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- January 17, 2005
Buy Macs for your Parents, Please
January 17, 2005Read moreAs I type, I’m de-lousing a Windows PC for Diane. running it through the usual spyware / virus check isolated from the network. The complaint was that it no longer was able to connect to the Internet through NetZero. I can see why…on startup, it loaded a number of interesting resident spyware programs, all attempting to contact the network, eating CPU and memory. And since it was a minimum-spec PC with only 128MB of memory (Windows XP seems to like a minimum of 256MB), it was causing incredible slow down.
On top of the spyware situation, there was an equally crass collection of vendor-installed trialware, marketing presentations, and links to shopping websites. Everyone one of them demanding you click on them, and then trying to sell you a subscription or update before you could do anything. It is unforgivable.
I saw the same thing on my Dad’s new HP laptop…tons and tons of crapware and quick-expiring trials that constantly popped up dialog boxes to BUY BUY BUY, with no option to uninstall the offending package.
My aunt Hui-chin is going through similar trauma with her Windows XP laptop, which I’m trying to diagnose long distance with no less than three of her children. The logitech web cam software is conflicting with something else, which is causing the camera software to fail, and on top of that nothing in the computer quite works right. She has one of those annoying popups also, with some service failing on bootup and unhelpfully informing the user of this every few minutes. What crap!
These observations have lead me to the following conclusion:
Buying a PC and giving it to your parents is bound to result in heartbreak and misery for all involved.
With the advent of the $499 Macintosh, I don’t see any reason to NOT get a Mac unless you’re already tech-savvy, are a developer, are forced to use certain PC applications or VPN software for work, or are a rabid PC gamer. If you’re not one of the above, then you owe it to yourself to go to the nearest Apple Store and try out a Mac.
I may get a Mac Mini just to loan to people so they can try it out and realize that it’s a good thing.
- January 17, 2005
Off to the Airport
January 17, 2005Read moreMy sister and I dropped Dad off at the Manchester Airport this morning. We were sad to see him go…after 7 weeks of hanging out together again, I’ve relearned quite a bit about what it means to have family close by, and I already miss him. Thanks Dad! I look forward to your return visit soon!
Some domestic lessons I learned on this visit:
- You can cook a tasty meal in 30 minutes or less
- Having folded laundry is nice!
- It only takes a few minutes to wash dishes if you do them right away
- Even when you think he won’t need it, you should tell Dad you have a deep fat frier
- There’s nothing that a piece of twine and Elmer’s glue can’t fix
Some lessons I learned from watching Dad clear the Security Gauntlet at the Airport:
- Don’t pack multiple electrical appliances and metal pots in your carry-on luggage, unless you happen to like unpacking them in front of the State Trooper on duty!
- January 17, 2005
Leonardo’s Lab
January 17, 2005Read moreQuickie: Leonardo DaVinci’s Workshop Found?
I like stories where something is hidden in plain sight for years, uncovered through investigative guesswork. This sounds like one of those stories, though it’s authenticity is still in doubt:
It seems like the stuff of a mystical thriller, with army boots clicking on one side of a wall and robed monks shuffling in sandals on the other: For years, it seems, the possible importance of the frescoes was obscured by a simple wall separating the military institute from a monastery. On one side of the wall, a fresco of three birds hovers over the harsh fluorescent light of an emergency exit at the Institute for Military Geography. On the other side, a larger, ruined fresco sits at the foot of a Renaissance staircase in a 14th-century monastery. All it took to connect the two was observation, said Roberto Manes-calchi, 51, a cartographer at the military institute. “It was always here,” he said, “all we had to do was look.”
Via SciTech Daily, sorta.
- January 17, 2005
Cabbages and Power Supplies
January 17, 2005Read more
I’ve been learning important household tips from my Dad, who’s been visiting with me for the past 6 weeks. One bit of advice is to pick a cabbage by its size-to-weight ratio. If it’s heavy for its size, grab it before someone else does! Dad found an amazing cabbage that seemed to weigh as much as a bowling ball, and it served us well for many weeks in various dishes. So remember, kids: pick your cabbages wisely, and they will reward you.
On a similar note, I was researching PC power supply unit reliability because I’ve had two of them start to act flaky. My main production PC, an Athlon box assembled from parts, is having hard drive spin-up problems due to its inability to provide stable power until the PSU warms up. My main file and domain server, an ancient dual P-350 stuffed with disks, is complaining about a low voltage condition on the -5 power rail. It seems like I just replaced both these supplies a couple years ago. Thus my interest in determining reliability and quality of PSUs ahead of time.
I came across this correlation between power supply quality and weight on Directron. Their thesis is that the heavier a PSU is, the better the quality. The additional weight is attributed to thicker wires, beefier capacitors, and more studly transformer coils. You can expect to pay about 150 bucks for a decent one.
- January 16, 2005
Supermarket Saturday
January 16, 2005Read moreI usually go shopping for groceries around 10PM or later, as my local supermarket is open to midnight. Which is awesome. The reason for going late at night is that it’s generally much less crowded, and I don’t usually buy perishables vegetables and bread.
Early Saturday morning, Dad and I had to go to the bank to take care of some stuff with his account, and afterwards we dropped by the supermarket. It was a different world. Vegetables were fresher! The finest cuts of meat (cough usda choice only, though) were plentifully stocked. And there were lots of food-tasting stations, which I’d never seen outside of CostCo. When I go shopping late at night, most people are there to buy cartons of cigarettes and TV dinners…it’s an entirely different vibe.
Also new to me were the crowds of senior citizens, leisurely making their rounds of the aisles. One of them, a war veteran I think, stopped my Dad to ask him how long he’d been in this country…5 or 6 years? I told him that he’d been in the States since 1957, which took him by surprise. The woman behind him wasn’t so impressed, because our impromptu cultural exchange had disrupted the delicate flow of traffic. As we resumed our shopping, I noticed that we were the only asians in the entire supermarket; I keep forgetting that we probably stand out, especially at 1030AM on a Saturday morning at Hannaford’s.
