I was asked by the fine folks at the Setup to detail my computer setup, how I “get the job done”.
THE SETUP: WHAT THE…? WAIT, THIS GUY WAS NOT ACTUALLY ASKED BY US TO DO THIS.
The Setup, as you know, “is a collection of nerdy interviews, asking people from all walks of life about the software and hardware they use.”
“People from all walks of life” is a coy way of saying “thought leaders”, people who are simply better, more accomplished than you are. Like me.
Let’s get into my Setup.
THE SETUP: WE HAVE NO IDEA WHO THIS GUY IS. NEVER HEARD OF HIM. WE DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW IT IS WE’RE WRITING ON THIS SITE. WE WERE OUT HAVING SOME DRINKS AND THEN WE BLACKED OUT AND NOW WE’RE HERE IN THIS STRANGELY TRON-LIKE WORLD.
Who are you and what do you do?
THE SETUP: HEY, STOP THAT!
I’m John Moltz and I’m one of a new breed of Internet creative content creators who create content on the Internet responding to memes, trending Twitter topics and Facebook with Web 3.0-based content on the Internet using HTML 5.0 standards-based Internet content-creation for mobile platform deployment of content, on the Internet, and Twitter.
THE SETUP: OH, COME ON. YOU’RE JUST THROWING OUT RANDOM BUZZWORDS.
Hey! I read what the other people on your site did! Don’t start changing the rules of the game now!
THE SETUP: FINE. LET’S JUST GET THROUGH THIS AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, OK? WHAT HARDWARE ARE YOU USING?
My main rig is a Huffy 3-speed with a banana seat, a sissy bar and tassles on the handles. I like to prop the end of a board up on a soap box and do some wicked jumps off…
THE SETUP: NO, NO, YOU IDIOT! YOUR COMPUTER HARDWARE!
Oh. Are you sure? I think I’m more known for my boss tricks.
THE SETUP: I AM GOING SOCK YOU RIGHT IN THE BANANA SEAT WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE.
Well, my laptop is a 13-inch 2.5 Ghz MacBook Pro. Lately, because I ride the train to my day job (long story involving the Entity and loss of funding), I’ve been working a lot on an iPad with Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. I also have a 2.4 Ghz 20-inch iMac which is mainly a media server that has a FireWire 800 Drobo for backup. Then I have a 1.5 Ghz Mac mini I use for archiving older data and doing random tasks like long uploads.Â
THE SETUP: AND WHAT SOFT…
My old 1 Ghz Titanium PowerBook…
THE SETUP: OH. SORRY. I ASSUMED YOU WERE DONE.
…sits on the desk next to the mini and I use it to copy old VHS tapes to digital using an EyeTV. I also have a G4 Sawtooth that I run headless for backup of files I really should just delete but don’t because I lack conviction.
THE SETUP: NOW CAN WE TALK ABOUT…
I also have…
THE SETUP: OH, JESUS.
…a Performa 6400 which sits in the corner and I use to access floppy disks when needed or to just play retro games like Marathon or SimAnt.
THE SETUP: …
And I have a Mac SE.
THE SETUP: …
And a Mac Plus.
THE SETUP: …
That’s it.
THE SETUP: WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?
OK, ask me about software now.
THE SETUP: UGH. WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE? ASSHOLE.
On the Mac I use BBEdit for writing my numerous, highly popular web sites…
THE SETUP: [EYE ROLL]
…and on the iPad I use PlainText which is a great iOS text editor that syncs with DropBox. For reading, I use NetNewsWire on both the Mac and iOS as well as the indispensable Instapaper which is great for sending articles to that you can later delete without reading. It’s one of a new breed of guilt-lessening apps that enable bad behaviors that you either can’t or don’t want to shake. I think they’re going to be the next big thing in software development.
THE SETUP: YOU’RE USING IT WRONG.
Ha-ha! Well, one of us is, that’s for sure!
THE SETUP: IT’S YOU.
Ha-ha! Ahhh. You’re probably right.
THE SETUP: CAN WE GO NOW?
It’s like you don’t even know your own shtick.
THE SETUP: OH FOR… WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM SETUP?
Well, I think the main thing that’s holding back my game is…
THE SETUP: HAVING INHALED PLASTIC FUMES AS A CHILD?
Hey, no one told me that melted plastic – my medium of choice – was not a good idea. But, no, it’s not having a top-of-the-line MacBook Air.
THE SETUP: SO, YOU’D DITCH THE IPAD OR THE MACBOOK PRO?
Ditch? No, no. What, are you crazy? I need an Air in addition to those. I mean, if I really want to take it to the next level.
THE SETUP: TAKE WHAT TO THE NEXT LEVEL? WHAT DO YOU EVEN DO?
Look, I told you. I’m into creative Internet content creation. On the Internet. Oh, and I don’t have a Magic Trackpad. I’d like one of those.
THE SETUP: YOU JUST WANT NEW TOYS! YOU’RE NOT USING THEM TO DO ANYTHING! YOU’RE LIKE A TODDLER.
Ha! A toddler with 15 mildly amusing web sites!
THE SETUP: EXACTLY.
Oh. Right. That’s not actually better, is it.
THE SETUP: WE’RE DONE NOW, RIGHT? CAN WE GO?
Um… yeah. The door was actually open the whole time.
THE SETUP: I HATE YOU.
Numero uno! Now to read the post
TWOOOOO!!!!!!
Um… how is this done….. First?
What? Fifteen mildly amusing web sites? Where are they all? I’ve only seen, maybe, four.
And that autocorrecting spell check makes for some mildly amusing reading, John!
I am missing my IIsi running MacBSD and httpd. THAT was a SETUP!
Three things:
1. The Setup has sadly disproven that John Moltz is John Gruber.
2. Moltz is a source for those new AOL content farms I keep hearing about.
3. There’s trains where Moltz lives?
“…sending artless to that you can later delete without reading. ” Do you mean artless like ‘artless bastards?
And eighth, why aren’t you still using your Apple IIe ???
Ninth!
This story is a setup. There’s no setup. Except the setup. By which I mean it’s all a setup, especially that it’s all a setup about being setup.
Dix!
What’s with the sporadic recent posts? Is CARS back on or not? Is you is or is you ain’t?
Don’t you have 16 hours per day to spend on this site? Or is that “day job” holding you back?
I mean, seriously, what the hell is going on here?
I use BBedit and PlainText. And I have a MacBook Air. That is all.
Why on hell didn’t you talk about the FlowerPower G4 ?
Beautiful… even on a IIe.
Hate you too bitch! No… can you imagine?
I have a 1st gen Intel dual/dual 2.0 ‘upgraded’ to a dual/quad 2.66 with hardware RAID and a 4870 graphics card.
And a 15″ i7 MacBook Pro.(technically, not mine, but it’s my on-the-road work machine)
And a iPad.
And a Mini running as a media server.
And a 1st gen Flat Panel iMac
And a G3 Pismo Powerbook.
And a dual G4 tower.(server config)
And a Performa 6300.
Aaaannd… I think that’s it. Oh, they all run, except for the Performa.
Software? My pride and joy is DOS 6.22 running in a VM.
Puts my hand operated abacus and fountain pen in their place.
I have a stack of Apple //e CPUs in the garage. And a IIgs. And a Mac SE. And a pony.
I lied about the pony. You probably guessed that.
@Huh?- you might as well count whatever it is I am using too.
I just have a nice smile and a great personality.
Don’t forget, you also have cake…
I have more Cake.
And rubber saddles.
If you’re wondering why it took so long to post (and clearly you are, given that I have so little else to do in my hollow life) it’s ‘cos I was just refreshing my sites . . . and became suspicious that my last post on the previous had remained in place so long.
Curse you, refresh! I could have been a contender and been someone.
Incidentally, is it just me or is this….
“My main rig is a Huffy 3-speed with a banana seat, a sissy bar and tassles on the handles. I like to prop the end of a board up on a soap box and do some wicked jumps off…”
…positively filthy?
‘banana seat’?
‘sissy bar’
‘tassles’
Pervert.
Someone much wiser than I said,”Filth is in the eye of the beholder.”
I thought it was a mote?
Which has to smart, surely?
Slam dunkin like Shaquille O’Neal, if he wrote ifnmoraitve articles.
WmuBdC miynduycanvj
It’s a damned lie. No one is wiser than Ace.
Invoice in the post, Ace.
Bro- you might possibly have more cake, but I assure you, iMoo’s cake is unmatched in quality.
Trust me.
Quality?
Huh?, Huh?
What is this ‘quality’ of which you speak?
I feel like Geddy Lee being confronted with a geetar in 2112.
I would say the quality speaks for itself. Just ask the cake.
Second, Geddy tames basses…
And everyone knows that when confronted by a geetar in the wild, you should keep your hands by your side and never EVER make eye contact.
That just makes ’em mad.
Ya know it’s a discovery like this that almost feels like the dream I had last night… I should be preparing for a grand finale.
Just one of life’s lessons- Unless you shed a few tears, you can’t get something for nothing.
You paint a very moving picture, Huh? In fact, I’m in danger of losing it as your emotion detector moves ever closer to the heart. I guess I’ll just have to stick it out by imagining what amazing grand designs the Moltzmeister has for his next post. Or will be just be left in limbo? Then again, he’s posted regularly of late of his own freewill – in fact, he can’t seem to leave that thing alone – so the vital signs are good.
Should we start the countdown now?
Hopefully I’ll remember to turn the page this time and not get left feeling time stands still.
Huh? — But you can get your chicks for free. (They usually discount the marshmallow Peeps after Easter.)
BroMu — You can’t go left in limbo. Only right turns are allowed. And not on a red light.
Proops
Steve G,
We drive on the correct side of the road over here, defined in our Highway Code as “Whichever side is prettiest.”
Your advice is therefore or even therefive needlessly dangerous.
Nxxx is right, but – alas – neither side of the road in Norf Kent is pretty, so I tend to edge away from both by driving in the middle.
Thereby providing a nice juxtaposition with the pretentious weirdness playing on the car stereo.
So, in theory (if permitted by local ordinance, conditions, etc.), you could make a left turn on red?
But not in Norf Kent, since based on your description, you wouldn’t want to stop at all.
I’d suggest Albuquerque for that left turn.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’ve been to Albuquerque… I strongly suggest not turning there.
Just keep going.
No, not in Norf Kent, Steve. Absolutely. Nor Alburquerque, apparently.
Maybe they should be twinned?
Happy Valentine’s Day, Sue.
Clearly my posting here at this hour indicates just how romantic an evening I’m having (kids + wife all plague-ridden and gurgling themselves to fitful sleep even as I type . . . wusses).
Forgot it was Valentine’s day until the postman arrived with a hernia. He pushed the lot through the letterbox and I can’t get out the front and only access door. The Council have promised a JCB for next week, sometime.
Man you deserve a pint after all that, Nxxx.
Your tongue must be like sandpaper after licking all those SAEs.
BroMu,
British stamps are self-adhesive.
Damn! Given it away.
Now we have the Brit’s secret! It’s self-adhesive stamps! Time to take over the world! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!
(Sorry. Trying to reduce caffeine consumption.)
*iRoll*
SAE- Self addressed ENVELOPES.
Here they taste like rainbows.
iMoo . . . are you being rude?
Because you know how prudish we CARSdasians are.
Which is why I haven’t come up with 3 possible variations for SAE that are positively smutty in the time it took me to read your post.
Taste the Rainbow!!!!
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
With the *iRoll*!!
6.2 for difficulty.. I’ll give it a 6.85 total score.
*batting eyelashes*
Rude? Me?
Never.
(Thank you, Huh?. I do try.)
[Silly is seen to be busily typing on the ASR-33 Teletype that is connected to his Hewlett-Packard 2115A minicomputer — the one with an extra 8 Kilobytes of 16-bit magnetic core memory and a high-speed optical paper tape reader — all of which is part of his personal “Set-Up.”
Suddenly, he sits upright, as though struck by a memory from long, long ago. Staring vaguely off into the distance, Silly sighs, and then waxes nostalgic.]
Ah, my old Librascope/General Precision LGP-30, with its stalwart (but really noisy) Flex-o-Writer…
Now THERE was a COMPUTER!
An extra 8K?!? YOU MADMAN!!!!
Step away from the bleeding edge of tech before you hurt yourself!!