Slashdot Mirror
Ukrainian Computer Destruction Championship
Alien54 writes "Over 300 self-confessed computer addicts have participated in a competition in the central Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya to destroy their own hardware in a spectacular fashion. The event, dubbed the "First Open Computer Destruction Championship", was organised by a local FM radio station with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer."
if this is about spending to much time in front of a computer, shouldn't this be 'user destruction'?
eric
This will only prove that computing causes violence, just like concerned parents across America have been saying all along. Young children should not be allowed to watch or attend.
Those computer could have been put to a much better use of folding...
This reminds me of my "Toss-a-mac" days.
*sigh* Oh the memories!
-- dK
...To just install Windows on them? I guarantee you wouldn't get much more uptime.
Just give it to a luddite...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Destroying the computers is suposed to be a symbol of... what? That spending too much time in front of the PC will make you FLIP OUT and kill your PC? Or is this more akin to bra burning? But then, that doesn't make any sense, either. I really don't see how watching people wreck their hardware is suposed to make younger people less addicted.
"...with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer."
What about releasing the toxic chemicals found in computers, especially in monitors, into the environment?
Must-not-watch TV!
One of them says that someday he crashed his monitor but "thank god" he saved his keyboard. This explains the kind of people involved in this i believe.
Slashdot Sig. version 0.1alpha. Use at your own risk.
Can I destroy the Slashdot servers instead?
"... a country with an average annual income of about $700 ..."
And some radio station is getting people to destroy computer equipment for a bit of publicity? What a waste! It pains me to see the rest of the world following in our footsteps, straight down the road of stupidity...
-- "There's no explaining the things that might happen; there's now a new home for technology in fashion."
Don't they have those Russian T-80 tanks still around from the cold war? Might be an idea...
Of course, you could give the guy who modded the V8 engine a ring instead; 2ghz T-80 anyone?
Hate me!
They must have all gotten fed up with trying to get Windows Me to work, or even worse, tried to get internet access using their new bongo drum modem.(See recent story) I mean, what other possible reason could there be to destroy your computer? The mere thought of it sends shivers down my spine...
Actually, all they have to to is introduce these young people to regular slashdot users. That should scare the pants of them enough to swear off computers forever. Don't do computers or you will look like one of these sorry saps...
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
given the average income vs cost of computers, that these guys didnt just bring along all their dead and crusty old hardware to beat - leaving the good stuff safely at home?
Bet they zoomed home to see if they appeared online;)
Nothing - well thats something.
Ironically, the winners in each event received new computer hardware. That cracked me up. "yes. You will be destroyingk your computers. If you is doingk it well enough, we will be givingk you NEW computers!" Although I can see that to a frustrated computer user, this could be a useful form of therapy... or revenge.
Unique in design/ This freak was kinda fine/ But she's not the only one/ Theres plenty of her kind
This "FM radio station" is really a terrorist organization that wants to test anti-computer weapons of mass destruction to use against Western nations! Is there a website where I can watch?
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
oka few years back we got some dead classic macs and dug a big pit and smashed then and soaked them in gasoline... and inhaled vapors that are proably still affecting my head to this day.. but it was fun..
...I'd have no keyboards or mice...and I'd be short a couple monitors.
Fortunately the 21" CRTs are too heavy...as are the majority of by boxen.
// Agent Green (Ian / IU7 / KB1JQO)
// IEEE 802.3: All 10base Are Belong To Us
There has to be a name for this type of therapy. We've got "art therapy", etc, etc. This should be called "technomolishment" or something like that. -thunder
Local ukrainian and russian media covered this in late July! A bit outdated news, don't you think?
-------------------------------------------- http://futuris.plastiqueweb.com/
If they make this into a yearly event there will come a day when the computers will say that they don't want to be destroyed.
That will make it much more entertaining.
...or it's slashdotted.
Given the amount of toxic substances in computers, I always thought it was stupid to get your jollies destroying them. Whenever I see Patrick Norton on the screen saver sledghammer a PC or snap a CD-R into many pieces I cringe. FYI, CDRs contain cyanide. Don't release it by destroying them.
I wish someone told me about the dangers of spending all my time in front of a computer as a kid! Then I wouldn't have this annoying high paying job I have to go to everyday! Erm, wait...
Wherever you go, there you are!
Too much time in front of a computer? Now you're just making stuff up.
Computer crashing, Ukraine-style Contestants enjoyed the "creative destruction" Over 300 self-confessed computer addicts have participated in a competition in the central Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya to destroy their own hardware in a spectacular fashion. The event, dubbed the "First Open Computer Destruction Championship", was organised by a local FM radio station with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer. The competition comprised three main events - throwing a keyboard, kicking a computer mouse, and the most popular, the "creative destruction" of computer monitors. The crowd cheered as cars were used to run over system boxes. Ironically, the winners in each event received new computer hardware. 'Liberated' Participants told Ukrainian TV that they felt better after destroying their equipment. Radio engineer Yevhen Hrytsenko, who won the keyboard-throwing event with a result of 40.2 metres (132 feet), said he felt "liberated from computer addiction". A user ready to "reboot" her mouse "Just recently I busted my monitor at home. I was so angry at it, luckily I didn't destroy the keyboard, so I could throw it here today," he said. Another participant agreed computers could be cumbersome: "I am so sick of these computers, all we do is just sit and type on them." Another added: "After sitting at the keyboard all day, I needed revenge." But in a country with an average annual income of about $700, a computer is still very much a luxury. Only some 4% of the Ukrainian population are known to be active internet users. BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
I've been hearing it all my life, if you spend too much time reading,at the movies, at the arcade, in front of the TV, NOT reading. . . it'll ruin you life.
.Well get the hell up and walk away no and again Sparky.
And now computers. "Internet Addiction," "Computer Game Addiction, etc.
Well I'm sorry. Smack is addictive. TV, books and computers are compelling. If you think you spend too much time at the computer. .
You don't have a monkey on your back. You really do just lack self control. Control yourself, or give up trying, but at least shut the hell up about it. It's your problem
Spending too much time at the computer simply isn't one of my issues. I enjoy it and it's never caused me any harm. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go for coffee.
Ummmmmm, I can't stand up. Hey, my legs. Where the hell are my LEGS?!
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
KFG
I installed Windows 95 and my computer suicided itself
"I am slashbot, hear me roar!"
with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer.
The personal computer: our revenge for when they fluoridated our water supply...
I didn't know you could do that! Though I have been known to hide in the basement for weekends at a time, but that's because the trolls are after my level 5 magic sword. If it gets to be an addiction, I'll know and quit using the thing.
SAILING MISHAP
The guys from the french review site x86-secret decided to not only do the same type of thing, but make a bunch of videos available too! They mostly consist of old hardware (even though there is some new stuff) + fireworks = BOOM!!e ws.x86-secret.com/
http://explosive-reviews.x86-secret.com/
And because I'm nice, and it's not my bandwith, I'm currently mirroring them:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~pnelson/explosive-revi
One of the first calculator chips had a HACF (Halt and Catch Fire) instruction. It was a bug which would make the chip pop if the instruction was executed.
I've heard rumors that some of the mil spec chips deliberately include a way to fry the chip.
Big Brother Bush is doubleplus ungood.
Yeah yeah, calm down.
And that a third world (uhkay) regional tv channel would be slashdotted isn't exactly impossible.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
I'm from ukraine my self(but don't live there) and the last time i was there an average person couldn't afford a computer, so watching some idiots smashing the expensive(?) equipment would be just like watching the "Smash that Ferrari with a ha(/u)mmer" competition.
I've got 4 computer at home, starting with a 66mhz 486, 350mhz pII, 500mhz k5 or something and p4 2.666, and i wouldn't trash even the oldest one! never!
They could have made a beowolf cluser instead!
So Great Britain is a third world country???
BBC=British Broadcasting Corporation
I don't read or respond to AC posts
The Ukraine is not the wealthiest country in the world by any means. Every single piece of computer hardware they've got is an extremely valuable commodity and could be very useful in a "non-addictive" setting SOMEWHERE. How about a school? Library? SOMETHING rather than destroying an extremely useful tool?
I hate wanton, frivolous waste.
+++ATH0
While the over-privileged luddites destroy their computer hardware because it's so annoying, the other 96% of the population wishes they actually had a computer. What a great show for a country with an average income of $700 per year. (RTFA).
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
The easy way to destroy a computer:
1. Set up computer as a server.
2. Create a web page with a certain "geek appeal."
3. Get posted to Slashdot.
4. Clean up smoking rubble.
oh, it's the british broadcasting corporation? I thought it was the broadcasting corporation of bhutan. my bad.
or maybe I was implying that the uk is a third world country (compared to the US)
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
Why don't they just smash the ones that don't work anymore or can't be used anymore. Waste to me to smash components that work. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
LOAD PC LETTER? wtf is that? *bang*
BLASPHEMY!!!!!
My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...
Back when Acorn still existed, one of the Acorn World shows in London, UK featured the "letterbox game". This consisted of, using nothing but a mallet and chisel, trying to fit a PC through a letterbox in a short as time as possible.
It would be easier today, back then, PC cases were mostly made of metal and were tough!
You know, it's things like this that really infuriate me. Rather than destroy these computers for the thrill of it, how about these people donate their computers to schools or to the less-fortunate. This is a country where 4% of the populace in on the internet, according to the article, so the overall number of people who even own computers cannot be that much higher. So rather than destroy these machines in some barbaric rage, these machines could instead benefit a young person etc...
Loomis
"The television is the retina of the mind's eye" - Videodrome
I once used a hollowed-out monitor for a Chip-n-Putt contest during a fundraiser. I was doing some free-lance for a computer consultant in the local real estate market (a consultant for a consultant.. LOL). The fundraiser was held at a golf course, and each of the various participating vendors (lenders, banks, consultants such as ourselves) arranged little activities at the Tee's of each of the 18 holes
We had one of the most popular activities. The object was to pop a little chip-shot into the monitor; a successful chip-shot was awarded a gift certificate to a local electronics superstore. A couple of guys didn't want to use the little 9-Iron I provided, opting instead to whip out their drivers. One guy damned near blew a hole in the back of the casing.
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
I hate to take the high road here, cause it looks kinda fun, but this just shows that we have some issues to work out with regards to computer recycling. My sister teaches in a school where a Mac IIsi is state of the art. Her kids have to work with totally obsolete computers and these people destroy more up to date machines. Don't get sentimental with me, you may have spent your best days in front of an old computer, but it isn't fair for a 10 year old to have to use that same machine when much better technology is out there.
I'm guessing you're new here..
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
for my Ukrainian brethren, I too have decided to destro^%^*^&&)(*%$%^#%^%&@$%!@@#_+
"And this is my boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman." "Hello." "Good boy."
Anecdotal evidence of this important rule can be seen in America's ghettos, where even the poorest, longest unemployed black people wear bling around their necks, watch cable channels on color TVs, and install $1500 stereo systems in their early-model Caprices that hardly run.
m@kE_srE_yoou_havvE_A_sp@rE_woRking_onE
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
The core of Ukranian (and Russian) tank army is not T-80, but T-72. The ancient 40.5 tons of steel, wires, diesel fuel and gunpowder.
;-)
Same applies to the computers destroyed. I'm sure the majority were VGA (and maybe even EGA) for monitors and AT286 (XT) for the system blocks.
With the average salary of 700 a year, you would not really want to destroy anything more valuable than that.
As for V8 engines... It would be intersting to watch you trying to destroy 700 kg (diesel version) or 1.5 ton (turbine version) T-80's engine
Way to beat Pile of Electronics State!
On to Homestar's Knees Tech!
-- This void intentionally left null.
The event, dubbed the "First Open Computer Destruction Championship", was organised by a local FM radio station with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer."
Well, it's one way to stop people from using p2p.
Remember the days when Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?
With many of the early Athlons, you don't even need to overclock it. Remove the CPU cooler and watch it go up in smoke.
I believe parent was referring to a crafty modder utilizing a V8 engine as a case for his computer (two of them, actually).
As for T-80/T-72, you are correct. Despite the planned transition to T-90 by 1997, the majority of the force constitutes of T-72Bs. Note that the T-80s and T-72s have been in parallel production until 1992.
I like the irony of having a computer-controlled or initiated detonation do the destruction of the target system.
Ping of death, indeed !
Sam
"Over 300 self-confessed computer addicts have participated to destroy their own hardware in a spectacular fashion."
"Over 300 self-confessed computer addicts participated to show their brain destroyed by their own hardware in a spectacular fashion."
Everyone who owns a car should push it off a cliff. This would symbolize the dangers of irresponsible vehicle use.
Everyone who owns an airplane should crash it in the mountains. This would symbolize the dangers of being high in the air.
Everyone who owns a building should jump off its roof. This would symbolize the dangers of being inside a structure built by people.
Everyone who owns a gun should shoot himself. This would symbolize the dangers of irresponsible use of guns.
Everyone who owns a pen should write a suicide note before performing the above activities. This would symbolize the dangers of writing things down. That's all, folks.
This is a matter of addiction. As for alcohols, essential points in the remedy are,
(1) confession in front of other people
(2) symbolic destruction of the source of the addiction.
This may actually help them to cut themselves off from the "my precious one" mentality.
This is the same Ukraine that just decided to ban class rooms being used as brothels.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Now if we can encourage similar competitions in China and India, we migth be able to reverse the tide of jobs flowing out of america.
Right.... I think people may be too quick to assume that it's not possible/cost-effective enough for folks in other "poorer" countries to obtain decent PC hardware.
,but SVGA and VGA monitors smaller than 17" have reached the point where the average person or business using them considers them "zero value" items. In most offices where one or two people originally were given larger monitors, everyone else in the surrounding area demanded the same thing - claiming it relieved eyestrain, allowed easier working on large spreadsheets, etc. etc. Before long, you had offices all over the U.S. where the perfectly good 15" displays were costing more than they were worth in storage space, stored away in basements and closets. Whenever I've needed one for a cheap system I'm reselling, I just ask - and can almost always find a small business happy to give me a few of them for nothing.
PC's have become such a commodity item nowdays that there truly is no excuse for someone with any kind of computer savvy to be forced to use an old XT or 286 class machine - poor nation or not!
Just recently, I was trying to fix up and resell a number of old machines people were throwing away - and these were all Pentium class machines at the very least. Not only that
If you live in the Ukraine and can scrape together the cost for shipping - you can surely get a moderately recent, quite usable complete system sent to you from the U.S. for hardly anything.
Breaking the few computers you have for the sake of fending off addiction? How about dealing with socioeconomic issues instead of taking a beating out on your monitor?
Dude you have to be the most idiotic poster I have ever seen on slashdot.
Listen, if you need attention, try to be more creative than being a fucked up karma whore. All you are doing now is providing comic relief. Thats it. You need to actually write something remotely interesting to get people fired up.
This... this is just hillarious.
Anyway, enjoy your first world country. L8
I don't read or respond to AC posts
Is there any truth to the rumor that the winner of the destruction contest simply turned on a dual boot XP Home/WinME box?
*ducks*
If you think
I think a good destruction technique would have been to melt a hole through the cpu with a thermite reaction while playing Quake3.
Install a web server on it.
Hook it to a fat pipe.
Post the URL to Slashdot!
Boom!
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
You really don't All of these destroyed hardware was obsolete. Probably, 386s, 486s, burned monitors, clogged mice, ruined keyboards, etc. Ukrainians are most frugal nation in the world! They would never thru away anything they can sell. Believe me, if you'd had Ukrainian girlfriend you'd learnt it.
Smashing all this computer hardware in the Ukraine... that's like having fat people in somolia throwing food into the ocean because it's addicting and causes obesity. If you don't like computer's don't use them, give them to someone else who could benefit from your hardware don't just smash it into pieces.
Ukrainian parliamentary candidate strips in appeal to voters
You could easily come up with a vast number of similarly bizarre stories for anywhere in the world, but having these two linked together gives such an interesting impression.
~ Leilah
When something claims to be rugged, you never take its word for it do you? It's in that spirit that I present you with high-res photos of Toughbooks being shot at during this summer's Independence Day celebrations.
If you have a friend with a few acres of land, and a friend with a bunch of guns, and a pile of "ruggedized" hardware, I highly recommend trying this at home. Mouse kicking and keyboard throwing simply can't compare to putting slugs through magnesium laptops. We also ran over a Toughbook, and detonated a Nextel i1000 and a watermelon. Squibs are your friends, even more so when they're at the end of long pieces of wire. Eye and ear protection are cheap compared to the thrill of taking aim at a f00f-bugged Pentium.
This year's results were about as I expected: Shotgun blasts and small handguns bounce off and leave small dents, unless at point-blank range. Medium-sized handguns penetrate one or two layers, but based on the laptop's construction, it's likely that had a hard drive been mounted in the cavity, it would've been untouched. Large handguns and rifles go straight through, some of them fast enough to ignite the magnesium dust they generate, making a nice flash as they exit. (None of the weapons actually lit the thing on fire. We'll have to try a flare gun next year.)
Next year's July-4th festivities should be even more fun. The plan is to amass the widest possible variety of cheap "rugged" hardware, and set it all up running. Then shoot 'em all with progressively larger calibers until each stops responding to pings.
Computer Destruction Championship.
First prize: Brand new P4 PC
........... we had to show our frustation on windows or RIAA???? What would we be doing??
But what is wrong about ukrainian girlfriend? You'd be fed up all day, you'd have plenty of beer, and you'd sit in clean room, doing nothing. This is like a miracle or something. No, man, UA girlfriend is COOL, beleive me!!!
May Peace Prevail On Earth
a beowulf cluster of those.
The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Choir from Ukrain was in Auburn Al Thursday as part of their US tour. They stated how very poor the country is and how they are trying to recover from the Soviet domination, war and economy failure.
With thousands of orphan children in Kyiv alone, it would make much more sense to donate working machines of any era than to destroy them. I believe the salaries there are in the $150 per month range.
By the way. The Orchestra and choir is excellent. See them if you can. Better than any I have heard in the last 15 years in the US. I think they are headed to Miss and Texas. See www.musicmissionkiev.org
There are dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer? I should be dead by now. In fact, I doubt there would be many slashdot readers left by now, If this were true.
... i would like to point out to everyone that a computer "shuts up" when it "shuts down"
I'd like them to channel their destructive energy towards Zaporozhets another Ukranian invention still roaming russian streets.
US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
"Ironically, the winners in each event received new computer hardware."
What????
Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated up.
There are lots of other ways to have fun rather than destroying valuable equipment that could be used to educate a child or connect a library to the Internet.
You're a troll, but I just couldn't help myself.
+++ATH0
Technolocaust 2003 - we faught technology and kicked it's ass!
"We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream."
Schmendrick the Magician
Destroy them? Just borrow another tank!
http://www.bullshitjob.com/officespace/pcload.wav
Who's telling other nations how to do anything?
This was a commercial endeavor, and a really stupid one at that.
I said "Ukrainians" can't afford to do that, not "The Ukraine."
No aspersions were being cast on a country, just a group of stupid people in it whose efforts would have been spent better on charity than on pointless destruction.
I *NEVER* destroy working computer hardware. Do you?
+++ATH0