Month: February 2006

my chat with Apple Tech Support

I tried to work with my iStudioLink cable and GarageBand on the new iMac. Hmm. It doesn’t fit in the %^&* plug.

paul:
I had an issue with the iStudioLink cable. I took it to my Apple Store and tested in several machines. Oddly enough, it fits in PowerBooks and PowerMacs.
paul:
It doesn’t fit in iMacs.
paul:
By “doesn’t fit” I mean it doesn’t go all the way in/seat properly.
Agent:
ok, What did the Apple store suggest you as an alternative ?
paul:
They didn’t have much to offer. Working with Monster was about it. But the fact it fits in one machine (or type of machine) and not in the others makes me think this isn’t Monster’s fault đŸ˜‰
paul:
My guess is they don’t make the cables any differently now than they did, but the optical/line-in port differs between the classes of systems.
Agent:
ok,
Agent:
Paul, iwill put you to the product specialist, lets check if we have any better option, with this issue.

The upshot of it all is, Power good, i bad. iMacs can’t be used (there are some gripes about this on Apple’s page for the iStudioLink) but PowerBooks and PowerMacs are hunky dory.

Now I get to talk to AppleCare.

And if you decide to use the Apple Support Chat, make sure you are not using any kind of proxy: they mention Google Accelerator, but even my Rube Goldberg arrangement of ssh-tunnelled-through-squid was too complicated to work. I had to cut that out the route before it would work.

I suppose I need to work with Monster as well, in case they have a solution.
<grumble>

a valid question. It will never be answered (or asked of anyone who could).

Scooter Libby: What May Be Going on…:

Article II, §2, clause 1: “Section. 2. Clause 1: The President shall… have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” The president’s power to pardon is unreviewable and uncontrollable. But there is a question I want to ask a real lawyer: What kinds of discussions among whom about the exercise of the presidential pardon power rise to the level of conspiracy to obstruct justice?

Yes, indeed. A quid pro quo pardon agreement — you commit perjury to protect me/my people and I’ll pardon you — is not what the founders had in mind, I suspect.

trash talking

Oliver Willis » Superbowl XL Prediction:

I simply cannot get the image of a bunch of Niles Crane clones whooping it up for their hometown Seahawks out of my head.

Niles Crane?

<yawn> aren’t stereotypes fun?

Not sure why I should pay the slightest attention to anyone who gets their insights into the population of a major american city from a TV sitcom . . .

Of course, the manly city of Washington DC is once again watching the SuperBowl as a non-participant.

catless

This time tomorrow, we have our family vet coming over to perform the final kindness to our remaining animal companion. She was diagnosed with chronic renal failure a couple of weeks back and it’s taking its tool very quickly. Poor old thing is down to skin and bone and at 17, she wasn’t overweight.

We realized yesterday she was tipping beyond the care of modern medicine: we could prolong the inevitable with IV fluids but the stress of IV treatment and the trips there and back aren’t worth it for the diminished quality of life she’s left with.

There will be some distraught children to be consoled: they are off school tomorrow, which is one reason to do it then. They should have the option of being here for it, so we’ll have a good family cry afterwards.
<update> We couldn’t make her wait that long.
Continue reading “catless”

personal responsibility? What’s that?

CNN.com – Lawsuit: iPods may cause … eh? – Feb 1, 2006:

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — A Louisiana man claims in a lawsuit that Apple’s iPod music player can cause hearing loss in people who use it.Apple has sold more than 42 million of the devices since they went on sale in 2001, including 14 million in the fourth quarter last year. The devices can produce sounds of more than 115 decibels, a volume that can damage the hearing of a person exposed to the sound for more than 28 seconds per day, according to the complaint.
[ . . . ]
Patterson’s suit said he bought an iPod last year, but does not specify whether he suffered hearing loss from the device.

Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his attorney, Steve W. Berman, of Seattle. But that’s beside the point of the lawsuit, which takes issue with the potential the iPod has to cause irreparable hearing loss, Berman said.

Whatever happened to taking some responsibility for your actions? As the mother of my children pointed out when she showed me this, our at-the-time Six Year Old would tell us if the iPod volume was too loud when she would use it. Am I to deduce from this that she’s wiser than an adult Louisianian? We report, you decide.
Now playing: Rock ‘n’ Roll by Lou Reed from the album “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” | Get it

this just in (we get weather)

Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Washington Issued by the National Weather Service:

A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM MAY BRING HIGH WINDS TO PARTS OF
WESTERN WASHINGTON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING…
COMPUTER MODELS INDICATE THAT A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM SHOULD
BEGIN DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC ON THURSDAY…THEN
TRACK NORTHEAST TOWARD NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND FRIDAY NIGHT. A
STRONG COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO CROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON FRIDAY
NIGHT AND THE MAIN LOW WILL MOVE INLAND OVER SOUTHERN BRITISH
COLUMBIA SATURDAY MORNING.
THE FORECAST FOR THIS SYSTEM IS STILL UNCERTAIN…SINCE SMALL
CHANGES IN THE TRACK AND CHANGES IN STRENGTH CAN HAVE A BIG IMPACT
ON THE STRENGTH OF WINDS ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON.
BASED ON THE LATEST MODELS THOUGH…THE WASHINGTON COAST AND THE
NORTH INTERIOR COULD POSSIBLY HAVE HIGH WINDS AHEAD OF THE COLD
FRONT FRIDAY NIGHT…AS WELL AS SATURDAY MORNING WHEN THE MAIN LOW
MOVES INLAND.
PARTS OF THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR COULD POSSIBLY RECEIVE LOCALIZED HIGH
WINDS FRIDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT.
THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA COULD POSSIBLY RECEIVE HIGH WINDS
SATURDAY MORNING AS THE MAIN LOW MOVES INLAND.
HIGH WINDS ARE SUSTAINED WINDS (LASTING AROUND A MINUTE) OF 40 MPH
OR WIND GUSTS TO 58 MPH.
OVER THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN WASHINGTON THE WINDS MAY NOT REACH
40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 58 MPH…BUT THEY MAY BE STILL STRONG ENOUGH
TO CAUSE SOME TREE AND POWER LINE DAMAGE. WITH THE SOIL STILL
RATHER WET AROUND WESTERN WASHINGTON…TREES MAY STILL BE A LITTLE
EASIER TO TOPPLE IN VERY WINDY WEATHER.

should be an interesting couple of days.

Now playing: Oddfellows Local 151 by R.E.M. from the album “Document”

recursion

Web 2.0 Innovation Map:

The Web 2.0 Innovation Map grew out of an interest in how Web 2.0 development is distributed geographically.
Using the lists of Web 2.0 applications from various sources (see listings) and a bit of elbow grease to locate addresses, the Innovation Map was born. The locations listed here have come either from a WHOIS lookup or the contact information from the web site itself. Locations are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Interesting to see how many of these Web 2.0 shops are local.

Now playing: Mr Kennedy by The Soft Boys from the album “Nextdoorland”