Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gord]

One hobby I've kept up in Korea has been my electronics hobby. Acquiring and building things that are useful tools. Sadly, I haven't been doing anything from scratch like the railgun project I was working on before I came to Korea, but I've managed to set up a few things.

And now tech-heads, behold my secret world!



The primary work computer. Nothing overly special here other than the dual monitor display. The LCD monitor and DVD burner are nice, but hardly exclusive. The keyboard is a laptop style keyboard which means it is more flush and and contracted than a regular keyboard, as well as sporting a smaller footprint.

To the right, you can see my NetMD player. A cool toy that everyone should own. Battery life exceeds 10 hours and each disk can play 80/160/320 minutes depending on the quality level. 264/132/66kbps ATRAC3 v4.5 or something. The 66 is on par with a cassette walkman being used under water with a penguin reciting what it hears and I'm not certain penguins can really hear all that well to begin with, but the higher quality settings are fine. And because they are on swapable disks, it's easy to carry a library around. I'm not big on memory MP3 players as they don't store enough data, and hard drive units tend to be unreliable for longterm usage.



Every good host knows that they have to roll out the carpet for their guests. So while my online persona here tends to be quite tactless and unthoughful to the feelings of others, that is not representative of how I am in the real world usually.

And to that end, I have a guest computer. The desk sucks but is scheduled to be replaced in a week with a far better desk. It can also be used as a mid-range game machine. Primarily it's used for checking emails, chatting, City of Heros and C&C: Generals. Complete with upper-end Sony headphones so a person can hear the sweet, sweet music.

Also a scanner.



In the kitchen, you will find this art piece. And what is it you ask? Why, it's my personal internet server. Everyone should own one!

What started as putting a computer in a PS2 case that would serve up pictures to the family has grown into quite a project. Besides pictures and random stories I host for the friends and family back home to read, I also maintain a music library which can be downloaded, a streaming audio station, and a bunch of PHP related projects that are of various degrees of interest. It's also the gateway to the Internet for the LAN in my apartment with a 100Mb/s connection.

I've marked it down for a RAID array upgrade this week. Currently the single drive (of four) that the server stores most of the static data on is strained at serving 45gigs a day so everything has been loading slowly. So I'm hoping a SATA RAID5 with four drives will be able to handle 150GB a day which should last forever.



And when I'm on the road, I carry this half-sized laptop. Well, not much anymore but I used to. Complete with wireless Internet LAN cards and a wireless modem, though I haven't used the modem in ages is it costs money.

The batteries can last up to 8 hours if all goes well, though I tended to average around 5-6 with my usage.

My next laptop will be a tablet PC which are incredibly cool machines and everyone should own one. Though I will not buy it until I need it for teaching another adult class where I am required to present images of my hometown or something. A tablet PC when inverted is like holding up a book which makes showing pictures a snap.



Behold, my average TV. 29" Anam. Nothing special about it, but what is hooked up to it is special.



My Japanese Xbox and Korean PS2. There is nothing special about the Xbox, but the PS2 has been equipped with a harddrive. No disc swapping for me! While we've all heard about how the Xbox can be moddified to play copied games off the harddrive, the same can be done with the PS2 even though most people have never heard of it. I've installed all my current games on it, though the only games I play are DDR and whatnot, though a friend plays Madden 2005 every couple days.



And DDR, like the arcades, is best played with a dance pad. Or two. Aerobic workouts at home with my choice of music. It's a silly game that can burn off a lot of calories without a person noticing.



Sadly, Konami forgot that the secret to dancing games is girls, girls, girls.



Why "hello there" dancing girls. And as an added bonus, I've greatly improved my dancing style with this game from crazy ass silly style to something a little more impressive to the locals. It shows both how to dance and what it looks like from the front and behind. It must work as ladies who can't speak English keep coming up to me to dance with me. Sadly, I will never be as cool as Mr. J I work with who is the greatest dancer ever.



And this in the controller to that dancing game. You flag your hands over the discs. It's actually pretty fun to get into.



But those controllers are nothing compared to the great granddaddy of them all. The controller for Steel Battalion / Tekki for the Xbox. All of two games ever supported it, but it was a glorious time to be alive. And the button on the top right covered by the flipcover is the eject button. Failure to use that when losing will result in your characters death.



And finally, the media server. Buried in that is the remains of the previous server which now host a bazillion video files. And thanks to the a fine front-end program it's all slickly presented together so a person with a remote control can select what movie or TV show they want to watch. I've managed to fill it up with a good cross-spectrum of TV shows from back home and abroad, including rarities like "Adam and Joe Go Tokyo".

Around this mess of stuff is a 5.1 audio system which plays sweet, sweet music off the main computer when the TV isn't on. I need to pick up a drill though and clean up the cable. When I first drilled holes to hide all the cables, I didn't intend for the project to grow quite this big so now only half the cables are hidden.

Thus a partial view into the secret world of Gord. I try to have a nice apartment to come home to at the end of the day. Follow in my footsteps, and you can too!

[Thunndarr]

I like the background image on your main desktop computer.

[ladyandthetramp]

I think I have the same air conditioner as you. It says Cooltec on the front and is model CT07. Yours the same?

[Giant]

I like your style!! You are a true techno-geek like myself. I also have my own webserver and can appreate what you have there.

Good going man!!

[SuperHero]

I want to be like Gord! I now realize I am just a geek wannabe. Gord is King of the geeks.

[Demophobe]

Very nice Gord. A sweet setup indeed. Lot's of guests? Long-term?
I guess it's a good solution to letting someone loose on your system. If you are the technophile you appear to be, others touching your baby must send shivers up your back.

[Duder]

Gord, sweeet setup.
Remember, stay cool.

[Gwangjuboy]

When are you going to let me come over?

[Bulsajo]

Am I the only one who is disappointed that Gord's place doesn't actually look like the Bat Cave or some super-villian's secret grotto?

I imagine at least one dwarfish-looking person here who must be disappointed there are no skinned cats, bayonetted babies, or blood dripping down the walls in any those pics...

[mack the knife]

Oh wait.... YUCK!! You took the pic of your TV with NO PANTS ON!!

SHAME ON YOU, GORD!!!

[dogbert]

The visible washing machine spoils the high-tech aura.

[jazblanc77]

[The Man known as The Man]

[Demophobe]

[Derrek]

You've got the same computer desk as I do, only mine has a bit darker top. Sturdy but heavy.

And your Canon scanner... do you have to wait like 45 seconds for the light to set up? I've got the same, one, basically, but your model has the buttons and more options.