An oldie, but a goodie

Back on the computing train for Friday’s picture puzzle (HINT!). This is an old bit of kit. Not so old that people aren’t still using it. But old enough that you haven’t been able to order a new one for several years. One point for just identifying what it is. Two if you know specifically which it is. The answer is down below.

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It’s the top of a heatsink for a CPU. Specifically, this is for an A-class server. This is a 550MHz processor. I’ve always loved the 50s scifi look of that headsink. There really isn’t anything else like them. The A-class systems have been out of production for a long while, but there are still a lot of them kicking around, doing their work. We have one here that we use as our ignite server.

Can you hear me now?

A fun picture puzzle for our Thursday. I think this one is pretty easy. It’s a pretty big piece to start with. I did have a much tighter shot, but that seemed too hard. Do you recognize this item? It’s fairly common, and not of the computing world. But I happened to have one in my trunk, so here we are. The big version is down below.

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It’s a microphone. A very old and well used Shure 515SD, to be precise. It’s performance has long since been eclipsed by newer models, but it has the durability of a hammer and still works, so I keep it around.

Brownies!

Something completely different on the blog today. Our COO, Stepheney, also runs a little gourmet boutique bakery with her friend Angela. Together, they are 2 Cheeky Bakers. They make amazing gourmet brownies using the best ingredients. You can see the whole lineup at their website.

They are running a Dads & Grads special right now. You will want to order by Sunday, June 14th for out of state deliveries. Use the coupon code DADSANDGRADS at checkout and get 15% off.

Personally, the cheesecake is my favorite, but they are all fantastic.

Tiny big things

One of the interesting things about macro photography is how disorienting it can be to look at small things so closely. This is a good example. This is just a pile of random bolts that I have kicking around in a bin. Some to hold drives in carriers, some to hold racks in cabinets, some to hold cards in servers, etc. It’s always handy to have some spare bolts.

Presented this way, they seem so much bigger. In actuality, what you see in the top picture is about 1.5 inches from left to right. And the bigger version you see below is part of a pile of assorted bolts that measures about 4 inches across.

It’s so small I did not even notice that tiny piece of lint before taking the photo. 🙂

It’s Franken’steen’

I like to think this is a pretty easy one. This is a rather common item, not specifically related to tech, and this is a wider shot than we often have. Is it enough to make it as easy as I think it is? The full shot is below.

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This is a ball-peen (or ball pein) hammer. Not to be confused with the cross-peen, diagonal-peen, point-peen, or chisel-peen. This is a very well used ball-peen. Fun fact I didn’t know: The ball face can be used to make gaskets.

It’s so springy

Spring in the northwest is often odd. You might have two weeks of fall. Then a few days of summer. Then a couple more weeks of spring. Rinse and repeat. We’re having a pretty springy day today. I just ran out behind the warehouse and found a little bee buddy working away.

Have a great weekend!

Get outside!

A bit pressed for time today, so we are going simple. I ran out behind the shop and found this tree with ivy growing up its trunk. The last few months have had a decided lack of outdoor time. With the season changing and the city moving ever so cautiously to reopen, it is nice to get out and about.

It’s not a face.

Fun fact: Seeing faces in inanimate objects is a pretty common thing. It’s called pareidolia. I was reminded of it when I pulled this photo up on my editing machine. You see it too, right?

As far as puzzles go, the tricky bit of this one isn’t so much the magnified photo, but whether or not you have used this particular bit of networking gear. If you have, you probably recognize it right away. If you are still wondering, the big picture is below.

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This is a 2GB SFP GBIC Transceiver. The picture up top is looking right down into the ports where the cable connects. I did consider getting a shot of one that was hot, with the light on, but the logistics of getting a camera, tripod, and lights in place to do that in a hot system were a little iffy. 🙂

Sometimes, it is the little things

Today’s picture puzzle comes to us from a service call. A customer had a server crash. After a bit of troubleshooting and the checking of the logs, the part you see above turned out to be the culprit. We got it swapped out with an on-site spare and things are back to normal. Do you recognize this particular part? The 5VS is a big clue. The big picture is below.

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This is a VRM from an A500. The server in question runs the 550 procs, so it requires two of the 5VS modules, and one 5VM. The 440 version only requires one of each.

It’s faster than that modem!

Just a fun macro shot to start the week. I won’t even bother having you try to guess, because this is pretty much impossible. You are looking at one chip on an A3495A network card for a K-Class server. This is a 10/100 Base-T adapter, which is quite slow by our modern standards, but was still pretty speedy in its era.

To get a sense of scale, this photo is outlined in the red box in the full view of the card. A penny would completely hide the chip.

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