don't need nothin if i can't make

[Theoketos]

Oh yeah, Have you ever seen how the 'grow' silicon crystals? Pretty awesome.

[Norseman82]

[quote name='Aloysius' date='Nov 10 2005, 12:35 AM']

I wanna learn how to build a computer out of nothing but basically completely raw parts (plastic and metal and rubber and whatever else is needed)

how would you go about doing and/or learning to do such athing?  :
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Why is the theme song from MacGyver running through my head now????

[photosynthesis]

[quote name='philothea' date='Nov 10 2005, 02:18 AM']Get and install the Linux distribution Debian.  (This is not especially hard.)  Or you could go with Gentoo if you're feeling industrious.

Setting either of those up will teach you vastly more about how computers work than building one will.  Hardware doesn't manifest anything obvious.  It's software where everything interesting occurs.

Of course, we won't see you for a few years while you get up to speed.

Open source software ought to appeal to your do-it-yourself nature!
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I second this! I installed Linux last year and I learned a LOT about how computers work. Also, it's not that hard.. it won't take a few years... it depends on how good your manual is

[quote name='Norseman82' date='Nov 10 2005, 12:52 PM']Why is the theme song from MacGyver running through my head now????
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I love that theme song!

[philothea]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' date='Nov 10 2005, 02:40 AM']

and my attempt at a computer nerd thing totally flopped? I wanna start a thread on programming or something and I better see some posts. :


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Your nerdiness was plenty convincing!

And you're right about not much having changed. The fact that most computers still have [i]cards[/i] that are held by friction into slots is pathetic! That's 30+ year old technology that was never meant to be handled by ordinary people.

(I'll blather about anything, but I'm a sucky programmer.)

[Socrates]

[quote name='Aloysius' date='Nov 10 2005, 01:58 AM']I suppose that'd half to do.  I would at least like to know better how the darn machine works.  I don't want Terminator-style machines taking over the world, I'd like to know just exactly how they all work if I'm gonna use them... that'll satisfy my back-woods desire to not use anything if I couldn't make it with my own two hands I think

lol
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While people do build their own computers they're assembled from machine-made components. I sell technical books, and I once saw a book on how to re-create the original Mac pretty much from scratch. But still, this did use factory-made components.

For one guy to make an effective computer totally from raw materials would probably take a couple thousand years worth of labor!

"Here's my log cabin I built myself - and this here's my handbuilt backwoords computer - mined the metal myself and hand-assembled the microprocessors, when I wasn't out shootin' bears for my food and clothes!"

[P.S. - I don't think there's much danger of your HP or Mac sending an Arnold Schwarzennegger-like android to asasinate you! ]

Edited November 11, 2005 by Socrates

[Aloysius]

lol you never know