VAIO Cooling
I have a laptop replacement Sony VAIO (PCG-GRV7P for those who care). This thing is made for Nordic conditions - when it turns on the room temperature rockets - it is the original heat pumper.

Having toasted one motherboard already I now have an unhealthy paranoia about the thing getting too hot. Since my installation of the 2.6 kernel I have been monitoring the temperature of the thermal zone in the beast, and it's actually quite interesting.

General day to day use the temp seems to hover around 45/50c. Thats a little too hot for my comfort, but I can deal with that. So when I checked in the middle of a kdelibs compile yesterday and found it to be 78C I was a little stressed.

So I am bitching to Mrs C about this when she says open the window - ah hah. So I open the window, balance the machine on the top (the window opens like a pouch), and w00t - the temperature drops to around 41C - much better. The fact that the room is now being invaded by an air temp of -10C is irrelevant !

The next problem is I want to use the thing - hard to do when it is balanced on the Window. So I retire to the kitchen, close the inner doors, open the outside door, and put the machine on a metal table. I sit next to the radiator dressed for outside weather and program away, with kdelibs compiling in the background.

The interesting thing was now the temp was 50C, so although there was more cold air in the room, the window obviously made a better job of directing the air. Another interesting fact is literally within seconds of the compile finishing the temperature would drop to around 35C.

So this morning Im sitting in the office with the window open, the laptop balanced on it and compiling kdebase and just generally updating my Gentoo setup. As the air temp is only -2 this morning (it snowed last night) the temp is currently 63C - in the office its around 72C, so it stays on the window.

Reading
Finished Miltary Mavericks. It was OK, but there appeared to be several areas where the author veered away from other histories I have read, and introduced what I feel to be some inaccuracies, but an interesting read nonetheless. He stated up fornt he was more interested in their personalities rather than 'dry' history.

Now onto "The Order of the Death's Head" by Höhne. I have read quite a bit about the Waffen SS, but not much about the general SS and Himmler. So it should be interesting. I am currently around 1930. The scary thing is that Himmler has been shown to be disturbingly normal. Middle class upbringing, Uni, parties and so on - although in the late 20's his crackpot ideas started to surface.

He is interstingly described as a "slave in search of a Master". Given his relatively 'normal' upbringing it is easy to see that any of us have the potential to become a Himmler.

A scary thought.

Feeling Old
A diary conversation made me feel old the other day.

Reasons why I should feel old but don't

• First program was on punched cards on a PDP.
  
• Knew Trash80 basic backwards
  
• Remember riding Jap bikes that didn't handle when they were new
  
• Look at a cake and put on fat
  
• Can no longer drink all night, sleep 2 hours and resume drinking.
  
• Rarely see the other side of midnight
  
• 2 sprogs, one who will go to high school the year after next.
  
• Married to Mrs C. for 14 years, and I have to think about the date.
  
• take longer to recover from racebike crashes

I was discussing with Sven about the location he was considering for his reception. Eventually we worked out that we come from a similar area (maybe adjacent suburbs). I then find out that his fiance went to the same school I did. She graduated 12 years after I did. In other words my youngest sprog is older than she was when I graduated.

Now I feel old.

Misc
Microsoft code for NT/2000 leaks onto the net. Already "Analysts" are pointing the finger at the open source community. Sigh.

The GOP have obviously decided to start playing hardball with Kerry. I am always bemused by Anglo type countries being obsessed with their leaders private lives. I was living in the US during the Clinton thing and just could not believe the hoopla. Really, I don't give a flying fuck what a politician does with his or her private life as long as they keep it legal. The Europeans appear to be a bit more civilised in this regard, although traces of that style of poison are creeping in.

Well, better get back to work. avagoodweekend all.