So what, exactly, did I learn...?

Whether I push air in or suck air out with the fan that's been the subject of several words over the past ten or so days, it doesn't do any good... at least not in the current incarnation. I suspect it has to do with the fact that the air really has to be moving to overcome the effect of some portion of the stream not coming from or going to, respectively, where it is supposed to go.

The fan in the VAIO is placed strategically so that it forces air directly through a set of heat sink fins. My fan blows air into or out of the case, and thus, some portion - a lot, I suspect - of the flow never comes near the CPU heat sink.

Gotta go...

Cheers...

Hummingbirds and the territoriality question...

Eight years ago, when we bought the house here in Colorado, the seller made us promise to keep feeders out for the local hummingbird population. This we did with pleasure, enjoying the sight of dozens of hummingbirds feeding outside our windows.

Observing them, I noticed there was not much territorial behavior among the birds. Oh, sure, a few individuals would make a ruckus and, on occasion, chase away other birds for some reason best known to the avian mind, but in general, everyone got a turn at one of the fake plastic flowers that was fed by a huge reservoir of sugar-and-nutrient solution.

I suppose our tenant didn't carry on the tradition, or maybe it's still too early in the season (August?), but the feeder we have installed now doesn't get anywhere near as much traffic. In fact...

There's this one hummer who, I am certain, believes the feeder to be its personal fiefdom. The other day, I was sitting on the porch admiring the view when I noticed that if any other hummer approached the feeder, it would be chased away. The chasing bird would abandon the chase after a few tens of yards and zoom back to a vantage point on a bare twig of a pine tree located about 15 yards from the feeder and resume its station.

When any other (or, likely, the same) bird came back, the waiting hummingbird would come roaring in like a miniature interceptor - its outline reminds me a little of the Phantom F-4 - and chase away the interloper.

And then break off the pursuit and resume stationkeeping on the same twig.

This cycle repeated itself around 5 or 6 times in a couple of minutes. When I stood up, the sentinel abandoned its position in the pine and flew off to a larger pine about 20 yards further from me.

The hummers are very skittish. They immediately lose interest in feeding if I turn my head in response to their approach (which is very audible, and will never cease to remind me of Florida palmetto bugs, which are a kind of flying giant cockroach).

So far this season, I have only seen two hummingbirds at the same time. I had hoped to see dozens. I hope it's just early.

Cheers...