I read in a computer book that you should always put your computer into sleep mode and not turn it on and off because the same power surge that causes a light bulb to burn out can damage your computer.
Alexandria Lighthouse… quick facts
http://tqjunior.advanced.org/5983/pages/lighthouse.htm
They used a large mirror and used the sun during daytime and a fire at night.
Tenspeed, I live under the same assumption, my computer never get turned off, just set to standby. This may be myth, but its feasible enough for me to give it a shot, Com Ed is probably behind it.
One added note about the fatigue. The stresses at start up have been well covered, but a couple of contradictions with the long term explanations for the failure. Oxidation occurs at such an amazingly small quantity it is nil, the very small amount of O2 in the bulb is quickly expended and the reaction no longer has fuel. The evaporation of the filament is a factor, but that effect is debatable in its contribution to failure. The text I’ve covered dismisses it as a minor factor at best. The true cause is creep, or slow deformation of the filament at temperature under stress (being its own weight). This factor is the reason for the “sag” in the filament, and the cause of the thinner sections which are so stressed by the cyclic fatigue. The oxidation and evaporation theories would create even filament degradation, and not thinner regions.
I still have some 240 Volt bulbs that I use for night lights and they have lasted many years because of their heavier filaments. They give off a nice orange glow.
Here’s the cheap-ass tip of the day. If you go through a lot of those little white nightlight bulbs, wait till after Christmas and buy the colored Christmas bulbs of the same size at the 75% off sale. The kids love the colored light and you can get them for 10 cents each.
“Hope is not a method”
incandescent? I just bought some 4000 hour ones, 4 for $1.25.
As for the computer question, new computers can handle the electricity thing just fine. However, I just talked to a western digital tech and he said that the HD lasts much longer if you turn it off each night.
Leaving the computer on, even in standby can use $8 of electricity per month or more.
That reminds me. Light bulbs in the U.K. have a much shorter life span due to the higher voltage / power. I was always replacing bulbs… but that’s not the end of it. Most lamps in the U.K. have a fuse built in to the plug. Usually when the bulb blew, so did the fuse. If the bulb was in a hard wired circuit (i.e. overhead lights), then the circuit breaker would usually trip… It was damn frustrating! But that’s not the end of it either! Most of the bulbs are bayonette style, not screw in. The bayonette style bulb would occasionally twist loose from the metal base so that I had to take a pair of pliers to remove the base from the socket… Very damn frustrating!!!
tenspeedjohn wrote:
The decision to leave a computer on or turn it off depends on how frequently you use it, for how long, and the kind of computer you have. Macs can be safely turned on and off or left on without much concern - they have low power consumption and well regulated supplies. Pentium IIs should probably be turned off when not in use, because the power consumption is so high that prolonged heat is more likely to damage the components than power surges.
Your best protection is to buy yourself a high quality surge suppressor. Make sure you get the ones designed for use with computers and A/V equipment because they have line noise filters and low voltage suppression (not just lightning arrestors). Turn off the switch during electrical storms and during a blackout. Lightning and power grid restarts are the most dangerous times for electronic components…
funney: thanks for the link - I’m going to investigate this further! I find it hard to believe that a mirror that size was constructed in 290 B.C.! Imagine if someone had been blessed with the spirit of Galileo and had used it to peer into the heavens!!! Alas, it was used to guide ships.
Hell is Other People.