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Sun Sparc 5 Nostalgia
barl0w writes with what he calls "an awesome on-going story over at OS News about a Sun Sparc 5 coming alive again." Like the article's author points out, if you really want 64-bit computing, it's available cheaply on eBay.
You wouldn't believe it could happen, but it did. I was leaving Candlestick park after yesterdays USF vs. Pepperdine game, in which were were clobbered by Pepperdine, and heading to a friends house in Mill Valley. Mill Valley is to the north of San Francisco, across the Golden Gate bridge, and a good 30 to 40 minute drive from the Stadium. During the game I'd noticed the big white blimp with the Blockbuster Video name & logo hovering around. I didn't think anything of it except that the game must be on The Sports Channel and I hope my wife was taping it.
Once the game was over (about mid way through the second quarter - stinking USF), I started battling the throngs, made my way to the freeway on ramp and into 5th gear. Well I'm cruising along on the freeway, moonroof open, listening to a little Grover Washington, Jr. (Time Out of Mind - awesome CD, get if you don't have it, and stop listening to The Dixie Chicks all the time) and just minding my business. All of a sudden, my SkyTel two-way pager goes off. So I check the message and it says: "YOU WANT A PIECE, HOT SHOT? COME GET A PIECE", with no signature or return address. Dumbfounded, I sort of scratch my head and shrug it off. A second later it goes off again: "WHATS THE MATTER GIRLY MAN? THEM MAXIMA'S NOT ALL THEIR CRACKED UP TO BE?" Now I'm really bugged. I have no idea who could be sending me these messages, let alone why. I'm on highway 280 in the middle of no-where.
Suddenly I hear an engine rev. And darned if it didn't sound pretty hot. I check my rearview mirror - nothing, both of my side view mirrors - nothing, both blind spots, nothing to the left and an older model Chrysler mini-van to the right, driven by an old lady who's gabbing her head off with an equally old passenger. Clearly not her. WTF is going on?!!
Again, the pager: "LOOK UP, #%*!-FOR-BRAINS". I look up through my open roof, and there, directly above my head, is the stinking Blockbuster Video blimp, pacing me about 50 feet off of the ground! This guy's ready for action. I know this because the front of the dirigible now has a black nose bra on. And that nose mask was shining! He must've put about 40 gallons of Armor All on that thing to make it gleam like that. The blimp now has a monstrous chrome exhaust tip, sticking out the back. This piece of metal, while clearly not functional, must've been about 20 feet in circumference. The pilot had obviously left the game early, gone back to the hanger and gussied her up - and now he was out cruising, looking for some action.
As I'm staring up through my roof in utter amazement, an arm extends from the gondola with a balled fist. Then, the guy sticks out his middle finger! This lousy blimp pilot, who obviously also has a SkyTel two-way pager, has now called me $#%!-for-brains, AND has flipped me off. Well, needless to say - its on.
I pick up my pager and type a quick reply, "YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR DOUGH-BOY, BECAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT". I wait about 30 seconds, to ensure that he has received and read the message, I then clutch, cram her into third and drop the hammer. The Steal'n intake howls and I'm off like a rocket.
Now I don't claim to know anything about blimps, but my best guess is that a blimp should be good for about 30mph on a calm day. I'm figuring that this guy has this thing blown and souped up so that it's good for twice that. Regardless, I'm going to have this guy for breakfast.
If you don't know the San Francisco area, let me describe Hwy280 to you. The SF area is on very hilly, mountainous terrain. Many of the roads and highways simply do "switch backs" to climb and descend. 280 is just such a highway. It is in essence, one long series of "S" shaped turns, as it goes up and down along the northern tip of the Santa Cruz mountain range - right into San Francisco. San Fran itself is somewhat of an oddity as far as cities go, in that it does not have any freeways running through it. To get to the Go
I will survive in my Sparc 5
In my Sparc 5, I will survive
Yeah, Yeah
I will survive in my Sparc 5
In my Sparc 5, I will survive
Yeah, Yeah
I bring the hammer down
A tiny crushin sound
And I'm in the yard
Smashing match box cars
An itty bitty crash
And my Sparcine is trash
But I'm blastin past
With chickie on the dash
Chickie on the gas
Go chickie
I will survive in my Sparc 5
In my Sparc 5, I will survive
Yeah, Yeah
I will survive in my Sparc 5
In my Sparc 5, I will survive
Yeah, Yeah
The firecracker blow
An urge overload
The wild plastic fire
Smoke from the tire
Layin' a little patch
Without a single scratch
Between the hammer and the rock I
Can see bright blue Sparc 5
It's my Sparc 5
Oh
Oh my goodness
It's the most beautiful little thing I've ever seen in my life
It's blue on the outside and all creamy on the interior
Yeah
I can't bring myself to smash it
So I take it for a ride on a sunny summer Sunday afternoon
I'm riding with the top down
Riding with the top down
Riding with the top down
Hell I blew the top right of my car
I will survive in my Sparc 5
In my Sparc 5, I will...
I will survive in my Sparc 5
In my Sparc 5
Yeah, I wanna go
I wanna go
I wanna go
I wanna go
I just heard some sad news on talk radio - Horror/Sci Fi writer Stephen King was found dead in his Maine home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.
a way to woo the ladies
This is really a geek adventure. Too much for me. I just recently moved to share an apartment with some friends. I have a huge room about twice the size of my old room. Yet I left my computer behind. And I don't regret it. Now I do some other weird things like "socializing"
Too geeky!!
Hey there, SA! Good to see you around, and hope to see more trolling in the future.
Wow, you high-UIDers are so worthless it's almost funny. Listen...the crowd you're thinking of is your fellow Over 500s. The ones that came for games.slashdot.org, and not much else. The ones that throw anything older than a month out so they can play Big New Game.
Get a clue. As for the high-UIDers, I propose a virus. Not a computer virus, of course, but an actual virus. Call me on it!