My desktop decided to crap out on me and I am currently in the process of resuscitating it. The problem’s either the power supply or the motherboard (and it looks likely to be the former). But between this and deadlines, I’ve become a frantic monkey. Bear with me.
[UPDATE: After a barebones cardboard boot, I've traced the problem. The mobo appears to be pretty much dead, in that the power is inconsistent, shutting on and off. I'm RMAing this bastard and grabbing a new one. I hope to be back in action tonight.]
[UPDATE 2: After many trips to Datavision and J&R, I'm desktopless for the time being, and going to give up for now so that I can beat these deadlines.]
[UPDATE 3: Just about back in business on the desktop. Turns out that it was a power supply/heating issue, remedied by a Zalman CNPS9500 LED fan (which I highly recommend over the shitty Cooler Master fans). Hope to respond to email I received in the last few days quite soon. As to the Mac acolytes who offered snarky comments, in the time it took for me to rectify my hardware problem, you'd likely be waiting for a reservation at the so-called Genius Bar. No thanks. I'm the kind of guy who likes to know what's under the hood.]
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (
How many times does this have to happen before you get a MAC?
What Bud said.
Oh Ed… You need to drink the Apple Kool-Aid. I’ve given up on the traditional Windows PC. Last summer I sent my HP Laptop in for repairs. Four months later and many phone calls later I finally got a new laptop with Vista on it. (I think they lost my original laptop)
This year when I went to MacWorld Expo my MacBook Pro (work computer) had a battery problem. I made an appointment at the so called “Genius Bar” and 15 minutes into the diagnosis they gave me a brand new battery. You can’t beat that type of customer service.