the tiny door on the bottom to add RAM or an Airport. I believe thisone (and it's succesor) is a laptop squeezed into a tiny space,with some nice ergonomics. Okay, "workstation" is the wrong word to use here, thisis definitely a consumer device rather than a workstation, so I'm being a bit unfair. I like Apple machines, as does the missus, but they don't run Solaris (yet?)and I won't be able to play Half-Life2. I'm still waiting on the iTunes port toSolaris (yes, I did ask them - didn't get a reply though) I'd also like Canon toport their Digital Photo Professional software to Solaris too - again, no joy yet. Dell This is what the inside of my Dell machine looks like. Again, an unfaircomparison : this is an Optiplex GX110, and is a few years old (Pentium III 733mhz with 256mb RAM, though it runs Solaris 10 just fine). Internally though,doesn't it look messy ? Newer Dell machines are a little nicer, I'll admit, but they're still not a patch on a good Sun box. Sun Okay - here's what I mean by a workstation : just look at this ! My SunBlade 2000 (okay, not mine , Sun owns this one). It's very welldesigned. The 2nd image there shows a plastic wallet attached to the inside of the case, with a leaflet explaining how to service the machine(add processors, ram, disks, etc.) The 3rd image there is of a tool that's also inside the case, allowing you to remove the CPU board.The "W" in SUNW means Workstation Historically , we've always been building these sorts of machines - they're fantastic : right back to the SparcStation 1 pizza boxes, through SparcStation 10 sand 20s, IPC, IPX and Classic machines, Sparc 5s, and Ultra 1s and 2s : all excellentmachines in their time. Looks like the new Ultra 20 machines are continuing this legacy - are there instructions on how to service the system on the inside of the case ? Yep, Ithink so (haven't yet seen a production version of the hardware yet) USB and Firewire ports on the front, SATA disks, and a blazingly fast AMD processor : and, for bonus domestic brownie-points, it even looks pretty :-) Oh, and if you think our workstations are well designed, you should seriously check out our servers - they're just as good, if not better. (2005-08-12 08:07:33.0) Permalink Comments [2] Trackback URL: http://blogs.sun.com/roller/trackback/timf/Weblog/some_thoughts_about_birthday_presents Comments: (Don't forget to tell the missus that as a Sun employee you get a nice discount on the Ultra 20) Posted by 64.172.182.76 on August 12, 2005 at 07:21 PM IST # Oh, I forgot-- there's also a discount on iPods for Sun Employees; thanks Apple! Posted by 64.172.182.76 on August 12, 2005 at 07:38 PM IST # Post a Comment: Name: E-Mail: URL: Notify me by email of new comments Remember Information? Your Comment: HTML Syntax: Enabled Please answer this simple math question 7 + 60 = -- Thoughts on language, translation and tools Tim's Home Page (who I am - first post) A series of posts about writing translation tools : Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Open Language Tools - a free implementation of the ideas described above... Live XLIFF Editor Demo Why I work here There's lots of useful stuff in other posts, just dig through the archives... calendar « September 2005 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Today navigation Sun Bloggers Weblog Login rss feeds All [ excerpts ] /OpenSolaris [ excerpts ] /Translation, language and tools [ excerpts ] /Off-topic [ excerpts ] search Werner Ramaeker --

College Gift

Merced College - Gift Opportunities About Us Office of Institutional Advancement Alumni Affairs Foundation Public Affairs Staff Contact Us Gift Opportunities Alumni and friends of Merced College can make gifts in several ways such as cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, personal property, gifts in kind and planned gifts, provided the gift is applicable to the mission of the college. All gifts should be made payable to: Merced College Foundation 3600 M Street Merced, CA 95348-2898 Gifts of appreciated property such as stocks, bonds, real estate and personal property allow donors to avoid capital gains tax while receiving a deduction for the fair market value of the contribution on the date the gift is made. Gifts in kind other than appreciated property such as professional services can be given provided the gift is applicable to the mission of the college. Donors may choose to restrict a gift for a specific purpose or make an unrestricted gift. Unrestricted gifts provide Merced College with resources that can be distributed to support projects, programs and other high priority needs at the discretion of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Restricted gifts can be made to benefit specific programs or departments, at the donor's discretion, or to establish a scholarship in the donor’s name. Whether restricted or not, gifts can be made to establish a permanent endowment, whereby only the earnings from the gifts are spent to benefit the college. The Foundation currently requires a gift or gifts totaling $10,000 to establish an endowment. The Foundation is offering gift annuities , which allows donors to make a significant charitable contribution while guaranteeing a fixed income for life. Through our gift annuity program, donors can address their financial needs and their philanthropic goals. Gift annuities are the oldest form of estate planning aside from bequests. Contact Us | Jobs | Off Campus Centers | Site Map © Merced Community College District

Birthday Gift Suggestions Berkeley

Berkeley Parents Network: Birthday Gift Suggestions Berkeley Parents Network Home Members Post a Msg Reviews Advice Join BPN Help/FAQ What's New Search Birthday Gift Suggestions Berkeley Parents Network Advice Birthdays Bday Gifts Birthday Gift Suggestions Gift Ideas for 3 year old Dinosaur Gifts for 4-y-o 50th Birthday Gift Birthday Gifts for Grandparents Gift Ideas for 3 year old Oct 1996 About birthday gifts for 3 year olds-- my daughter turned 3 this summer asdid four friends. I finally settled on Playschool flashlights from Toys R Usfor under $10 ($14 at Mr Mopps.) They turn white, red and green, & go off automatically after so much timehas elapsed. One family even used theirs during the summer west coast poweroutage as it was the only flashlight in the house. Good for boys & girls.Also my friend got kites for her gifts--gets kids and parents together too.Tavie At this age (and later, too) we usually give the birthday child eithera jigsaw puzzle or a couple of books. If you look around you can findsome good puzzles in the $5-$8 range, and a couple of picture books,soft cover, will be about the same. That way you don't get into issuesover guns, barbie dolls, etc. Of course, if you know the kid personallyyourself, and know they have a particular interest in collecting bugsor some such thing, then you can look for something along those lines.Dianna To Karen - shopping for a 3 year old girl's B-day party - I often askthe parents when I RSVP to the party if their child has any particularinterests (or aversions), and that prevents buying weapons or Barbie dollsfor families that forbid that type of thing. Having a 7 year old and a 4year old, I am now at the point where I let them choose the gift within acertain price range if they know the child and have an opinion. When indoubt - art supplies are always good - for 3 year olds, play dough or newcrayons, a pack of construction paper, or that type of thing is alwaysappreciated. ToysRUs actually has some good art sets with crayons, pencils,etc. for under $15. Price wise, I try to stay between $10 and $15 unlessthe child is a family friend. Hope this helps. It gets worse as they getolder, as they get invited to more and more parties. I'm hoping with myolder one to have a small slumber party this year and limit the number ofkids and the expectation of a huge haul of toys. Good luck!Helen I am a mother of a 5 year old boy and a 7 year old girl. I have beenfaced with many birthday gifts so far and have come up with thefollowing suggestions. The simplest way to chose a gift for a child is to ask the parentswhat the child likes. The parents are usually appreciative of yourthoughtfulness and always have an idea or two. A general price rangeof $10 to $15 is safe, more than that is unnecessary. If you have aboy of the same age, ask yourself which toys does he like that a girlmight like too. You would be surprised by how many things would workas a gift for both girls and boys.Sharon Home | Reviews | Advice | Members | Post a Message Join BPN | Help | What's New | Search Please send questions and comments to Berkeley Parents Network . Last updated: Mar 27, 2004 © 1996-2005 Berkeley Parents Network The opinions and statements expressed on this website are those of parents who subscribe to the Berkeley Parents Network . Please see our Disclaimer for details.