Boat Computing: The dreaded Box...

Winter is here, and man...has it been cold here in San Diego! Well, to be fair I guess that "cold" is subjective because people in other parts of the U.S. have it worse, but we boat folks feel the sting particularly, especially when the winds pick up.

I've found that covering the slider on the hatch with the cussions from the cockpit greatly reduce the infall of cold air due to their insulative quality. (Not to mention the fact that they are easier to clean out here than is the deck after my uninvited guest, a cormerant, has relieved himself all over the place...)

Another tip is if you have one of these nifty blow molded "Ocean Kayaks" you can place it across the side of your saloon which predominantly faces north. Here my stern faces east, which I prefer because in the mornings I can open the boat and get the early sun as it crests the mountains behind the city skyline, gilding the edges of the buildings of downtown San Diego, which actually makes for an amazing view...worth the price of admission every day! It also keeps the south ports of the saloon clear to provide pleasant light all day. It's a tough call, and I'm certain that wind direction plays a part in how you, my curious reader, might orient your boat. By all means, share if you can the relative merits of the orientation of your vessel where you are that we might gleam some measure of wisdom from your experience...

Many folks here are off to southern climes for the warmer environment down Baja way, some are preparing to leave as I type. To them we wish "Bon Voyage" and return safely, take lots of pictures and write often. Should you be one of these lucky folks, and you plan to keep a Blog of your own, please feel free to include a link in your comment so that we might all share in your adventure as well as suggest solutions and tips for you on your way.

I've been doing some research on the web about developing "home brewed" computers for Boat Living. While Laptops are optimal in many ways there are a good deal of advantages to building a box for the added functionality and customization that the open archetecture permits. For instance, although one laptop maker has recently addressed the "Home Theater" market, it's still more thrifty on the power side of the design to use an outboard product for a TV tuner which fits between your computer and monitor that allows you to watch TV without turning on your computer at all.

I've distilled the primary concerns in building a computer for your boat down to these few,

• Corrosion and Heat:

These go hand in hand as once one has created an air tight case for their machine they will have destroyed any convective cooling, and so will destroy the computer over time. If you create unimpeded air flow you invite salt air to nibble away at the traces and solder points as well as other metalic surfaces that make up the machine.

I'm leaning toward a couple of pre-mounted processors which address the cooling problem, VIA and Transmeta. Both are very efficient and run cooler than the two mainstream contenders from Intel and AMD. By nipping the temperature problem in the bud at the processor level right off you save yourself the trouble of alternative methods developed for the overclocking crowd such as copper heat pipes and liquid cooling. (Although the thought of filling a water cooling system with Proylene Glycol from the Auto Parts store is kind of appealing in a macho grease monkey sort of way...)

• Power:

12 volts is optimal of course, and thank goodness there are finally a few companies specializing in the Mobile Computing market selling DC to DC converters specifically for the Automotive market that apply to boats as well. These convert the 12 volts from your batteries to the +5v, +3.5v and +/- 12v that the ATX and Mini-ITX standards require, and are available in a veriety of wattage outputs from 75 to 200.

• Size:

Man, those Mini-ITX form factor boards are really neat! The whacky Case Mod crowd have been putting them in everything from old Toasters, Humidors and even one guy has built a Lego Case with these diminuative 6.5 x 6.5 inch motherboards. As mentioned above VIA and Transmeta both are represented in this form factor, with VIA actually manufacturing their own boards and Transmeta being in a proof of concept partnership to manufacture one, the latter being a bit more expensive at around $500. The recent interest in sticking computers in the trunks of cars has also spawned several Cases for these machines, some of which come with the 12v power supply built in, it's all up to you as to which way you go with the power demand though depending upon how handy you happen to be in the assembly of your machine.

I would say that these are the three major concerns in this phase of design in that they have limited variability whereas Hard Disk size, DVD or CDR, amount of Memory and other points should be dictated by the specific application and needs of the Boat and it's inhabitant.

I'll be posting some more on this subject from time to time, and invite comment and person experience from readers about this...remember, the larger our Knowlege Base the fewer times we have to make the same mistakes others have already made!

TTFN,

Your Humble Blogger.

Change of mind, or what's left of it..

I've decided to take my blog in a completely different direction. It's no longer going to be the usual "Rant Page" one finds so pervasive in the "Blogosphere", but rather a bunch of brain droppings that collect as my life has changed in that I am currently living in San Diego bay on a boat. The owner is my best friend (Name witheld for privacy) who has bailed me out so many times in the past that one wonders at how a single individual could possibly have so much patience.

I'm going to attempt to update this regulary, as so many folks who start blogs tell themselves, so we will all see how serious I am about my life's direction...think of it as a thermometer for my ambition, but in the process I can only hope that SOMEBODY gets something usefull out of it, if only a couple of laughs at the follies of an old man stuck in the self created hole clawing his way into the flow of "real life".

The primary difference...

Here we are in the throws of Democratic unrest once more. Never before in my recallection has so much mud been cast by so many from so few sides. Sadly though, the way that we define the Presidential race breaks down primarily between those who like Bush and those who are against him, with only a few "true believers" actually being for Kerry...

The only thing in all of this that I DO know thus far is that the old addage I love holds true...

"The primary difference between genius and stupidity
is that genius has it's limits."

...genius, it would seem, is not what people are looking for amongst the dyed in the wool Kerry supporters if they can choke down his voting record, his connection to France and China and his on again/off again perfect recallection of his War Record.