This is something that I was planning on adding as a footnote to a bit of TNP. While the bit, and therefore the footnote, might not make it into the final draft, this does bear mentioning. (Also, 1: this is the kind of shit I think of when my mind wanders, and 2: the act of committing this kind of shit to paper (or disk as the case may be) is exactly why the dude at MicroCenter should’ve tackled my ass the second I attempted to purchase this laptop. Seriously, though, I love my laptop, even though it has less GPU performance than a TRS-80¹.)

Anyhow, this bit which will probably never get used hinges on the high-pitched whine a standard-def TV screen makes. Doesn’t seem to happen with CRT monitors, just CRT televisions. Anyhow, the footnote would explain this, and adds that “I can hear it despite it being obscenely close to the frequency of the ringing in my ears. How is it that you people don’t notice it?”

If this does make it into the story, it could be assumed that if the TV is left on, it would probably not be muted, and thus no footnote is needed. Though I will add that as a child, I could wake up on weekends and know that my dad was watching TV because I could faintly make out that high-pitched noise, despite not being able to hear whatever it was my dad was watching². And again, y’know, the ringing in my ears. I seem to be the only person in the world who hears this.

¹ Lest anyone think I’m making shit up and revoke my nerd cred, let it be known that I’ve never used a TRS-80, but I do own a TRS-80 Pocket Computer³ that I will eventually find batteries for. Thrift stores have some awesome shit sometimes.
² Incidentally, I have that same TV set in my bedroom right now. It’s as old as I am and probably emits less radiation than an atomic weapon. Probably.
³ If you’re dying to know, I have the PC-1, the first of the three versions listed on that page. I found it at a thrift store for either $4.50 or $11 a few years back and bought it because it was so damn cool-looking⁴. I also got the printer dock with it, and can’t seem to get that to work either.
⁴ Specifically, the buttons. You know how most tiny PDA-like things use rubber buttons that are a bitch to push? Of course not, because you’re not obsessed with cheap keyboard-equipped PDAs like I am. (I have owned no less than seven, including the HPC and the TRS.) Anyhow, those rubber buttons suck. You know the buttons on your TV remote? Try typing with those cocksuckers. So the hard plastic buttons on the TRS were like the holy grail to me at the time. (Now I have the HPC, which has laptop-style buttons, and, y’know, a laptop.) Also awesome was the cool green tint of the LCD and the metal casing. (I love how old 1980s portable electronics had actual metal in the case instead of cheap plastics. Ask me about my AIWA walkman⁵ sometime, and I’ll explain in great detail how it kicks ass. And how it too was rescued from a thrift store. Except that thing actually worked. (At the time, at any rate.))
⁵ For those in the MySpace generation reading this, the Sony Walkman was popular enough back when it was still relevant that the name became synonymous with portable cassette players, kind of like the iPod. And just think, in twenty years you’ll be able to write about hard drive based MP3 players and wonder to yourself if anyone reading will need the concept explained to them, just like I’m doing with audio cassette tapes. (This of course assumes that the MySpace generation isn’t wiped form the face of the earth by a meteor, vengeful god, or some other great justice.