Rehabilitating Damaged Laptops 346
Rollie Hawk writes "It breaks my heart to see a computer in need of a good home. For years, I've driven my wife crazy with all the 'strays' I've brought home with me. After all, the last thing my house needs is a few more cubic feet devoted to kenneling old and abused computers. That being said, laptops present very unique opportunities. No matter what caused you or someone else to ditch that old laptop, there still may be some way to integrate it back into society. For every kind of laptop lemon, I've found that there's plenty of lemonade to be made."
Warning (Score:5, Funny)
A game server? (Score:2, Funny)
Salesmen (Score:2, Funny)
Destroy them... (Score:2, Funny)
Do what the Germans do, when life gives you lemons - burn them.
When my TI-99/4A died a few years back my little brother had fun with it for a bit... he destroyed it with a hammer.
Made me pretty mad but he had fun.
It's like saying... (Score:1, Funny)
Hey! How about a server? (Score:5, Funny)
Install Linux on it and make it into a server!
Tiny or Dead Hard Drive
Yep! Boot it from a CD and use it as a server!
Low Memory
A low memory server!
Dead Battery
plug it into a wall outlet and use it as a server!
Busted Keyboard or Touch Pad
Hook up a external keyboard and use it as a server!
Low Resolution Display
Servers dont need a display!
All of The Above?
Can you see where im going with this?
Conclusion
With a little imagination, just about any old piece of junk laptop can be a server!
move along (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Warning (Score:1, Funny)
Missing Option (Score:2, Funny)
Completely dead. Everything broken:
Use it as a door stop.
This is so bizarre... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Give them to kids... (Score:5, Funny)
Socially maladjusted elitsts? Oh yes I whole-heartedly agree.
You forgot totally dead laptop.. (Score:1, Funny)
Strategically placed, it can serve as a doorstop
So Close! (Score:5, Funny)
I've got it built into a custom plywood case with a 19" LCD, 4 drive RAID, tape backup and 100 disc CDR changer. I'm working on installing the 3 day battery backup and generator this week.
Now, could someone come help me? My legs are pinnned and crushed and I can't reach the remote.
Slashku (Score:2, Funny)
no need to RTFA
must be slow news day (or 'article blows goats')
Re:I'm putting an old laptop to good use right now (Score:5, Funny)
You know what else works great for that?... a girlfriend. Yeah, I know, I don't have one either.
forgotten options .... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:I'm putting an old laptop to good use right now (Score:1, Funny)
nope - doesn't work, i'l have to get myself a netbsd fridge with IEEE802.11b and usb2 (with webcam) so i can stream the contents of the fridge wirelessly to tvtime or something
hmmm.....
Re:I'm putting an old laptop to good use right now (Score:3, Funny)
Ah! Now at last we can answer that age old question that has been plaguing mankind! What happens to the light in the fridge when you close the door? You do mankind a great service...
.
.
.
.
.
(On a side note, for the humor impaired; Yes, I know what happens, but don't forget about the light in the equation for your idea...)
What a life. (Score:3, Funny)
Life is beautiful.
Re:Not terrifically exciting, but an easy read (Score:2, Funny)
Dead Laptop Haiku (Score:2, Funny)
Fix it up with glue and paste.
Fancy a server?
Bookmark it for later. (Score:2, Funny)
And Next On SLashdot... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Hey! How about a server? (Score:5, Funny)
"Hey Bob, your Quake server is the envy of none, slow and lag filled. How do you do it?"
"Well Tom, I host my Quake games from this broken P2-500 Dell Latitude! It's got woefully limited memory, a pathetic system bus, plus it tends to overheat and shutdown at random!"
"Man, that's some pathetic setup. Whatever possessed you to try and make a game server out of this piece of shit?"
"My total and complete lack of common sense!"
Re:Warning (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Well, I found a use... (Score:3, Funny)
A table?
Re:Is there a point? (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Give them to kids... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Well, I found a use... (Score:5, Funny)
>
> putting the old hardware to good use
You mean, wasting power idling for no purpose at all? Brilliant!
I myself have a "Beowulf cluster" of lightbulbs I keep running in my lower desk drawer; it was a real pain to set up enough ventilation to prevent my desk from catching on fire.
Re:my vaio (Score:3, Funny)
So the VAIO _only_ weighs 350 megagrams?
That's more than three hundred Volkswagens!
Re:my vaio (Score:4, Funny)
Oooohh - rookie mistake.
Proper response:"Laptop? Oh yeah; I played with it a lot but it never really got working properly, so I disposed of it."
Please note that, in the Clintonesque sense, you haven't told a lie: "Working properly" means 100%, and it's still missing keys; "Disposed of" literally means "to make a disposition," and its disposition is that it is good enough for you.
Re:Read the article...kind of scary (Score:1, Funny)
Oftentimes, this applies to holding on to the spouse as well...
Re:Sometimes old is an *advantage* (Score:5, Funny)
My house is off-grid (solar power and generator backup.)
Citizen 523887 please report immediately to Consumer Re-education Camp Alpha2 for an "adjustment" to your resource consumption motivation.