Funny, didn’t seem that cold down here. Perhaps this explains what I’m talking about.
Monthly Archive for September, 2005
Well, we moved yesterday. We’re officially “on campus.” The move, quite frankly, was swift and short. We started at about 8:30 and were completely done unloading the stuff into our apt by noon. Of course, we didn’t take a whole bunch of “stuff” with us. We left some for storage at my mum’s house, and have a good deal ready for the thrift store. We also had the help of two of my neighboors, which was great. Corinne seems to be very happy, we picked up a few things to go in the new place and Larry and I got the new entertainment center up. Now for the unpacking. Oh yeah, might I suggest, when in the downtown SLC area, Pudge Brothers Pizza. We ordered in last night and it was GREAT!
I must say, Tiger runs surprisingly well on this machine. For as old as it is, it seems to do very well considering how RAM/CPU intensive Tiger is. I spent most of the morning updating to Tiger and reclaiming data from my most recent backup. I lost a few e-mails, but I’m certainly not going to complain over that. Those things are NOT important; not like class notes and assignments at least. I’m currently making a DVD backup copy of much of my software and important documents thanks to my new LaCie DVD burner (courtesy of work). Of course, it would be nice if I had a machine that had a built-in DVD burner, then I could be even more efficient seeing as how I cannot take the external drive with me to school to work on stuff on my lunch.
Speaking of a new machine, I didn’t get a good feeling from my boss the other day when I asked him about going in on a new laptop with me. Perhaps it’s because he knows how much Apple laptops cost, perhaps not. One thing I’m going to have to remind my bosses of though is the fact that without my Mac, they would have a spent a LOT of money doing the VHS->DVD->Quicktime (h.264) conversions that I’ve been doing for training on our website. Frankly, with the amount of work I put on my iBook this summer on the website (I’ve gone well over the amount I was pre-paid) and the above-mentioned video work (not to mention that they didn’t provide me with a work machine until a few weeks ago), I bet I have literally saved them a few thousand dollars. Not such a big deal to me then when I’m just looking for a little help on the purchase of a machine that will, in the long run, save them even more money. Interestingly enough, because of the downgrade in processor that I’ve been “forced” into, I don’t think I’ll be able to move back into much video production as rendering will take 3x as long as it previously did. I simply don’t have the time to let a video render for 24-36 hours straight while not having much use of my computer. So, I guess we’ll see where that situation takes us, eh?
Regardless of the above situation, as I mentioned in my last post, I’m glad to at least have a computer. If I plan on using this machine for a while, there are a few things that I’ll have to do. First, I’ll have to upgrade the battery to one that has 50% more capacity than the original (which is already at 1/2 it’s original capacity). Second, I need to replace the clutch hinges on the screen. They’re not broken - or even close to it - but I need to make this machine last seeing as how it will become Corinne’s primary machine once I’ve been able to get a new one. Third, I think a CPU upgrade is in order. I can move up to a G4/500Mhz board, installed, for under $300. That may be worth the investment. Finally, I think that I hard drive upgrade may be in order. I could put an 80Gb drive in the machine and that would really set me for a few more years. All in all, those things will have to come with time and the decision to do anything other than the battery will be heavily weighed upon by how fast I’m able to allocate funds for a new PowerBook.
Comparing the feature-set of this computer verses other machines that were out at the time, I can see why these Pismos made such a HUGE impact. Not only are they feature-packed, but they look cool as well. Ever seen any other laptop with a bronze keyboard? I can’t think of any. 10/100 Ethernet, video out, Firewire, USB, sound input, and S-Video are all features that still add up to make a powerful little unit. Not bad for a nearly 6-year-old machine.
UPDATE: I spoke with my boss on Monday and he indicated that the company would help me out on a laptop. :)
OK…so…yeah. After all of my touting of my iBook, the thing died. I don’t know if it’s my fault or not (it has taken quite a beating), but regardless it’s dead. I got the call from the local Mac store the other day, I guess the logic board crapped out. Unfortunate for me. I called my Dad and was whining about my misfortune when he told me to call my uncle Rick, who has been a Mac aficionado since 1988. I got on the horn with him yesterday afternoon and a little while later was down at his shop. He still has every Mac he’s bought since 1988. It’s quite a sight. Anyway, I helped with a few computer glitches and an hour later was out the door with two laptops. I now have a PowerBook 5300 series and the FIRST PowerBook G3 model. Both are old computers, but in fairly good shape. “Perhaps”, I thought, “this could work for school.” After some testing, I realized I was wrong. The batteries just wouldn’t make it.
So, I promised him that I’d take a look at his network this weekend, so I called him today to see if he would meet me down at his shop for an hour or so. Since Corinne has not been feeling well, I took Milaena down with me and set to work fixing a few problems. I set his computers up so that he could access his billing system from home and then fixed a double-NAT issue he had going on between his airport base station and his DSL modem. Neatly enough, after that he presented me with a VERY classic PowerBook G3 (codename Pismo) with a bronze keyboard. The lappy has a 500Mhz G3 processor, 512MB of RAM and an 18Gb drive. Oh yeah, this is the first PowerBook to have onboard FireWire ports too. Rawk! Best of all though, is that it is running OS X 10.3.9. No dead pixels, not even any scrapes on the lid! What a LIFESAVER! I’m so thankful that he did what he did.
So, this is my first post from my new-to-me and VERY well-conditioned PowerBook Pismo. I’m happy to have such a classic machine, but even more happy to have any machine. Thanks Rick. :)
Fall Is Here
Today is wonderful. The air outside is crisp, but not cold. Fall is in the air. The sun feels like it’s sitting a little lower in the sky. The leaves have yet to turn, but will likely do so quickly as the morning frost begins to settle in. For those of you who haven’t noticed yet, fall is my favorite time of year. This year, it’s extra special. I’ve not been in SLC for fall for five years and I forgot how much I missed it.
In St. George, the seasons come and go with little, if any, notice. Ogden, though in Northern Utah, was a bit the same way it seemed though I did get a whif of fall during October. Summer turned to winter with hardly a cool breeze. Even though it didn’t snow much at all last year, summer seemed to bypass fall and winter absconded with the colorful leaves and crisp morning air.
While Corinne, Milaena and I were out for lunch today, it occured to me that fall was here. Frankly, I’m happy to see it. Being here in Midvale, it hit me especially hard. I once wrote a poem about fall, I’ll have to find it. I remember very clearly my younger days in which I was forced into the moist morning air on my way to school and those memories, however strange they may seem, strike a deep chord in my psyche. I know that in reality, those weren’t the best times of my life, but for some reason the memory of fall puts a glow on them that makes them feel warm and joyful; like standing in a sunset.
Unfortunately, like the sunset, the fall season fades almost as quickly as it appeared. Its striking beauty and comforting aromas disappear, not unlike my long shadow after then sun has finally set. At least though, here in Salt Lake, I get to truly remember what it is I so love about fall.