Monthly Archives: August 2013


After more than 6 1/2 years of faithful service my old MacBook Pro was finally retired… 4

After more than 6 1/2 years of faithful service my old MacBook Pro was finally retired this weekend

This late-2006 machine served as my daily driver for about 2 1/2 years, accumulating a lot of flight miles and as you can see by some of the keys, a lot of key strokes. I eventually replaced it with a mid-2009 model and passed it along first to my daughter, and then my son.  

The battery has been effectively dead for more than a year and this week, the graphics chip started flaking out. After opening it up and cleaning what dust was in the heatsinks, the problem did not resolve itself, pointing to a more serious problem. Given it's advanced age, it was not worth repairing. We hit Craigslist and found a good deal on a used late 2012 13-inch Macbook air that Max used some of the money he's earned at his job this summer to pay for. 

I pulled the hard drive and after reformatting, I stuffed into a casing from another drive that died after getting dropped a couple of years ago so Max has some extra storage. I was going to swap the display assembly to my wife's mid-2007 model to replace the cracked (for the second time) bezel only to find that some of the connectors had been changed. 

The bezel issue is a story for another day. 

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With all the real issues we have with America turning into a police state, this is… 1

With all the real issues we have with America turning into a police state, this is just ridiculous

Ben Affleck is a perfectly capable actor and people should get their heads out of their collective asses. Ultimately the success or failure of his Batman portrayal will probably rest far more on the script and direction than his own acting. If the movie ends up sucking, just don't go see it. Don't create internet noise with stupid petitions.

The hero nobody deserves: fans petition to ban Ben Affleck as Batman
Unsurprisingly, the reaction to the news that Ben Affleck will portray Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel has been swift and merciless: fans aren’t happy, and they’re using the Change.org…

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The customer is always right, except when they are not 5

If you move you will die, if you don't move, you are already dead

Some very wise words from the +Detroit Free Press auto critic Mark Phelan in his column today.  Much to the chagrin of engineers and designers most people actually have no idea what they really want before someone else creates it and presents it to them. People are very bad at anticipating. 

Mark Phelan: ‘Vette, Mustang, Cherokee fans, stop complaining already

As new versions of the Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang and Jeep Cherokee draw near, I’ve got a request for the vehicles’ purists: Stop complaining that they’re different from the old cars you revere. Close your eyes, count to 10 and get back to me after they’ve been on the road for six months.

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They don't make CEOs like Steve Ballmer anymore

Eric Schmidt says some odd things but nobody beats Uncle Fester when it comes to pure unadulterated crazy

Steve Ballmer’s wackiest, craziest, downright funniest moments at Microsoft
When Steve Ballmer steps down from his role as CEO of Microsoft in 12 short months, the world will lose a little bit of luster. It’s not that the longtime leader is irreplaceable—Ballmer’s achievements were indeed momentous, but there are already possible successors champing at the bit to take the reins. But without Steve at the top, the constant flow of hilarious Ballmerisms we’ve come to enjoy over the years will no doubt dry up, leaving the …

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*The designers at +Ford Motor Company went through dozens of different design proposals…

*The designers at +Ford Motor Company went through dozens of different design proposals before they finally came up with the look that would be the 1965 #mustang *

In early 1961 a group of designers, engineers, planners and marketers gathered to formulate a response to the changing demographics of the auto market as baby boomers were hitting driving age. With a business case in hand for a compact, affordable and stylish sporty car, they set to work creating a new car. Dozens of proposals were tried and discarded before Gale Halderman finally came up with the look that would hit the streets on April 17, 1964.

1965 Ford Mustang: From Sketch to Production (W/Video) – Motor Trend WOT

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JJ Abrams to help keep +Kodak afloat with Star Wars Episode VII 2

JJ Abrams to help keep +Kodak afloat with Star Wars Episode VII

While Peter Jackson and James Cameron are shooting all of their new projects on 4K digital cameras at 48 frames per second and in 3D, Abrams is continuing to use film to shoot Star Wars. As far as I know, even movies shot on film today immediately get digitized for editing, color correction and visual effects, so its not clear what the benefits are of shooting on film. Even for distribution the vast majority of cinemas have converted to digital projection, so the potential upside is archiving since people can still look at a piece of celluloid even if all the computers die.

Analog strikes back: next ‘Star Wars’ to be shot on film, not digital
Director JJ Abrams, who recently signed on to direct the next installment in the Star Wars series, has shots his movies exclusively in film — and it turns out that won’t be changing any time…

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