So. It’s the CPU. Definitely. I mean, definitely according to my Intuiton (TM).

Naturally, eBay’s only been offering whiz-bang upgrade cards, which run about $100, and I completely missed a 233Mhz card (in Seattle, yet) yesterday. I mistook myself earlier when I noted that Bellerophon has a 300Mhz CPU – it’s a 233.

I have been struggling to compile the system-level image manipulation tools that enable stuff like photo uploads, something that takes upwards of 12 hours of 100% CPU activity.

I finally have jury-rigged a contraption anyone’s grandpappy would be proud of: I opened a dead outboard SCSI hard-drive, disconnected the drive itself, and pulled out the housing fan so I can position it independently to cool the laptop’s heat sink. Then, I set up a system of shims made from cork and toothpicks to float the keyboard off the surface of the heatsink, allowing the fan to move the hot air out.

I’d post a picture, but, um…

Well, maybe I will anyway.

UPDATE: Interestingly, the other image tool I set up many moons ago, NetPBM, works fine. I think I saw where the 2.51 upgrade to Moveable Type supports NetPBM now; purrhaps I’ll look into it more deeply.