Passwords

The problem with having a reliable device that is connected to the internet is that some day you are going to have to shut it down and when you restart it you are going to need to enter your password slash validate your existence. If the machine has been reliable, it might have been months since the last time you did this, so are you going to remember your password? When I was using a Windows computer, lo, these many years ago, I used to shut it down at the end of the day and fire it up again in the morning, so I used that password every day, so it kind of got engraved on my brain which was great until I had to change it. 

Computers need to ask you if you remember your password before they shut down, especially if it's been over a week since the last time it was restarted. Some people keep their passwords in a file on their computer. That doesn't do you any good if you can't logon. I do that, but then I print it out and put in a folder in my desk, a special folder, just for that one sheet of paper. I need to make up a new one, the old one has been scribbled over so much it looks like a kindergartner's homework. Well, it would if kindergartners had homework.

When I was using a Windows computer for writing computer programs, I used to shut down the computer every day because it would frequently crash and I would have to restart the machine. It might do this one or two or several times a day depending on what I was working on, but shutting it down at night eliminated at least one of those restarts, so some days everything ran smoothly all day long. Yes, I know, hard to believe with a Windows system.

Anyway, the cheap Windows computer I had at the new house was being kind of stinky. Besides all the usual Windows bullshit of having to do updates and security checks, it would lose its connection with the internet. I'm using a cell phone modem. Now there might be a way to hack into the modem and toggle a switch that says 'don't forget me', but to find out what needs to be done, not to mention if it even can be done, I need to talk to tech support at Verizon, and to do that I need a password. Which is in my special file at home, ten miles away.

Since I don't know what the secret is to getting this cell phone modem to reconnect, the only solution I had was to restart the computer, and being that it's a Windows computer it takes forever and a day to  go through its stupid shutdown and startup procedures. 

Acer Chromebox
$226

After a couple years of putting up with this Windows bullshit, I decided a new Chromebox might be the best solution, so I ordered one from Amazon. 

Sceptre 24" Professional Thin 75Hz 1080p LED Monitor
$133

The Chromebox only has an HDMI video output and my current display only has a VGA input jack, so I bought a big, new, cheap display. The Chromebox came with a slightly smaller keyboard. I used it for a few days but then I decided I liked my old Dell keyboard better, probably because I am used to it.

Now Posthip Scott sends me this video and I'm thinking that this computer is very cute, very small, and very capable, and then it hits me that it is very similar to what is inside the Chromebox.

Khadas VIM 4: Powerful ARM SBC with HDMI Input
ExplainingComputers
Khadas VIM 4 product page here.

Pocket Computer Comparison

The VIM 4 is the more capable device. The Chromebox is entirely adequate for what I'm using it for.  At this rate of technological improvement it won't be long before Asimov's positronic brain shows up. Shoot, some research lab is probably testing one right now.