# Pictures of Straight Dope Computer System? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 26, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303 "2013-10-26T13:10:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/21 "2013-10-26T22:04:04Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > With specs? That about covers it. Let’s hope the computers aren’t a couple of 386’s thrown together! 🙂 386’s? Who do you think they are, Richie Rich? I’m thinking maybe a couple Commodore 64’s. Hopefully they’ll upgrade to 128’s sometime before the end of the decade. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/22 "2013-10-26T22:11:39Z")
I’ve always pictured it like [this](http://img.desmotivaciones.es/201108/hamster_powered_computer_xsmall.jpg)… ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/23 "2013-10-26T22:13:07Z")
[http://disinfo.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/hal9000.jpg](http://disinfo.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/hal9000.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/24 "2013-10-27T19:36:11Z")
I keep telling you guys … [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RXJKdh1KZ0w/hqdefault.jpg "Rockwell Retro Encabulator") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w) ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/25 "2013-10-27T19:52:25Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I keep telling you guys … > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w) Well why didn’t you say so in the first place? This link explains everything I wanted to know about the 'Dope computers! Especially the hadrofrans when the connect in a semi-parallel series with the sawtooth bearings on the Belgian design. Hm. Do I see an Ignoble Prize in your future? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/26 "2013-10-27T20:36:41Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > HA! I should have known! (What the hell \*is \*that thing?) 🙂 I just googled “steampunk computer” and that was one of the images that popped up. I believe it’s some guy’s steampunked-out computer case the size of a refrigerator- it does have a floppy and 2 optical disc drives of some kind front and center. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/27 "2013-10-27T20:51:13Z")
The SDMB search engine is [run on one of these.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcDshWmhF4A) Nah! The search engine doesn’t work nearly that well. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/28 "2013-10-27T23:19:46Z")
Prior thread on this [subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=458913) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/29 "2013-10-27T23:38:58Z")
[Here’s what it’s powered by.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJbZi8dMwpg)\* \*nsf really prudish W ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/30 "2013-10-27T23:40:44Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > The [power supply](http://blog.fh.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/HAMSTER-WHEEL1-300x187.jpg). DAMN YOU! Beat me to it! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/31 "2013-10-28T02:33:28Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Around 1998 when I was a chat host for the old AOL SD chats, I took a tour of the Chicago Reader. I saw the Master’s office and the server. The server wasn’t that impressive, it just struck me as a rather tall tower with a white case. > > Sorry for the reality check. But that was some time ago too and it’s probably been upgraded. You saw the _Sanctum Sanctorum_? That’s like Ezekiel’s vision of The Chariot. To this day it’s dangerous as hell to discuss. Next thing you know you’ll be saying you understand the word “electricity.” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/32 "2013-10-28T02:37:06Z")
[Here’s](http://beerspill.fark.com/drunkfarksysadmin.jpg) one of the techs hard at work on a down server. ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/33 "2013-10-28T03:32:02Z")
[http://static.cray-cyber.org/people/scray.jpg](http://static.cray-cyber.org/people/scray.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/34 "2013-10-28T04:01:06Z")
[This](http://physics.kenyon.edu/coolphys/thrmcmp/turing.jpg) could undoubtedly handle all the Dope’s computing needs, but performance issues suggest that [this](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babbage_Difference_Engine_%28Being_utilised%29.jpg) or possibly [this](http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10016780-5.html) is what is actually being used. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/35 "2013-10-28T15:54:56Z")
Actually, [this](http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Forbidden_Planet_-_The_Great_Machine-Krell.jpg) is the SDMB server room. Unfortunately, if we allow people to run too many searches, [this happens.](http://michaelidarecis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/id-monster.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/36 "2013-10-28T19:03:20Z")
I did see one of the server techs the other day. [This](http://www.projectdalek.co.uk/files/assetts/autopsy_dalek.gif) explains everything. ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/37 "2013-10-28T20:40:27Z")
[SDMB is getting a great colocation deal. The mod team even got a group picture at the data center.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2013/03/2013-03-25T050307Z_01_PYO04_RTRIDSP_3_KOREA-NORTH.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/38 "2013-10-28T20:46:36Z")
I managed to sneak in with an iPhone during a board change out and quickly snapped [this](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kgRZwzqPCHs/TMTeL_c3ogI/AAAAAAAAAEo/kUSg9IO8h1Q/s1600/hamster-wheel%2Bfinancial%2Btranslation.jpg&imgrefurl=http://traductor-financiero.blogspot.com/2010_09_26_archive.html&h=511&w=767&sz=114&tbnid=E_p55oi7pOBHRM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&zoom=1&usg=__b53HJmV2yEvaCw9VS1w3hvoE8CI=&docid=L7wsl9y6x-MZcM&sa=X&ei=msxuUuSSO4m8iwLx2YGICw&ved=0CDIQ9QEwAg) picture of the inner workings of the SDMB main computer system. Keep it to yourself however, as the technology is highly classified. [Here](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W1GKJlqg98k/Tgh05cb_wSI/AAAAAAAAACo/F35L1Fwql5c/s1600/bitcoin_mining_pc.jpg&imgrefurl=https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic%3D67348.0&h=496&w=500&sz=65&tbnid=gtHyg5yF_YwQWM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=91&zoom=1&usg= __GtzX39Fr__ LT-fr_fijiNWl0kVc=&docid=By4lCnbfBX1QhM&sa=X&ei=msxuUuSSO4m8iwLx2YGICw&ved=0CDQQ9QEwAw) is the old server. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/39 "2013-10-28T21:36:31Z")
> [@drew870mitchell](#): > > [SDMB is getting a great colocation deal. The mod team even got a group picture at the data center.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2013/03/2013-03-25T050307Z_01_PYO04_RTRIDSP_3_KOREA-NORTH.jpg) I love that within all that 50’s era equipment, they have a 90’s-00’s trackball. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303/40 "2013-10-30T13:10:11Z")
I always figured it was more like [this](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljv9bwmYTV1qbehk4o1_500.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pictures-of-straight-dope-computer-system/672303.md?page=3)