March 30, 2012 21

The Digital Generation

Hi-Tech Underwater Scooter For Summer

By GLENN RICHMOND ONG

MANILA BULLETIN

he scorching heat of summer is here, and one thing calls us a beach getaway! I myself am not a swimmer or a diver, but this recent hi-tech discovery of mine will surely win the hearts of aqua masters. Its called the Bladefish Underwater Scooter. Im sure most of you will agree that scuba equipment is hard to store at home when not in use, precisely because of its huge size. Not to mention the weight of the item, bringing it to diving trips makes it very cumbersome and costly (say, airport fees). The BladefishSeajet Underwater Scooter is a total opposite. It has a completely

wonderful design and concept. At first glance, youd quite give a doubt that something of its size, dimension, and weight would be able to pull a diver through the water. But it does! A specific model called Bladefish 5000 runs at a power of 240 watts with a battery of Lithium Ion 18V. It is capable of turning a whopping maximum of 550 revolutions per minute, which allows towing of the diver through the water at a maximum speed of5.25km/h of up to 40 meters in depth. With its speed and power, you would think that the battery could easily die down. But no, this lightweight gadget at 4.9kg can last between 45 to 120 minutes, depending on usage. Its built-in battery indicator gives an ample time to safely go up from the dive before it dies down.

Its also amazing that such a powerful device can get fully charged after only a short 3.5 hours, which is just enough to take a break from the first dive. Another advantage of Bladefish is its usage of Lithium Ion battery. Such batteries can be designed to fit most dimensions. It deviates from old scooters designed with a power supply, which means that theres no longer a need to endure bulky, heavy, and extremely poor batteries. In addition, Lithium Ion batteries does not have a memory charging, therefore allowing divers to charge it any time without having it fully discharged first. The Bladefish Underwater Scooter is very much ready for packing and travelling. With a dimension of approximately 38 cm x 36 cm x16 cm,

it could easily be packed in a carry-on bag. It is very much ideal not only for divers, but also for kids playing at the beach, lake or pool. For a non-swimmer like me, Bladefish has done a fantastic job of taking the un-

derwater propulsion vehicles to a notch higher, making every diver thrilled to include it as one of the diving gears. Surely, this summer would be extra techie with an underwater scooter such as this.

Cooling Computer
The days when the heat scorches the back of your neck is here. Summer is at hand and again, heat will undoubtedly affect how your computer performs. Keeping your PC upto-the-task without overheating is unquestionably one of the most important things that you have to consider. As a computer performs its invisible tasks in its innards, it gives off heat. This heat then radiates to nearby components which could spell trouble for your machine. For failsafe considerations, some computers automatically shut themselves down in the event of overheating. This could lead to loss of data, or even worse, a fried computer chip. With the importance of maintaining a stable temperature, one should take some considerations in choosing the method of cooling. The cheapest and simplest way to make your PC perform without overheating is by choosing a good CPU case. Casings should be able control the way air enters and exits the computer. A good casing should have entrance ducts for cool outside air to get in, and exit ducts to act as exhaust for the warmer air. The casing should also be able to carry a set of fans for forced airflow. The more fans, the better; but take into consideration the amount of power that can be supplied by the computer. Also some specialized fans which could be positioned in-

side the rig can also help in localized cooling. Another important consideration though is that the more the CPU is exposed to the air for cooling, the more it gathers dust that could also wreak havoc on the system. If youre more into hardcore gaming, a water cooling system is a good way to maintain a stable temperature. Think of it as the radiator inside the car. It utilizes a network of pipes going about the insides of the computer. With the colder water absorbing the warm air, the computer is then able to maintain a cool environment. Its a bit pricier than using fans and is prone to leakage, but its a lot quieter and a lot more effective. A good heat sink can also be used in helping cool off a computer. Its the silver thing with fins positioned above

your processor or your graphics accelerator. The heat sink is made out of materials which could carry away the heat from the processor and then dissipate it into the air. Its a suitable companion for fan airflow. Its silent and it has no moving parts. Its only disadvantage is that dust tends to be collected by the heat sink. A more radical alternative would be using a liquid Nitrogen cooling system. With its very low boiling point (-196 Celsius) this type of coolant is used in short overclocking (forcing the processor or GPU to function above their stable state) sessions. Experiments and records for overclocks use this kind of method. Currently AMD holds the overclocking record of a whopping 8.439 GHz with its Bulldozer chip and it uses liquid nitrogen to stabilize the processor. Be it a fan or a set of pipes,

cooling the PC is essential. I once had a gaming GPU burn the wires of my computer into crisp, and it was an agonizing experience. A general rule of the thumb though, the hotter the computer runs, the shorter is its lifespan. Just think of computer labs and companies maintaining an almost chilling temperature with the sole purpose of extending the life of their hardware. Since its summer, its high-time you get a new fan, not just for yourself but also for your computer. You can also turn on the airconditioning if electricity bill is not an object. Or just do a little bit of spring cleaning to free up the dusts that are blocking important vents for a quieter and cooler computing experience.