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	Phil's Blogservations Tuesday, March 01, 2005 Posted by philgomes 9:58 AM Lower-Tech Hack To A Low-Tech Problem Lower-Tech Hack To A Low-Tech Problem My particleboard desk isn't all that good at pulling away heat buildup from my laptop, as it turns out. I was doing some mad 3D gaming one night. As I suspected it might, my laptop's fan was going full-tilt. Next thing I knew, the laptop completely shut down. Odd. Rinse. Repeat. Same thing after just a few minutes. Turns out there's some kind of fail-safe in this thing. If the heat buildup reaches a high enough level, the laptop shuts down. I searched around my desk and I found this half-used dental floss container. (Don't ask me how it got there.) It turned out it was the perfect size to wedge under the back of my laptop. Almost as if it were made for the task. This allows more air to circulate underneath the laptop, as you can see here: As a result, my laptop has run more silently ever since. I'm sure that I'd be able to get a battery-life boost as well, were I not plugged into the wall. There also appears to be an ergonomic benefit from angling the keyboard like this. I'm probably going to invest in something a little less "MacGyver," though. I was just looking at this doodad on TigerDirect. (Photo Credit: Brian Faust) | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a free video game console. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, SVP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.