Privacy Digest

Hello readers,

I just wanted to let you know that there will probably be limited updates for the next few days till I get my laptop back from the shop. Remember my hard drive died a horrible death a while ago? Well I've been operating off an external drive, which while it works is definitely not convenient(no quick sessions due to setup time). Well I finally thought I had enough time to pull out my instructions and tackle the replacement of the dead internal drive. Well while it wasn't going fast(I am more software than hardware, though I can handle desktops and basic laptop repairs), I finally got to a point where my laptop was in approx 7 pieces and I had taken out almost 50 screws of various sizes and I was almost at the hard-drive. The final hurdle that made me stop was two tiny connectors to the motherboard that I just couldn't disconnect without risking damage :-( So I admitted that I had found my limit and decided to bring my disassembled laptop in to my local Mac hardware gurus and have them finish the job. While they of course gave me a curious look due to its condition, they said, "sure - no problem we'll finish the install for you". Hmm, I wonder what the Apple Store would have said?

I brought it in on Tuesday afternoon and it will be a few days before I can get it back. So until then I am using an old Windows desktop as my replacement system. Unfortunately it doesn't have any of my tools or bookmarks to info sources. Yes I do have all that backed-up on my external drive, but that is for a Mac not Windows. And while Macs can read Windows disks without to much trouble, the opposite(windows reading Mac) is not simple at all.

And yes I had considered getting a new MacBook, but while I would love it, a second laptop is just not in the budget at the moment. Unfortunately even if I got a new MacBook I'd still have to get this one fixed at some point. You might ask Why? since the new MacBook would be SO MUCH better than the old iBook. Well I have a client that will not allow anything in the building that contains a camera(no cell phones, no iPhones :-(, no laptops) and all new MacBooks have a camera.

So updates will be slow since I don't have my normal tools, but I will do what I can and try and catch-up when I have my laptop back.