Off By One

Well, it’s been a busy few weeks here, as evinced by… well, nought, as far as you all can tell. I’ve been lazy with regards to all kinds of aspects of communication, and it shows. Sometimes, I am amazed that anyone even pays attention.

So, here’s a summary (I do this more than I should, I think).

1. I’ve finally got my own computer back again. Although it’s been a frustrating month (All of September) with no personal computer, on Oct 1 I received the aforementioned shiny new Macbook Pro 17”. This thing is a titan among computers, easily being usable as a TV too I’m much pleased with it.

2. In connection with the above-mentioned computer acquisition, I should be looking at updating some plugins I’ve got out in the wild; I’ve been meaning to for ages, but because I’ve been without a computer for what feels like forever, it hasn’t happened.

3. In what can only be called an embarrassment of riches, on the same day I received the new MBP I also received my work laptop, which is well on its way to being an adequate replacement for my work desktop. Shockingly all of it works, except for the goddamned wireless, rendering it more or less 100% tethered at home. More to come, there.

4. I finished Neal Stephenson’s “Baroque Cycle”, a 3000-page epic set in the years preceding the enlightenment and telling a very interesting (fictional) story about the lives of Newton, Leibniz, and some fictional people of the time. It took me ages to read, but it was so worth it.

5. I’m at 37 jumps now, only one injury!

6. I should get to work.

7. Bioshock kicks my ass eight ways from Sunday. I am so pleased with it, and am so going to try a replay.

We all know how painful warranty work can be; it’s never in the company’s immediate economic interest to give a good goddamn about sales it’s already made, and warranty work is a cost to the company.

So, it’s all the more impressive when something goes right. Really right. Like, “Sorry, Mr. Offby1, your part is going to take too long to ship. How about a brand new, massive upgrade?”.

So, shipping to me next week is a 17” Macbook Pro. No charge.

/me gets geeky shivers of glee.

It’s been trickling its way through my consciousness for a while now that I want an Apple computer.

Yes, yes… New toys, etc…

(Warning! Geek talk ahead!)

The fact of the matter is, especially as I use Linux on my laptop more and more, I’m feeling more comfortable with the Unix/Linux OS setup for day to day use. I’ve even been wondering how well it would work on my desktop, which is — for those that don’t know my preferences as well — a revolutionary event. Still, I’m finding fewer and fewer issues with it that I am unable to handle, and those that are concerns are becoming less important.

Still, with regards to my main desktop, due to its ubiquity there’s certainly good reason to keep a Windows box running around the house. Also, I just spent a stupid amount of money on it, so it’d be awfully foolish to just up and toss it.

However, when it comes to mobility, I haven’t been running windows since December, and frankly I don’t miss it. Char does, but I think I may have worked around the last major objection she had to the Linux by getting MS Office working on the box. It’s amazing what some people can code up if they try. The thing is, though, that I’d like to give Char this laptop full time — put Windows back on it, tune it and make it hum, and then just leave it completely. The problem with that is that having a laptop makes school phenomenally easier. The school lab systems are alright, but they’re… dirty, a lot of the time, and they’re often occupied. I’m not a fan. Having a laptop makes it possible, if not always easy, to work at school.

So, in that vein, I intend to save up for an Apple Powerbook. Not the ultra-high-end one, because I just don’t need that in a laptop. But the 15” powerbook is reasonably-powered and, if not cheap, plausibly attainable with some scrimping. In a year or so, anyway. I don’t expect this to happen overnight. And I have commitments to honour with regards to saving up a down payment on a house. But I’m putting this on the table as a savings goal so that I can prod myself with it every once in a while.

I miss my iPod

(I miss Char, too)