: quitter :

In Memoriam

My computer was old, eight years is a century for technology, an eon, and the poor old geezer couldn’t be upgraded any further. Apple had long ago abandoned machines of such vintage and browsers followed suit, dropping their support soon after. I hung on to the thing for purely sentimental (then financial) reasons. But when it started failing for the fourth time, my sentiments changed and I started to call it names.

We agreed to go our separate ways. My old Apple G4 PowerBook, running the ancient 10.4.11 (Tiger) operating system, has resigned. It’s now working for the tech guy who tried to fix it. Over and over and over again. In exchange I got a new (to me) system that runs on 10.6.8, a huge improvement in performance and compatibility. It gets along with everyone, even me. And my old software works like a charm, which comes as a huge, cost-saving relief.

A new era begins. I hope.

As I, for the very last time, install software and fonts and files and browsers, please enjoy a festive Christmas performance by those merry Muppet bell ringers and singers: Animal, Beaker, and Swedish Chef. I will be back soon, with no computer talk whatsoever. Thank you for your patience and forbearance.

Copyright © Publikworks 2011.

17 responses to “: quitter :”

  1. For a system to be able to run for 8 years is amazing; that is coming from the engineering perspective. I studied the microprocessor structure of the Powerbook G4 (sorry for the geeky moment) in grad school and during its release, it was the best out there. It’s a pretty robust system.

    I hope you’re happy with your newer computer / OS.

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    1. Hi, there, Nel. The newer one works, which is a plus, but I liked my old one better. Or did when it was working. That was one fine machine. Thanks for dropping by.

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  2. RIP, computer. How tragic. Sounds like he had a good long life though.

    Thank goodness you ended on an uplifting note (although, poor Beaker). The clip provided such a nice festive touch :)

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    1. Long is right, especially if you listen to the computer experts.Things worked out pretty good, which is unusual in my experience — I’m more familiar with the Beaker-style outcomes. It was good to hear from you, Angie, stop in again.

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  3. The final nominee of the 2011 transatlantic diablog award is announced now. You are among all of them. Check who you compete against via this link:

    The 2011 transatlantic diablog award – The final nominee: maedchenmitherz (Post contains raffle)

    Official votings start December 15 – free and open for everybody!

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  4. Reblogged this on myonlyadventure and commented:
    This made me laugh, and I really needed to laugh this morning.

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    1. You got my day off to a great start, thank you, myonlyadventure. I’m sorry you needed to laugh, but happy I could give you one. Have a terrific weekend.

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  5. You might go down in history as the person to have a computer that long. And those muppets started to grind on my nerves. I like them otherwise though. :-)

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    1. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I had that distinction, totsymae. (Great name, by the way.) Sorry about the Muppets, I just can’t help myself when it comes to them. It was nice to hear from you, stop by again soon.

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  6. OMG YES!!!! I’m so glad we have you back now!!! That’s the best news ever. Now we all can have a peacefull christmas time. *cheers*

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    1. Gosh, thank you, Min! I will! I’ll be back on Friday. Saturday at the latest. See you then.

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  7. Your ‘new’ laptop is newer than my work laptop. I have a 10.5.8. I love having a job that allows me the use of a Mac. My personal computer is a non-Mac, though I love it.

    Welcome back, Lisa! Hopefully you can hear the songs i’m sharing, now. Sha’woo. Peace is restored to the village.

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    1. Hey, Lenore, how’s things? As soon as I get all the applications downloaded and installed I’m heading your way for Holy Night. Good choice, by the way.

      I can understand the logic of Macs, but I think you need to be a programmer to figure out pcs. I tried using one once and it was a disaster! I’m just relieved all the chaos and uncertainty are behind me. Wow, computer problems are stressful.

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  8. Yeah, it was time. I’ve never owned a MAC. Started with an IBM PC and stayed there. Laughed at all those Apple users. My first computer was a TIMEX Sinclair. You used a cassette tape to store data and run programs. I still have it. It still works. My current PC is an HP Pavilion, and a ComPaq Presario, and a Dell Expiron. I run Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. I think I need to upgrade and get organized.

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    1. Macs are fine, but they have a habit of abandoning users when they switch technology mid-stream. This was the third time they left me twisting in the wind. I seriously considered going pc, but all my files and software are Mac. For now. Do you recommend pcs?

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  9. Haha! After about three crashes, two towers and different pcs all within a decade, I entered the world of Mac laptops just over a year ago and love it.

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    1. They’re so much simpler, that’s for sure. Keep your operating system updated!

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