Disgusting Computer Award

wow, thats actually nothing. Wait until you've worked at a PC repair shop with me. An 8 year old HP thats been smoked around for its entire 8 years, never cleaned, spider's nest, dead cockroaches and their eggs, enough dust to actually fill a plastic Walmart bag made me gag.

In fact we once left a client's PC in our shop for 2 days and we opened it, full of cockroach eggs and dead roaches, 4 days later we had to lace the place down with a couple of cans of Raid and roach traps. We eventually had to get the exterminator to come kill the bastards off.

Then there was that one pc that stank highly of cat urine, we come to find handfuls of cat hair jamming up the fans, and why did the PC break? Moisture contact. I'll leave the rest to you to figure out what the moisture was.
 
And to think that smokers never clean out their lungs. Well, aside from them coughing up some black slime once every ten minutes :p

While the effects and dangers of third-hand smoke are still relatively unknown, I don't think I'll ever want to get near a smoker's system again. Did it once, the thought of it still makes me gag. If someone wants to expedite his or her own death, that's their prerogative, I just refuse to be part of it :)
 
Someone came to me a few years ago asking if I could fix their computer. It ran very slow and it would reboot randomly. I thought it was just a simple issue, so I took the job.


Got home with the PC and before I even opened it I knew this was a kitchen PC and it had been sitting on a counter next to a stove. The thing wreaked of cooking oil.

Opened it up....and I was greeted by a literal cake of dust and evaporated cooking oil mixed together and coating the entire inside of the case. The cpu cooler was completely clogged and encrusted with half and inch of this crud. The cooking oil had been STAINED into the metal of the case.

I had to strip the case down to the frame and let it soak in a soapy solution overnight to get the thing cleaned.

Reassembled it and it ran like it was new. Turned out the cpu was downclocking to prevent itself from frying.

I charged the guy $200 to clean his system and ordered him to never ever put his computer in his kitchen again...
 
lathode said:
It wouldn't be disgusting, it would just be dirty. That nasty tar in the smoke makes it MUCH worse.
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Trust me, I've seen 5 year old smoke free never cleaned PCs, and they are fucking disgusting. Imagine a heat sink that's literally got solid dust from end to end.

No, it's not dark brown, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm not one of these people who think that it's more disgusting, just because it contains tobacco tar.
 
LOL @ the 56k warning on that thread. Who the hell is still using dial-up - esp. on an overclocking forum? :eek:
 
beowulf7 said:
LOL @ the 56k warning on that thread. Who the hell is still using dial-up - esp. on an overclocking forum? :eek:
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Just because you love to OC and/or keep abreast of tech happenings does not automatically mean you live in a place where broadband is available.
 
GORANKAR said:
Just because you love to OC and/or keep abreast of tech happenings does not automatically mean you live in a place where broadband is available.
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I bet you that well under 10% are using dial-up modems on a site like that (or even this).
 
beowulf7 said:
LOL @ the 56k warning on that thread. Who the hell is still using dial-up - esp. on an overclocking forum? :eek:
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Are you referring to my first post? I think I went to that site when it was pretty busy. I have 25/3 internet, but the images were as if it was scanning onto my screen.
 
Azhar said:
Are you referring to my first post? I think I went to that site when it was pretty busy. I have 25/3 internet, but the images were as if it was scanning onto my screen.
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No, I was referring to the title of the thread on that site.

I never did comment about the contents, though. Like others said, it's nasty and disgusting.
 
beowulf7 said:
I bet you that well under 10% are using dial-up modems on a site like that (or even this).
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I live in the boondocks. Got dial-up, it was win because it was the internet. But it was slow.

Now I have satellite internet. Its better. Its broadband. On ther other hand, its not like I can stream SD content, either. And the ping time is substantial. See image.

rPwI7.png
 
56k warning also applies to people with very tight bandwidth caps.

And that PC doesn't look THAT nasty, never seen something that bad myself but close to it (and they didn't even smoke - just a lot of dust).
 
I've seen worse from people who have been using their computers for years who smoke, have pets, and leave it in a poorly circulated area.

But wow...that is just terrible. I hate having to clean up crap like that.
 
Dr.Pants said:
I live in the boondocks. Got dial-up, it was win because it was the internet. But it was slow.

Now I have satellite internet. Its better. Its broadband. On ther other hand, its not like I can stream SD content, either. And the ping time is substantial. See image.

rPwI7.png
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That sucks with such a huge latency time, but at least it's faster than dial-up. Too bad one can't game well with that kind of latency.

sushiwarrior said:
56k warning also applies to people with very tight bandwidth caps.

And that PC doesn't look THAT nasty, never seen something that bad myself but close to it (and they didn't even smoke - just a lot of dust).
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Pictures still take up a lot less BW than videos. I bet the avg. few min. music video on YT would be much more BW intensive than that thread.

I remember seeing those 56K warnings back in the early and mid 2000s, but not for the past few years until the thread linked here.
 
beowulf7 said:
That sucks with such a huge latency time, but at least it's faster than dial-up. Too bad one can't game well with that kind of latency.


Pictures still take up a lot less BW than videos. I bet the avg. few min. music video on YT would be much more BW intensive than that thread.

I remember seeing those 56K warnings back in the early and mid 2000s, but not for the past few years until the thread linked here.
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When I had 56k (switched to DSL in late '99 or early '00) I generally didn't load graphics. If I wanted to see a picture, then i loaded them manually.

That'd go double for me if I had 56k today. I can't even imagine loading my.yahoo.com over 56k.....it'd be pretty painful, I suspect.
 
beowulf7 said:
That sucks with such a huge latency time, but at least it's faster than dial-up. Too bad one can't game well with that kind of latency.
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Its why I'm using a Mac. :p

In actuality though, I head "into town" for college enough times of the week that I just stop by their place to get my fix. Despite the latency, I'd rather have this over dial up, no joke.

nilepez said:
That'd go double for me if I had 56k today. I can't even imagine loading my.yahoo.com over 56k.....it'd be pretty painful, I suspect.
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Trust me, it is very painful. What's also painful is that the Verizon FiOS line runs along the highway where I live, and they don't provide service. [/sigh]
 
nerdydesi said:
Exactly. No way I'd want to continue smoking after seeing what it does to my computer, much less my body. :eek:
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People who smoke generally have managed to subconsciously convince themselves that it's 'okay' to smoke, that they 'enjoy' it and all those things. There's no way a sane, rational person who is completely by his or her senses would voluntarily breathe in a mixture of dangerous and harmful or addictive chemicals in the knowledge that this would quickly and in some cases irreparably damage his/her body.

That this would extend to computers and other objects around them is not much of a surprise once you're past that point.
 
I smoked for years right by my computer for many years and it never looked like that.

Now i have seen worse then that but it was pet owners.
 
Elledan said:
People who smoke generally have managed to subconsciously convince themselves that it's 'okay' to smoke, that they 'enjoy' it and all those things. There's no way a sane, rational person who is completely by his or her senses would voluntarily breathe in a mixture of dangerous and harmful or addictive chemicals in the knowledge that this would quickly and in some cases irreparably damage his/her body.

That this would extend to computers and other objects around them is not much of a surprise once you're past that point.
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You can pretty much say the exact same way about caffeine, booze, pot, fast food etc. :D
 
Disposed said:
You can pretty much say the exact same way about caffeine, booze, pot, fast food etc. :D
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Caffeine has benefits. In my own case it helps me deal with stress by giving me more mental resistance. In large doses it isn't a good idea, though.

Alcohol thins the blood. It has no known benefits beyond this point.

Weed makes one feel relaxed and works as a painkiller. Inhaling the smoke is still not a very bright idea,though.

For fast food it can indeed be said that it's generally a bad idea.

Tobacco has no known benefits. Nicotine makes for an excellent pesticide, though, which is the very reason why tobacco plants produce it in the first place. In this light it's about as elegant as sniffing glue.
 
Elledan said:
Tobacco has no known benefits. Nicotine makes for an excellent pesticide, though, which is the very reason why tobacco plants produce it in the first place. In this light it's about as elegant as sniffing glue.
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Actually nicotine has been proven to help people with mental disorders, especially schizophrenia type disorders. Thats still no excuse to shorten your life. I hate the fact that I still smoke, but quitting is extremely hard. I doubt its just the nicotine, its all the other chemicals laced in the tobacco.
 
kono said:
Actually nicotine has been proven to help people with mental disorders, especially schizophrenia type disorders. Thats still no excuse to shorten your life. I hate the fact that I still smoke, but quitting is extremely hard. I doubt its just the nicotine, its all the other chemicals laced in the tobacco.
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Nicotine itself is classified as a hard-drug: "The pharmacological and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco#Mechanism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_additives_in_cigarettes
 
Blazemore said:
You should work at one of the RJR plants where cigarettes are made. You talk about nasty, the smell leaves with you everyday. Only way to get off your cloths is to burn them.
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You know, real smokers would just smoke their clothes...
 
Dr.Pants said:
Its why I'm using a Mac. :p

In actuality though, I head "into town" for college enough times of the week that I just stop by their place to get my fix. Despite the latency, I'd rather have this over dial up, no joke.
[/sigh]
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Yes, I'd take bandwidth over latency for most cases. Latency is only for situations where you're doing something real-time with others, like gaming or tele/video conf.

nerdydesi said:
Exactly. No way I'd want to continue smoking after seeing what it does to my computer, much less my body. :eek:
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Anyone who smokes needs to see a Body Worlds exhibit. They have live human lungs ("plasticized") that show what healthy lungs and smokers' lungs look like. That's literally a pink and black comparison. So disgusting. I don't know how anyone can keep smoking after seeing something like that.
 
beowulf7 said:
Yes, I'd take bandwidth over latency for most cases. Latency is only for situations where you're doing something real-time with others, like gaming or tele/video conf.


Anyone who smokes needs to see a Body Worlds exhibit. They have live human lungs ("plasticized") that show what healthy lungs and smokers' lungs look like. That's literally a pink and black comparison. So disgusting. I don't know how anyone can keep smoking after seeing something like that.
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As a smoker for 13 years I can assure you that a lot of smokers would really like to quit, but believe me when I say it's extremely difficult to, no matter how much you want to. It takes a lot of will power to do so.

I quit smoking 6 years ago and never looked back, but my method of quitting was by force. I was laid off and out of work for nearly a year and my rainy day savings took a nose dive. I had a choice of smoking or eating. I don't recommend this method to anyone. It was the worse year of my life.

I'm happy to say I'm smoke-free since and I'll never touch another cigarette again. My promise to [H].
 
Azhar said:
As a smoker for 13 years I can assure you that a lot of smokers would really like to quit, but believe me when I say it's extremely difficult to, no matter how much you want to. It takes a lot of will power to do so.

I quit smoking 6 years ago and never looked back, but my method of quitting was by force. I was laid off and out of work for nearly a year and my rainy day savings took a nose dive. I had a choice of smoking or eating. I don't recommend this method to anyone. It was the worse year of my life.

I'm happy to say I'm smoke-free since and I'll never touch another cigarette again. My promise to [H].
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A shitty way to have to quit no doubt.
I quit due to being hospitalized for something unrelated for two weeks. You can't smoke in the hospital and I couldn't leave to have a smoke. By the time I had got out I was already past the worst of it, so I decided to make it permanent.

I still don't know how a case gets that bad without just never cleaning it. Every couple of months I clean my stuff up. Of course most of my cases have side windows, so you notice when it is time to clean them at a glance.
 
beowulf7 said:
LOL @ the 56k warning on that thread. Who the hell is still using dial-up - esp. on an overclocking forum? :eek:
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Myself, if I was at my Parents' house. They live in an area that still doesn't have cable or anything offering wired high speed internet.

Their best option is a wimax clone in the area. Latency was horrible and speeds were roughly equivalent to ISDN.
 
kono said:
Actually nicotine has been proven to help people with mental disorders, especially schizophrenia type disorders. Thats still no excuse to shorten your life. I hate the fact that I still smoke, but quitting is extremely hard. I doubt its just the nicotine, its all the other chemicals laced in the tobacco.
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Epileptics, too. Nicotine actually increases the effectiveness and/or halflife of some anticonvoulsant medications. For me, it was anxiety. An excuse to be able to step away from anything anywhere and go have a smoke. Having that widely accepted reason for one to disappear for 10 minutes.

GORANKAR said:
You can't smoke in the hospital and I couldn't leave to have a smoke. By the time I had got out I was already past the worst of it, so I decided to make it permanent.
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Ultimately, you truly have to want to quit. You'll never succeed unless you actually want to. Patches, gum, inhalers, Chantix, Zyban, etc... you can do it all. Unless you truly want to quit, it won't work.

Truly wanting to quit was what made it possible for me to do it 2 weeks ago. Cold turkey. Didn't even feel the withdrawal. Have thought about it a lot but still have yet to go and buy another pack. I think it was just a time where both my mind and body were ready to let it go. Triggers are funny. Now all they do is make me think "This is when I'd get up and have one... and I'd rather just lie back in my chair and close my eyes for 5 minutes."

(Never smoked indoors. Have seen some tar stained computer cases and even at my worst in smoking (2 packs a day almost) the smell still made me gag.)

It's weird how good, yet lonely, it feels to have quit smoking. Almost like I gave up a big part of myself. But it was just time.
 
I saw that stuff once a month when I fixed computers.

Also, since this was a military contract, we got tons of laptops who went to the desert, and came back with the desert in their fans and exhausts.. I think that's how my asthma came back into my life.

I'm just surprised our vacuum didn't go on strike.
 
Azhar said:
As a smoker for 13 years I can assure you that a lot of smokers would really like to quit, but believe me when I say it's extremely difficult to, no matter how much you want to. It takes a lot of will power to do so.

I quit smoking 6 years ago and never looked back, but my method of quitting was by force. I was laid off and out of work for nearly a year and my rainy day savings took a nose dive. I had a choice of smoking or eating. I don't recommend this method to anyone. It was the worse year of my life.

I'm happy to say I'm smoke-free since and I'll never touch another cigarette again. My promise to [H].
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Congrats, at least there was a silver lining to being unemployed that probably added years back onto your life. :cool: (Assuming the stress of being unemployed didn't take years off ;eek:.)

techrat said:
Myself, if I was at my Parents' house. They live in an area that still doesn't have cable or anything offering wired high speed internet.

Their best option is a wimax clone in the area. Latency was horrible and speeds were roughly equivalent to ISDN.
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OK, but you realize your parents are in a minority. And would you check out OC threads while there? And if you do, if the page takes too long to load due to hi-rez graphics, just hit stop on the Web browser or go back.
 
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