I am now iMac-less. My G5 iMac has been taken in for "repair". I suspect that it is a PMU or motherboard problem. It had developed a tendency to just switch off with no warning. Longest it would run was about an hour before acting like the plug had been pulled. I did all the recommended checks and from checking Apple Discussion forums it seems like it is a PMU issue.
I had to fix up a mobile air con unit to blow cold air onto the Mac just in order to allow Time Machine to complete a back up. Then, after scrubbing all my data from the damn thing, it then ran the rest of the day and all night without shutting down...
So now it is in for repair - but I suspect that it will be a case of "No Fault Found" after they have had it for 10 days...
Meanwhile i am using my G3 iBook...
27 February 2008
Macless...
The Earth moved for me...
Not a regular event here in the UK, but last night we had an earthquake.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) reported that the epicentre of the 5.3 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.
I was awake watching TV at the time and the house 'trembled' for a few seconds - no rattling of windows as during previous big tremors. Just a gentle shake...
21 February 2008
If I had the money...
Joining the designs of Huf Haus on my list* of things I'd like to have, if I could afford them, are the eco homes built by Baufritz.
What is it about German companies like these that make house building appear so simple. Everything prefabricated off site in a modern factory. Then transported to the building site and usually up and with a roof on and water tight within a matter of days.
Efficient I think the word is.......
*Want one...
And Maybe One Of These...
I'd like to thank.....
Seems that someone thought PPX worthy of an award.
I hope that I fall into the first category or maybe somewhere in between...
I'm off to celebrate.....
(Thanks Jane)
20 February 2008
Nicht Elefantrannen...
A recent Fifth Gear TV programme road tested the BMW 653D across Europe, in search of the cheapest diesel in Euroland. The presenter was hoping for the chance to see how this oil burning Beemer performed on the unrestricted autobahns in Germany but it would seem that the roads there are as clogged as the ones here. The Germans have a word for the spectacle of trucks driving side by side trying to overtake and causing long tail backs - "Elefantrennen" or "Elephant Race"
Sounds similiar to what happens on a lot of our roads....
Time for a new set of roadsigns maybe? Elefantrennen verboten....
Backpack boneheads...
After my recent Macworld trip I thought I had seen the back of the phenomenon known as Rucksack Rage.
But no, I discovered that backpack bumping is as prevalent over here as it is in the crowded confines of the Moscone Centre. Today I was stood in line waiting for my coffee, plated muffin in one hand, when my elbow was jostled. It took all of my balancing skills to stop the top heavy muffin spinning off the plate and onto the floor. The cause of this test of my reactions? It was some elephant of a female wearing a backpack. She knew she had made contact as she looked at me but she obviously thought it was not worthy of an apology.
So why do backpack wearers have so little consideration for others in crowded areas? In line for the keynote at MWSF there was a group of Germans who were pushing their way to the front of the crowd waiting to be let onto the hall. They were using their loads like Panzer tanks in a backpack blitzkrieg crushing all resistance to the left and right.
There were just as many examples of ignorant people later on amongst visitors to the expo floor. In the melee of people around various booths you were taking the risk of being crushed between backpacks if you dropped your guard. Some of these backpacks were more suited to a two week expedition up the Himalayas to a day on the floor of a hall in San Francisco!
Anyway, good job I was in a relatively mellow mood today otherwise there may well have been a bunfight at the coffee corral...
17 February 2008
Elvis has left the building...
...and he is living at the back of my house. The lighter evenings and early onset of spring have meant that the neighbourhood Elvis is crooning sooner than previous years.
Confused? I have, what I can only assume is, an Elvis impersonator living nearby. Last couple of years he'd crank up his amp and blast out 'classic' Elvis tunes. There is an old railway carriage in the garden which he has turned into a 'studio' and he has the habit of leaving the door open so the whole neighbourhood can suffer his fecking awful attempts at singing!!!!
I enjoy the odd song, sung well, but this guy doesn't do that.
I just wait for this Elvis to vacate the building......
06 February 2008
05 February 2008
You're 'aving a larf...
Great news - Apple iPhone now comes in a 16GB version.
While it is priced in the US at $499, here in the UK we will have to cough up £329* - that is $646 at todays exchange rate. And if someone in Germany wants to buy one it will cost them €499. That is $730!
If the Orange unlocked versions are priced anywhere near the €750 figure I have seen bandied about (€649 for phone and €100 for unlocking) we are talking about $1098 - for that price you could buy a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook!
C'mon Apple - stop taking the piss out of us Eurolanders...
*Not including the £630 O2 are bleeding us for on the lowest tariff...
03 February 2008
XLII...
Superbowl XLII starts in about 30 minutes - might stay up and watch it. Been some years since I last watched any games.
I followed the Vikings for many years - who will I route for this time?
