Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Ninety-eight degrees

The thermometer outside of the Nanticoke school complex reads 98 degrees Fahrenheit on June 26, 2007 at 6:53 PM

It's hot here. A few hours ago this thermometer was showing a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit - nearly 38 degrees Celsius. At 6:53 PM the reading was 98 degrees Fahrenheit - nearly 37 degrees Celsius. A handy thing to keep in mind: while most - well, some - people know that the freezing point of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and 0 degrees Celsius, and the boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 degrees Celsius, most people don't realize that normal body temperature, oddly defined as 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, is actually just a conversion of 37 degrees Celsius. (For more Fahrenheit/Celsius conversion fun, go here.)

It's hot in this room, too. The thermometer on the wall is reading 88.6 degrees Fahrenheit (31.4 degrees Celsius). A thermometer that's keeping an eye on the CPU temperature tells me that the CPU is currently cooking along at 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius). And the computer is not crashing.

Amazing. I can never thank my friend enough for having built this machine for me. Its speed and robustness mean I no longer have to worry about whether I will be able to get online, how many things I'll be able to do once I'm there, or when (not if) my computer will crash. Thanks, John!

6 comments:

LAC said...

Yikes. Looks like Tom Clark was wrong. He said 94, one shy of the record. Sheesh!! And to think a year ago we had flooding all over the area.

D.B. Echo said...

Well, Tom Clark goes by the temperature at a single standard point, or a series of standard points. And the official temperature is always in the shade, for reasons I don't entirely understand. I don't know where this sign's temperature sensor is, or if it's even calibrated. Still, it was DAMN hot out there!

Anonymous said...

The real question is how is it that YOU are not crashing in a room that hot??? A few years living in the South convinced me of the true blessing that Central A/C is! You might want to bring a sweater if you come visit us, we keep our house CHILLY.

joy

D.B. Echo said...

Ah. I have exquisite control of my internal functions most of the time, of the sort that would put a Bene Gesserit adept to shame. Otherwise, I would have collapsed into a heap of protoplasm and bone splinters years ago.

- said...

"A thermometer that's keeping an eye on the CPU temperature..."

How is that set up? I'd be interested in such a device. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I love this back and forth about the weather. I hope that your pc is still up and running my friend.