(no subject)

[realexplodingcat]

Sometimes I think I need to turn in my computer-geek card. Actually, I'm not sure I even have a computer-geek card. I've never actually tried looking for it. Sometimes I feel the card was surreptitiously slipped into the back pocket of a pair of jeans I never wear anymore. The details of microchips, operating systems, web servers, etc. bore me. Often, I'd rather be out roaming the mountain forests than sitting in front of my computer (unless I'm playing Warcraft III).

But every now and then I encounter something that reminds me why I love technology. From an article discussing the problem of cooling electronic components:

"By the end of the decade, it is estimated that a square centimeter of microprocessors (a bit smaller than a postage stamp) will produce an amount of heat equivalent to the spaceshuttle's rocket exhaust-roughly 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Ouch! And as Pat Gelsinger, Intel's chief technology officer, said at an Intel developers conference last spring, 'People are not going to carry rocket nozzles on their laptops.' Nor do they want to listen to the large, powerful fans that would be needed to cool these chips--fans that would generate 85 decibels, almost loud enough to damage the ear drum."

That's fantastic!

The article then discusses an experimental method of cooling where a noncorrosive liquid is sprayed directly onto the hot electronic components. The liquid immediately evaporates, carrying away heat in the process.

So, this got me thinking...while the technology will certainly recirculate the evaporated liquid, consider the implications of not doing that! A build of gas inside the computer. The world could be full of belching, flatulent machines. Laptops could double as whoopie cushions.

See, technology doesn't need to be boring...

Comments

But the real question is...

[twilight-spirit.livejournal.com]

...can it make perfectly buttered toast? :)

Re: But the real question is...

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I picture laptops serving more as waffle-irons.

Re: But the real question is...

[twilight-spirit.livejournal.com]

Hey, maybe with an extra attachment or two that could also serve as an inexpensive dry cleaning press. That wouldn't be too shabby. I could rip cds to mp3 while maintaining my sartorially perfect image.

sa-WEET! :)

[red-frog.livejournal.com]

If it's recirculating the gas, then wouldn't that mean that the machines were burping and farting? In a controlled way, like lying on your back with your legs pressed to your chest and rocking back and forth (a yoga maneuver to relieve gas buildup), but still...

What I want is a compressed storage space for this gas. Rather than running through O'Hare carrying the laptop I can save gas up and expel it strategically, allowing me to rocket through the terminal to get to my gate. Perhaps I should start wearing roller skates when I fly.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I like your style. Funny & practical. If you combined the compressed storage space for gas, plus the roaring 85 decibel cooling fan and 1,000 degree heat...you probably wouldn't need to buy airplane tickets to fly.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

This would open a whole new genre for Disney movies, given the number of gas release jokes that come out of their animation department. I know the original wasn't Disney, but all I can think of is... wait for it... The Iron Gas Giant!

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I encourage any amount of bio-mechanical creatures in film. Speaking of bio-mechanical...the monsters in the "Alien" movies sorta had that look. Imagine if they accidentally passed gas breaking the silence in that tense moment just before they attack. What a shockingly funny and horrifying cinematic moment that would be.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Waterfalls! We could all have Crays.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

Wow. That would be beautiful, actually. I can imagine vast computer rooms cooled by flowing water. I'm picturing a fantasy landscape where elves have adopted computer technology and blended it with their traditional non-destructive use of nature's resources. Nice idea. Mountain forests with built in computers. I'm down with that.

[briskpepper.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't mistake your disinterest in such masturbatory faux culture for your lack of "geek card." It's an easy thing to do, but DON'T DO IT. most of these guys only talk up the specifics of a web-server /os/whatever to make up for the fact that noone else believes they truly should carry a "geek card." I think that the very fact that they feel the need to prove it shows a thing or two, don't you? These are the guys (for better or worse) that put up the away messages saying things like "geeking out" or "geek time" while they compile source code that some other peeps labored over for days. pretty lazy if you ask me, and not in that "reinventing the wheel" way either, i'm talking in that "riding the coat-tails of their elders" sorta way. so yeah, i've had some conversations with you (about chat clients, most memorably) and you seemed to have all the trappings of genuine geekdom but without the frivolous cock measuring that *I* personally hate. So, if you know how various machines that you will NEVER use handle mathematics that you could NEVER write in situations that you will NEVER ENCOUNTER then you have a problem... If, however, you are slowly but surely mastering your craft then congratulations, you win, and beat out most of the "geeks" around you that had caused you to doubt it in the first place. ;-)


as for the belching flatulent machines... am i not enough for you anymore? :-P

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind words. Sometimes I forget that I actually do know and appreciate the important parts of life & culture. But, so many other people are so caught up in "masturbatory faux culture" that I begin to question if I'm doing the right thing.

Dude, you're the best. You're right. Why do I need another machine when I can smell you from here? ;)