Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Linux Duracell CPU Load Monitor

Posted by timothy on from the void-your-warranty dept.

Nixon8Pie writes "Know those little self-testing batteries? How would you like to monitor your computers load with them? Well, now ya can. 'These throwaway testers are quite clever: they use a layer of conductive ink that heats up when an electrical current runs through it, in combination with a layer of thermally-activated dye that turns transparent when heated up, revealing a third layer of colored ink underneath. Because the layers are printed with varying thickness from "0%" to "100%", parts of them become yellow before others, creating a bargraph effect that varies with the current applied, the battery's body itself sinking the heat produced by the conductive ink.' Pretty cool stuff."

4 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. A pity... by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A pity that Duracell seems to not be interested in putting these testers on their batteries or in their packaging anymore. Saw a whole rack expiring March 2010 with not a single tester.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    1. Re:A pity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I think that Energizer is putting them on their E2 batteries only.. I noticed the same thing last time I was buying batteries.

  2. Marketing Genius by Speare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When those little battery testers first came out, I thought it was pure marketing genius. Not for the convenience, but for the self-depleting consumable. It ranks right up there with Caller ID.

    "Here's a battery which you can wear out, even before you put it in your flashlight! You don't have to worry about shelf-life or temperature anymore, just squeeze the ends and you have a dead battery. No muss, no fuss, just two minutes from package to trashcan."

    The Caller ID, in its original implementation, though... sheer brilliance. "Let's make them pay to see the information that's already sent to the the switchbox! And if they don't like that, make them pay to HIDE the information on the switchbox. But that doesn't really hide it, it just flags it, so make them pay to see the HIDDEN information, or make them pay to REALLY hide it. We can go on like this forever."

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
  3. Temperature-sensitive Leucodyes by G4from128k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The activiation temperature of battery testers is a pleasantly toasty 100-120 F.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.