[windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
- From: "Sullivan, Glenn" <GSullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 09:55:12 -0400
Homegrown... started as a dBase IV that I got sick of, so I recoded it
as an access app.
Not much of a front end, because the maintenance guys don't have a PC,
so we do it for them... I've gotten used to just plunking the data into
the tables directly...
So it's really just a couple of tables and a couple of reports,
formatted to print on oak tag perforated forms, so that the maintenance
guys have something to keep to say that the job was done.
Sorry, I know that is not much help...
Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I MCDBA
David Clark Company Inc.
________________________________
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Greg Reese
Posted At: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:44 AM
Posted To: Windows 2000
Conversation: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
what program do you use for maintenance? we've been looking for one.
-----Original Message-----
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Sullivan, Glenn
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 12:05 PM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
If you end up taking the cover off of the TV, find the air
intakes, and place Dryer Sheets (like Bounce, or something like that)
near them.
Don't cover them, just put a few dryer sheets in there.
Almost all bugs, including no-see-ums, hate the smell, or
something, because it keeps them away... I learned this as an effective
method when our motion detector software that monitors the security
cameras kept tripping off. Turned out to be a spider inside of one
weatherproof enclosure on one camera, and a bunch of trapped no-see-ums
in another weather proof enclosure. Adding dryer sheets to the
enclosures solved the problem, and neither have returned.
I got a great spider-web-construction video first though...
constant motion all night long. Actually, he took about thirty 30
second breaks... ;-)
Luckily, I have a building maintenance department, and they have
a software applications to track periodic maintenance (air line filter
changes, etc...). I added "Change dryer sheets in Camera Enclosures" as
a monthly task... you should have seen the looks on their faces when
they came to ask WTF I was talking about the first time it came up on
the schedule... You will have to do something similar, so it might even
be worth making a trap door in the back of the TV so that you don't have
to remove the shell every time.
So give that a shot.
MAJOR DISCLAIMER: the inside of a TV can kill you... don't
assume that you can put your hands anywhere, even if the TV has been
unplugged for quite some time. I've gotten a noticeable shock from a TV
that has been unplugged for 6 months. Treat is as if it were plugged
in... touch nothing that you don't have to.
HTH,
Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I MCDBA
David Clark Company Inc.
________________________________
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jennifer Hooper
Posted At: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 11:54 AM
Posted To: Windows 2000
Conversation: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Heya Glenn -
That's *SO* not even funny (well, ok, it is... hysterical
even), because we live between 2 of the grodiest neighbors you can
possibly imagine, and our landlord won't do anything about the bug
infestation from them, so we have to bomb every 3 months or so to keep
our place clear of the nasty things. So we were watching TV the other
day, and over the MSNBC icon, crawls a little tiny baby roach! Inside
the screen of my 'new' 52" RCA!!!! (the cable guys that came out to fix
my DVR said that bugs *LOVE* HDTVs) WOT!?!?! So we trotted down to
Walmart and got 4 tubes of caulk and spray foam and a whole new set of
foggers, and have to tackle it again. I'll check out my computer too.
*yikes* I just hope that the bombs don't mess with the electronics too
much.
Jen
PS: If anyone has any good tips... email me off list! :D
________________________________
From: Sullivan, Glenn [mailto:GSullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 8:45 AM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Re: OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Not quite like this, but I have had the classic "bug" rear it's
head...
An employee brought their computer in because it started to
smell funny and then shut down. Turns out that a pair of cockroaches
(together, so I wonder if they were in the throes of passion of
something) had made their way to the back side of the motherboard, and
to the rear side of the motherboard power connector.
The 12v DC available at that connector made a very effective bug
zapper, until the fuse in the power supply cut out.
Of course everyone knows that is where the term "a bug in the
system" came from, but I had never had a real example until then...
Glenn Sullivan, MCSE+I MCDBA
David Clark Company Inc.
________________________________
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jennifer Hooper
Posted At: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 11:37 AM
Posted To: Windows 2000
Conversation: [windows2000] OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Subject: [windows2000] OT: Pesky whiskers zap PCs
Has anyone had this kind of trouble in their data centers?
Curiouser and curiouser... I remember the early days of clean room data
centers. Boy howdee, did that go out the window quick. Maybe with the
advent of headless blade servers, a pure environment is something to
consider (never fly in a corporate forecast these days with the costs of
implementation and maintenance, though.)
Jen
This article was emailed to you at the request of :
The sender included the following brief message :
View this article
<http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E2245069,00.html>
View The Denver Post <http://www.denverpost.com>
Pesky "whiskers" zap PCs in secretary of state's office
<http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E33%257E2245069,00.html>
By asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Aldo Svaldi
Denver Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 01, 2004 -
Small metallic fibers known as "zinc whiskers" are the likely
culprit behind crippling computer outages in the Colorado secretary of
state's office over the past three weeks.
The fibers "are blowing out the power supplies on the
computers," said Lisa Doran, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Metal on floor panels and even in computer cases can secrete
zinc crystals over time, said Rich Hill, president of Data Clean in Des
Plaines, Ill.
Zinc whiskers can appear as a light peach fuzz on a metal
surface if they grow long enough, but typically they are invisible.
Whiskers can get sucked inside computers and short out power
supplies, trip circuits and in extreme cases cause data errors, Hill
said.
Aging computer rooms and more compact computer designs have
increased the problem, Hill said.
The outages in the secretary of state's office, which
effectively halted electronic filings of business and elections
documents at www.sos.state.co.us , highlight why the state's various
websites should be brought under one authority, said Leroy Williams, the
state's secretary of technology. Legislation this year enabled the
creation of such an authority, which was financed with $7.5 million at
the direction of Gov. Bill Owens.
The secretary of state's office has begun working on a
remediation plan to clean up the whiskers, Doran said.
<http://media.mnginteractive.com/media/paper36/whisker0701g.jpg>
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or
asvaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx .
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