Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-l] computers



A little tangent...
Apple has a gizmo that uses the accelerometer (intended to shutdown the hard-drive during large accelerations) to control a light-saber sound. I've seen students swinging around $1200 laptops (shut) while engaged in mock light-saber fights.


To wonder is to begin to understand.

Paul Lulai
Physics Teacher
St. Anthony Village Senior High
Saint Anthony Village, MN
55418
(w) 612-706-1144
(fax) 612-706-1020
plulai@stanthony.k12.mn.us

________________________________

From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu on behalf of Joseph Bellina
Sent: Wed 8/8/2007 6:25 AM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] computers



I suspect the comment about shutting down when in the packing case is
to make absolutely sure that the hard drive is not running when the
computer is accelerated since that can kill it. These machines are
forever doing stuff in the background, so you don't know when the
hard drive is running. Hence it is best to shut it down if you are
going to move it much. The new Mac portables have an acceleration
sensor to attempt to protect against this.

cheers,

joe


Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556

On Aug 8, 2007, at 12:31 AM, Ken Fox wrote:

This (battery use) is the same advice I have been given by my
neighborhood
Mac man, especially the first few cycles. John's advice may be more
up-to-date, but I have followed the advice. He also said shut down,
or at
least sleep, when not using for a long time (overnight). Be sure to
shut
down a laptop before packing it in a case.

I worry about the useless use of energy by leaving computers on all
the
time. I am willing to power on when arriving in the morning and
waiting
while I am settling in for the day.

Ken Fox

On 8/7/07, Anthony Lapinski <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org> wrote:

Interesting!

My tech guy also said it is best to charge the battery to 100%,
unplug,
use the computer, and let the battery drain to nearly 0%, then
recharge
again. He said this will extend the battery lifetime, rather than
to just
keep the plug in all the time, or to not let the battery
completely drain
before recharging.

Thoughts?


_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l

_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l