Measuring Heat with PSensors in Ubuntu Linux

Is your laptop getting hot?  How hot?  Is it a hazard?  Are you getting into a range where you might damage components?  If you want to get a handle on heat, there is an application called Psensors that monitors the temperatures of critical components.  I used it to diagnose a problem and then took decisive action to clean up my old laptop, unclog vents, and fans, and really bring down my laptop temperatures.  For more information, check out my article --

Notes from a Linux Novice 3:  Handling Laptop Heat with Ubuntu and Psensors

A N00b does an Ubuntu install!

It's always nerve-wracking to leave a familiar operating system behind.  You worry about your data.  You worry about your computer.  You worry about challenges that may come up.  There are lots of things to worry about when you decide to switch to Linux.  Of course, having a semi-functional Windows Vista machine made my decisions easier.  Here are my notes on my Ubuntu 12.04 LTS install:

Notes from a Linux Novice 2:  Replacing Windows Vista with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangoline

Pangoline Skeletons, By Sklmsta (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Why I Chose Linux

This week is all about the release of Windows 8.  It looks like an interesting product.  People will get to know its new features, its pricing schemes, and how it does in the marketplace against Apple products.  People will want to know whether Windows 8 is the salvation of Microsoft and of the PC.  I won't be one of those people for awhile.

I chose a different path and here is my story.  It's a story of a machine trying to survive.  My humble Acer Aspire 5515 laptop worked like a champ for three years -- even running Windows Vista.  However, this passed spring, I installed McAfee Total Protection 2012.  I had trouble with it.  Sometimes the product would forget that I was a registered user.  Twice I had to turn control of my PC over to their tech support in India to fix the problem.  Then, they distributed a bad software patch.  They sent a message and a link for rolling it back.  I tried that.  It didn't work.  It left my machine very unstable.  I had trouble saving files.  I had trouble getting some software to run. I took McAfee off my machine and my wife's machine and spent about $90 for Norton security software.  Yet, my machine was still a cripple.

I struggled for about a month and then I started using a LiveCD that came with a copy of Ubuntu User magazine that I found in the book store.  That's when the turnaround came.  I decided to install a whole new operating system.  I chose Linux.  Here are some of the reasons why:

Notes from a Linux Novice:  Why I Chose Linux Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Over Windows 8