The money was too good. I got stupid.

Jayne ,'Ariel'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Hil R. - May 25, 2007 7:21:56 pm PDT #1693 of 25496
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

I've got a MacBook. I was playing around with iChat today, and now, even though I shut down all the programs that were using the iSight, the little green light next to it is still on. I shut down and restarted the computer, and the light is still on. How do I shut the camera off? The help menu was entirely unhelpful.


DebetEsse - May 26, 2007 10:02:58 am PDT #1694 of 25496
Woe to the fucking wicked.

I've been using Firefox for over a year on a Mac, and I loves it.

They've got a whole section on moving from PC to Mac. I don't recall it being particularly painful when I did it.


le nubian - May 26, 2007 10:16:14 am PDT #1695 of 25496
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

They've - meaning Mac?


§ ita § - May 26, 2007 11:55:19 am PDT #1696 of 25496
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

How do you guys work cable management? Under my desk in the bedroom I have cables for the cable modem, my router, two PCs and their keyboards and other various peripherals.

I just got a Roomba (go dork me) and although I should have organised that crap a long time ago it's too chancy to leave that imbroglio where robotics can try and swallow it.

Cable management has come up as part of my project at work, and the solutions that made it to the final round were this strange sort of velcro (if you try and tug it apart laterally, like you were trying to expand from the inside, it's really strong. But it peels off itself very easily), open-sided plastic hooks, and this 'hanging basket' from Ikea. I'm not in love with the idea of screwing anything to my desk, but we'll see.

Do you guys manage your cables?


DebetEsse - May 26, 2007 12:02:00 pm PDT #1697 of 25496
Woe to the fucking wicked.

Yeah. meaning Mac.


Jessica - May 26, 2007 12:50:10 pm PDT #1698 of 25496
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

I put a pillow in front of the entertainment center so the Roomba can't get to those cables. Most of the computer-related ones are stuffed in-between the tower and my desk in such a way that the Roomba can't reach them either.

I have a plan involving Krazy Glue to secure the speaker wire in the living room (cheaper than buying a staple gun), but it will have to wait until I'm able to bend over again. (Currently we just move it out of the way by lifting it onto the step that's the dining area. But gluing it into the corner will make it both Roomba and toddler-proof.)


§ ita § - May 26, 2007 12:56:12 pm PDT #1699 of 25496
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Do you have a scheduler one, Jess? I'm trying to work out if I can ever keep the place tidy enough to have it run without me starting it explicitly. At the site where I got it, it was cheaper than the one without a scheduler, so at least I don't feel like there was money wasted if I never make it.

Ran it twice in the living room, and it was way cool to empty the bin with all that fuzz that *I* hadn't had to vacuum myself. There is some lurve.


Jessica - May 26, 2007 1:02:59 pm PDT #1700 of 25496
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Do you have a scheduler one, Jess?

No, we just got the basic model. The way our apartment is laid out, there's no way for it to do any room except the living room without being physically picked up and moved there (because of the raised dining area / sunken living rom), so it didn't seem worth the extra expense.


§ ita § - May 26, 2007 1:16:39 pm PDT #1701 of 25496
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Mine doesn't like my bathroom rug. Not a big deal, except I'll have to remember to shut that door (or put the infrared wall somewhere I won't knock it over).

Still, happy so far. I hope my allergies are too.


Jessica - May 27, 2007 7:20:35 am PDT #1702 of 25496
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

When a very old iPod (3rd Gen, I think - the last model w/ the monochrome screen) dies, and multiple Restores and Resets do nothing to bring it back to life, is it worth taking to the Genius Bar, or should we simply mourn its passing an replace it with a newer model? The warranty is long expired.

(DH's iPod has been acting up for the past week or so, and this morning seems to have given up completely. iTunes recognizes it as a broken iPod, but when we restore it, it's still broken. Plugging it into the wall gives us a sad little frowny face icon and instructions to go to the Apple iPod support page online. Apple's support page tells us to restore and reset, which we've already done multiple times.)