MacOSXRumors just noted that the online Apple Stores are closed. I just checked the Australia one, and it's closed, too. Does this mean new Powerbooks? I guess I'll find out tomorrow. (… as I'm going to bed!)
Monthly Archive for January, 2005
I think I'm going to have to get my 12″ PowerBook (purchased February 2003) repaired… Recently, it has decided to just die when the battery level reaches 30%. Plugging it in then shows 0% charge on it. *sigh*
I initially thought it was a problem with the battery (the machine and batteries are two years old), but I swapped it for the other one, and the same thing happened, at the same battery level.
Given the number of threads covering this, it seems I'm not alone (and by far not the worst affected, fortunately).
One user reported success by draining the battery completely using a brand new user account. I tried this, but the computer went to sleep shortly after hitting the 30% mark.
I tried resetting the PMU today, and had slight success, but after draining, the battery only charged up to 70% (oops). It did drain all the way to 0%, however, and lasted about 10 minutes after that. After charging it fully and draining it again, it died at 30%. Argh!
So… it looks like i'll have to do a backup of the machine on Wednesday night and take it to MacCentric in Chatswood on Thursday night. I hope they can fix it quickly, as I'll be without a machine at home until (if) it's repaired.
What a pain.
I saw a link to Virtue the other day at the Tao of Mac, and all I can say is… WOW.
Continue reading 'Virtue'
Robert Scoble announced that Microsoft has opened up many of the Office 2003 file formats (for free), including:
- Excel 2003
- InfoPath 2003 (no idea what that is)
- Word 2003
- Visio 2003
Wow. That's pretty massive. There don't seem to be any harsh restrictions on the use of the reference schemas, either.
So does this mean Apple can add full inter-operability with Word 2003 documents for its Pages word processor? That would be great.
What about OmniGraffle? Can the OmniGroup now add support for the import/export of Visio binary files (the default save option, I believe)?
UPDATE: DrunkenBatman has a comparison of OpenDocument and the Microsoft XML schemas, and a much better analysis of the announcement than I could come up with. 
I saw the movie Ray tonight, and I was very impressed. I've never been a big fan of Jamie Foxx, but he was EXCELLENT in playing Ray Charles.
The movie was good, in that it revealed the human side of the singer, rather than just showing his singing. You are confronted with someone who has deep dark fears about being alone, guilt for an accident, as well as a heroin addiction and infidelity, and Jamie Foxx is great throughout.
It made me wonder, though. If Ray Charles (Robinson) had not taken heroin, would he have become the same person in later years? Or, if he was loyal to his wife throughout his time, would his music have been any different? The fact that he said he loved his wife (Della Bea) so much, yet slept with other women while touring irked me a bit. If he loved her so much, why do it?
Anyway, I highly recommend it! I'm going to have to go spend copious amounts of money on Ray Charles albums now… dammit.
I watched Swimming Pool on Foxtel this evening. I had heard some good reviews of the film, but had never gotten around to actually watching it at the movies.
I don't have too much to say on the movie, except that it's quite good! There's a fair bit of nudity, if that floats your boat. (Actually… I must say that this film had the most nudity out of any I've seen. Ben walked in and said "Oh my god, are you watching soft porn?" To which I replied, "It's a French film", which was met with a blank stare.)
Ludivine Sagnier is quite intriguing as the daughter of the host, Julie, who brings home a different man each night, makes a lot of noise and parades around the place naked half the time.
Charlotte Rampling plays the prudish, English writer, who, as the movie progresses, gradually lets her defences down and relaxes.
I've read a couple of reviews that bag the 2nd half of the film, but I quite enjoyed it. The twist at the very end leaves you there stunned, thinking, "What the f…?" (The same response I had to Mulholland Drive.) Regardless, it's a good film. Go see it!
Julian Missig argues that the iPod shuffle (like the other iPods) will be extremely popular, because of one thing: "it’s dead simple to get music onto it".
AnandTech has a second article on using a Mac from the perspective of a Windows user. This time it's with a 15″ Powerbook.
DrunkenBatman has written an "educational" post on how to mix a White Russian… Mmm…
From Slashdot: According to Yahoo! News, the Gates foundation has promised to donate $750 million over 10 years for the vaccination of infants worldwide. THAT's generosity.
