programmer or serial killer?

[Jonathan Hutchins]

On Saturday 08 January 2005 02:41 pm, Richard A. Franklin wrote:

> And BTW, as a pilot of 18 wheels, I have to remember to not let my
> laptop sit for 48 hours in Minot, ND during the months of January and
> February ... and I don't, but it is a good reminder.

Actually, you can probably get the laptop as cold as you want, provided you 
don't bring it into a warm room, plug it in and turn it on right away.  As 
long as you let it warm up before hitting it with power, and take some 
precaution against condensation on it, it won't suffer any harm from the 
cold.

I was bemused the other day to see specifications for operating altitude - up 
to 50,000 ft. if I recall - on the specs for a motherboard the other day.  
What, are the sealed capacitors gonna blow if the pressure's too low?  I 
doubt it, that's probably just the highest they tested it.  Get the 
atmosphere too thin around some high-voltage components too thin and they 
will start spontaneously arcing, but I doubt there's much danger for a 
standard motherboard at 70k.

Anyway, speaking of specs, you should find both the acceptable operating 
temperature range for your laptop, as well as the storage range which should 
go quite a bit lower, and possibly the amount of time to allow the laptop to 
reach room temperature before operating it, right in the good old owner's 
manual or user's guide.

You threw it out, didn't you?