Collecting Shinies

Today, the awesome Danni blogged about the things she collects, and it got me thinking.  I know I collect stationery, that much is obvious (and usually either her's or Clairabel's fault, I firmly maintain), and what started out as a fondness for gel pens is starting to grow into something a little worrying now.

I collect books too—but that's kind of obvious too.  I've got a to-read stack that's reaching alarming proportions, and it's not counting all the Kindle books.  I can't help that either, because books just look and smell right.  They're a comforting weight in your hand, and a less comforting weight on your shoulder when you're trekking back to the bus station.

I'd love to collect models, but they're usually eye-bleedingly expensive.  I stick to the Togainu no Chi Shiki and Akira figures I got a few years back, even if Akira is a pain to dust; they're both gorgeous and so far most people overlook the fact Akira's flashing his underwear.

So I thought about it some more, and then I realised with a faintly sinking sensation that what I actually collect is computers.

Not in the "new one every year, cutting-edge technology" sense—not that I wouldn't love to—or the "obsessive Apple fan" way (I don't own anything Apple), but in a more haphazard "I need something and then I get grossly attached to it" or (more often) in the "I don't need it but I don't care" way.

So... uh...

I should introduce a new member of my family now, shouldn't I?

This is the latest part of my collection and part of the first category of 'needs': a new desktop PC bought for the intention of actually being able to render images in less than five hours without crashing at the thought of it being 2500px tall.  Here I'll qualify that this isn't actually something Sixteen's can help: he's a laptop and they're not really designed for things that make them overheat quickly, such as colossal images that only Amazon want at that size.  (The image on the screen is at 2500px tall, for reference; that's a 17" monitor and the image reaches to Kirill's hips.)

The dusty desktop in the background isn't mine, by the way.  It's my mother's, and she never got round to naming it.

So far it's working well.  We've had some issues with my 3D content that are nothing to do with the PC and everything to do with the issue of absolute pathways in save files and changes in OS—I'm only familiar with Windows 8 in terms of 8RT on the Surface so it's taking some getting used to—and maybe a few computer games have sneaked onto there (but they work so nicely I couldn't possibly ask them to leave again...).

There has, in fact, been only one real issue.

The "Name your PC" screen cropped up and I had a complete brain freeze.  It's like naming characters in games: it's something that requires great thought, lest you give it a strange or inappropriate name that completely skews either its personality or your perception of it (depending on which camp you're in in that regard).  And what with my newest project being on my mind a lot lately, I may have called it "Echo".

Still, it could be worse, right?  I could have named it after a man who went mad and coded himself into a computer system.

Hell, one day I'll end up naming a computer Durandal and then I'll be really screwed.

So... please say hi to the newest member of my technological family and most recent part of my favourite (and most expensive) collection!