ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 15, 2018 Author Posted November 15, 2018 There really are some excellent literary creations here! Excellent parodies too! 1
sonofsanta Posted November 15, 2018 Posted November 15, 2018 Medion MD8828 case MSI MS7205 board Core2Duo E6750 @ 2.66 GHz 4GB RAM W10 EDU x64 XFX Radeon HD 6850 100MB Network connection Zalman ZM-M300 mouse with an all-too-easy to trigger “rapid fire” mode £1 mouse mat 2x CTX 1024x768 monitors 1x AOC 1920x1080 monitor with failing contrast Honestly, between the storytelling and the specification (*shudder*), @LeMarchand has won me over, and gets the prize from me if I win. I confess I am not much of a horror writer, but this is surely the most terrifying climax to a tale in recent memory. 2
LeMarchand Posted November 15, 2018 Posted November 15, 2018 Honestly, between the storytelling and the specification (*shudder*), @LeMarchand has won me over, and gets the prize from me if I win. I confess I am not much of a horror writer, but this is surely the most terrifying climax to a tale in recent memory. If you find those specs scary, wait until the next instalment... (...and the specs in the story really are what I have to work with ). 2
Localtechie Posted November 15, 2018 Posted November 15, 2018 I use my personal gaming laptop for work so would love an actual machine I didn't have to lug about with me to and from work. I had a stellar gaming PC but a capacitor in the mobo blew and took the CPU with it. Got this laptop about half price through work, and paid for it using the left over components. Specs: i5-7300HQ 4x2.5GHz 8GB DDR4 GTX 1050 128GB M.2 SSD 1TB 7200RPM HDD 1 puny battery that dies after 15 mins Sidetrack but stop bringing your laptop in to work unless they are paying you depreciation costs and wear and tear. Your personal stuff is for just that - never bring your own kit in.
ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 16, 2018 Author Posted November 16, 2018 Ladies & Gentlemen. The second draw will take place later today. ANYBODY WHO HAS YET TO ENTER WILL STILL GET INCLUDED IF THEY SUBMIT THEIR ENTRIES BEFORE 2PM TODAY!!! 1
Andycat Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 Not sure I'm worthy, but free is free, right? HP ENVY Curved 34-b100na All-in-One Desktop PC, Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 2TB HDD + 512GB PCIe SSD, NVIDIA GTX 1050, 34" Quad HD Enhances productivity no end! ;-) 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 16, 2018 Author Posted November 16, 2018 Not sure I'm worthy, but free is free, right? HP ENVY Curved 34-b100na All-in-One Desktop PC, Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 2TB HDD + 512GB PCIe SSD, NVIDIA GTX 1050, 34" Quad HD [ATTACH=CONFIG]51008[/ATTACH] Enhances productivity no end! ;-) Can you play Ingress on that thing too? You know the score, professional contact details in a PM. And should you win, you can hide from the mob of other entrants 2
Popular Post LeMarchand Posted November 16, 2018 Popular Post Posted November 16, 2018 (edited) Part One Part Two Part Three ...and now, the penultimate part Stave four When the world had re-coalesced, The Technician realised that he was in the car park outside his third school. “This,” intoned the spectre, “is your future.” The Technician’s mind began to race. While he was disappointed that there were no flying cars parked in front of the school (indeed, there was no sign of even an electric vehicle) he was imagining the possibilities. Surely, by now, his worth had been recognised and he would have a machine that did not struggle under anything more arduous that a browser with a few open tabs? He conjured what this brave new world might hold: An i7, maybe an i9 processor, large displays that he could easily see, and RAM, glorious, RAM! Who knew how far in the future he was? Perhaps he had a holographic interface by now. He rushed through the doors and into the school. As he passed a group of teachers, he overheard their conversation. “I think the computer in the plug-serf’s room is that big because it holds three computers, one for each screen. Though why he needs three computers is anyone’s guess,” opined one. “No, I went in there to leave a note to demand that my laptop be plugged into the wall and there is only one keyboard and mouse. He is a bit strange. Have you ever recognised any of the music he plays? I have heard tell that he doesn’t even watch ‘Strictly’! I think he may be a witch,” responded another. “Derp!” squeaked the P.E. Teacher, in fear. The Technician smiled to himself. A large computer case? What wonders it might hold! He fairly ran to his office. There, next to the server, was the fabled machine. Blue LEDs pleasantly illuminated the curved, brushed metal front, offset by a horizontal chromed divider. Something gave The Technician pause. The server that this wondrous machine nestled against was the same one he worked with daily and the posters decorating the whitewashed breeze-block wall were those he himself had stuck there. This future in which he found himself could not be as far off as he had originally thought. As he looked at the computer case, which was indeed most voluminous, almost the size of the server, he realised that he knew it. In fact, it had been in use as a server at some stage prior to his arrival at a fourth school at which his services were no longer required. He had found it ready to be claimed by the rag-and-bone merchant and rescued it. He recalled his suspicions that his predecessor had chosen to design a machine that would do duty as both a server and a games machine. Of course, even by the time that The Technician had found it, its internals were hopelessly outdated – but the case has too pretty to throw away. “Still,” thought The Technician, “I must have installed some top-notch components inside.” Behind this bravado, his confidence was beginning to slip. Why were those monitors so small? In his incorporeal state, The Technician could only observe and so resigned himself to wait until the arrival of his doppelgänger from this time. The phantom passed through the door, and it took position as if to prevent The Technician from leaving the small room that was home to the computer and server. “Please, creature,” begged The Technician, “let me know what I am to expect in this future.” The apparition shook its head, almost sadly. Then the door opened and a wizened old man, grey head stooped and shoulders slumped in abject defeat, walked through it and the ghostly form that guarded it. The Technician briefly wondered why he would have been assigned so decrepit an assistant – indeed, why he would even be assigned an assistant, but his curiosity was insatiable. Once the methuselah had turned on the screens, the truth of the machine would be revealed. One... two… screens were turned on, whilst the old man had to physically connect a male and female power lead to activate the central screen. However, there was no display on the leftmost screen, the one that The Technician would normally have displaying various information about the machine! With a resigned sigh, the greybeard fiddled at the rear of the case until the final screen flickered to life and then unlocked the machine and sat, waiting for it to decide that it wanted to work. The Technician’s eyes filled with tears as he saw what the future held in store for him. This was no powerhouse; it appeared to be naught but the guts of his current machine transplanted into a more attractive case with his old GPU from his accommodations running the three monitors. Even the glowing keyboard, its letters half worn away, was one he had replaced at home. Tsunami Dream case Motherboard from HP dc7700 Core 2 6300 1.86 GHz W10 EDU x64 4GB of RAM 2x recycled hard drives VTX AMD Radeon HD 7770 Xedition GB network card MS Intellimouse Saitek Eclipse II KB 3x19" Dell monitors The Technician looked at the old man, wanting to offer his sympathy, but the worst was yet to come for now he saw that the broken old man… was him! A howl of impotent rage escaped The Technician’s chest, trailing off to a whimper and then the sobs of an utterly defeated man. He scarcely noticed as the world shook for one final time. Edited November 16, 2018 by LeMarchand 6
Valentine Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 Throwing my name into the hat too, my I3-2120/4gb could use a nice early retirement rather than the slow painful journey through old age it is currently experiencing! 2
bald_pig Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 Just a thought, how many entries do I get? What with the thing I pm'ed you, must be 5 or 6, right? 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 16, 2018 Author Posted November 16, 2018 Just a thought, how many entries do I get? What with the thing I pm'ed you, must be 5 or 6, right? Technically, you get one per school where you have a workstation. Plus bonus entries if your submissions make it onto the wall of awesome! Speaking of which. I'm loving the literary submissions. However, you guys are letting me down on the photoshop front! I'd expected to be able to make much more fun out of the three lads whose pictures I gave you by now. I know you have actual work to do. But still!
DalekSec Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 Technically, you get one per school where you have a workstation. Plus bonus entries if your submissions make it onto the wall of awesome! Speaking of which. I'm loving the literary submissions. However, you guys are letting me down on the photoshop front! I'd expected to be able to make much more fun out of the three lads whose pictures I gave you by now. I know you have actual work to do. But still! I've had a few ideas its just finding the time/skill learning i need xD my photoshop skills are at the level where i can copy and paste pngs 1
ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 16, 2018 Author Posted November 16, 2018 I've had a few ideas its just finding the time/skill learning i need xD my photoshop skills are at the level where i can copy and paste pngs Mine too! We should get @DJ-1701 & @sonofsanta to run workshops!
chaplic Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 (edited) So, I'm running an utterly antiquated coal fired Dell un-inspiron 1525 as my school library/ cum IT-Support machine It's great, whenever visiting kids need a history lesson I can point them at my laptop! One asked me last week what clipart was, I was able to show them examples on an authentic period machine! The battery is dead. It's not a problem though, we're contemplating hooking it up to a bikeability teachers bike and getting a tame year 6 to pedal like mad until it sparks it back into life. They don't mind - it gets them out of SATS revision. Because the battery is kaput I keep it plugged into the mains. It means the power brick positively glows with the heat. That's ok though, we're a small school so it saves on the heating bills! It's a well loved machine, which means it's been well abused! It's stuck together with a veritable array of the electrical tape we use to catalogue the books, and occasionally needs a well intentioned "thump" to get the video card working again. Not only would a replacement machine spruce up library operations and IT support, we would be able to do things like run tests of new versions of windows 10 in a virtual machine (mind you, the teachers didn’t really need those files that 1809 deleted) and we could finally have a box to run as Minecraft Education server! Oh, and here's the specs, IT Rockstar style... Edited November 16, 2018 by chaplic 2
Popular Post bald_pig Posted November 16, 2018 Popular Post Posted November 16, 2018 Is this heroic enough for you? 6
ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 16, 2018 Author Posted November 16, 2018 Is this heroic enough for you? [ATTACH=CONFIG]51022[/ATTACH] A veritable masterpiece! 1
sonofsanta Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 Is this heroic enough for you? [ATTACH=CONFIG]51022[/ATTACH] oh god Black Widow cannot unsee cANNOT UNSEE 4
DJ-1701 Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 So... when are we going to see this wall of awesome?
bald_pig Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 So... when are we going to see this wall of awesome? When I have more time to fill it
Mkjarred Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 Throwing my name into the hat also. My computer was OK till it was decided I should train up to replace the Business manager when she retires and therefore work out of the admin office. I've been relegated to using an old netbook and the top of the safe as a desk. FMS is horrible to use at the best of times let alone on a netbook!
ICTDirect_Dave Posted November 16, 2018 Author Posted November 16, 2018 So... when are we going to see this wall of awesome? I may feature it later on... Anyway, we've had a development here... This is Jack. He's one of our specialists over at Bargain Hardware. On seeing the wonderful Avengers picture just now, he stated that he would make a much better woman than John would. http://www.ict-direct.co.uk/media/edugeek/JackM.JPG So, let us test this theory. Ladies & Gentlemen, if you would 'womanise' (not in that way) this man to the very best of your abilities and post the results here I'd be very grateful!
DJ-1701 Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 I've had a few ideas its just finding the time/skill learning i need xD my photoshop skills are at the level where i can copy and paste pngs Mine too! We should get @DJ-1701 & @sonofsanta to run workshops! You're too kind, I am no expert. My method is usually... Adding an alpha layer to pictures of people, works best with higher quality resolution files, and with simple backdrops with no objects (think green screen). Then removing the backdrop with an eraser, it you have a simple background it's nice to select by colour so you can be more lackadaisical with your erasing, so you don't accidentally remove an arm. Also best to work on placing your person on images at a higher resolution, smudging a few details to blend parts better if you are just moving a head or changing the darkness or tone. Also, once you finish, if you shrink the size of the picture, it can remove some of the more visible artefacts that are left over and make it appear more natural. - - - Updated - - - [ATTACH=CONFIG]51024[/ATTACH] Not very good at Photoshop I am sure he will be breast please with that. 2
LeMarchand Posted November 16, 2018 Posted November 16, 2018 I've done over 2000 words so far - at the standard exchange rate of 1 picture = 1000 words that's gotta be worth a couple of pictures. But I did make an effort. 2
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