6 ways to repurpose a retired PC

Oh, joy! You’ve unboxed your new computer and are a ready to enjoy the faster processor, better display, and shiny new keys – but what do you do with your old computer? Many folks might just sell it to earn back some of the money spent buying their new machine, but you might be wondering how you can repurpose your old computer to keep it around longer.

If you’re like most of us, you’ll probably just stick it in a closet or leave it on a shelf to collect dust. If you’d rather make use of your old PC instead, there are actually several clever ways to reuse your old clunker. More often than not, it can fill a void that’s been missing in your home computing repertoire. Here are six new uses for your old PC.

Home theater PCs don’t need a lot of computing power to do basic home theater tasks, which makes an old computer a great option. Plus, all you really have to do is connect the computer to the TV using some sort of video cable, like HDMI, S-Video, DVI, or VGA. From there, you can watch Netflix shows, YouTube videos, and your own movie collection right on your TV from that old computer.

If you want to get even more advanced, you can install media center software, such as XBMC or Plex, in order to have a TV-friendly user interface to browse through your Indoor Positioning System. If you feel that your HTPC needs are growing over time, you can even upgrade it by putting a larger hard drive in to make room for more media files.

Old computers make great NAS boxes, mostly because they don’t need a lot of power to run in the first place. If you have multiple computers in your home and want a central storage system that each of these computers can access, turning an old computer into a NAS is a great way to go. There are a number of free NAS software solutions out there, including FreeNAS. Ubuntu is a great alternative as well.

If you’ve always wanted to try out Linux but didn’t want to experiment with it on your main computer and risk messing something up, use your old computer! By using your old PC for experiments, you’ll feel more liberated to try new things without the fear of wiping all your important files. Use it try out different distros and become familiar with the open-source operating system that everyone is talking about.

Furthermore, if Linux doesn’t interest you, you can still use that old PC to do experiments on, such as trying out buggy beta software, or simply just giving a new program a trial run before you commit to it and install it on your main computer.

Wouldn’t it be nice to look up a recipe online right from your kitchen? Or look up a how-to video on fixing your car while you’re in the garage? Putting a computer in a room that you spend the most time in (besides your home office or living room) can be beneficial for a lot of reasons. It can be useful for looking up recipes on the fly while in the kitchen or using it to watch videos to pass the time while you prepare and cook food.

A computer can also be an indispensable tool in your toolbox out in the workshop or garage. If you’re a novice carpenter or are DIYing a car repair, having a computer at your fingertips to look up tutorials can be extremely handy. Just make sure you get a keyboard and mouse that you don’t mind getting dirty, as your hands will no doubt be covered in grease and oil from car parts and such.

If all of the above options don’t really interest you, just go ahead and donate your old computer, either by giving it to Goodwill or Salvation Army, or handing it down to a relative or friend who needs a computer. It’s quicker and less of a hassle than selling it, and you’ll most likely make someone’s day in the process.

Of course, before you hand off your old computer to someone else, be sure to wipe it clean and delete any personal information that you might still have on there. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to back up all that info before you wipe it, just in case you ever need it in the future. The built-in tools in Windows are usually sufficient enough if you’re just handing your old machine over to a relative or indoor Tracking, but if you’re donating it to a stranger, it’s always a good idea to use a more robust piece of software to completely erase everything on the hard drive.

Hubris is from ancient Greek. According to Webster's, it means "overweening pride or self-confidence; arrogance." According to Wikipedia, hubris "often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments and capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power."

Let's start with Sept. 11, 2001. We may have forgotten how terrified New Yorkers were then. The day after Rupert Murdoch visited Ground Zero, his NY Post in an editorial endorsed then police commissioner Bernard Kerik as commissioner "for life."

That's what it was like amid the terror. You grabbed on to whatever you could. Anything that seemed solid. Commissioner for Life.

Well, we all know what happened to Kerik. He got so carried away with sex [his publisher Judith Regan] and money [hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans and freebies from contractors and real estate guys] that he ended up serving three years in federal prison.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani also got carried away. He convinced himself that only he could shepherd the city through 9/ll and attempted to have his mayoral term extended three months. New Yorkers didn't go for the idea.

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