HMS Noodles

I recently sorted out a massive amount of old PC Hardware I had to try and make a couple of complete PCs for use at work. The Spec didn’t need anything much, just enough to run normal desktop and web applications on Windows XP.

After gathering everything together, and spending a few quid on second-hand spares I ended up with 8 CPUs, 7 Mainboards and a small mountain of Hardrives, Graphics Cards, Ram and other assorted odds and ends. Alot of this stuff turned out to be faulty, and the K6-2 550Mhz was just too old to use, but we had quite alot of luck with some of it, Ben and I got another two reasonable desktop PCs up and running, an Althon 64 3200+ with 2GB of ram and an Athlon XP 2000+ with 1GB ram.

We also managed to get a 2nd Althon XP 2000+ with 1GB ram was working, although the case was missing a front. Obviously this was unacceptable, so I enabled Blue Peter mode and constructed this custom front. Note the Biro lid on/off switch and the stylish company logo.

Monday the 6th was a pretty funky day. We headed down to the London Studios, near Waterloo Bridge to see the filming of the new series of QI (Series ‘F’). After a long queue, and quite a few worries about not getting in, we finally arrived at the front and were directed through a side door and to the studio.

After everyone was seated they started with a warm-up comedian to get in the mood. To his credit he was pretty good, and after 10 or so minuites they showed us one of the special features from the series C dvd, and then brought on the cast. Tonight’s panel was Sean Lock, Ben Miller, Rob Brydon and of course, Alan Davies.

 The filming went on for about an hour, and I was impressed at the lack of interference from the production team. No constant stop-starts for retakes, no flashing “applause” or “laugh” signs and the whole show just felt like a longer, slightly more adult version of the program that you see on TV. At the end of filming they re-shot a couple of lines and added one little bit for continuity, but this only took 5 or so minutes.

Really enjoyed the whole evening, and it’s definatly something i’lld like to do again.