I'm err, now accepting donations to the "build Ben a new computer" fund. I'm really not sure what happened, but when I turned it on today at lunch the sound it made was horrible. I don't know if this was the problem or what, but two of the fans on the computer (CPU and BIOS fans) stopped working and I think it might have overheated the system. I have another theroy as well, but I can't back it up t all: When I touched the back of the computer my fingers went numb, a lot like when you might touch something that hadn't been properly grounded. However I can't tell if this was because I was gripping the box too tightly and it cut off circulation to my fingers. (For a few seconds?) This would explain two things: 1. Before I turned off the box this morning I looked at voltages and the -5v was actually running at -4.3v it's possible some of the return current was bleeding off into the box itself. Also the noise I heard when I turned the box on this afternoon was like weird feedback through a speaker. (Also slightly like a HD crashing, but louder.) I wonder if it could have been electricity flowing through the PC speaker causing those sounds. Either way (sorry for the tech-talk) I am now down to just my laptop.
It's been a bad day for technology.
~B.