I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix a couple of weeks ago. I haven't read the book, and now I don't think I will be able to. As it turns out, Dolores Umbridge was on my thesis commmittee. I'm pretty sure it's not the real Umbridge, but they do have a lot in common. They are both rather evil, they both enjoy torturing people they have ( Read more... )

Fixing the trackpad shouldn't take more than ten minutes even for a technician who has never seen an iBook before. Still, Apple's desire to give each customer that special "I've been had by Apple" feeling means I have to ship it off and wait another week for an Apple technician to take the top of the case off, screw in the trackpad, replace the top ( Read more... )

I've got the iBook. The trackpad doesn't seem to stop working, but the lower left corner is loose. We're going to take it to a technician soon ( Read more... )

My replacement iBook should have shipped today. I guess there are a few hours left for them to put it in the mail, but I'm not particularly optimistic. They called early this morning, and fortunately they reached my roommate rather than me. It seems they wanted to discuss "options," by which they meant trying to talk me into taking a MacBook. ( Read more... )

Much to my surprise, AppleCare did something useful. They didn't say, "Well, trackpads don't just arrive defective. You must have abused it." They did, however, say, "Mr. Ryan, we're going to transition you to a MacBook." This, of course, isn't going to happen. I spoke to the next person up and it looks like I will get another iBook.

I've been having trouble with my trackpad ever since my iBook arrived. Every so often, it basically stops responding. It might move a little, but not much. If I wait for ten seconds or so, or if I move my finger back and forth slowly and regularly, it starts working again. I usually have this problem after I've been using the computer for a while, ( Read more... )

I got an e-mail from Apple at 2:00 Tuesday telling me that they were holding my order and encouraging me to buy a MacBook. This e-mail should either have been sent out as soon as I ordered the iBook or not have been sent at all, since I did uncheck the "Apple may contact me with nifty advertisements about new products at this address" button when I ( Read more... )

I purchased an iBook today, since Apple has decided that everyone must use a MacBook in the near future. I don't want the MacBook because it isn't a laptop. It's a small desktop with a higher price and integrated screen. The MagSafe power plug, which is designed to protect us moronic Mac users from tripping over our own power cords and sending our ( Read more... )

1. BBC radio comedy Old Harry's Game: Quote from Satan on page 1
   
2. Dave Barry Slept Here: October 8 as a key example in section 1.2
   
3. The Matrix: "There is no spoon" reference in the Motivation section
   
4. Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Zorak paraphrased in the Theory chapter
   
5. Father Ted: used as an example in a footnote in the Theory chapter
   
6. The Frost ( Read more... )

As soon as I submit my thesis, I'm going to start ignoring any feedback on what I write that falls in any of the following cases:

1. the comment assumes that I have access to a time machine
   
2. the arguments assumes the use of astrology, other methods of telling fortunes, or related powers and pseudosciences
   
3. criticism primarily because the data analysis ( Read more... )