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ThinkPad on Willem's Blog

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Learning from a 15-year old ThinkPad X200

May 1, 2023
Dive into a digital blast from the past and learn how a 15-year-old ThinkPad X200 can revolutionise your workflow – join my cloud-free adventure today!

As part of a greater plan to optimise my entire workflow, I am doing a little experiment this month: using a 15-year old ThinkPad X200 laptop as main computer. It’s from an era before “the cloud”, popular among free/libre software enthusiasts. What can we learn from this antithesis of modernity?

Building a professional 72TB NAS

Configuration and installation of an HPE ProLiant DL380 server

Nov. 22, 2019
This month I installed a professional HPE ProLiant DL380p server in a datacenter in Amsterdam, read this post to see how this was done!

Over the past few years I have been moving my data and work from local computers (mostly laptops) into the cloud. Cloud computing is done by servers in a datacenter, powerful computers that do the hard work. As my company grew, I needed more capacity. It was time to add some power to my cloud!

Lessons from a takeaway plastic bag

My ever increasing antipathy to planned obsolescence

Jan. 8, 2018
How we're tricked into repeated purchases replacing perfectly fine products just for the sake of change.

About five months ago I got some take away food from our local Asian restaurant. They packaged the food and gave me a plastic bag to carry it home. On my way home I was thinking about the bag. Although it has some nice styling printed on it, it's designed for single use only. What a waste... making me wonder: how long would it last if you would use it on a daily basis?

Programming on Apple Watch

Serious about crazy experiments

Feb. 16, 2017
Programming with VIM over SSH on Apple Watch using a bluetooth keyboard

Over the past years I have been no stranger to crazy experiments, but this time I really wanted to push it into the extreme: programming on an Apple Watch. Would it be possible to actually write code on such a tiny device? Why even bother? This post is about the case for crazy experiments, and why you should try too!

iPad Pro next to my primary machine

Using it with Apple Pencil as a creative powerhouse

Jan. 30, 2017
Using iPad Pro with Apple Pencil next to my computer to form a create powerhouse

I wanted see if I can find something better than my old fashioned pencil and paper that I use for designing software as professional developer. I knew iPad Pro from my test last summer, figuring out if it could replace my primary development machine. While it may not be able to completely replace my thrustworthy ThinkPad, it turned out to be a totally different story when it comes to paper.

iPad Pro as primary computer

testing iOS as primairy development platform

Aug. 15, 2016
Is the time right to use an iPad as primary development platform to get some real work done?

The lack of physical clutter, distracting branding, or blinking LED's makes the iPad Pro a textbook example of minimal design. My despiction of distraction explains my interest in using the iPad Pro as only computer to test if it is up to the task. Is Apple's latest effort on iOS enough to enable it to do serious development work?

Building the blog... in style!

Developing on a 20-year old computer with 16MB RAM and Windows 98

June 23, 2016
Find out if it is possible to turn a computer from the 90s into a modern development machine.

One must be a bit crazy to come up with the idea to build a blog (as in: actual programming) on an old 486 laptop with just 16MB RAM. I happen to be that crazy: I took my very first laptop from the 90s and decided to find out if it was possible to turn it into a development machine.

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LG Nexus 5 running the latest version of Chrome (v63)
LG Nexus 5 running the latest version of Chrome (v63)
Sunset
Sunset
Snake '97 - the original idea and stars of the game, the Nokia 5110 and 3310 - possible because of earlier experimentation with technology
Snake '97 - the original idea and stars of the game, the Nokia 5110 and 3310 - possible because of earlier experimentation with technology
Real programming code, real Apple Watch. No Photoshop.
Real programming code, real Apple Watch. No Photoshop.
See pixels on a greyish black background - the X200’s display is no match for modern HiDPI micro led or OLED monitors
See pixels on a greyish black background - the X200’s display is no match for modern HiDPI micro led or OLED monitors
The source of the Magic: my ThinkPad X1 connected to the local network.
The source of the Magic: my ThinkPad X1 connected to the local network.
I had to remove the original disk because it didn't work... or so I thought!
I had to remove the original disk because it didn't work... or so I thought!
Feeling mobile: this blog post was created using an iPhone, a keyboard and some coffee! No PC!
Feeling mobile: this blog post was created using an iPhone, a keyboard and some coffee! No PC!
iPad Pro next to my ThinkPad
iPad Pro next to my ThinkPad
IBM ThinkPad 700C from 1992 was instantly acknowledged as a big deal for the industry
IBM ThinkPad 700C from 1992 was instantly acknowledged as a big deal for the industry
VIM running on the 486 through PuTTY
VIM running on the 486 through PuTTY
Upgrading the ThinkPad X200 memory and SSD is easy.
Upgrading the ThinkPad X200 memory and SSD is easy.
iLO:
iLO: "sea of sensors" enabling an extensive remote insight in the server
Inside a HPE ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server (LFF)
Inside a HPE ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server (LFF)
Server connected and online inside the datacenter
Server connected and online inside the datacenter
Classic ThinkPad advertisment “Its mother was a mainframe, its father a Maserati”
Classic ThinkPad advertisment “Its mother was a mainframe, its father a Maserati”
The ThinkPad’s keyboard is a dream to type on and features a “hate or love it” TrackPoint (I’m in the “love” department!)
The ThinkPad’s keyboard is a dream to type on and features a “hate or love it” TrackPoint (I’m in the “love” department!)
Never thought I would be happy to see this: the Windows 98 boot screen!
Never thought I would be happy to see this: the Windows 98 boot screen!

More ThinkPad on Willem's Blog

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