So, the MacBook is back from repairs, the USB system has mysteriously fixed itself, and I've replaced the stock 80GB 5400 RPM Toshiba drive with a Seagate Momentus 7200 RPM, 160GB drive. I was worried that this drive might draw more power than the one it was replacing but it turns out to draw only 620 mA, compared to the 1A that the original drive draws. Sweet! Bigger capacity, better performance, and better battery life. ...read more

The Video glitches I talked about in my previous posting have completely disappeared since I re-installed a fresh copy of Windows XP SP2. This time I have not been tempted to mess with the hardware graphics acceleration settings on the Windows side. I'm hoping that Apple will eventually support acceleration fully in Mac OS X. ...read more

I've been using my new 2Ghz 13.3" Black MacBook for about a week now, figured it's time to write a few first impressions.

Case: The case is almost 2 inches wider than my 12" PowerBook G4, only a smidge deeper. It's actually thinner than the 12" PowerBook - more the thickness of the larger PowerBooks. It fits into the sleeves/cases designed for the 14" iBooks, with about a 1" gap because the iBook is deeper (and a bit thicker). It's also a tad heavier. I do miss the ultra-portable form factor of the 12" PowerBook. Somehow the 13.3" form factor strikes me as a compromise...read more

Yesterday I watched a woman answering her cell phone as she got off the bus. She was carrying a bunch of bags and had to open the flip cover of the phone with her teeth, while clinging to the phone with her one free hand. All of this took place in front of a giant colourful Motorola adverisment, featuring another young woman dancing exuberantly with her new Motorola phone in hand. I actually laughed out...read more

My 6 year old server has been suffering in recent months from spontaeous 'freezes' - somewhat mysterious, and related to a disk, I think. After trooping off to reboot the beast one too many times, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get a new server. Deciding that my time was worth something, and that Sys Admin was not the most enjoyable activity in which to spend random hours of day and night, I persuaded myself to buy a 'real' server...read more