A lot of people have been asking me recently about general computer inquiries, one of the most common being those compressed air cans that clean out your keyboard/computer/desk/kitchen (do be warned; while using a powerful blast of compressed air to clean a room with hard wood surfaces seems like a good idea at first, your girlfriend, wife, or significant other, will come in and tell you to redo it, “the right way”).
These compressed air cans, for example Dust Off, are very helpful for cleaning out keyboards and the inside of your computer (AS LONG AS IT IS OFF AND UNPLUGGED), as it keeps things clean and running smoothly. There are a few simple guidelines to follow when using these though.
1) Never turn it upside down to use.
2) If it starts spraying out white mist stop using it immediately, (the liquid that is compressed in there is about as cold as liquid nitrogen).
3) Use only in short bursts otherwise you risk it spraying out the liquid inside which will damage anything it touches, including your skin, eyes, and anything else.
That all being said I ran into an interesting picture belonging to an article that I later read and decided to do this public safety announcement.
As seen above, this is the picture that I saw (a larger version can be found here).
My response to seeing this was sending this very sarcastic email. CAUTION! Please read with a sense of humor as this is intended to be a joke which I will explain momentarily.
(HDD stands for Hard Drive).
“Everyone knows that if you super cool your computer (in this case ram) to ultra low temperatures, then you can achieve uber gaming and performance increases. Side effects of "ram chilling" or "frost fire" include, but at not limited to; computer loading so fast that when you hit the power button it appears to do nothing at all, computer suddenly giving you new messages talking about its new advanced performance mod you just did (drive 0 not recognized, that just means its now so fast that the HDD can't keep up, in lesson 2 we talk about the "HDD deep freeze" upgrade for advanced data protection and speed; deep freeze to HDD will prevent ANYONE from accessing your data, likely forever), an unusual oder (usually a combination of the smell of burning batteries and electrical fire, but don’t worry that just means its going lightning fast, zoom zoom!), and of course erectile dysfunction.”
I will explain why what the picture shows is the last thing you want to do to anything, (there are exceptions, but the people who make Dust Off would likely sue me for talking about the, “100 alternative uses for Dust Off”).
If you hold a bottle upside down, like they are doing, it will emit vapor and liquid that comes out cold enough to make an ice tray full of water turn into an ice tray full of ice in about 2 minutes, though highly toxic. Not only that but if the computer in the picture was turned on it would likely either not turn on ever again, short circuit, or burst into flame (I am not kidding one bit). The chemicals, in vapor form, are also highly toxic and flammable. So, to make what turned into an overly long rant a bit shorter, use these condensed air can products exactly as it says on the bottle.
For alternative uses, of which there are hundreds, email me at Chris@ChrisComputing.com
