| The computer |
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 The computer on which the show was designed and on which it runs is a Compaq DeskPro, circa 1999. I bought this machine in 2006 because I was having difficulty determining whether I was building web sites that displayed well on Windows Internet Explorer, because I exclusively use Macintosh computers.After buying the machine, which came bare without a keyboard or memory (I got it for $35 on eBay), I upgraded the memory to 512mb, added a USB 2.0 PCI card and put Windows XP on it. Until I discovered synchronized Christmas lights in late 2007, all I used it for was quality-control checking web sites I’d built and a little integrated circuit programming. Initially, I didn’t have a monitor attached to this machine; I accessed it through Timbuktu. In late 2007 my beloved Apple Cinema Display monitor finally gave up the ghost and I had to buy a new monitor. While I really wanted another Cinema Display, my pocketbook just couldn’t afford one, especially when a good one like an Acer AL2216W could be had for around $200. The Acer comes with two input ports, one digital, one analog. I plugged my Mac G4 into the digital port and one day wondered whether I could plug the Compaq into the analog port. It worked just great. I still frequently use Timbuktu to work on the Compaq, but especially when sequencing a song, switch the monitor over to direct connect and use a Microsoft (patooie!) keyboard and a PS2 mouse. The Compaq is hooked up to three devices for the Christmas lights show: via its standard audio line-out (not headphones) port, it drives the FM transmitter, through the USB port it drives the master lights controller and through its serial port it controls the TriksC and LEDTriks. |