Duct tape, twitter, keyboards and OneNote
Long time readers will know I keep a live twitter feed, filtered on OneNote, displayed for everyone on the team to read through whenever they want. It started on an old tablet, which later died, and got replaced with a "hand me down" desktop machine.
Well, that desktop machine had a new use today - one of our testers needed it simply because its case and motherboard were sized correctly for a new video card he needed. We managed to get our hands on a group of slimline machines, but they physically were not large enough for the new video card.
He traded me a slimline for the larger machine. No worries here - it's just a kiosk machine, so the hardware specification is largely irrelevant. I did hit a snag when I tried to plug my PS2 cables for my mouse and keyboard into the computer. It only has one PS2 port but several USB ports. My junction box won't work with USB connections, so I was kind of stuck.
Not to worry. Here's the suggestion I got in email:
Hi John,
Thanks for swapping machines. I’ve put the new machine in your office, although it does not have the PS2 ports that you require.
I have a couple of alternatives, and I’m happy to help implement either:
- Get an updated switch box that uses USB
- We hook up the PS2 video card and leave it outside the box. The cable will run to it, just the metal bracket won’t fit in the machine.
- We could duct tape it in, assuming that wouldn’t create a fire hazard.
Heh. While I am all for duct taping computers together, I wound up just forgoing the mouse and using it with a keyboard only. It's up and running now (and will stay running once I disable all the screen savers/energy savers on it).
No need for a photo here. I just wish I could have justified the duct tape.
Questions, comments, concerns and criticisms always welcome,
John