Blue Screen of Death - Coming to an Apple Near You

The Apple I used to know and love was a friendly, happy company – the lovable big guy on the block who would take on all comers and put flowers in their gun barrels. The guy to whom you could go to with all your problems and who would say, "No problem! I've got that covered." He was a welcoming dude with a living room as large as however many people wanted to jump into it. Those days are over.

I understand, somewhat, that an iPhone software upgrade broke the hacks that opened the phone (well, transportable mini-super computer, actually) to extreme litigation by the people we used to call Ma Bell. Hacking and breaking are, after all, illegal and hobbies akin to stealing. I'm all for paying people for the work they do.

I understand also that if you want to make really cool software that runs happily on Mac OS you need to make a fianacial contribution and join the club. If I had put a lot of time and effort into making a really efficient system with features that border on AI, I'd want anyone who wanted to mess with it to show some commitment, too.

iPhone users got their warning. iMac users didn't. Or if they did it was only in media that doesn't get to me.

Last night I watched a DVD on my brand new iMac running Jaguar. When I was finished I shut down the system and went to bed. This morning I started it up and launched Safari. Or tried to. Safari wouldn't launch. I launched Firefox. Okay. I have Firefox up and running. So, what's up with Safari?

I ran the Update Software utility. Three updates were waiting for me. I installed them. The updates required restart. I restarted. Voila! Blue screen of death (although it's a much nicer blue than the dozy one) followed by the Welcome Screen. Like, where has all my personal information gone? No problem. I enter it all again, click continue and I'm back at the Welcome Screen. After about five retries (yes, I am persistent) I give up and call Apple. It's too early for California – they're all still in bed (ty 1-800-MYAPPLE).

Fortunately, I still have my old (non-Intel) G4 and can look up solutions on the Apple website. I try the least destructive solution: removing ApplicationEnhancer.bundle and it doesn't work. The next solution jumps way back to 1995 with what we used to call a "Clean Install" of the system. That's what I'm doing right now and have been doing for over an hour.

Dear Mr. Jobs, please send a warning next time you want to boot out my system enhancers (of which I have none – is this an Apple vs. Adobe thing? Do you have a bee in your bonnet about Tasty Aps?) and rob me of 2 hours of production time. I'm happy to remove substandard items from my machine or at least to set aside needed time to fix something. I'm not happy with this new bully on the street. Put him away, please.

Normally I would not be writing this sort of thing but I've watered the plants, fed the dog, swept the floors and there is still time left over to be angry about having to reinstall my system. Fortunately, I've been using Time Machine. The most I will lose is one day. Yes, I did consider restoring the system with Time Machine, but that option removes everything on the hard drive. Theoretically I would get it all back in the restore but, no, thank you. I've been there and done that. There's always some little nit that I dearly loved which turns out to be irreparably damaged or gone AWOL.

Argggh!! Well, now I have time to take a shower and get dressed. And take the dog for a walk ... and watch the sun rise over the neighborhood ... and ...

What color is your idea?

Here's mine—inspired, of course, by my favorite place. Pick yours and post the link. Dreaming in color not required ... or maybe it is.

My Second Life

My Second Life

Second Life is a game that simulates a virtual world. In Second Life (SL) you can do everything you can do in Real Life (RL) and more. Actually, you don't do it - your avatar does. An avatar can be everything from a human to an abstract notion, although most are barbies and he-men. Anyone can create a seductive pole dancer or hulking macho biker guy.

SL is wonderland laid out like an ancient map (here there be dragons) on a grid. The place names are whimsical (Delphi Vistano), realistic (Frankfurt Nord), esoteric (Gourdnak) and commercial (Freebie Heaven). You can wander down a re-creation of The Beatles era Liverpool and drop into the Cavern Club. Visit NASA and wander through a historical exhibition of space vehicles. Browse art created by a RL geisha in training. Some universities have SL-based courses. Yep. Go to college. Play a game. Get graded. Graduate. You can attend a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous or participate in a guided imagery circle meditation. You are limited only by your imagination, server lag and the amount of time you can keep your keister in a chair.

Flying is my favorite thing to do (much like in a dream except you don't have to put your arms out like superman or do that heavy air swimming thing). And then there's the dancing. I'm happy teleporting around playing the free game and doing free stuff (there's plenty of it). Others run their own sims (locations), have private islands and do and wear the best that money can buy. This interactive simulation is always on. At any given time there are around 47,000 participants. Over a million users have signed up. You can meet players from all over the world.

There are tons of interest groups (you're only allowed to join 25). There is an active community creating blogs and sites that focus on SL while linking it to RL. So, you can be offline while online. You can try something in SL you wouldn't dream of doing in RL. Musicians have gotten started this way. Some perform only in SL.

What else you find in SL? Eternal life, as in no one ever dies. Drink all you want and never get drunk. There are money trees where you can pluck free Lindens (the SL currency named after SL's founders). And, yes, free sex, heavy armory and animals that will eat you (if you like that sort of thing).

The catch is that you need a high end computer and high speed internet access to play. Really. That's it. Go play.

V-day My Way

Yahoo! avatars have their uses! I also watched a couple of un-Valentine videos. You should try it.

And then there is that other "V."

Note: This avatar image will change as I update my avatar. For V-day I had my avatar standing with a big hole in her chest and holding her beating, bleeding heart in one hand. You had to be there.

My Chemical Romance

American Chemical Society: home of Molecule of the Week. This week: Cryptoxanthin with structure "identical to that of β-carotene except that it has a hydroxyl group" (but of course you knew that). I wish they had a little widget for my blog.

Check out the lead story: "Relax with a Radical." Just what I need. The site is available in 7 languages (including English). Wow! I love hanging out with chemists. I don't want to be one, just hang out and sort of listen over their shoulder. I'm looking for a graphic design and/or writing gig with a chemical company. Let me know if you hear of anything. I am, basically, interested in working with any scientific research-based company. I just love those freaky scientists. They do the most interesting things and are so creative.

In the 90s I had a brief temp job at ICI at the research facility in New Jersey where they fool around with foam. The lab manager actually took me on a private tour to show me what they do and I got to meet the top researcher. He was a pleasant loner who often hung out at the lunch table with the technicians. He showed me a bit of what he was doing. Such a nice guy. I often saw him walking around campus clutching a sheaf of papers and smoking a pipe. One of the technicians told me he had no idea why this researcher hung out at his table because they just talked about basic chemistry stuff. (They also laughed a lot.) Reminded me of Einstein's comment that he got some of his best ideas talking to children.

When I told my onsite ICI manager that I was interested in research, she transferred me to a physics lab with a spare computer where I did whatever it was I was doing at the time (not physics, I can tell you that). However, I was too shy to ask what all the machines were for. I settled for sneaking looks at the operators and wondering what the heck they were doing. It looked so cool. Every now and then someone would bring in rigid foam samples and the team would do things to them with the machines. All just like in high school science class with notebooks and everything. Talk about applied knowledge!

Perhaps that's what I love so much about science. It's where creativity meets applied knowledge.

Remember now! If you hear of any artist/writer jobs at a science company, hook me up!

the best resistance

Die beste Art sich zu wehren, ist sich nicht anzugleichen.
–Marc Aurel (121-180)





The best form of resistance, is not to adapt.

My Bad Eastern Promises

Okay. I was a little harsh reviewing Viggo in Eastern Promises, which goes to show me that I shouldn't review thespians I admire right after watching a performance. I have this way of expecting a lot of everyone and even more of those I like.

While catching up on the Google Analytics for this blog, I noticed a spike of interest in Viggo's "Time Waits for Everyone" between the 19th and 23rd of January (Analytics tells me how my pages are found and what search terms bring visitors to my posts). A little research reveals that was when the Oscar Nomination for Mr. Mortensen was announced. Why this drove searchers to look for "Time Waits for Everyone" is a question whose answer I am leaving to anyone who already knows. What I did find were lots of viewer comments that were nicer than mine. Including the one about the over 50 bunch getting their second wind. Doh! I should have caught that.

Time passes. I see things differently and it's not because of the nomination. His acting was good but I still prefer the gentler, more sensitive portrayals. A nomination should go to David Cronenberg for directing.

I'd better stop before this hole gets any deeper.