August 2006

Don't sleep… not yet…

by Suw on August 25, 2006

Desperately trying to stay awake for another hour until I can legitimately go to sleep. Flight to San Francisco was a bit bumpy but nothing bad. Loads of children sitting near me, but all of them quiet as church mice. So quiet, in fact, that I felt like going up to their mothers and congratulating them on their children's good behaviour. Bit of a contrast to the flight back from Bologna during which a small child screamed at the top of its lungs the whole way, whilst the mother did nothing.
The travel restrictions aren't causing as much hassle* now as they have (or as the media have been saying they have). I hadn't realised it, but I got quite stressed about this trip, more so than normal. Partly, it's worry not about terrorists, but about someone doing something stupid and causing a delay or cancellation. Partly, it's being apart from Kevin for so long. I don't want to come over all soppy, but I hate being apart from him.
But I'm here now, which is good. Staying with my friend Danny for a while, and then my friend Maciej. It's good to be back in San Francisco, although because I'm staying somewhere that's a little new to me, there's an odd mix of the familiar and the strange which makes me feel a little dislocated. Of course, the jetlag doesn't help either. I am really fighting to stay awake for another hour. I have Secret Agent SomaFM – Kevin and my favourite online radio station – but it's a bit too loungy at the moment, and that's more lulling me into a sense of exhaustion, rather than perking me up and making me feel bright and awake. Hm, maybe I should listen to XFM instead.
Maybe I'll chuck some more holiday pictures up on Flickr whilst I'm whiling away the hour.



Is it bedtime yet?
*The biggest hassle is not being able to take liquids on the plane. You just have to sit there and dehydrate instead.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

I'm in San Francisco next week, and on Friday I am planning to go the Nova Bar at 555 2nd Street, to drink ludicrously large amounts of vodka. If you want to come, it's on Upcoming. See you there!
If anyone else wants to meet up pop me an email to the usual address.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

My narcoleptic iBook

by Suw on August 20, 2006

Been having a few problems lately with my iBook, which is now over a year old so out of warranty. Why is it that these things always happen just out of warranty? Anyway, I was very alarmed last week when my Mac suddenly started falling asleep without my shutting it down. It was plugged in and the socket light said it was charging, so I couldn't figure out what the problem was. It would fall asleep on me, then I would wake it up, only for it to fall asleep again.
I consulted my Mac guru friends (thanks guys!) and concluded that maybe the power management unit (PMU) needed a restart, so I followed Apples instructions for a PMU restart and things seemed to get better.
A couple of days later, I'm sitting here typing away, as is my wont, when the screen flickers and then the laptop goes to sleep again. Dammit, I think. That's very annoying. But this time, I actually saw it do it. I'm typing, then it just flickers and goes black. No message, no warning, no nothing. The socket light is orange, saying that it's charging. But when I think about it, it's been plugged in all day and the light was green. Certainly, it's been plugged in long enough that it should be green, not orange.
I check the battery, and the battery is flat as pancake. That'll be why it keeps going to sleep then – not enough power to keep awake. I change over the power brick to my spare, and bingo, it starts to charge properly. I figure that the power pack is at fault, perhaps because the outside ring is c-shaped instead of o-shaped, meaning that it's not touching what it should be touching and is not completing the circuit.
So I used my newer power pack and all seems well.
But today, same problem. iBook has been plugged in all night, with the newer power brick, but when I wake up and turn it on, it lasts a few minutes before going to sleep. I check the battery, and it's down to one flashing light. Oh dear.
So, question is, is it the power brick, or is it the socket? Or is it, perhaps, the PMU or the battery? Guess I'll have to take it to a Genius Bar to find out for sure. Maybe I'll waste hours in the San Francisco store, rather than the UK one because no way am I going have time to get this done before I leave. But if you have any thoughts, please comment. 🙂
UPDATE (1 Sept 06): Ok, so I took the iBook to the Apple Store and to an Apple reseller, and they both sucked air through their teeth in a very disconcerting manner and said how expensive it was going to be to fix. It seems that the problem is most likely to be with the connection between the socket and the motherboard, and fixing it will require a whole new mobo. Which will not be cheap. Now, I haven't had this confirmed because that would mean being without my iBook potentially for 10 days or more, which is just not possible.
My computer is essential to my life – without it, I cannot earn money, pay rent, buy food. It's no exaggeration to say that losing my computer (nevermind the data) would be a disaster. So there is only one thing I can do – buy a new one. I will then back-up all my data on to DVD, and see if I can't then get a proper diagnosis, and prognosis, for the iBook. I'll update here when I do that, in case it turns out to be useful info for anyone else having the same problem.
UPDATE: Today (12 Nov 06) Kevin and I replaced the DC-in board on the iBook, using one we bought for $30 and the iFixit Guides to tell us what to do. Works perfectly now.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Be' dach chi'n darllen ar hyn o bryd?

by Suw on August 18, 2006

Just asking my Welsh speaking readers what books they are reading at the moment.
Diolch i bawb sy wedi gadael sylw awdio ar fy mhost diwetha. Dw i'n hoffi gwrando i bobl yn siarad yn y Gymraeg, felly dw i'n mynd i ofyn cwestiwn newydd heddiw.

powered by ODEO
Dw i newydd gorffen tri lyfr gan Bethan Gwanas – Bywyd Blodwen Jones, Blodwen Jones a'r Aderyn Prin, a Tri Chynnig i Blodwen Jones. Dw i'n eu mwynhau nhw yn fawr iawn. Ysgrifennwraig dda iawn yw Bethan Gwanas. Mae'r llyfrau 'ma yn ddoniol, difyr a haws i ddarllen. Yn anffodus, dw i'n meddwl bod diwedd yr ail a'r trydydd llyfrau yn siomedig, achos maen nhw'n tipyn bach gwan. Dw i'n hoffi gweld y prif gymeriadau yn datblygu trwy'r hanes, ond dydy Blodwen neu ei chariad hi ddim. Ond, swn i'n cymeradwyo'r llyfrau 'ma yn hollol.
Felly, be' dach chi'n darllen ar hyn o bryd?
Send Me A Message
Os dach chi eisiau gadael sylw, mae 'na gwpl o bethau i gofio:
– siaradwch yn araf ac yn glir
– gadewch eich enw chi
– sgwennwch disgrifiad byr i helpu gwrandawyr deall be' dach chi wedi dweud
Iawn! I ffwrdd ?¢ ni!
ATEBION
Y sylw Odeo cynta gan Neil, efo ei ddisgrifiad bach. Diolch Neil!

powered by ODEO
“Dwi‚Äôn dweud ychydig am lyfr o‚Äôr enw ‚ÄòYsbryd y lle hwn‚Äô gan Mair Evans, llyfr dwi newydd cychwyn, felly wna i ddweud mwy amdanhi ar ol ei gorffen.”

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Congratulations to my Kevin

by Suw on August 17, 2006

I'm chuffed as a small horse to announce that Kevin, my T'Other, has a new job working as Head of Blogging and Interaction for The Guardian. We are both delighted about this as it's going to be a fantastic opportunity for him to really get his teeth into blogging and community projects, moreso than he's been able to at the BBC. And I must say, I'm a wee bit green – he gets to do really cool shit with some really cool people, such as Neil McIntosh and Ben Hammersley, whilst I get to watch from a distance and make approving noises.
But more importantly than that, it means I get to keep him in the UK for a while longer, which is obviously my main concern. Yay!
Congratulations, Kevin. I'm really proud of you.
PS… You hiring?

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Ble dach chi eisiau mynd ar wyliau?

by Suw on August 11, 2006

I'm here asking Welsh speakers where they want to go, or where they have been, on holiday. The idea is that people will then leave me Odeo comments telling me what their holiday plans are.

Dw i eisiau defnyddio fy Nghymraeg i mwy yn aml, felly dw i wedi bod meddwl am rywbeth bod Tom Coates wedi gwneud efo Odeo ar ei flog. Dw i eisiau clywed mwy o Gymraeg ar y we hefyd, felly bydda i'n mynd i ddefnyddio fy mlog i ac Odeo i ofyn cwestiynau i chi i gyd, a medrwch chi ddefnyddio Odeo i ateb. Syniad da, on dydy?
(Wrth gwrs, dydy fy Nghymraeg ddim yn perffaith, felly rhaid i chi fy maddu i fy nghamgymeriadau! A bydda i'n eich maddu chi!)
Y cwestiwn heddiw yw:
Ble aethoch chi (neu ewch chi) ar wyliau? Gwrandwch isod i'r holl cwestiwn.

powered by ODEO
Os dach chi eisiau gadael ateb, jyst clicio ar y botwm isod a byddwch chi'n mynd i Odeo. Yna medrwch chi recordio ateb bach. Wedyn, bydda i'n casglu'r atebion a'u chyhoeddi nhw yma.
Send Me A Message
Atebion:
Gan Cod:

powered by ODEO
A gan Dave:

powered by ODEO
Wrth gwrs, dw i newydd cofio fod yr Eisteddfod yn digwydd yr wythnos 'ma, felly efallai bydd mwy o bobl yn ateb wythnos nesa.
Ac ateb gan Rhodri Nwdls (dw i'n meddwl).

powered by ODEO
Diolch i bawb! Os dach chi eisiau rhoi adysgrifiad neu cyfieithiad yn y comments, sai hynny'n da.
20 Awst: Un arall gan Rob. Diolch Rob. Mae Odeo yn gweithio mewn rhan – mae 'na ran ar goll, a seiniau od ar ganol. Sgen i ddim syniad be' sy wedi digwydd.

powered by ODEO
“Gair neu ddwy am ein gwyliau yn Northumberland,” gan Neil.

powered by ODEO
Ac un bach gan Tom, o'r Inner Temple.

powered by ODEO
Diolch i Nic, o Morfablog.

powered by ODEO

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Blood, Sweat & Tea

by Suw on August 8, 2006

I had a little package turn up in the post this morning – a copy of Tom Reynolds' new book, Blood, Sweat & Tea. I was on my way out to give a presentation, so I took it with me to open on the Tube. Like Euan Semple, despite being a reader of Tom's for a long, long time, I couldn't help but start flicking through the book and, despite recognising some bits as posts I'd read before, I couldn't put it down. In fact, I nearly missed my stop because of it!
I remember when I first met Tom we had a chat about books. His blog was already getting quite a bit of attention and he'd had a publisher contact him about doing a book, but he said he'd turned them down because he wasn't interested in being a writer. At the time, I thought, 'Well, I guess it's not for everyone', but I'm glad that he reconsidered. Blood, Sweat & Tea is a great read – just as fascinating as Tom's blog, but a lot more portable. I would recommend most highly that you go out and buy it.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Home!

by Suw on August 6, 2006

Well, that was a bloody fantastic two weeks. Wonderful. Photos slowly going up on Flickr, and I'm going to write a longer blog post about the whole trip (primarily for sake of parents who are in Australia right now). But, in the meantime, just a quicky to say hello.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }