TechnoLust's Journal: Toshiba Laptop: 1, Silica Gel Pellets: 0

I bought a backpack style bookbag with a laptop pocket in it when I first moved to ATL over a year ago. I take it with me almost everywhere. It carries my Toshiba Laptop that I purchased at the same time and all sorts of connector cables. I also keep some documents, memory cards, the TV out cable for my cell phone, pens, paper, Leatherman tool, Q-tips and Piercing Aftercare spray (when I have a new piercing), Cologne, breath strips/gum, nail kit, and my Epi-Pen. It's like my Urban Survival Kit.

When I bought it, I didn't realize it had a bag of Silica Gel (Do NOT Eat!) in the bottom of the padded compartment. I realized this later, but it's been in there all this time and laptops don't like moisture, so if it's still able to absorb moisture, that's good. Besides, what'll it hurt? Well about a week ago, it ruptured and spilled little pink balls of Silica Gel all in the bag. Apparently some of them got INSIDE the laptop. This morning I used it, and when I was putting it in the bag, the fan hadn't shut off yet. As I turned it on it's side to slide it into the padded compartment, I heard something rattling around and then it hit the fan. (Not the shit, the silica gel.)

When I got to work, I put on a static guard bracelet, grounded myself, and took it apart to get all those little things out of it. They take computers apart all the time in the helpdesk, but I'm near legal, and in a high traffic area. Someone walking by looked in and saw me with an opened laptop and she stopped by. She was amazed that I would "brave" taking apart a laptop. I took out 12 screws, lifted the cover and turned it upside down so the little things could fall out. What's so amazing about that? She acted like it was amazing. So apparently writing a scalable enterprise purchasing webApp is ho-hum, but removing 12 screws and turning something upside down is a miracle.

Whata chump...

[FroMan]

I scuff my feet on the carpet before I open any electronic devices... I mean, really, if you are not statically charged, where is the challenge? If you are looking for real excitement though, make sure you also bring a cat or two into the room.

That's nothing

[Scott Lockwood]

Get one of these: http://www.fiftythree.org/etherkiller/ [fiftythree.org]

outsourcing

[mekkab]

So apparently writing a scalable enterprise purchasing webApp is ho-hum, but removing 12 screws and turning something upside down is a miracle.

well duh. Because scalable enterprise purchasing webapp can be outsourced.

Heh

[Captain Splendid]

She acted like it was amazing.

One christmas, while staying at relatives, I had to build a new rig to be ready for when I got back to work. After a few days getting the parts I needed (I didn't know the town and they had no idea where to go for good gear), I sat down late one night in the dining room to put it together and give it a runthrough before I head home. Barely 10 minutes have elapsed, and I've already started building a small, wide-eyed audience around me like I was Tesla or some shit.

Re:

[TechnoLust]

When I was 17 I worked for my girlfriend's father's consulting company. I started out working on PCs, then moved to laser printers, then finally network admining. One day I was at a client's site, a hospital that had HP 5SIs everywhere. One of them had been knocked over and broken a few parts, including the registration assembly. I had the thing dismantled all over the nurses station. I'm sitting on a towel in the floor with the machine in front of me and piles of parts and screws and tools encircling

Re:

[Captain Splendid]

Oh man, getting one of the docs to hand you tools...priceless.

*mental note*

[Deamos]

Make sure to take the Do Not Eat out of whatever laptop bag I buy for my new laptop.

About the only reason I want to be opening my shiny new toy (which should arrive in about three weeks) is to put in a memory upgrade.

However in the interim Vista's Readyboost will be a stopgap measure.

Re:

[TechnoLust]

I'd never heard of ReadyBoost. Had to look it up. So it's... disk caching to USB drive because they have faster random reads than hard drives? Oh and they compress and encrypt it? Seems like the performance gain wouldn't overcome the overhead needed to do all that processing. Can you run some benchmarks when you get it with and without ReadyBoost. Also, test the "it'll just fall back to the drive if there is an unexpected removal event" when you have it on. :-)

Re:

[Deamos]

I have four coworkers that say it makes a noticeable difference.

I saw a demo a week or so ago of the "it'll fall back to the drive" part. Guy was using his laptop and just pulled the jumpdrive out of the port. Kept using his laptop to show it could be done.

I'll let you know what I think though.