August 12, 2008 – 11:11 pm
Everybody knows that you shouldn’t keep beverages too close to the computer, right? The reason is because eventually, your toddler is going to run up to give you a big hug before she leaves for daycare, and is going to bump your leg. Your leg, in turn, is going to bump the TV tray where you set your coffee cup. The cup is going to tip over and spill several ounces of coffee directly onto the keyboard of your Macbook. And as a consequence, the Macbook is going to cease to function.
Yes, that’s what happened here at Castle Campbell last Friday morning. I tried to disconnect power and battery as quickly as possible, tried using a blowdryer on it, sat it out in direct sunlight for about an hour, and continued to let it air out for quite a while after that. [...]
By Dougal
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Also posted in Linux, Operating Systems, Personal, Software, Tech
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Tagged Apple, Coffee, Hardware, Linux, mac, macbook, metacity, repair, Ubuntu, window managers, xfce, xfce4
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When I switched to my new Slicehost server, I spent a while trying to decide what I wanted to do about email for my domains. I contemplated using Google’s domain email service, or some other third-party email hosting. But I just hated giving up that much control of my email setup. [...]
By Dougal
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Also posted in Linux, Servers, Services, Software, Spam, Tech
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Tagged antivirus, clamav, Email, email spam, fighting spam, Linux, mail, mailscanner, mailwatch, Servers, slicehost, smtp, Spam, spamassassin, spamsnake, Ubuntu
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October 21, 2005 – 7:36 pm
We finally got a Tivo. I bought an 80hr model off of eBay for $150. It arrived about two weeks ago, and I finally installed it last weekend. We set up some of our favorite shows as Season Passes and put Bruce Campbell in my actor wishlist (hey, I forgot that he was an extra in Darkman!).
We’re just starting to get used to it. One of Susan’s favorite features is the Guide (”You mean I don’t have to watch that stupid TV Guide Channel anymore? If I had known that, we would have gotten Tivo years ago.”), and we’ve taken advantage of the ability to rewind live TV shows a couple of times.
The next big step will be getting it on our home network. [...]
September 8, 2005 – 4:51 pm
Tivo Series2 40GB DVR — $50 after rebate!
A couple of days ago, I read about a $150 rebate from Tivo. [...]
August 24, 2005 – 5:17 pm
We have some software that requires a hardware dongle, which connects to a standard printer port (25-pin DIN, female). Dongles are annoying enough, normally. But now we would like to occassionaly run this software on our new laptop. No, problem, just move the dongle over, right?
Nope. The new laptop doesn’t have a printer port. Just USB and Firewire. . [...]
August 10, 2005 – 9:46 am
I was going to post several small items yesterday, to make up for the lull in activity, but my server was down for the better part of the day. When the other admin finally got it rebooted, some of the database tables had some minor corruption, so if you visited late yesterday you might have seen some warning messages. I was able to run some repairs, and everything seems to be happy again, now.
I already run automated backups of all my database tables, which get mailed to an external email account. And there is also an automated backup of the rest of the system, run by the hosting company, but I don’t have direct access to those. [...]
I hadn’t been keeping too close an eye on this, because we’ve got higher priorities right now than buying new computers. But there have been rumors lately about some sort of deal between Apple and Intel. The speculations mainly fell into two camps: 1) Apple would release a new Pentium-based Macintosh computer, or 2) Intel would begin producing a new PowerPC compatible CPU.
Steve Jobs just dropped the bomb: Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006
Basically, it seems, Apple has been disappointed with IBM’s inability to deliver a G5 processor that could break the 3GHz barrier or with heat characteristics that would be usable for laptops. [...]
Have you ever wished that you could have your own wireless network available, wherever you go? How about a mobile wireless access point, GPS tracking, and a webcam in your car? Would that do the trick?
The EVDO StompBox Project is just such a beast. So, if you’ve got about $700 and some time to blow, you’re all set!
[via: BoingBoing]
