Enigmatic Female

Oh Happy Day

My iMac, after two months of sickness that I was too busy to address, has been restored to full health by the lovely folks at the Soho Apple Store.* I have had only spotty internet access, as my iMac administrates the Airport Network, so I have been siphoning from other wireless networks in my building, until each of them, one by one, have gotten wise to my ways and password protected their shit. Blogging just isn't as fun on a 12" iBook that may lose connectivity at any moment. I am now back up to full speed with all systems a go!

The past two months have been insanely busy.

First there was work, where there was this case. It was a good case and I liked it. It was supposed to go to trial yesterday and I was excited about that, but exhausted by a long string of 15 hour days. It settled last week and the outcome was extremely favorable. I have been on a constant high since then, with more energy than I can responsibly use. This likely indicates a return to my drama-creating ways. Those around me beware.

Second there's my drive for health and fitness, which actually began months ago with a strong push toward improved nutrition through the wonder of antioxidants and fresh foods. Then I got this trainer who calls himself the Ben Man (if his name were Ben, which it isn't, so just imagine a dude with a one syllable name that adds man to it and you can see what we're dealing with). He's amazing. He taught me how to box and think positively. I've lost an entire dress size since I started working out with him.

Third there's been a bit of hardship in my family. My sixteen year old cousin died in a car accident last month and it has been hard to feel OK being frivolous or funny in light of the pain that my family, and especially my aunt, is experiencing. Also, my dog, Molly, and my mom's cat, Dusky, were very old and sick and had to be put to sleep (euthanized? there is no good way to say this) the same week as the car accident. Molly was my thirteenth birthday present and I loved that dog. Here is a picture:

I have also had a ton of random reconnections with people from the past, mostly guys I've known and never dated, so there's a new world of possibility.

Finally, I joined a soccer team and the Met and intend on meeting many many new people in the next month. Should be an interesting time.

*For the New Yorkers out there, word on the street is that a new Apple Store is being constructed in Midtown on Fifth Avenue. 

Morning After

No ill effects from last night's indulgence. I did wake up feeling like I needed to throw up around 4 or something (but it might have been a dream). Vodka tonic is the key to avoiding hangovers, no matter how dehydratd I am.

Today I head to Soho for a little Apple Store lovin' -- I have no idea what to wear! My iBook is sick, because I abused it and tried to install an AirPort Extreme Card in it before I realized that it doesn't support AirPort Extreme Cards; it is too old. In the process of getting the original AirPort Card out, though, I broke one of the prongs that attaches it to the iBook by a small black cord. It worked fine all week, but now it won't recognize that there is an AirPort Card installed and it's pissing me off. I hope they can do something for it that doesn't cost a bazillion dollars.

After the Apple Store and lunch in Soho, I am heading to the International Center of Photography to check out the museum there and maybe pick up a book on how to take better pictures. I've taken a ton of them, but as you can see from my photo albums, I am quite novice.

One more geek thing, then I'm out. Why does AppleWorks suck so much? That is all.

Totally Extreme

My apartment is now fully wireless. I got an AirPort Extreme station and got us all hooked up yesterday, and I got an AirPort Express station and got that all hooked up today. Now we are wireless in every room on all three of our computers, including a slow old PC. Good times. It would even be possible to browse the web from the toilet. Not that I would, I'm just sayin'. We can even stream iTunes through my stereo once I get the proper cables. I am totally psyched. Tragically for my work-life, I have left early the past two days to rush home and play with all my new toys. My friend, A, was outraged when I told her I could have purchased 5 pairs of Manolo Blahniks for the price I paid for my computer. She said I made a poor choice. I have never never been this excited about shoes, though. And I can really love some shoes.

My New Love

Before my iBook's logic board died two weeks ago, I was thinking of getting a new Mac, as the iBook was a 900GHZ G3 and was extremely slow and occasionally annoying. Then the iBook was sick, so I wanted to stand by it; I never knew how much it meant to me, etc. etc. etc. This week, though, I realized that there is more than enough love in my heart for an iBook with a new logic board AND a shiny new Mac of a different color. I looked online, priced eMacs, thought a G4 at 1.25GHZ and a gig of ram would be just what the Dr. ordered. That is, until I went to the Apple Store in Soho, where I not only felt underdressed, but that my expectations were too low for my new love. I told a salesperson to sell me on a iMac, and by golly did he. I am now the proud owner of an iMac with a 1.8GHZ G5 processor and I am so in love. Here is a picture of my new boyfriend; the one I will be rushing home to for the foreseeable future:

Week's Worth of Rambling

I'm still in D.C. enjoying my stay at the fine establishment that is the Courtyard Convention Center. My traveling companions have been less than impressed with our accomodations, but they suit me just fine. I have a king-size bed with five (5!) pillows...enough for me to snuggle one on each side of my body, one under my head, and still have two to spare if one should fall off the bed. Plus, the hotel restaurant is a brewery with its own beer that's not half-bad. The breakfast buffet isn't tops, but it's cheap and has fresh pineapple, so it's for me. I have been reading some trashy-ass romance novels predictable enough to make me feel like I've already read them and loving every minute.

The one major hitch in the fabric of my carefree  lovely days here is the recent onset illness of my iBook. (I am typing this from an ugly, bulky Compaq Presario on loan to me from my firm. Now that I've insulted it, it will probably die too.) The other day the iBook froze. For the first time EVER. I've had it for about 18 months without a single problem and it froze. I wasn't concerned; I simply turned it off and rebooted, which went well until the screen froze halfway in. The next time I rebooted, I noticed that the screen was making weird little lines before freezing. I squeezed the bottom left part of the iBook when I next rebooted, and it was fine. This was the pattern for a few days until I arrived here. I haven't been able to get any signal to the monitor the entire week. A total bummer. Looking for solutions (and being beyond the coverage of my Apple Care warranty), I investigated the Geek Squad, only to find that they sounded rather wary of disemboweling a Mac. I investigated CompUSA's tech department and found them to be an Apple Approved Service Center. Lastly, I checked out Apple's website and lo and behold, something there caught my attention:

The Expanded iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program covers iBooks that have a specific component failure on the logic board, resulting in the computer starting up but the built-in and attached external displays exhibiting one or more of the following symptoms:

• Scrambled or distorted video
• Appearance of unexpected lines on the screen
• Intermittent video image
• Video freeze
• Computer starts up to blank screen

Could it be? The exact symptoms my precious iBook was exhibiting? Why yes, yes it could! I called and found out how to get my serial number. And then guess what...they told me I'm eligible, that it was lucky I called, as the program ended within the next two weeks, and got it all set up for me to send in the iBook and get it all fixed. The only downside is they have to wipe my hard drive and I have about 30 gigs of stuff on there I want to keep. I need to figure that all out.

Strangely, each night this week involved copious drinking. It was fun, but damn, I'm not as young as I used to be. It was exhausting! But, ultimately much fun, and have developed a small, hopefully harmless, crush on a co-worker that can amount to nothing, but gives me hope that dating might be fun again at some point--not to have a relationship, necessarily, but maybe to have fun, go out, discuss books and movies and music and just get a different perspective once in awhile.

Tech Support: Sony Digital Handycam TRV-250

A year ago, before I had my iBook, I bought the camcorder listed above. It came with software that was compatible with Windows XP, my then OS, so I didn't give it much thought. Having only converted footage to VHS and never having uploaded it digitally, I never had occasion to use this software. That is, until the other night when I spent several hours trying to figure out the cryptic "Macintosh" portion of the instructions. These instructions alternately told me to install a USB driver from the CD-ROM provided with the camcorder and that since I am running OS-X that I could just plug and play via my USB port. WRONG ON BOTH COUNTS. The software itself, Image Mixer, is also a piece of shit. Don't use it. Go with iMovie...it's really easy and it likely came free with your iBook or PowerBook.

If you have this camcorder or a different camcorder and are trying to make it work with your Mac, here's how to do it:
1. Get a 6 pin to 6 pin firewire cable.
2. Plug one end into your firewire port, one end into the DV adapter that came with your Mac.
3. Plug the adapter into your camcorder.
**You can streamline this by getting a firewire cable that is 6 pin on one end and a DV plug on the other, which is what I used.
4. Open iMovie.
5. You're done. You can now control the camcorder through iMovie. Yes. It really is this simple.

I spent HOURS trying to install the fucking USB drivers and the software that came with the camcorder that is supposed to be supported by all Mac OSs EXCEPT OS X and I never got it working. Save yourself the hassle and do it the pain-free Apple Firewire way and just plug and play.

Go Google Yourself

I googled myself today to see who has linked to me. The most interesting link is from a website dedicated to motherboards, Motherboard Links.com. You may remember all the problems I had before I switched to my pretty little iBook with my Dell laptop. I think the final motherboard tally was 5 in one small machine over the course of 18 months. Pathetic.

And I am quoted on two additional sites, one of which is erotic.

REAL Customer Service

Did I miss the part of my custom ID for LexisNexis that lists my musical preferences? I have been on hold listening to DAR WILLIAMS! Who knew Lexis was so cool!? This might be enough to get me to switch from WestLaw.

Friendster

A few different friends asked me to join Friendster. It is like six degrees of separation, because it shows you how many people you're networked with who are registered with that site. Quite fun. Plus, you can email them and get dates and so forth, if you like. All good things. Check it out. If you'd like to link to me, email me.

Telnetting for the ages...

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good email program (not MS Outlook)? I am trying to break free from telnet, but it is a painful divorce and I haven't found any good replacements (um, Cubmail anyone?). I like to be able to move through my messages rapidly, deleting as I go, and I like to send messages immediately rather than having them sit in an outbox, but I also want to be able to send attachments with the click of a button. Help!

***
Eudora
I have made a return to Eudora, which is GREAT! There are some glitches, though. Namely that I cannot send email to non Columbia University accounts. There is some issue with authentication. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this?