Fraize Dotcom

Gizmodo [recently asked its readers](http://gizmodo.com/5026899/forty-years-of-intel-interactive-timeline), in commemoration of Intel’s 40th anniversary, if they remember their first Intel processor. I started thinking about it, and I think I remember every major microprocessor I’ve ever owned. I say **major** processor since there were procs in nearly every piece of intelligent gadgetry and I can’t obviously remember those.

My foray into home computing started with my father’s Xerox 820 desktop computer, with big-honkin’ 8-inch floppies and a screaming Z-80 processor. White text on black screen never looked so good, baby. Wordstar and VisiCalc were awesome back then. I remember writing a program in BASIC that picked a random memory register and placed a random value in it just to see what happened. That computer never worked the same after that.

A few years later, my dad brought home a new computer, ostensibly for work. A Packard-Bell 386SX-16 with 640k of RAM, 40 MB hard drive, DOS 3.3 and a VGA card. “Don’t touch it” read the handwritten sign. That sure didn’t last long. I remember how excited I was when I found out that DOS 3.3 could only allocate 33 MB of that 40MB drive. When I found the remaining 7 MB, it blew my tiny mind.

We soon realized that this Crapard-Hell wouldn’t last long, so we found a local company – Promise Computers – that made us a 386-25. We put 1 whole meg of RAM in it by jamming memory chips directly into the motherboard. I remember the steel case would stick and you’d have to bang on it pretty hard to get it free if you ever wanted to work on the insides (which, naturally, I did).

That computer lasted me a while until I met my friend Wayne “Skate” Deavers. He helped me build my first 386-40 by hand. That chip was an AMD, and would fuel my love for the AMD brand for years to come. I remember playing a lot of “Dune II” on that little computer. It eventually got upgraded with 2 120 MB hard drives, a 2 MB SVGA Card, and a Sound Blaster 16.

Skate got me a job with a company that built computers, so using my newfound employee discount, I was able to build a 486-DX2-66, and eventually a Pentium 80. That awful computer gave me no end of trouble, but it probably didn’t help that I put an early beta of “Microsoft Chicago,” on it, which would later become “Windows 95.”

That old Pentium lasted quite a while until I got a hand-me-down Pentium2-MMX screaming at 200MHz from work. I kept that machine through my first couple of years at Dell. I watched as the speed of CPUs went from 200MHz to 400MHz… I swore that was the threshold I would wait for until I bought another computer. Silly me, it wasn’t until Intel was nearly at 1GHz that I finally was able to upgrade.

I built my own 800MHz machine, but went back to AMD. Again, since I was pretty cheap at the time, I lasted a few years on that beastie, upgrading the motherboard and CPU to 2.4GHz (still AMD). He ran Windows 95/98/NT and 2000 before giving up the ghost. I gave him to a friend of mine to use as his backup computer.

It was here that my flirtation with Apple Macs started. My first Mac was an iMac G4 – the half-dome style. Great computer. Loved it lots, but a friend offered me some parts from his old PC, so I went back to Intel with a homebrew P4 3GHz. He lasted me until a few years ago when I decided to shift from the AGP graphics chipset to PCIx. Somewhere along the way, I went through one G4 Powerbook that died, and now my primary computer is a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo Powerbook running Mac OS X, 10.5.x.

My current desktop computer is a 2.6GHz Core Quad Intel, which is a processing powerhouse, but I never bothered putting nothing but a basic video-card in it. I don’t do any PC gaming, so why bother? The case looks like Ferrari made a PC case and painted it Fire-Engine Red. I love that case.

I also have this little tablet laptop here that’s running an AMD Turion 64. Not exactly speedy, but certainly cheap and reliable.

So, thanks, Intel, for making a long line of processors, and influencing others to do the same.

Scene: In the autograph booths between W. Morgan Sheppard and Malcolm McDowell. Mr. Sheppard looks on as two tanned and buxom girls giggle demurely.

W. Morgan: “Malcolm! OI! MALCOLM!!”

Malcolm McDowell holds a hand up to silence the girls and cranes around their miniskirts.

W. Morgan: “YOU HAVEN’T CHANGED A BIT!!”

Malcolm: Shrugs. “Now, why would I do that?!”

Day two has come and gone, and here’s me blogging about it.

This day was, on its face, a pretty good one. It started well – breakfast at Wegmans, and back in time to get caught up on the future of Star Trek novels with David Mack, Christopher Bennett, Margaret Clark, and William Leisner. Those guys are taking Trek in very interesting directions, which makes me want to get caught up in the novels, again. Funny thing is, I had one of the books leading up to the story arc they’re continuing on my eBook reader, so I finally started it during the quiet moments of the con.

Then it was off to the “big room” where all the stars were scheduled to get up and talk about their respective careers in scifi, and take questions and give answers for an hour, each. We started with Mark Sheppard and W. Morgan Sheppart – also known as “Romo” from Battlestar Galactica, and The Klingon Jailer Rura Penthe, respectively. Both were charming and really into SciFi. It was fun to see a father and son team working together.

Next up is someone I would like to dub the second biggest douchebag in Science Fiction: Malcolm McDowell. For those keeping score, William Shatner currently holds number one. Malcolm, you could tell, held only the deepest scorn and disrespect for the fans here. Grinning at us like we were nothing more than a paycheck, and telling us stories of how many of the jobs he had worked on that were near and dear to these geeks hearts were totally forgettable, and meritless. He expounded on how he couldn’t care less about the actual role he was to play in a movie. To paraphrase, “If I was an FBI agent, I wouldn’t care to research the role. As long as the emotions were there, I could pull it off.” His general attitude came across as lazy and uncaring.

Although, he did have the most interesting bit of insight into the Royal Shakespeare Company. “It SUCKS!” He yelled. “I’ve forgotten those nine months I spent there, mostly through alcohol poisoning.”

Nice.

Afterwards, when there was nobody in line at his autograph stand, he looked quite annoyed. Huh. Interesting.

David and Kate Hewlett were up, next. Both actors, brother and sister, on Stargate Atlantis. Their sibling rivalry was readily apparent, and they told great stories about each other that had the audience in stitches. Makes me wish I actually watched Atlantis. I may have to give it another chance.

Jewel Staite, “Kaylee” from Firefly and Serenity, captivated the audience with her looks, and though she had a couple of great stories to tell about her fellow Firefly castmembers, including a fantastic explanation for this photo over here, she honestly came across as kinda sweet, but dumb. Pity.

Finally, to a standing ovation, George Takei walked on, Vulcan salute high in hand, and his partner Brad on his arm. Unlike the other guests, who arrived with no material ready, George went into a 30 minute talk about the recent California Supreme Court’s ruling that recognized a fundamental human right to marry, segued into a discussion of basic human rights with regards to his stay in a Japanese American Relocation Camp during World War II. Then, finished by encouraging everyone to get involved in politics.

James Cawley hijacked the stage for a few minutes to talk about Star Trek Phase II. Though he made sure everything discussed was focused on George, I couldn’t help but feel like he was being a bit of a, dare I say, Shatnerian ego.

Done with guests, we stood in line to get an Autograph from George. I was hoping to get a photo at his booth, but then I had the idea that he would sign the back of my eBook, since I was reading a Star Trek novel with it anyway! He was happy to, and signed it very carefully so it would be quite legible.

“Arigatoo gozaimasu!” I exclaimed.

“Doo, itashi mashite!” he replied, then paused. “Anoo, nihongo ga hanashimasu ka?!”

“Iie,” I bowed. “Joozu ni hanashimasen. Sukoshi wakarimasu.”

Cool.

I was so excited to get my eBook signed, I held it carefully to allow the ink to dry. We went back to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner by way of Wegmans to get stocked up on sundries. Like an idiot, I left it on the checkout belt, and the customer behind me in line ended up with it in his shopping bag, not noticing it until he got home. He ended up calling Wegmans saying, “Uh, I think I got George Takei’s eBook? I’ll bring it by tomorrow!”

So I’ll have to go back tomorrow to get it. Damn George – he’s bad luck!

It was an easy start, though we got out the door later than we had expected. No matter – the early parts of the conventions are usually pretty sparse and casual affairs. The only thing truly set up and running was the video room where they were showing old episodes of Star Trek.

It’s that time again, where east-coast geeks converge on the Baltimore suburbs where they let down their hair, cast off the trappings of polite society, and let their freak-flags fly! Heather and I, being no exception, came to mix and mingle with the friends we only see once a year – where we can share our love of everything SciFi.

The hotel is a very nice old place, with obvious 70’s stylings, but still holds up beautifully. Simple and comfortable. We first hit the dealer room, where Heather ran into an old vendor friend. We eyed a couple of Firefly/Serenity toys as well as some pretty cool Battlestar Galactica toys. I’ll go into those later.

We went downstairs and were surprised to see most of the celebrity guests hanging out in the main hall. Malcolm McDowell, Jewel Staite, Mark and William Morgan Sheppard were holding court with their fans before the official signing-event began.

We grabbed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, for which Heather was all giggly. I went downstairs and watched the Star Trek: Phase II “wet-cut” episode of Blood and Fire. “Wet-Cut” means that not all of the video effects or audio-mixing was complete.

Let me tell you – that episode pushes boundaries for what has historically been deemed “acceptable” by CBS and Paramount. The story centers around Peter Kirk, Captain Kirk’s nephew, joining the ship and falling in love with his male academy study-partner. James Cawley, the Executive Producer and “Kirk” actor, was unapologetic. “Star Trek can no longer afford to be ’safe…’ If you’re at all homophobic, you’d better leave now.”

The episode began with the most spectacular action sequence Star Trek has ever seen. A Klingon warship vs. the old Enterprise, blasting each other with phasers and photons, tearing each other apart. You could really feel how the Enterprise was really straining to stay in the fight as Kirk pushed it beyond its limits.

Tomorrow is a big block of celebrities, so expect a TON of photos from that event.

Read nothing into the Title of this post – just what I happened to be listening to a few minutes ago on iTunes.

So much has been going on lately, I haven’t taken the time to blog. Note that I didn’t say I haven’t **had** the time – I haven’t **taken** the time. I’ve got a lot going on, but not much to show for it, which can be frustrating.

I’ve been trying to pare down and simplify things at the office, at home, and in my spare time. I had lots of tiny little projects that were left 50% done that I finally finished out. Part of my success came from rediscovering good-old 7-Habits techniques of getting things done. Probably the most beneficial thing I got from 7-Habits is actually taking an hour every Monday morning to plan out my goals for the week. Then, a few minutes every morning to plan my daily tasks. Doing that gets shit done. Simple and brainless.

Doing that, I was able to get my office cleaned up, my bathroom re-done, my backlog of reading done, and some budgeting done. I get a lot of little things done, but none of the bigs – and I’ve learned that it’s the bigs that give you that big sense of satisfaction of a job well done.

It couldn’t have come at a better time, too! The next few weeks are going to be tough. It’s Thursday, now, and tomorrow, Heather and I are heading up to the Baltimore area for Shore-Leave 30. Last year’s Shore-Leave convention was a big hit with us. Maybe you remember my meeting Aaron Douglas last year? That was Shore-Leave.

These fan-conventions are fantastic. They treat the guests and fans with respect – never trying to gouge or cheat. They truly love their fans, and that respect shows. The guests are so happy, many of them are known to hang out with the fans after hours at the hotel bar! Beyond the guests, though, I have the most fun going to the panels – groups of fans who sit in a conference room and discuss their favorite bits of fandom. Comparing notes and exploring each others’ insights. It’s fascinating and fun!

A week and a half after Shore-Leave is the San Diego Comic-Con! This bad-boy dwarfs Shore-Leave many times over. Though, it’s more focused on Comic Books, there’s some really big media giants there and a chance to rub elbows with some real heavy hitters. I have plans to meet up with several license holders, negotiate exclusive contracts, and get the inside scoop on future projects. Ultra-super-fun-bonus: Heather gets to go with me! This will actually be the first time we’ve gone traveling together, outside Virginia. Plus, San Diego is a beautiful city with gorgeous weather. All the makings of epic good times.