32 inch computer monitor

otherwise known as our TV, which I’m using as an external monitor for my MacBook via a cable I just bought, because cables are a heck of a lot cheaper than new MacBook LCD units, which is what would be needed to restore my laptop to fully working order. Done through Apple, the repair would [...]

Actually it’s fine, as long as you don’t need more than the upper left corner of the screen

Well, I suppose I can be thankful I was wearing my backpack when my feet went out from under me on some very slick ice yesterday and I slammed flat on my back on the brick walkway. The backpack may have kept me from hitting my head. I bumped an elbow a little but I [...]

FOSS drawing on the Mac

Usually I don’t have very serious drawing needs on my Mac. MacWorks/AppleWorks used to be sufficient back in the day, and it still runs on my old iMac, but not on my MacBook and the iMac won’t be around forever. And iWork doesn’t have real drawing capability.
So what to use? I like OpenOffice.org fairly well [...]

Lo, I am become Madge

At a yard sale yesterday I picked up this, despite its being broken:

It was too cute not to take it, especially given the price of $2.
It looks like the battery (or the charging circuit) is shot, but if plugged in it actually boots into Windows 98.

Then it complains it can’t write to the C drive.
Anyway, [...]

Happiness is AppleCare, at least if they're doing it right

I’ve had my MacBook for about a year and a half now. I’m not big on extended warranties most of the time, but for a laptop? AppleCare. No question.
Until last week I’d used it twice.
Once a DVD (from the library, and due soon!) got stuck in the DVD drive and wouldn’t eject. [...]

A good weekend

Kenny had Wednesday off from school, so I took him to day care. I left work early, picked him up, and took him with me to the Apple Store where I handed over my MacBook for repair. The hard drive’s hosed. Not a disaster. It’s under AppleCare, and nothing on the [...]

It's fixed

Yesterday my MacBook’s power adaptor seemed to die. No light, and the battery wasn’t charging.
This morning I called AppleCare, and they suggested doing a reset of the laptop’s power system. (Unplug it, remove the battery, hold the power button down 5 seconds.) Now things are working again.
So now you don’t have to [...]