# What's on your computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2001, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768 "2001-04-21T06:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/1 "2001-04-21T06:32:09Z")
It’s 2:25 on a Friday night and it occured to me to wonder what other people have on their computers. I mean physically ON TOP of them. On the screen or on the tower itself, doesn’t matter. I have: On the monitor: 1. Two little green plastic soldiers, one at either end. One has half his face painted white because I decided he was the military version of the Phantom of the Opera. 2. A Tom (from Tom and Jerry) Kinder-Egg surprise. He’s wearing a red sombrero and playing a guitar. 3)Hi Opal! 3. Another Kinder-Egg toy. This one’s a stupid little elf combing his beard and wearing what appears to be a purple dress. 4. An Oscar-the-Grouch craft made from a green fuzzball, googly eyes and a camera film case. My tower currently holds the weight of: 1. A mostly-finished box of chocolate fudge cookies 2. A half-finished bag of Tostitos 3. Hi Opal! (again!) 4. The “Box of Stuff” containing all the CDs/disks and instuction manuals I occasionally need for my computer. How about all you guys? ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/2 "2001-04-21T07:07:14Z")
Nothing on mine. Of course, it’s a laptop. Can’t support a toothpick on the screen. I also stripped off everything that was strippable as soon as it came in the mail, everything except the Toshiba brand. No “Intel” sticker. No “Windows Inside” sticker. No clear plastic sheet telling me everything that’s in the computer. Now, if you asked what’s on the walls around my computer . . . well, then you’d hear about some _interesting_ things. Or about my screen saver (heh-heh-heh) ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/3 "2001-04-21T07:10:47Z")
on my tower lies a sDSL modem, and video-input for my ATI All-in-wonder Radeon, and a :QueCat. Until I got my new 19inch monitor, I had tons of post-it notes on my monitor, but nothing on this new one. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/4 "2001-04-21T07:13:28Z")
One sheet of paper. One Mary Kay Bottle (Wifes) One spindle of blank CD-R’s (30+ left) One [drugstore.com](http://drugstore.com) box on top of the spindle, with two towels and some broken glass in the box. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/5 "2001-04-21T07:19:13Z")
On the monitor: nada. On the tower: figurines of a camel, a tiger sitting on top of coins, a chinese dragon, a baby dragon asleep on a crescent moon, and a pewter figurine of a pteradactyl (sp?). Plus, I have a clock made out of a CD blank with a dragon painted on it, an agate drop, and a citrine crystal-topped piece of agate in the rough. _Under_ the monitor and beside the printer, I have a piece of black beach rock (undetermined) anchoring down some stamps, some pumice-obsidian, lepidolite, a dragon chime-set I have to fix up, a little dragon in it’s egg, a rabbit (Chinese birth year), a plush dragon given by a friend, a rough hunk of hawkseye, a hunk of nundorite, mahoghany obsidian, ordinary pumice from beside Lake Rotorua (a volcanic lake), and a birthday card from last year drawn by my friend The Jackal (who I’m hoping gets a computer before the end of the world so she can get on the SDMB too. Watch this space.) I have a cluttered, cluttered, life … ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/6 "2001-04-21T08:43:49Z")
**On the monitor:** A small tartan lizard stuffed with sand. It’s leaning over the front of the monitor and leering at me. **On the 'puter** Nothing much, coz I removed the outer case. There is a CD single of a dance version of the Sesame St Theme sitting on top of the CD-ROM drive. On my **DESK** , however… Photo of the luvverly Kim my G/F, A little glass ball with bits of crap in it (supposed to be art, I think), two empty beer bottles… -hang on -three, one beer bottle which is a going concern, a claw hammer (WTF?), an empty packet of Chinese green peas crisps, a book on HTML, a candle, an empty coffee mug, a jar full of marbles and little bits of origami paper, a clock, a Marvin the Martian mousemat, two unused light bulbs, sundry pens, pencils, disks… hmmmm, some cigarette papers. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/7 "2001-04-21T09:06:48Z")
On the monitor: Two anime figures from Rurouni Kenshin, one of Kenshin as rurouni, and one of him as the Hitokiri Battousai (eBay retail price: $150+; price paid, $5). On the tower: Five computer game boxes (Populous 3, Battlezone 2, Myth: The Total Codex, Rougue Spear, Deus Ex), one 100 disc spindle of 74 minute CDs (approx. 20 left), one 100 disc spindle of 80 minute CDs (approx. 30 left), one pewter (european) dragon, one orange made from glass, one music box mechanism thing (Yesterday). And scraps of papers and small piles of CDs all around… ---
**Author:** ![Mearl\_Dox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Mearl\_Dox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mearl_Dox)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/8 "2001-04-21T09:11:24Z")
On my monitor, there’s an (empty) yoo-hoo can, the 1992 Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Quotations, 3 napkins from McDonalds, and the DVD case for Charade. On my tower, there’s a cup of lemonade, an Utena CD, the second US released Utena DVD and the case (seperate), $7, and an Easter card. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/9 "2001-04-21T11:44:47Z")
On the monitor: two Beanie Kids. One is Leo the Lion, born 24.7.1997, the other is Lenny the Leopard, born 1.4.1998. On the tower: Victorian Deaths Index 1921-1985, the Edwardian Index (births, deaths and marriages 1902-1913) and the Great War Index (births, deaths and marriages 1914-1920). The actual junk factor kicks in when you look at what’s on the rest of the desk!! ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/10 "2001-04-21T14:18:01Z")
On the monitor: the Mighty God of Grad Student Angst (a stuffed Eeyore, to the prosaic), and a knitted mouse from the Yorkshire Museum of Rural Life, named Andrew after the male porpentine, who gave him to me. On the tower: many disks, most of them unidentifiable. Hanging over the keyboard: bank records, and a copy of my grandmother’s memoirs. _Under_ the desk: syllabus for my class, complete works of Shakespeare, selected works of Milton, anthology of medieval drama, and assorted critical books and journal articles. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/11 "2001-04-21T14:19:46Z")
On the tower of limited power: one old zenith clock-radio covered by a large cookie sheet. On the cookie sheet is a bowl full of bird food and a perch. On the monitor: my bird, occasionally. Sometimes he’s on his perch or sometimes he’s asleep behind the clock. Right now he’s climbing the curtains behind the tower, all wet from a recent bath. ---
**Author:** ![tiggeril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggeril/32/7234_2.png) [@tiggeril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiggeril)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/12 "2001-04-21T14:33:44Z")
On the monitor: Beelzebub the Satanic Stuffed Tiger Who Wears a Tiara and Beads, wearing his tiara and beads with panache. (The tiara, I now notice, is a bit crooked. I think it adds to his rakish appeal as a transvestite tiger.) On the cube: A very stylized statue of Ganesh painted a dark metallic grey. On the rest of the desk, coasters, Tylenol bottles, my camera, speakers, nail polish, pens, mail, books, a cup, an empty bottle of Dasani, bracelets, rings, my watch, various office supplies, and take-out menus. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/13 "2001-04-21T14:45:12Z")
On the monitor: Nothing. Stuck to the side of the monitor: two yellow post-it notes with a total of three phone numbers, three “Sign Here” stickies, two labels with passwords for some company applications (yes, I know it’s a security risk.) On the CPU: two small speakers, one Homer Simpson Pez dispenser, one of those dry white-out guns, a winning scratch lottery ticket (worth $2,) 7 keys, one contest entry that I really should send in, a scrap of paper listing some trucks that I’m supposed to track down, a box of my business cards, and a twist-tie (not sure how that got there.) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/14 "2001-04-21T15:10:35Z")
“On the CPU: two small speakers” Those must be mighty small speakers. Nothing on my monitor cause it gets hot & I don’t want anything to fall into it’s vent holes on top. My puter just has the zip drive on the top. ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/15 "2001-04-21T15:16:01Z")
On top of my monitor I have my nameplate from my old job (maiden name), a beanie baby (Bernie the St. Bernard) and a plastic alien. I don’t have anything on my tower but a layer of dust. My scanner is piled high with printer paper, software boxes and a bunch of manuals and stuff. My desk is a giant mess of papers, office supplies and CDs, a remote control, about 10 pens scattered in a random fashion, and other miscellaneous junk. I should clean it up one day. Rose ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/16 "2001-04-21T16:08:59Z")
On the monitor I have a Cheshire Cat monitor thingy… It’s purple and yellow. On the towe I have an empty 2 port USB upgrade box, which will soon be full again when I return said upgrade because it won’t work on my computer. I have the latest Disney Catalog, open to the page of the stuff I Want. And a Large tin of Altoids. There is too much crap on the desk around my computer to name, I really should resolve to not clutter so much. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/17 "2001-04-21T16:22:42Z")
On the tower just a DSL modem. On the monitor a 7" x 10" framed print with the Chinese character for “Revelation”. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/18 "2001-04-21T17:06:36Z")
[this](http://home.revealed.net/ddwyer/comp.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/19 "2001-04-21T17:49:36Z")
On the monitor: Pistachio (my squirrel beanie) and Gatomon (one of my Digimon beanies). The Puffkins, one bear and three bunnies, sit on the shelf above the monitor. My Bubbles doll used to sit on top of one speaker, but now she sits next to it. On the tower: nothing right now. Occasionally a floppy disk when I’m too lazy to put it back in the box. On the printer: Dermot (a stuffed duck that a friend gave me) and Patomon (another Digimon beanie). On the scanner: Gomamon, yet another Digimon beanie. I have several other stuffed animals sitting on the shelves all over the desk. I’ll try to scan some pics in later if I can. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768/20 "2001-04-21T18:17:02Z")
[This is what my desk looks like](http://www.mindspring.com/~vincegonzales/desk.jpg). On the tower, Akira action figures and my DSL modem. On the scanner is a stuffed cow upon which rests my webcam. Behind that is the gateway router. On the monitor are stickers, nothing on top. A little Dancing Shiva statuette below the monitor and a couple piles of sailing books/pamphlets. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-on-your-computer/62768.md?page=2)