Yesterday, I got a shiny new MacBook Pro 2.33 GHz. I didn't have my PowerBook G4 around so I just quickly loaded some useful tools like TextWrangler and went to work. One of the first tasks the new MacBook had was to combine 50 pdfs into one document. A quick search on the net found Combine PDF. That got the job done in seconds.
However, when I got home and tried to transfer my old account to the new Mac, I discovered just how badly corrupted my old Mac was. 5 hours or so was needed to find out that very little of my user folder got moved over. Good thing I had a backup. PsyncX kept a copy of all my good files - yeah!
About 4am I had a reasonable rebuild of my new Mac. 3 hours later, I'm back to work. Well worth it to be back working with a Mac.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
My Poor PowerBook G4
In 2002, I bought the best laptop I could find - PowerBook G4 800MHz
For the last five years, that computer has been at my side. I've built a few websites with it. I built a few applications with it. It has served as svn server, php, mysql, video editor, graphics editor, software developer, and conduit to many friends around the world.
It's been through so much use, the space bar is polished where my thumb hits it and a lot of the paint has worn off. It's been running almost 24x7 the whole of its life.
Last week, the GPU started to fail. The screen would get messy with patterns of pixels. I could bring it back by turning it over and pressing down on the back. I felt like I was giving some sort of CPU CPR. A little massage and the pixels would straighten out.
Last Friday, the screen came up black.
The CPU CPR didn't work.
The face of my PowerBook was gone.
Fortunately, I had the PowerBook configured to be a secure wireless access point and I had just turned on Windows sharing. So, now it is my wireless access point at home -with the bonus of having a bit of filesharing abilities.
After five years, it's time to get a new Mac.
For the last five years, that computer has been at my side. I've built a few websites with it. I built a few applications with it. It has served as svn server, php, mysql, video editor, graphics editor, software developer, and conduit to many friends around the world.
It's been through so much use, the space bar is polished where my thumb hits it and a lot of the paint has worn off. It's been running almost 24x7 the whole of its life.
Last week, the GPU started to fail. The screen would get messy with patterns of pixels. I could bring it back by turning it over and pressing down on the back. I felt like I was giving some sort of CPU CPR. A little massage and the pixels would straighten out.
Last Friday, the screen came up black.
The CPU CPR didn't work.
The face of my PowerBook was gone.
Fortunately, I had the PowerBook configured to be a secure wireless access point and I had just turned on Windows sharing. So, now it is my wireless access point at home -with the bonus of having a bit of filesharing abilities.
After five years, it's time to get a new Mac.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Information about Windows emulation on Macs
Mac OS X/Windows/emulator on www.bkmkr.com shows bookmark items that have been tagged with "Mac OS X", "Windows" and "emulator".
Thursday, March 15, 2007
In Memory of Fred Chou
I have a lot of good memories of Fred. We were roommates in the late 80's and talked about a lot of things. I counted him as one of my best of friends.
One
of my favorite memories happened while we were in Hong Kong together in the summer of 1986. We hung out a lot over the three weeks. We visited the cemetery of the fallen Canadian soldiers. We visited Cheung Chau. Then we decided we'd visit Po Lin Monastery on Tai Yue Shan. Our plan was to take the ferry to Silver Mine Bay then the bus to Ngong Ping. We'd spend the night near the monastery then climb to the peak of Fung Wong Shan.
We caught the ferry and arrived at Silver Mine Bay. But we missed the bus. But that did not daunt us intrepid explorers! I had a detailed map of the island. Looking at the map, we could see many paths leading across the island towards Ngong Ping. We figured we could beat the midday bus on the road in the middle of the island by hiking over Tai Tung Shan. We wasted no time hitting the trails going west. The morning sun burned down from our rear as we headed west. As we rose in elevation, the trees got fewer. Soon we left the noise of the cicadas for more arid and grassy terrain.
We figured we were making good time. We enjoyed the hike and the view. We got on the other side of Tai Tung Shan and we could see what looked like it could be a bus stop. Then we saw the bus coming from the north. We scrambled down the trail as fast as we could, watching the bus coming closing and closer to the bus stop. But, as fast as we could run, it wasn't fast enough. When we got down to the road, all we could do is watch the bus continue to the south.
But we were undaunted! We just needed to get to the monastery by 6pm. We didn't want to climb up Fung Wong Shan yet so we went to the south of the mountain towards Shek Pik Reservoir. We were very hot by this time. We figured it would be great to take a swim in the ocean but we couldn't find a good beach. Also, the back of my legs were very sunburned.
After more hiking, we realized that we would not make it to the monastery in time so Fred found a place for us to spend the night. That night, I learned just how sunburned my legs were and just how many mosquitoes there were in Hong Kong.
In the morning, we went to the monastery for tea. While we were in the monastery, we met a retired woman from England. She had travelled by train from London to Hong Kong. The end of her trip was at that monastery. Shortly after, she was planning to fly back to England. Fred and I shared our awe at such a trip she had, to go through Russia and China by herself. We felt very honored that we were the ones that she recounted her trip to, at that point in it.
After tea, we climbed to the top of Fung Wong Shan. The view was spectacular!
What made that hike so special to me was that it reflected Fred's optimism, determination, and joy of life. We were not put off by our set backs. We didn't even recognize them as set backs but as opportunities to do something new and different.
Fred taught me two phrases that I have carried with me always: 破釜沉舟 and 内在美. I had no doubt that he would become a police officer as that was his plan. And I am absolutely certain that he found the inner beauty in the people around him.
One
of my favorite memories happened while we were in Hong Kong together in the summer of 1986. We hung out a lot over the three weeks. We visited the cemetery of the fallen Canadian soldiers. We visited Cheung Chau. Then we decided we'd visit Po Lin Monastery on Tai Yue Shan. Our plan was to take the ferry to Silver Mine Bay then the bus to Ngong Ping. We'd spend the night near the monastery then climb to the peak of Fung Wong Shan.We caught the ferry and arrived at Silver Mine Bay. But we missed the bus. But that did not daunt us intrepid explorers! I had a detailed map of the island. Looking at the map, we could see many paths leading across the island towards Ngong Ping. We figured we could beat the midday bus on the road in the middle of the island by hiking over Tai Tung Shan. We wasted no time hitting the trails going west. The morning sun burned down from our rear as we headed west. As we rose in elevation, the trees got fewer. Soon we left the noise of the cicadas for more arid and grassy terrain.
We figured we were making good time. We enjoyed the hike and the view. We got on the other side of Tai Tung Shan and we could see what looked like it could be a bus stop. Then we saw the bus coming from the north. We scrambled down the trail as fast as we could, watching the bus coming closing and closer to the bus stop. But, as fast as we could run, it wasn't fast enough. When we got down to the road, all we could do is watch the bus continue to the south.
But we were undaunted! We just needed to get to the monastery by 6pm. We didn't want to climb up Fung Wong Shan yet so we went to the south of the mountain towards Shek Pik Reservoir. We were very hot by this time. We figured it would be great to take a swim in the ocean but we couldn't find a good beach. Also, the back of my legs were very sunburned.
After more hiking, we realized that we would not make it to the monastery in time so Fred found a place for us to spend the night. That night, I learned just how sunburned my legs were and just how many mosquitoes there were in Hong Kong.
In the morning, we went to the monastery for tea. While we were in the monastery, we met a retired woman from England. She had travelled by train from London to Hong Kong. The end of her trip was at that monastery. Shortly after, she was planning to fly back to England. Fred and I shared our awe at such a trip she had, to go through Russia and China by herself. We felt very honored that we were the ones that she recounted her trip to, at that point in it.
After tea, we climbed to the top of Fung Wong Shan. The view was spectacular!
What made that hike so special to me was that it reflected Fred's optimism, determination, and joy of life. We were not put off by our set backs. We didn't even recognize them as set backs but as opportunities to do something new and different.
Fred taught me two phrases that I have carried with me always: 破釜沉舟 and 内在美. I had no doubt that he would become a police officer as that was his plan. And I am absolutely certain that he found the inner beauty in the people around him.
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