defragmenting

small boxes on the screen flash, move, change colour. shift, optimize. watching the details of the file system on the computer defragmenting is always a pleasant and soothing experience.

the computer's hard disk is reorienting itself, finding a new sense of calm after a period of prolonged anxiety. "where is that block? i thought it was over here! shit! shit! shit! what am i going to do with these other twelve blocks now? huh?"

i admire the structure of that unoptimized data, set in three simple groups in the 'defrag legend':

1. belongs at beginning of drive
2. belongs in middle of drive
3. belongs at end of drive

then, it is revealed to me what different states that the data may inhabit:

• optimized (defragmented) data
• free space
• data that will not be moved [my favourite]
• bad (damaged) area of the disk
• data that's currently being read
• data that's currently being written

finally, i am reminded in straight-forward terms that "each box represents one disk cluster."

at the bottom of the screen i am shown a simple bar informing me how much defragmenting has been completed. it is a fascinating process reduced to a very modern level of abstraction.

while watching the display my mind wanders, sometimes to the past, sometimes to the day ahead, and often in the void of present. observing how effectively the computer shuffles its data acts as a calming device, helping me to do my own defragmenting.

{October 25, 2003 05:02 PM}