Keeping cool under pressure

By Hurt Reynolds, Last updated Tue Jun 8 2010 5:41pm

My trusty MacBook Pro failed right before the Wild West Showdown (well, ok, I tried to upgrade the hard drive myself and managed to zorch the logic board in the process). With not enough time before departure to get it repaired, and with no other suitable machine available to stream one of the tracks, I was left with little option but to purchase a replacement, and not enough funds to cover the Apple Shininess Premium.

I've been largely satisfied with the Core i7-powered Toshiba Satellite A505 I settled on, except for one thing -- it runs HOT. I've learned not to set cold beverages to the left of it, as the exhaust fan quickly heats up anything near it. Worse, though, when it's inadequately ventilated and running processor-intensive tasks (like, say, video streaming), it sometimes overheats so much that the CPU heat sensor automatically shuts it down. This prevents the processor's teeny circuits from actually melting (good) but interrupts whatever I'm doing (bad).

During Saturday's Charm City at Rocky Mountain livestream, shortly before the end of the first half, that's exactly what happened. I had already taken care to prop the machine up to ensure that the vents on the bottom were unobstructed, but it just wasn't enough. While it rebooted, I scurried around looking for something cold to prop it on to serve as a heat-sink.

Fortunately, I found a Very Derby Solution, as you can see from the photo.

Apart from that bump in the road, we had a really great time covering the bout. The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls always been very welcoming, gracious hosts when DNN comes calling, and we can't wait for next time!