your computer? You could turn it into a server and have it do something useful like the boinc project.

As for useful stuff, I would use some resource hogging thing like java a binary file directory that starts with 0s and goes for 64 bits.  For example, with 3 bits. "/0" first, then "/0/0" directory, then "/0/0/0"  Then, create another folder at "/0/0/1".  Another at "0/1", and then a "/1" folder.  Sounds like fun, right?

EDIT: Forgot that you would have to have a 0 and a 1 folder for each one too.  So, then go through and with every one, add a 0 and a 1 folder.  It is a basic recursive algorithm, too.  To make it pretty, you could store two pics to each folder.  They should describe something mathematically.  Like a 8x8 image representing the number in some cool way.

Or just draw pretty pictures.  That could work too.

Uh, command line will be kind of out of the question by the time I'm done with it. There's no working screen with the processor, so I'm going to be working with the hardware directly and probably just delete the present OS (Windows '95).

Plus, I was kind of thinking something useless.

Yep, there's a speaker in the Keyboard. I could *probably* wire it up. If that fails, I can always wire an LED to an output line and simply flash the signal.

Oooh, I have the same thing!  Except, it's two computers, one might be used, and the other is a POS system from ten years ago (puppy linux!).  Planning on turning the desktop (the former) into a server, and the laptop (latter) into ... who knows what!  Probably something mindless and entertaining.  Both have screens, and both have WinXP as well (though I'd rather stick with linux because Windows is freaking slow on them!)  Any ideas?

Awesome.  It was pretty hard to write my program, though, as I had to use multithreading, and it is hard to sync up threads.

On a serious note it could maybe be used as a web server or something, if your ISP allows such thing and if your parents allow you to let the computer running overnight. You could store some files there and make them publicly available. Not illegal stuff, of course.

Slightly older than the age at which I have to listen to parents.

As for the files, I generally use the school servers for that. I have more space there than on the whole computer. Plus, the system it will be running won't be connected to the internet, so a web server is impractical.

Exactly what are the specs?

I have a laptop made just after win XP came out, and a 1998 "high end gaming PC". Both of these run win XP and lightweight linux well enough for simple web browsing (no flash).