Gravitational Pull - Latest Comments

Re: All I ask is a full-frame and a single mirror to sail her by

Brian — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:01:37 -0000

The 5dmk2 is looking at $2700, to be available at the end of November 2008. I've always wanted the "5D" full-frame but again, it's a cost issue, and the prices haven't quite dropped down enough yet. =( If I was pro, and making $100/hr for my photos, I could justify it, but unfortunately... not yet. =(
http://bobatkins.com/photography/digital/canon_...

But Bob thinks maybe soon APS-C will disappear as full-frame becomes less expensive. "The sole reason we have APS-C sized sensors is cost and availability."
http://photo.net/oped/bobatkins/full_frame.html

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

Partners in Grime — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:08:35 -0000

My resistance is lessening. Anything older than 30 years goes. :)

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

Mr. Reeee — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:13:37 -0000

I have my files archived and installers for current versions of software, which can usually open old files. Archives of disk images and a database of all my serial numbers.

I found an old utility, CanOpener 5.0 which can actually crack into old text, image and sound files. I was able to look into old WrtieNow word processing files to see what was there.

I flipped through the boxes, got aggressive, went through it again and chucked 90% of of the stuff. It took a few hours. I had printed lists of the stuff in the boxes when I packed it, so some of the sorting and identifying had been done whenever.

It's surprising how much of the stuff was beyond useless.

Did I really need software that would only run on pre-PowerPC Macs? NO.
Would I ever find an old Mac IIcx and resurrect the stuff? NO.
Did I really need Classic Mac OS software? NO.

Manuals... gone. Did I EVER even open them?
Floppies... gone.
CD's of old versions... gone.

The other bonus? My girlfriend was VERY happy to see all that junk GONE!

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

Mr. Reeee — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:01:13 -0000

One more thing...

I've used VectorWorks for years, since MiniCAD 2. I kept telling myself, someday I'll translate all those files.

So, I sat down one recent rainy weekend, found and translated EVERY design project file I'd worked on since 1991! I had to run every file through 2 or even 3 translations (for the really old ones).

MiniCAD 3 to 5, MiniCad 5 to VectorWorks 7. VectorWorks 7 to VectorWorks 2008.
Luckily VectorWorks 2008 has an extremely smart batch file translator.

It really wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be.
Now I don't have to think about those what-ifs any more. And it was pretty cool to see all the stuff I'd designed and projects I'd worked on over all that time.

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

ampressman — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:02:15 -0000

Wow! Everything? But it sounds like you went through it all carefully,
first?

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

Mr. Reeee — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:52:12 -0000

This article hits home.

I'd saved every piece of software and manuals since 1989. I forced myself to do a review.

Did I really need WriteNow 2.0? Lotus 1-2-3 1.0? Excel 2.2? MiniCAD 2.0? Photoshop 1.0? Canvas, UltraPaint, PixelPaint Pro, MacRenderMan, tons of utilities, fonts, games, etc.. Original installer disks for EVERY Mac System software release from System 6.0.2 all the way up to Mac OS X10.5. I had them all, even Mac OS X Public Beta. I'd even made disk images of lots of older installers stored on magneto-optical disks.

Did I REALLY need this stuff? Would I EVER use it?

SO... I threw everything away except the most recent stuff, manuals and all.
It was at least 7 or 8 bankers boxes full of floppies, CD-ROMs and manuals.

I DID keep some things that directly related to my work or being able to update files at some point. I keep an old Titanium PowerBook around to boot into Mac OS 9, if I need to.

It was liberating.

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

Rob Dern — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:11:23 -0000

Back before school testing swamped everything a few years ago, I had, in my second grade class, a take-apart table with pliers, screwdrivers, etc. You should have seen the kids gawk when I brought out the Royal manual typewriter and the one piece 33-45-78 record player that I had dug out of my basement. "My grandma told me about them once," said one of them.

Re: How much old software should you save? Me? Too much.

Pakrat — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:16:34 -0000

Time to come out of the closet, my pack rat bro! :)

Re: Review: iTunes 8 is nifty but in need of a few tweaks

Mark Cahill — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:28:45 -0000

Vista 32 and 64 bit users are reporting BSOD with the iTunes 8 release. http://www.geek.com/itunes-8-brings-new-functio...

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

Ted Landry — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:22:39 -0000

Nice story, but the issue still wasn't resolved in an easy / timely manner. The underlying problem is those keyboards should be designed to be swappable. G3 & G4 iBooks were designed this way, thus a customer in this situation could be sent home with a 5 minute fix. A laptop keyboard remains one of the top fail points, and Apple's increasing direction is to make fixing them more costly and time consuming for the customer and the Apple Stores themselves. No wonder you had to wait 20 extra minutes, it's all related to poor "future repair" design.

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

Bob, again — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:20:02 -0000

The "tech support line" is AppleCare, and not connected to the retail division. AppleCare folks can set up mail-in repairs for you, but they don't deal with retail stores (or third-party service providers) directly at all. They're trained NOT to make promises ("set expectations") about what someone else may or may not be able to do. After all, how would they know whether someone else has the right keyboard in stock (there are TONS of slightly different, incompatible keyboard models out there).

From the call center perspective, the easiest thing is just to set up a mail-in repair and go on to the next call.

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

ampressman — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:13:14 -0000

I didn't know that. It's really weird that they didn't mention this as an
option when I called on the tech support line, don't you think? They almost
tried to dissuade me from taking my laptop into the store.

On Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:19:05 -0000, "Disqus"

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

Bob — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:18:57 -0000

It's cool that you like this, and I don't know exactly where Chestnut Hill is, or how long that store's been around, but Apple has done this (replacing key caps or keyboards) in the store since the chain opened in May of 2001. I was there. ;o)

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

anonymoose — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:50:11 -0000

Replacing a MacBook Pro keyboard is not "trivial". Tiny screws, sticky plastic film, tiny connectors; you have to be careful to not mess up the backlight.

It's not a 2 minute swapout.

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

ampressman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:07:14 -0000

True the price is high - but the price for fixing keyboards in my experience -- when ole' butterfingers me is to blame -- has always been high. What I loved was that they can do it locally now instead of taking away my MBP for a week or more AND charging me the big premium.

On the phone, before going in to the store, I asked Applecare to send me a new keyboard to install myself, which I thought I did way back when with an old iBook. But they said they can't do that on the MBP.

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

monoclast — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:50:33 -0000

Mr Bungle wrote:

"$85 dollars for a 2 minute swapout? NICE"

At first, I though he may have meant that the *total* was $85 with labor. But it certainly could be that Apple, like most other repair centers, charges a minimum hour fee for service. If that hourly rate is $85 an hour, that means you'll pay $85 - even if it takes them only 2 minutes.

It was the customer who damaged the keyboard being replaced. I guess in your world, Apple should just eat the cost?

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

monoclast — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:44:59 -0000

The "F" key on the aluminum keyboard that came with my Mac Pro started sticking recently, and finally started to come completely off the keyboard right after I noticed a small, white piece of plastic come out of the crack between the plastic key and the aluminum frame. I brought the keyboard to the nearest Apple store (we have two here in Austin, Texas), grabbed someone in an orange shirt, and explained the problem. He asked me if I had an appointment first thing. I'm sure the surprise was visible on my face when I replied "I need an appointment for something like this??". He then said he'd check with the manager to see if he could squeeze me in, which took about 10 minutes, because the place was packed and he was helping other customers at the same time. After this 10-or-so-minute wait, he walked out from the back of the store, asked for the keyboard, and disappeared into the back of the store again. A couple minutes later, he returned with my keyboard saying they had replaced the "F" key. All in all, it was a pleasant experience, considering just how busy these guys are. I'm a satisfied customer. : )

Re: Apple fixing broken keyboards right in the store

Mr Bungle — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:18:38 -0000

$85 dollars for a 2 minute swapout? NICE

Re: Links to keep up with Kindle news and commentary

Len Edgerly — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:53:34 -0000

Aaron, thanks for alerting me to the oversight of not having an "About" link at The Kindle Chronicles. I am indeed a retired journalist (The Providence Journal-Bulletin among other places) as well as a poet and podcaster living in downtown Denver and Cambridge, Mass. I have this on my To Do list!

Re: New Mac hardware seems long overdue

6 pack abs diet — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:45:02 -0000

That X300 is a mean machine. You're right. Apple's foundational hardware business could use a little pledge because it's getting dusty. The competition is no longer leaps and bounds behind Apple and I hope they recognize that. Overconfidence is dangerous.

Re: Phew, the new season of Entourage is almost here

eye cream — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:24:42 -0000

Whew, that was close. I almost went to check out the teaser. Thanks for the spoiler warning. I thought the drought would never end. Entourage makes it rain.

Re: New Mac hardware seems long overdue

MOAT — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:22:21 -0000

The mini has certainly been forgotten in the wake of unique imac and macbook designs. It has been rumored that the new notebooks are going to come out near or on september 9th, but I doubt it will be that soon. Regardless, the current and past systems are still quite exceptional.

Re: Links to keep up with Kindle news and commentary

Jim Cheshire — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:55:28 -0000

Aaron,

I really appreciate the mention of my Decoding the Kindle blog.

Jim
decodingthekindle.com
thekindle.info

Re: About

ampressman — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:33:11 -0000

Great point. I've added a line that I live near Boston, Massachusetts
in the USA...

Re: About

Fernando — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:26:43 -0000

rung=ring