Re: Re: Weather Was: Summer Plans   
     By: Daryl Stout to Damon A. Getsman on Wed Sep 30 2015 10:47:24   
      
    DS> I'm running Windows 7 32-bit on the BBS now. An older laptop, with XP, is   
    DS> basically "AC power only", because the battery died, and you can't get a   
    DS> replacement for it. Plus, it's only used for the Magic Jack voice   
    DS> mail...which would not work on a newer laptop with Windows 7 32-bit on it.   
    DS> But, the power adapter for that laptop got warm awfully fast...so, I'll   
    DS> just use that one for ham radio demos, etc. An older desktop, with Windows   
    DS> XP, has been shut down since April, as the hard drive would not boot up.   
    DS> I'm considering donating it to a local PC shop for parts. And, I bought a   
    DS> used laptop with Windows Vista Home Basic, for use with the Magic Jack   
    DS> Plus, for a fax line.   
      
     If you have a FreeGeek around that might be a good place to go with it,   
   and/or to look for related batteries and equipment if you decide to salvage it.   
   I've got a pretty ancient laptop, too, which I thought would be utterly   
   unfeasible to save, but I ended up finding batteries for it on newegg, I think   
   it was.  Got one on order right now so that I can hopefully get out and do some   
   work out of the house instead of being in here day and night.   
     My own BBS machine runs on a PPro class dual-core machine with 2GB.  Older   
   piece of hardware, standard mini-tower size.  Everything seems to be living   
   fairly well on it; it's not such a bad computer for something that I picked up   
   from US government surplus many years ago here.  I do a few other things on it   
   as well; basically dealing with communications that I want handled from a more   
   secure server than I trust linux or windows to be.   
      
    DS> As for lightning, one does not argue with it...or they die trying. :P Each   
    DS> bolt is 5 miles long, with 300,000 volts and 30,000 amps of electricity,   
    DS> can strike as much as 20 miles from the parent thunderstorm (a bolt from   
    DS> the blue), and is 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit...5 times hotter than the   
    DS> sun's surface. And, speaking of weather, I'm anxiously watching Hurricane   
    DS> Joaquin...which could threaten the Carolinas to New England soon...the   
    DS> Bahamas will feel his wrath on Thursday.   
      
     I wasn't aware of that bit about the bolts out of the blue.  That's pretty   
   interesting and I think it actually explains something that I experienced once   
   when I was a kid.  There was violent weather about, but in a break in it I had   
   an experience with a huge flash out of nowhere that literally stunned me for a   
   good 15-20 seconds.  I was on a hillside in one of the tallest points in   
   Bismarck, ND, when it happened.  No idea that there was any electrical activity   
   going on at all, though afterwards I remember feeling distinctly odd.  It was   
   so close that I never really 'saw' it, it was more of just a blinding flash   
   that I couldn't locate the source of.   
      
     -D   
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