Plans2Reality

Fix your Mac at iResQ (iPhones and Pods, too)

I had a sick Mac Mini - it would not boot. I sent it to iResQ and they fixed it and had it back, all in less than a week, and less than Apple was going to charge.

iResQ sends you a shipping container. You put your computer in and send it back. They examine, call you, and you approve the repair. It's dead-bang simple, really.

So, five stars, two thumbs up, etc to iResQ!

They also fix iPhones and iPods, though I have not used that service.

The Wonders of Time Machine

I've been using Apple's Time Machne for many months now. It is indeed invisible in normal operation. I finally got a chance to test in. I had a corrupted file, so, off to Time Machine!

Couldn't be easier. Flip back thru time 'til you get to a date & time you want, then grab the files.

The more I know, the more I love my Mac.

Lint, or the iPhone headphone fix

It seems Apple's mostly-perfect iPhone does have one small weakness. (Well, one besides ATT.) Lint gets in the lil' headphone socket, and renders the microphone function inoperative. Because the pause button is is on the mic circuit, it fails as well.

Recently my stock Apple headset quit pausing. I assumed the switch was bad. As I happened to be in Germany, I wasn't making many calls on it, due to the aforementioned ATT. Spawn of Satan, they are... But anyway, I went to Apple's very nice store in Munich - right at Marienplatz, convenient as heck, and got some nicer, more comfy ones. 

Wunderbar! 

Except pause still doesn't work. <sigh> I resign myself to no pause, and a bad iPhone jack

Back home, I finally tumble to the fact that the microphone isn't working either. I hate using phones if I have to hold them, so I surrender to using Apple's Bluetooth gizmo. It had given grappy performance originally, but I had it, so....

Lo and behold, the bluetooth is not hiss-and-crackle filled. Could it be the 3.0 firmware update? 

So where's the lint in all this? Well, while poking around trying to research another Mac question, I stumble on a post to the effect that (a) pocket lint gets in the socket; (b) this lint casues exactly the symptoms I had seen - no mic, no pause - because the lint at the bottom of the hole insulates the tip contact; and (3) a can of compressed air will blas the lint out. Problem solved. 

I am _so_ happy. Apple remains perfect and unblemished.  

It's Out: Kingdom of Simplicity.

Holly Payne's new novel is a very readable tale. Only a few stories have the ability to pull you in and make you neglect what you should be doing in order to spend more time reading, and Kingdom of Simplicity does that. 

The story revolves around a young Amish boy growing to manhood, and facing the challenge of forgiving himself. No spoilers here; but... in Olde English, the prefix "for" (as in forgive) means, very simply, before. To for-give is to give as before. Not to give grudgingly, or agree to overlook, but to give. Eli, the novel's protagonist, must come to grips with this, and discover what he truly needs to give. 

It's a Romance, in the truest sense of that term. Emma loves Eli, but he cannot see it, much less accept it, until he can forgive, and learn to love himself in all his human frailty. 

Few if any of the folks who read this review are Amish, but do not think that the experiences of this young man don't relate to "modern" life. All life, at all times, is "modern" to those to whom it happens, and this is a novel for all time. 

I had the pleasure of buying a copy after hearing the author read from it, and to hear her read it is remarkable. Rarely have I been so drawn into the world of a novel - too often one feels one is watching from a distance, but Ms Payne will draw you into Eli's world completely. Such a wonderful love story! Buy it, read it, and grow from the experience.

A Decent DNS Tool

Mac OS X 10.4 and newer versions have a GUI for configuring the DNS. It appears not to suck. I was actually quite impressed with its ease. To be fair, it is a bit strait-jacket-y (is that a word) in that it has some very definite ideas on how config files should be named, and it definitely seems to force you to having exactly one name associated via an A record with an IP; all other names must be CNAME. (I think; I am still learning.)

But it works, and there is much to be said for that.

At Long Last, a Mail Upgrade

Over the weekend, I upgraded my mail and web server from an ancient (by computer standards) G3 tower running OS X 10.2 Server to an Intel Mac Mini running 10.5 (for mail) and a G4 Mini running 10.4 Server (for DNS, Web, and File Sharing).

My, the new CommuniGate mail system is nice. There are a few installation tricks, but I managed to get it all sorted out and running in a few hours. I do wish there was a proper, searchable (or indexed) reference manual. CommuniGate offers on-line (web) help screens, but there are dozens, and it's tricky to be able to look at the help screen and the UI at the same time. But overall it is a powerful and stable package. My last version ran trouble free for seven-plus years.

The new one intergrates VoIP and other unified messaging. Can't wait to try that out. It's fully compatible with all that Microsoft Exchange stuff, too.

Forgiveness

There is a wonderful new novel out, called 'The Kindgdom of Simplicity'. Yes, I've mentioned it before. It's good! You can read a well-written article about it, and the author, in the Lancaster, PA newspaper.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/238206

Why Lancaster? The novel is set among the Amish community near there. 

Check it out!

Eli's Almost Here

The Kingdom of Simplicity, a new novel by Holly Payne, is set for release on June 6th. Her third; it is an excellent book, and IMHO her best yet. I've had the privilege of proof-reading the galleys, and I love the story.

Eli Yoder is an Amish boy trying to come to terms with tragedy and forgiveness. The story is, in once sense, fiction, but it is true in another - it's based on true events, both in the Amish community and in the author's own life.

Find out more at: Kingdom of Simplicity. And soon on Eli's own blog. Stay tuned....

Loving my iPhone more and more....

Don't have one? Get one.

If nothing else, the ability to control your music server (i.e. iTunes) from anywhere in the house is wonderful. We have speakers in all the rooms, and can have whatever sort of music wherever we want it. It's wonderful!

So, buy an iPhone. You can make calls with it, too.

Eli's Coming......

Yes, Eli is coming. Stay tuned for details.