Blogtrek

Naming Computers

Since I bought my first PC on 1992 January 29, I have named PCs and other computer equipment. My first computer was HAL because I got it on close to the date on which HAL 9000 was created in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". Since then I have named other computers: Gooney Bird, because its CD-ROM sounded like a taxiing C-47; Izzy, after our cat, at work because our branch's symbol was CAT; Super v because there was a directory named v that could not be deleted, no matter what; Clunky, because the hard drive made clunking sounds and every once in a while gave the horrific message, "General failure error reading drive C:"; Slamrunner, because the computer ran a program called SLAM and because when it booted it beeped twice, like a roadrunner; and Boogie, because I like to dance a lot. Today I named a printer Tiger at work, because when you send a print job to it, it makes a raaooww sound much like that made by a big cat, and I say that when that color laser printer prints, it meows.

Do these names sound unworklike? I like them because they are easier to remember than some serial number or something like Workstation-23. Further they have the advantage of being portable. If I were to name a computer after some project I am doing, what if later the computer were to be used for something else? Izzy, for example, has nothing to do with my work, so it can be used anywhere there. Further, they make using a computer more fun. What's the name of your computer? By the way, this blog was written on Boogie.