OT: Lowest-power small server solutions( wandering farther )

[McFadden, Mike, A]

Chuck wrote
>Tangentially OT:
>
>I've got a friend who owns some rental property.  When a tenant moves
out, he replaces all >of the smoke detectors as a matter of routine.
Because he doesn't want to be bothered >with replacing batteries, he
equips all of them with 9v lithiums.  I've arranged for him >to give me
the castoffs, if they've been installed for only a year or so (which is
quite >common).  I've got the batteries installed in everything from my
garage door openers and >metronomes to my DVM.  Great stuff and best
when you get it for nothing. One even serves >as backup for my lawn
sprinkler system's clock.
>
Actually many smoke detectors have two 9 volt batteries one for the
detector and one for the light.  Since the light is rarely used the
battery is basically new.  Most people replace both batteries.  I
volunteer at a recycling center, we take household batteries, I have a
little handheld tester and when things are slow I test the "donated"
batteries.  I have several shoe boxes full of batteries.  I give the
scouts some of the batteries, they camp every month all year.  We had a
donation last month of 4 cases of batteries that were date expired 2
months ago, new never opened, they still work great.  
 
It's amazing what is discarded.  

One side affect of recycling in a small town is everyone knows I also
recycle/collect computers.  They appear on my door step or are dropped
off at the monthly recycling.  One of my neighbors called up and offered
me 2 PDP-11/70's and a VAX 11/785 from an engineering film.  My wife was
not very happy about the space they filled in the garage.


Mike