Today I’ve pretty much eliminated everything else I could on the MacBook problems.
It’s a dud motherboard.
Forget that embarrassment with Will Smith and the giant spider, the Wild, Wild West has finally made its triumphant debut on DVD, with the release of the 40th Anniversary edition of the first season of WWW. (Which actually started in 1965, so it should be the 41st anniversary edition.)
Wild, Wild West, for those not in the know, was one of those shows the network just didn’t understand. Set as it it were a western, it was really a Jules Vernesque 19th century spy caper, following our heroes James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) as the travel around the US in a private train car fighting diabolical madmen intent on all sorts of mischief.
WWW has always been one of my top 5 favorite TV series (Blakes 7, Doctor Who, Star Trek (classic) and the Avengers being the other four) and these discs do not disappoint.
They’ve been cleaned up and restored to their full length. They look and sound great and there are a number of extras on the discs, including a rare TV appearance of Robert Conrad and Ross Martin together and the first of the famous, “I dare you to knock this off” battery commercials.
My only complaint is that each episode is introduced by Robert Conrad. When you select PLAY for each episode, the intro plays immediately, with no option to bypass it. While the intros give some interesting insight into the production of the episode that follows, others just recap the coming story, giving away all the major plot twists. It’s also a bit sad to hear how frail Bob Conrad sounds – a telling reminder of our own mortality.
If all you’ve ever seen is the Will Smith movie, block that from your mind and get these discs. You’re in for a treat.
Follow up to More Macbook Weirdness
I found a nice write-up on the Apple Support forum for Macbooks concerning the random power off problem. I’d already tested most of these things, but I tried them a bit more methodically today.
Having found that an iDVD render could consistently cause the machine to shut down (after an unknown length of time), as could VisualHub running a transcode of a video file, I began to systematically eliminate everything I could.
I used multiple terminal windows running the ‘yes’ command to crank the CPU utilization up to maximum for hours, and the system didn’t shut down.
I reset the PMU and PRAM and the system still shuts down.
I created a new user account and was able to run both iDVD and VisualHub to successful conclusion, but then the system shut itself off while idling.
I’ve also run the Apple Hardware tests successfully – but on the second pass, the system shut down, which, to my mind eliminates the possibility that it is my OS install, since the hardware test boots a distinct OS environment on the DVD.
Tomorrow, I’ll re-seat my RAM and HDD. Fortunately, I have another set of RAM which I can try swapping out.
After that, it seems undeniable that this is a solid gold hardware failure of something core to the MacBook itself.
I’ve been putzing along on this diagnosis in the hopes that Apple will solve this problem – or at least acknowledge it – and come up with a suitable replacement program.
I really cannot afford to send my MacBook for a logic board replacement – even with the random failures, it’s my primary computer system with all my critical data and programs on it.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Blog, Computer, Mac, Macbook, OSX, Problems
The story so far…
Two days ago, the wireless started to drop again, but this time only at my office.
This morning, I discovered an OSX screen saver called Fenetres Volantes. I installed it an immediately the MacBook began to power off – even when the screen saver wasn’t engaged, or even selected as the operational screen saver.
I removed the screen saver and the problem seemed to go away, but later that day I attempted to burn an iDVD and when I came back, the system had powered off.
I’m beginning to feel like I’m zeroing in on the problem, but it still seems like too much of a mystery to make a call. I guess it is about time to call AppleCare. 🙁
I wonder if it might have something to do with video. iDVD being a Quicktime product, the screen saver probably uses advanced features of the video system… but when the system was dropping like a fly a couple weeks ago, I wasn’t doing anything particularly video intensive, so… I just don’t know.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Blog, Mac, Macbook, OSX, Problems, Rant
We’ve been watching the recently released Season 1 Incredible Hulk DVDs which my wife, being from Taiwan, has never seen.
She cries at the end of every episode when David has to leave behind all the people he’s grown to love and made their lives better, and he hitchhikes down that lonely road with that sad piano music playing.
I don’t like to see her cry, but it’s kind of sweet in a weird way.
“The Incredible Hulk – The Complete First Season” (Incredible Hulk)
It’s hot, it’s humid, in a word, it’s nasty here this week.
Last week it was 118º, this week it’s been cloudy and humid, interspersed with monsoon rain. That’s keeping the temperatures down around 100º, but the humidity is up to 40%.
It makes going outside nearly unbearable, but it does make for some interesting cloud formations. I took this video using a Mac and an iSight camera out my office window today. It’s a time lapse of about 8.5 hours. Th music was “assembled” using GarageBand’s pre-canned stuff.
I’m told there’s a ghostly face about 3/4 of the way through, but I can’t see it.
Technorati Tags: Blog, Ghosts, Natural Sciences, Video
I think it is only appropriate to start with a Jon Pertwee episode, predominantly because he is my favorite Doctor.
The Three Doctors
by Bob Baker & Dave Martin
Story
The Third Doctor, still exiled on 20th Century Earth by the Time Lords is hunted down by a force coming through a black hole from an anti-matter universe. UNIT puts up a valiant fight but are ultimately overwhelmed.
It’s hardly surprising that they cannot hold out, for the Time Lords themselves are under attack by the very same anti-matter universe. Crippled and unable to save themselves or the Doctor they do the only thing they can. They cross the time streams and send the Second Doctor to help the Third and when that fails, they send the First Doctor to sort them out.
Ultimately, the Doctors, Jo, the Brigadier, Sgt. Benton and the entire UNIT HQ are transported to the anti-matter universe, now home to Omega, Gallifrey’s greatest temporal engineer. Omega was the man who blew up a star to create the power needed to enable time travel. He died in the act, but his sacrifice enabled his people to become the Time Lords.
Bitter and feeling abandoned in an empty universe he now seeks revenge on the Time Lords and plans to use the Doctor as his instrument of revenge.
Analysis
Hard to believe, looking back over 43 years of Doctor Who (and 10 Doctors), but this was just the 10th anniversary special and the concept of the Doctors meeting was totally new, despite being something fans had wanted to see for some time.
Plot-wise, this story is better than all future multi-Doctor stories, but it’s a bit haphazard. The star of the show is really the interaction between Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton. (William Hartnell was very ill at the time of filming, as was only able to make an appearance via pre-recorded video.) With only two Doctors making much of an appearance, it was fairly easy to have two sub-plots running and give each time to develop. (The 20th Anniversary special, The Five Doctors (which only had really four Doctors) was just too broken up to be very good.)
Fans love the interaction between the two Doctors, but my favorite is Nicolas Courtney’s performance as the Brigadier, who goes inside the TARDIS and on a trip with the Doctor for the first (and only) time. Unlike the stoic Sgt. Benton, the Brigadier refuses to believe the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the out and is convinced that UNIT HQ has been blasted to the beach of a foreign country and not through a black hole to an anti-matter universe.
Most of the special effects and costumes are typical for early 70’s Who, but the CSO blob of anti-matter is particularly awful. You’ll cringe when you see it, but not from terror.
The backstory of Omega’s contribution to the Time Lords is later pretty much nullified by the story of Rassilon which came about in the Tom Baker story, the Deadly Assassin.
The is the last story of the Doctor’s exile on Earth and it is also the last full appearance of the Time Lords as the all-powerful, omnipresent beings looking out for time and space. Apart from a brief appearance in Genesis of the Daleks, the Time Lords from this point forward would be fatuous, political drones, prone to corruption, misuse of power and self-importance.
All-in-all, it’s an enjoyable romp, but it will make the best impression on someone who is already a fan of the show and familiar with the characters.
Technorati Tags: Blog, Doctor Who, Review
BBC News => US rock star to record Bond theme
I’m getting old…
Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell is to write and record the theme tune to the new James Bond film, Casino Royale.
Chris Cornell? Who?
Audioslave? Who?
US rocker Cornell was previously the singer with Seattle rock group Soundgarden.
Soundgarten? Who?
BBC News => Australian ‘Nessie’ fossils found
Australia was once home to ancient reptiles that swam in huge icy lakes, fossil evidence suggests.
“Huge icy lakes”, eh? If that doesn’t describe Loch Ness, I don’t know what does.
So, now they have more physical evidence that a Nessie type monster lived in Australia than there is to prove one lives in Scotland…
Technorati Tags: Blog, Cryptid, Dinosaur, Dinosaurs, Lake Monster, Natural Sciences, Paleontology, Science
BBC News => Flying reptile mystery ‘solved’
A rare skull specimen found in Brazil shows the crest appeared at puberty, suggesting it was used to attract attention from the opposite sex.
If things that appear puberty are meant to attract attention, does that mean acne is sexy?
Technorati Tags: Blog, Dinosaur, Dinosaurs, Natural Sciences, Paleontology, Science
