I use an iBook G4 laptop with DSL connection at home. A week and a half ago, I finally said yes to one of those pesky 'please let us update your software' messages I get regularly from Apple. My computer got trashed.
I will probably buy a new computer, but haven't done so yet. I think I'll be buying a desktop (mac, still), and getting my laptop cleaned up, fixed up, etc. Meanwhile I'm limping along, logging in wherever I can get wireless connection, since my ethernet connection doesn't work.
Anyone who wants to discuss this with me is welcome to phone me at my cell phone: 510 367 8 zero eight (one more than four). More gory details below. I've been spending more time reading actual books, hanging out in my yard, and cleaning house since the mini-disaster. It's all good, but I need to get this settled...
Today I'm seeing tons of good math posts, and am wishing I could join in more fully. But there's a 2 hour limit on my connection here, so I'm trying to just catch up on my blog reading. When I do come back, I'll have a few posts I've been working on offline. ;^)
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Gory details:
Apple techies graciously spent hours with me, even though I have no tech support contract, after I almost started crying about it being Apple's fault my computer was trashed. They and I agree that software cannot destroy hardware. But they think my hardware is at fault. (My ethernet connection broke back on April 14, and I bought a usb ethernet adapter and got my taxes out on time. So I use a usb port for my ethernet connection. One techie talked about the problem with the ethernet connection 'migrating' to the usb ports. Huh?!) My hard drive is almost full, which may have contributed to the problem. Besides no capacity for etherternet connection, I can't print. Etc
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'Here' is at a coffee shop / restaurant. I can also get wireless at my office, which I've visited a bunch lately. (Being on sabbatical, I don't go in much otherwise.)
ReplyDeleteBut my best work time is 6 to 8 am, before my son wakes up, when I'm stuck at home. Once I'm back to normal, I'll post about some of the books I've been reading.
losing connectivity...
ReplyDeleteand the struggle to *re*-connect...
very hard to deal with.
scares me even to think about.
induces ranting, indeed.
as you know. thanks for taking
some of your limited browsing time
to comment at OaV. very good to
see you back posting in MMW.
I've bought a new computer (iMac) and am hoping the laptop can be repaired. I'll be posting lots soon. (Today I'm still cleaning up the spot where this new computer will sit, and trying to find the phone number of the person who wants to sell her wireless hub to me.)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to enjoying all this again during my early mornings.
The vultures have descended. I'm guessing it's a spambot sort of thing. I keep getting comments about how great this post is, with links to websites like 'Homework Help'. I'm glad it was on this nothing post, so I didn't get my ego inflated, only to have to deflate after.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to moderate comments for a bit, and see if that will make them go away.
Software can destroy hardware. If the drivers are messed up they can make the hardware smoke ... which is never a good thing. I hope it all works out for you.
ReplyDeleteAhh, that makes sense. Who knows what happened... Thanks for pointing that out. Do viruses ever do that on purpose?
ReplyDeleteThe new computer is lovely. We're watching the instant movies from Netflix on its huge screen, and it'll be fabulous later, when I want to look at two pages of text at once.
But I still like working from my laptop. It will only connect through wireless now, and yesterday I thought that was gone. It stopped working for a few minutes at home, which I thought was the wireless hub getting unplugged, and then it wouldn't work at my office.
The guy from the store that tried to fix it after I bought the new one walked me through a few things and proclaimed it dead. He was wrong. It works fine at home. I'm assuming some setting is messed up.
I need to learn more about how wireless works. I also need to get used to working from two computers.
I don't know of any viruses that exist solely to destroy hardware, though it is possible. Nowadays the point of viruses is to take over your machine and make it do malicious and illegal work or to steal personal data.
ReplyDeleteWireless is confusing. I usually just click things and try different settings until something magically works when I have a problem.