eHarmony.com...

Most of us choose consumer electronics the way we choose mates - we stumble upon something/someone - there are sparks - and we're hooked! How many of us actually write down a list of everything we want and then go out and shop for it? Whether or not you are in Futureshop or a singles bar we tend to act on impulse.

Years ago when I decided that I was going to spoil myself with the best computer system I could find I realized that here was a relationship I could create on my own terms - the relationship between me and my computer. I mean - how many of us just sit at the computers we have - at work - at home - and just curse and swear because out computer is too slow, doesn't do what we want, doesn't live up to our expectations, etc.

I mean with people you can't just go out and order - nice face, nice body, good conversationalist, good sense of humor, great in bed ;-) outgoing/adventurous, likes porn, happy/cheerful, great cook, loves to do dishes and housework, lets you control the TV remote, hates chick flicks, blah, blah, blah.

But --- with a computer you can get almost whatever you want on your own terms - you just have to think about it! Resist the temptation to drop by the nearest bordello (i.e. Futureshop) and pick up the the hottest turn-on of the moment.

I've thought long and hard about what I do with my computer, and realized I should really want what I do most:

• Surf the web. Increasingly web pages are more complicated - have animation, sound, videos, scripts, etc. This all puts a toll on the computer. And each tab an window in your web browser does all these this - sometimes when you are not even looking at it. Sometimes my Firefox uses 50% or more of my CPU. Modern web browsers launch a new process for every tab/window you have open.
• Download Media. If you have ever tried Vuze you will realize there is an increadible world of media out there to expore - mostly video - and I don't mean You Tube! The worst thing about rich media is waiting for it. Rich media puts a huge load on the computer - and waiting for it is bad.
  
• Run Security Software. A sad fact of running Windows is that 99% of all malware is targeted at Windows. This requires sophisticated security software that is often worse than the problem it tries to address. Fortunately modern security software works well on systems with lots of threads/cores - so the more threads/cores you have the better.
• Playing Games. I'm not a hard core gamer - but I do enjoy my game time. My first eye-opening experience was when the love of my life bought me a game for Christmas - and it wouldn't run on my computer. I solved that problem by going out and buying the best video card my computer could handle. Sadly even that video card can no longer keep up with modern games. I haven't played a computer game in almost two years now because my computer is too slow.
• Second Life. If you don't know Second Life you can't know what I'm talking about. SL is a 3D virtual reality environment which puts just as much load on your computer as any modern computer game. Now in SL I'm also a Disc Jockey - which means I have to stream music and search for song requests on the network, in addition to running SL. This puts a huge load on your computer - not to mention the stupid security software always running in the background. Of course you often need to run a web browser at the same time to look up links you find in SL. Second Life taxes human capabilities of multi-tasking, and the environment of Second Life taxes the computer's capabilities of multi-taking.
• Software Developer. I create software for a living and for a life's purpose. I spend a lot of time experimenting with work related stuff and personal diversions. I want a computer that can let me play with ideas with minimal constraints. NUMA, OpenCL, Concurrent Programming, tec., are all research pet projects of mine I would like to be able to enjoy my explorations at home - cause heaven knows my employer can afford to give me such stuff.

So what am I? I'm not a gamer, I'm not a surfer - I'm a hard core computer enthusiast with particular needs I want to satisfy, and I've taken the time to think about what I really want most and define them in a computer system I really want most.

If you were to go out and find a life partner the same way as finding a computer you might go somewhere like eHarmony and create a profile and wait for a match. But, you never know if someone else is completely truthful about their profile as you are (or not). At least with computer technology it's harder to lie about your profile, but you have to take more responsibility for what you choose.