Does your parents give you a hard time for leaving your computer on?

[Maxi]

My parent's do

Especially my mum, shes always tells me to shut down my comp when I leave for the gym or other stuff... but I just close my door and she usually doesn't notice... damn anoying imo.

Anyone that still lives at home got it better/worse? share your experiences!

 

[Dedalus]

yes my parents are always on about it. i'll leave it on and they'll complain that it's a fire hazard. "so, the fridge is a fire hazard, turn that off every time you leave the house!", "your alarm clock is a fire hazard, turn that off when you go to sleep!" then i'll go with the line of "i know more about computer than you do..." and generally make up some stuff and mix it up with some facts "if you keep turning the computer on and off you'll damage the circuit boards due to static etc"...usually does the trick. you see, you have to stoop to their level of understanding. they have no idea how computers work, so you have to think like an idiot and make up a reason an idiot would understand.

of course i switch my pc off every now and then to let everything cool down, but generally i'll leave it on for weeks. just keep leaving it on and do something else they find annoying, eventually they'll forget about the computer.

 

[Maxi]

they have no idea how computers work, so you have to think like an idiot and make up a reason an idiot would understand.

Actually my mum knows shes built like over 200 computers in the late 70s when she worked for ibm, and she still knows a bit about them... thats why I can keep my dad from telling me to shut it down but not my mum...

 

[Dedalus]

ehhhhh tricky....

1. "oh i'm leaving a level on vis...what do you mean you don't know what vis is? well i made a level and now i have to compile it, and this program 'vis' compiles the level for me but it takes ages so i have to leave it on"

2. "i'm downloading something, could take a while"

3. "i'm uploading something, could take a while"

4. "i'm defragging, could take a while"

5. "i'm updating virus definitions, could take a while"

6. "i'm rendering, could take a while"

and failing that you could use this Bastard Operator From Hell Excuse Generator to generate your own little excuse and just blag your way through it.

 

[Maxi]

LOL awsome program

 

[Crushenator 500]

you think you guys have it bad, my parents hate it whilst im sat at the computer using it, never mind leaving it on stanby

 

[Dedalus]

hey pendragon that's a pretty nifty idea: here's the link maxi http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/windows.html


crushenator, put your foot down man! tell them you're learning/improving yourself.


edit: pendragon, know any good add ons for seti@home?

 

[Pressure]

No, We have three computers right now. One belongs to my parents, one to my brother and one to me. All three are always left on.

 

[Letters]

I don't have to worry 'bout it.

 

[craig]

not all of us live at home

 

[DiSTuRbEd]

I got my 3 pc's they are left on all the time, my parents don't say anything about them, because they leave both of theres on. No one in this house turns off there pc's unless there is no power(der!) or we are on vacation, which I unplug the pc's from my switch and from surge protector, I don't take any chances..hehehe, but I leave my celeron on b/c its having some issues with starting correctly, pain in the ass to try to get started.

 

[Shippi]

My parents aren't bothered, but I always turn it off at night cause I find it hard to sleep with it on.

 

[simmo]

Yup, my mum neaver lets me keep it on...her reason is:

"Something might happen to it" :|...wtf ?

 

[Dedalus]

http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/links_addons.html

seemed to be an awful lot there. i've read through it, doesn't seem to be anything really essential.

 

[Loshadka]

I just counted and explained my parents that it takes only 3 dollars worth of electricity to leave the computer on for the whole month 27/4.

 

[Crushenator 500]

yeah, but try and tell my parents that, they've been trying to make me pay 30p an hour for using it
:| !!! WTF

 

[Maxi]

Capitalist bastards...

 

[Frank]

I usually just turn off my monitor because my parents' are always listening to music so they don't hear my computer...

 

[Dedalus]

yeah, but try and tell my parents that, they've been trying to make me pay 30p an hour for using it
:| !!! WTF

30p?!?!?!?!!

you get pocket money? just tell em to deduct it from that if it's bugging them so much. but no way does electricity cost 30p an hour, doesn't seem right.

 

[ray_MAN]

My parents hate it when I am on ALL day aswell. It shucks. That is why I am moving away for college.

 

[Maskirovka]

I just counted and explained my parents that it takes only 3 dollars worth of electricity to leave the computer on for the whole month 27/4.

yeah it costs even less than that if your power saving settings are relatively agressive. if you turn your monitor off after 10 mins and your hard disks after 30, it probably costs like $10-15 a year to run your computer 24x7

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Pocket money? Now thats an interesting concept.

Anyway, i turn off my comp to save power, because electricty is probably more expensive over here and we really need to the money. My brother leaves his on all the time, just so he can have his bot running in the chat he goes on. Kinda annoying actually because it makes a lot of noise and he turned off the moniter auto switch off. He also forgets to actually turn of the moniter so it ends up staying on 24 hours a day unless i do something about it. My parents dont really give me a hard time, but its not my money being spent running the comp so im not gonna give them a hard time about keeping it on when really, i can live without it.

 

[nw909]

Nah, my mom doesn't mind, I'm just downloading 2-3 GB files overnight, nothing big.

But I do turn it off when I don't need it on, no use to just leave it on.

 

[ApocalypseNow]

my parents dont care... i left it on for like a week once

 

[FictiousWill]

I wrote a little app that shuts your computer down after a set amount of time. Don't know how much use it is, but I often use it to shutdown the comp after a while for various reasons.

http://www.angelfire.com/alt2/alcatraz/Download_Shutdown.zip



edit: oh and as far as I've tested, it doesn't destroy partial downloads in download managers because it initiates a standard windows shutdown procedure, allowing apps to close normally by themselves. It doens't just kill processes, so your k++ dats and others should be fine.

 

[Brian Damage]

Hey, thanks Will. Does it work with XP?

I leave mine on for as long as I'm awake.

How power efficient is the average PC?

 

[FictiousWill]

Yeah, I've only tested it with XP, in fact.