Though I hesitate to waste time with the gorey details of reconstructive surgery I thought it might be amusing for others who dabble in the occult (like Mad Dog, perhaps) to describe the poor monster now roaming the countryside of Chicago. It was a poor PB 170 struck down in the prime of life that Igor carried over the stone entryway as the rain pelted the massive oak doors of our isolated laboratory. "Dead..." he mumbled, as he unwrapped the oilcloth and laid the lifeless thing on the table next to the blazing candelabra. The creature lay cold and still in spite of our crude attempts to use a borrowed battery and power adapter to bring it back. "We'll have to open her up and see what gives," I said. Igor flinched, but watched with morbid fascination as I removed the five screws that held the monster's case halves together, and slowly parted the halves to reveal its innermost secrets. Inside we found clues. Three of the threaded inserts that held the internal organs in place had been damaged, probably by a fall. "Igor, you must scour the village for a hard drive, a young one with lots of vital energy. I'm afraid our friend here has suffered a mishap, probably while working on a problem for its former owner." He nodded and slipped quietly back into the storm. Meanwhile I ordered a new BTI battery and went to the cellar to try to find some bolts from my collection of old aircraft instrument parts. A few weeks later Igor came smiling into the library as I scrawled notes in the yellowed journal he crept to the side of my desk and removed a silver static bag from his pocket. "Pretty," he mumbled, and carefully unwrapped a small box about the size of a deck of playing cards. It was a hard drive, 110 MB and just what we needed for our experiment. Later that evening I finished attaching all the nerves and muscles, closed up the little book who was beginning to look like an industrial makeup kit, and pressed the great switch that would tell us if all our work had been in vain. Angelic chimes echoed through the vaulted chambers. "Now, Igor, we must teach it to think for itself. System Seven Point One would be just the ticket." And it was. We were rewarded shortly by a smiling face and the happy march of extensions as the plucky little drive Igor had brought me whirred to life. There was just one problem. The little creature was having trouble communicating with others of its kind. Once again my faithful servant was sent to the village to find an express modem but he could find only a PowerPort Gold. But that did the trick. "Breedley-arr, Breedley-arr, skreed skreed." Frankenbook is now, as I have said, employed full time in Chicago, and though scorned by some of the locals there as rather old and clunky it appears to have a long and reliable life ahead of it. Not so technically interesting, but dang it feels nice to bring something back to life. ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml> Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Need help from a real person? Try. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------- Dr. Bott | Great Duo & 2400 stuff including 10/100 Ethernet for 2400s! Dr. Bott | Duo Batts too <http://www.drbott.com/prod/alist/duo.html> NineWire | If they are cool enough to host this list... Digital Solutions | ...you should check them out! http://www.NineWire.com/ PowerBook Guy is | Click here! Everything PowerBook! | http://www.powerbookguy.com Midwest Mac Parts ][ <http://www.midwestmac.com> After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][ MacResQ Specials: LaCie SCSI CDR From $99! PowerBook 3400/200 Only $879! Norton AntiVirus 6 Only $19! We Stock PARTS! <http://www.macresq.com>
