Chris and electronics
Chris's most important tool is his computer. His window to the world, Chris uses it to connect with his fans and to promote his way of life. Needless to say, just like everything else he owns, Chris manages to ruin it in some way.
Type of computer and equipment
Chris currently uses an HP Pavilion desktop computer located in his kitchen.[1] It runs Windows XP, has a scanner and a printer (or perhaps a scanner/printer combo) that allows him to scan comic pages and print artwork, and has a version of Adobe PhotoDeluxe installed on it,[2] which Chris primarily uses to type in text bubbles for his comics or to alter the truth.[3] Since he's been able to connect to Mumble voice chats, it is presumed that Chris's computer also has a broadband internet connection.
A recent video, however, has revealed that Chris has a new computer loaded with Windows 7.
Computer Troubles
To hear Chris tell it, his computer is on its last legs. In his conversations with Alec Benson Leary, Chris complained that multiple power surges (resulting from blackouts in his area) have disabled his computer for days at a time, forcing him to restore it constantly. In mid-February 2010, this was his excuse for failing to regularly upload new comic pages. When Alec reasonably asked him why he didn't just buy a new, more reliable computer, Chris claimed that he doesn't have the money. (A low-end replacement for his current machine, powerful enough for his purposes, would only cost a few hundred dollars, but apparently Chris has better things to buy.)
Chris often claimed to be unable to upload videos for Jackie or chat with her via instant message because he couldn't get his computer to start up, causing him much stress and discomfort over the possibility that she would feel that he is neglecting her and break up with him. Chris continued to complain that he didn't have the money for a new PC, all the while continuing to buy new video games for his second PS3. To make things worse, Chris later revealed that there was a second, working PC in the house, and the only reason he didn't attempt to use it is because it was blocked by a pile of clothes (which incidentally is the same excuse he uses for not showering).[4]
Computer Literacy
Despite having taken a course in computer construction, Chris did not know the difference between RAM and HD space.[5][6] When confronted about forgetting things so often, he claims that his memory works like RAM, believing the "random" in RAM means that it only works some of the time, or randomly (despite the fact that it almost means the exact opposite).[7]
Chris's Computer Maintenance Routine:
- STEP 1: Turn computer on.
- STEP 2: Wait for computer to start up. If it fails, go to Step 1.
See also
References
- ↑ Alec Benson Leary Phone Call 7#Transcript: "Chris: You know, for me, it can't, it, it came, I tried powering back on and then, and then the farthest it had gotten was just the introductory HP Pavilion blue screen."
- ↑ Clyde's Buddy Matt Getting SUPER-LAID!!! At around the :13 mark you can see the name of the program in his taskbar.
- ↑ Mumble_6#Music_and_Computers: "Julie: What Operating System do you have, W-Windows XP?; Chris: Yeah. [pause] Windosse [sic] XP."
- ↑ Jackie Chat 8: "[7:30 pm] CWC: my father used to go online with one of our past PCs, but then mom bought a lot of stuff from Goodwill and such and blocked that computer from him."
- ↑ Father_Call#Prophetic_dreams_and_Bob_Chandler: "Chris: [...] I even took a computer upgrading class where I put together a computer, a personal computer, from scratch."
- ↑ Mumble_6#Music_and_Computers: "Chris: Mmm. I don't know how much RA- how much total... RAM I have, but uh... yeah... I've pretty much got my... got my memory capacity- fill it up with like... tracks from iTunes, some videos, and, uh, images."
- ↑ Kacey Call 12#Part 2: "Chris: Come on, memory in the brain is like random access memory just like in any computer, it’s random."