I HATE APPLE

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kenan is starting to learn the ol' axiom that it's PEBKAC 9 times out of 10.

libcrypt, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:01 (sixteen years ago) link

If I don't learn it the hard way, I don't learn it at all. :(

kenan, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:08 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh btw, thanks for the tips and scripts on the Time Machine cron -- that's immediately useful to me. At the office they're going to use TM to back up to a network drive for all the Macs, and it would be nice to set that up to only happen at midnight or some such.

Question, though -- I know that TM doesn't like smb shares especially much, and I that's what they're going to set up, if I know my Windows-lovin' IT department. I told them that it would be slow, so they're making sure the server and the machines all have gigabit ethernet. Only I'm not sure that's really the problem. I mean... is it? (I guess we'll see.) My idea is to give all the machines a static network IP and set up an NFS share on each volume that only exports to the one computer that needs access to it. Right?

kenan, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:16 (sixteen years ago) link

kenan is starting to learn the ol' axiom that it's PEBKAC 9 times out of 10.

which actually means PEBEAU (problem exists between engineers and users)

computing is easily the most immature industry in the world right after hydrogen-powered cars

anyway I can't decide whether I hate Apple or not today, my iMac died (PSU kaput) on Saturday and the Pentagon City store staff were (again) way more helpful than I expected, plus the speed bump and price drops mean that I got a better machine to replace it for less money than I had paid for my 2005 iLemon (shipped to me with bad mobo, which appears to have shortened the lifespan of every other major component in the system, no point throwing any more good money after bad especially since I'm probably lucky the HD even still works)

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:40 (sixteen years ago) link

really it's my dumb ass fault for not purchasing AppleCare while the thing was still under warranty, or asking for a fresh-box replacement as soon as they figured out the og mobo was faulty

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:41 (sixteen years ago) link

bonus: got free HD data transfer even though the Geniuses are going to have to extract the drive from the case to fire it up in a separate housing + they're going to get my cristian vogel CD out of the optical drive that stopped ejecting months ago + govt employee discount on everything

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:43 (sixteen years ago) link

weird, my post earlier didn't go through. this directory is on an external HD which was used with a windows xp machine until now (NTSF formatted); ownership is the same as the standard 'music' folder on the mac machine, it appears (owned by me); but maybe if itunes itself is copying the files, the system needs to own it? or they need to be in the same group? I think the group here is wheel, I dunno, I'm actually at work now. I'll fuck with it tonight, probably have to recursively run chmod/chown until it works. I kind of hate permissions shit, it's something that I seem to not understand incredibly well even when I think I do.

akm, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:43 (sixteen years ago) link

Sounds like akm's problem is PEBAirPortExpressAU, which is one of the reasons that I gave an AE a good two-week fighting chance to impress me, and then... no more. The fabulous USB port for network sharing should come with several asterisks.

kenan, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:47 (sixteen years ago) link

not using airport express, this is just a usb drive.

akm, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:50 (sixteen years ago) link

which actually means PEBEAU (problem exists between engineers and users)

That's not quite what I meant by PEBKAC. When folks use computers according to SOPs, employ common sense, and research or ask for help when necessary, there's never a PEBKAC to be found. What I'm talking about is when folks get a little to "ambitious" with their computers w/o knowing how to reverse whatever the hell optimization they're trying. E.g., when someone's mail notes stopped working (moonship?), the problem turned out to be user optimization: the note font had been removed or deactivated! That's classical PEBKAC, and no matter how mature the industry becomes, it'll still happen.

libcrypt, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:53 (sixteen years ago) link

Tom I got a new computer this weekend too. But who has the biggest wang

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:59 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost: http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/power.users.html

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:59 (sixteen years ago) link

asking for a fresh-box replacement as soon as they figured out the og mobo was faulty

will they do that? i don't think that's in the warranty terms.

moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:02 (sixteen years ago) link

ha ha yeah that was me. no "marker felt", no mail notes!

moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:03 (sixteen years ago) link

my problem was just not connecting the two things in my head. i deactivated the font, several days later i realized the notes weren't working. i never would have thought that not having the font would break the program - i figured it would just do notes in geneva or whatever. and i'd been doing a bunch of other stuff w/ mail in the meantime (trying to get imap to work right).

i guess that's an argument for scrupulously documenting everything you do to your computer.

moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:05 (sixteen years ago) link

I watched them do that for a lady who came in after me with her macbook pro which was acting up, actually. Dude took a look at it, listened to her issues (I wasn't there for the whole thing, just saw him pop the battery out and put it back in) then left and came back with a brand new one in the box and asked her if she needed data transfer.

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:07 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost Man, if my notes in college had been 1/3 as detailed as the computer/network notes I have in this special spiral notebook...

kenan, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:08 (sixteen years ago) link

i guess that's an argument for scrupulously documenting everything you do to your computer.

i would say it's an argument for verbose and clearly worded warning messages when a non-root account attempts to do something that will break a dependency, but my undergrad was in liberal arts.

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:08 (sixteen years ago) link

will they do that? i don't think that's in the warranty terms.

if I ever have a similar experience I'm going to request that they do that, since I have now learned that nothing that was ever plugged into a bad board can really be trusted afterwards. I've no way of knowing how much collateral damage was done by it beyond the fried SODIMMs that they also replaced under warranty, but the techie agreed with me that it's likely that the entire thing was a ticking bomb.

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:16 (sixteen years ago) link

actual quote from "Genius" to salesgirl: "This is Tom. His iMac has failed him miserably, and he needs a new one."

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:17 (sixteen years ago) link

my problem hardly warrants a new computer. it's just a cable replacement, to keep the screen from flickering when i move it. i just can't give this fucking thing up for a week right now.

moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:19 (sixteen years ago) link

I had that same issue way back in the day when "powerbooks" were charcoal gray and touchpads were novel. It was tolerable (only when moving) for about three or four days and then POP black was red and POP again everything went white.

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:41 (sixteen years ago) link

I just bought the AppleCare extension on the last possible day I could. Is it just me, or does it cost even more than it used to? Damn expensive.

mh, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:48 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm downgrading my current laptop (early 2008 white Macbook) to a PB G4 12"
ACK THPPPT

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:48 (sixteen years ago) link

I have a PB G4 that I should have sold a year ago sitting around as a machine to do torrents and mild file serving at home... really should look into selling that thing

mh, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:52 (sixteen years ago) link

still good value! my screen is water/beer damaged

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:53 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, know anyone interested in a 15" 1.5GHz G4? Well cared for, Applecare just expired on it

mh, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:54 (sixteen years ago) link

yeah, i'm in the same boat. 12" 1.5 ghz g4. it just feels ridiculous when i pick it up again.

I had that same issue way back in the day when "powerbooks" were charcoal gray and touchpads were novel. It was tolerable (only when moving) for about three or four days and then POP black was red and POP again everything went white.

-- El Tomboto

did it ever get fixed?

moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link

i have a 12" too that my friend ahs been borrowing for a while

s1ocki, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:01 (sixteen years ago) link

It's kind of a weird feeling because my macbook pro looks almost physically identical but it's just so much better

mh, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:02 (sixteen years ago) link

moonship: yes, I got it fixed, but it had to be mailed to texas and back for the cable replacement. This was before the days of Apple Stores in malls, but I'm pretty sure there's still no such thing as on-site laptop repair. I'm basically relating that to tell you that you're either going to lose it for a week on your own terms or it the cable will just decide for you.

El Tomboto, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:02 (sixteen years ago) link

This was before the days of Apple Stores in malls, but I'm pretty sure there's still no such thing as on-site laptop repair.

It depends on what the repair is. They do at least some repairs at the local Apple Store here, since they replaced my hard drive when it went dead a year and a half ago. They had to wait two days for the part to get shipped in, though.

mh, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:05 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh, additionally, the guy who did the repair came from the back and he was the Apple version of the traditional PC hardware dork guy! Long hair, oversized black Apple shirt and unfashionable jeans, very interested in saying he replaced my hard drive and proud that he cleaned up the screen, too. I was impressed and kind of nostalgic about when I was that sort of guy.

mh, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:07 (sixteen years ago) link

Buy Applecare online - I dunno where people on Ebay get the Applecare packages, but it's less than half of retail and they've registered fine every time for me.

milo z, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:12 (sixteen years ago) link

are applecare packages transferable?

moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:18 (sixteen years ago) link

they're tied to a specific product

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:23 (sixteen years ago) link

but not a specific instance of a product until you register

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:23 (sixteen years ago) link

Between peeps, yes.

libcrypt, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:24 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, know anyone interested in a 15" 1.5GHz G4? Well cared for, Applecare just expired on it

I might be. I'm looking into getting a laptop before I go to CA in August.

Rock Hardy, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:28 (sixteen years ago) link

well it took two hours in the store and on the phone but apparently apple is going to ship me a new MBP with fedex labels to ship the old one back. they took my CC # as insurance and i guess i'm going to have to sign some sort of agreement too.

moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 00:09 (sixteen years ago) link

hmm i forgot to ask whether i am going to be able to transfer the apple care or not.

moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 00:13 (sixteen years ago) link

also they weren't clear whether they'd be sending an '07 or an '08

moonship journey to baja, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 00:19 (sixteen years ago) link

xpost: http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/power.users.html

-- Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:59 (Yesterday) Link

http://i26.tinypic.com/n225ph.png

kenan, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 01:02 (sixteen years ago) link

i would say it's an argument for verbose and clearly worded warning messages when a non-root account attempts to do something that will break a dependency, but my undergrad was in liberal arts.

I can't disagree with this. I would have appreciated a warning before I did that. Even a taunt would have been acceptable.

"Hey there, FancyPants! You're about to render your machine totally unbootable. That's awesome if that's your bag, but let me go ahead and link you to the HowTo page for FireWire Target Disk Mode, because that's what you're looking at here."

kenan, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 01:26 (sixteen years ago) link

Computing is so still at the stage of "do we put the clutch here as a pedal, or make it a button under the seat, or what? Ach, we'll make it a lever on the passenger side. If they read the manual, do research and use common sense they'll figure it out."

stet, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:29 (sixteen years ago) link

To be fair, Apple still leads the way in finding (acceptably) intuitive ways to build the interface. There are many seemingly little things about OS X that now drive me nuts when they're not there, like (oh god this name) Exposé. One of the things I like about gnu with compiz is that you can closely mimic a lot of functionality like that -- my hot corners are the same on both my desktops.

kenan, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:43 (sixteen years ago) link

how much do you think i could get for my 12"PB 1Ghz 512MB ram?

s1ocki, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:46 (sixteen years ago) link

when someone's mail notes stopped working (moonship?), the problem turned out to be user optimization: the note font had been removed or deactivated! That's classical PEBKAC, and no matter how mature the industry becomes, it'll still happen.

I can't disagree with this, either. You just try to stop me from fiddling with shit until I break it. Go ahead, try -- I dare you.

That doesn't make me a "Power User" by any means, at least not yet. Just makes me willful and reckless. At the very least, I have learned how to back everything up, in some cases twice. Not only is that good in case of disaster, it's useful if you just want to clear some cobwebs, which Time Machine restores are perfect for. I did it just the other day, just to knock out some odd speed issues on startup and shutdown. Wipe the drive, reinstall the OS, restore the apps and files. Runs like a dream again now.

kenan, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:50 (sixteen years ago) link

Slocki -- g4? Titanium? Those can still pull a cool $500-600 on Craigslist, I'll betcha.

kenan, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:51 (sixteen years ago) link

G4, aluminum.

s1ocki, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 02:54 (sixteen years ago) link


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