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Computers That Thrive in Salty, Humid Environments?
To start us out, frostman asks: "A friend of mine is living on a sailboat, and would like to set up a nifty computer system. It doesn't need to be too powerful, but it should be small, rugged, fairly quiet, and cheap. He has a standard PII/400 mid-tower system he can gut for parts (400Mhz would probably be enough). He wants to do normal internet stuff, watch DVD's, listen to MP3's (with good speakers)... and he needs it to run on 12 volts when he's sailing. Any suggestions from the hardware gurus on Slashdot?"
websensei continues with this query: "I am about to become a full-time live-aboard on my sailboat. I'm in the process of selling all my machines and plan to spend about $2000 on a new laptop for the boat. I'll use it for work and play (movies, gaming, TV via USB TV tuner?) etc. Please share any advice/experiences relating to computing on boats or other harsh/damp environs."
And last, but not least, Alioth asks about fishes, not boats: "How about computers in fish factories? Not only do we have to contend with the room being jetwashed, but the atmosphere is very salty. I've been looking at stainless steel enclosures - what's their salt water resistance like, not just the stainless parts, but the parts that fasten the stainless parts together, not to mention being able to keep the computer cool as well (meaning it's got to vent somewhere)?"
get a life! You're on a sailboat, why are you checking your email, etc?
are mostly slow revving 2 strokes (80~120 revs minute) and induce vibration.
ENJOY BEING AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!
It is possible to enjoy the ocean without mp3's or email access. Pack a laptop up in a duct tape sealed trash bag and leave it there for when you get to shore. When on shore check your email or download whatever ... then when you get back on the boat ... wrap the thing back up and enjoy where you are.
If someone were to ask me how to get a computer on a sail boat I would find reasons as to why I wouldn't want to have one.
1.) It's wet, electronics don't do well in wet.
2.) You can't use the laptop on the deck during the day, the glare will be horrible. (and why would you want to be below decks???)
3.) Power, enjoy being outside away from electronics and conserve what battery you have. If you're on a decent size sailboat there will be a generator, but who the hell wants to listen to a generator all day?
If those aren't reason enough for you then you have a really big problem. Enjoy being away from the computer ... slashdot is archived so you won't miss out ... The only thing I can see anyone missing out on is being able to be FIRST POST!.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
If you're looking at using a laptop INSIDE the boat (out of the weather, mist, etc.) Then I wouldn't bother spending the additional money on the 'marine grade' systems. They're much more bulky, and quite a bit more expensive.
Here's a little thought experiment:
Buy a laptop for $1200-1400 with a combo DVD/cdrw drive, make data backups to CD, store CD's in water tight container.
In two+ years when it starts to act flakey (corroding battery contacts) buy ANOTHER laptop for $1200 to $1400, rinse repeat.
It'll take a long time to add up to the $5000-ish you'll pay for your first marine grade laptop.
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
He specifically says hes living aboard the sailboat, so that the majority of the time, even when docked, he will be around sea water. Your computer may be trivial for you, but some people actually use it to communicate with other human beings, not just as a MP3 repository. So before you go assuming everyone is horribly addicted to this evil box, you might actually want to stop and look at the facts.
If you think any laptop will handle this, remember that he's going to be on the water 24/7, including rainstorms. If you think your laptop can handle that well, take it into your bathroom, open it and fire it up, then take a nice, long, hot shower. Repeat this every day. If your machine takes more than four days of this without getting condensation behind the screen and developing crudly goo on all of the internals, let us know what brand it is.
Virg
Now, we must also accept that self-actualization is progress...And if you like Kant, erecting a society in which people can actualize themselves follows directly from the Categorical Imperative.
That interpretation is quite relevant to Hegel's position of the achievement of true freedom as the litmus of human progress. That is, if you believe self-actualization and true freedom are one in the same.
If indeed that's the case, then the spirit of a people provides the best evidence of progress, and can be best looked at as the essence of a state. When a people rises and falls, it is accompanied by its particular world-spirit, which is its consciousness of freedom. Every people has a different consciousness of freedom. Some peoples believe in freedom for all (man, as man, is free), why others believe in freedom for a few (some men are free, while others are not).
Kant, Hegel, and Marx (hell, you can even throw Wagar in there) were all forward-thinking progressivists with interrelated theories on the symantics of human progress. Personally, I prefer the classicist dionysian interpretation in that man's destiny is to suffer and die as part of the larger, cyclical process of the perpetuation of mankind as a species. Man's destiny is cyclical, regressive, or a regressive cycle, but it's certainly not progressive, regardless of the popular illusion. Nietzsche put it best: "We say it is 'explanation' ; but it is only in 'description' that we are in advance of the older stages of knowledge and science. We describe better, we explain just as little as our predecessors."
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.