I had me a scare today. Considering the topic of my [last post](http://www.macmove.com/mm/archives/apple/its-finally-happened), which was the fact that Lizzie, my PowerBook G4, is out-of-date, it was an appropos scare: when I got back from the family vacation I have been on, Lizzie seemed dead. She worked fine this morning, in a hotel in Grimes, Iowa, where I was able to check my email using the hotel's free internet access. But, when I got home and pulled her out of my bag, Lizzie wouldn't wake from sleep. Then, when I held down the power button to shut her down and tried to start her up again, the familiar startup chime would sound, then... nothing. But, if I held my ear to the underside of the left palmrest, I could hear the poor hard drive trying to start up. It would spin up, then stop. The screen never lit and nothing else ever happened. She seemed dead. Then, I called Apple and spoke to a support agent who reminded me how to [reset the Power Management Unit](http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449), which was all the magic I needed. Just so I don't forget again, the procedure is: >1. If the computer is on, turn it off. That's all; she's working fine, now, and I'm free to set her up for a much-needed, post-vacation backup session. Then I can edit the photos we took and tell you all about it. |
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Today is a sad day. Today, June 7th, 2006, marks the day that Lizzie, my 12" PowerBook G4, is oficially out of date. You see, I recently read about [OmniDazzle](http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidazzle/) a piece of software by The Omni Group that provides "a set of fun and useful enhancements that help you track the location of your mouse pointer and provide options for highlighting certain areas of your screen." It sounded neat when I read about it at Daring Fireball, so I downloaded it and tried to install it. Imagine my surprise when, upon launching the app, I saw the following error:
According to Omni's [hardware requirements page](http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidazzle/hardware/), about 5.5% of Mac systems don't have the required oomph to run OmniDazzle's effects. Wow: it seems that Lizzie sits at the very bottom of a large heap. I rummaged back through my records and found this, a post from my personal weblog, written on Wednesday, April 2, 2003: >Today is the day; the process has begun. Earlier tonight (April 1), at about 6:45 PM CST, I finalized my order with warehouse.com. I have, for the first time, bought a modern computer. I bought a Macintosh 12-inch G4 PowerBook. If you can't tell, I'm very excited. The reason I was so excited, I wrote, was that I had never before bought a "modern computer," meaning that, until my PowerBook, every computer I ever bought was last-year's-Mac. So, I bought the 12" PowerBook and used the hell out of it. Today, just over 37 months later, my PowerBook won't run new software. Not only does it not have the required graphics card, it's so old that it's not even listed on the list of possible unsupported machines! Thanks to [ZDnet](http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=173), I found this neat Mac serial number [decoder ring](http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html), which tells me that my PowerBook was the 1,360th PowerBook G4 assembled in the 11th week of 2003 (mid-March). That doesn't feel like that long ago to me... but I suppose that it was, as is evidenced by its failure to run Omni's new toy. Now, I know that there are a lot of video games out there that won't run on Lizzie. I also know that, if I try to run InDesign and Photoshop at the same time, things will slow down. I know that the Intel revolution has left me behind and that the world of BootCamp is out of Lizzie's reach. But, until today, I've been able to do everything I ever tried to do on my Mac... but those days are over. Is it just me, or is three years too short a lifespan for a $2,000 computer? |
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A piece ran recently in the NJ Star-Ledger about .Mac. Allan Hoffman, that paper's Tech columnist, [writes](http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/hoffman/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/114637133850760.xml&coll=1) that: > Technology gurus have hyped the idea of seamless integration between personal computers and the online world for years, but we still remain far from a simple, one-stop collection of services. >Unless, that is, you use a service from Apple Computer called .Mac. Hoffman's thesis is simply that, while computers are supposed to make it easy to manage information, many of the info-storage and syncing sites online, like Yahoo!, Gmail, Snapfish and others, are difficult to learn and almost impossible to use together. He likes the all-in-one simplicity and usability of .Mac. Now, I'm a .Mac user and love it, but I'd like to know how many of you use .Mac and what features *you* use. For review, here is the feature list, according to Apple's [website](http://www.apple.com/dotmac/features.html): * Publishing with iWeb - The ability to publish a website straight out of iWeb Now, I use most (if not all) of those features, but I am, as they say, a little bit of a geek. What about the rest of you? Do you .Mac? |
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You're invited you to join us in LA May 19-20 for the next MacGathering™ - and we have a special offer for you... you can get in for free just for being a MacMove reader! The 3rd annual MacGathering™ (and new SoHo Tech Show™) packs quite a punch. It provides ample opportunity for truly getting to know great products and the people behind them in the Exhibit Hall, for learning a diverse range of Mac/computer related skills with low-cost seminars, and even for mingling with Mac using celebrities during free evening festivities. Show producer, author Deborah Shadovitz has once again used her own expertise and connections to provide a lineup of uniquely helpful seminars. There are two days of seminars, with 6 concurrent sessions in each of the 4 time-slots, providing learning opportunities from professional-level audio, video and graphics, to a solid foundation in Mac basics, to skills necessary for the business work. Several of these seminars such as one on microphone technique and another on 3D photographic effects are actually quite rare, especially at these prices. When the show floor and seminars close for each evening you can mingle with one another, say hello to Jerry Mathers, and converse with KNX Radio's Jeff Levy. Perhaps join the lucky Keynote goers for a side-splitting look at our world of technology as the world's funniest geek, comedian Sinbad shares his insights. On Saturday evening you can try your hand at Mac trivia in a game of Mac Jeopardy with Tony award-winner René Auberjonois, who we all know in some capacity from at least one of his three beloved roles on TV — in Benson, Deep Space Nine, or Boston Legal. And then you can top off your night with an iPod DJ contest, dancing and socializing with fellow gathering-goers. We'd love for you to join us in the Exhibit Hall, and have a FREE EXHIBITS PASS waiting for you. Just go to the [MacGathering website](http://www.MacGathering.com), click Register, then enter our code ("MacMove") for your free pass. The free passes won't last for long so sign up now! When they're gone you'll still get a great deal though, at just $7. If you'd like to attend some seminars as well, this code enables you to purchase a One-Day Seminar Pass for just $49 or a Two-Day Seminar Pass for $89. Advance admission to the show is normally $10 for Exhibits and the free sessions, $70 for a One-Day Seminar Pass, and $109 for a Two-Day Seminar Pass. **The 3rd annual MacGathering™ now introducing the new SoHo Tech Show™** **Location:** *More than a trade show or expo, this event truly is a gathering.* |
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Here's a screenshot from the trailer for [Superman Returns](http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/supermanreturns/), which comes out on June 30th. I'm excited about this movie, but that's not what this post is about. What I want to know is, what application is Jimmy Olsen using here to manage his photos? It doesn't look like any Mac application I've ever seen, but the fuzzy writing in the upper-right corner of his screen makes me think it's a Mac. I know it's not iPhoto and I don't think it's Aperture... but maybe it's [Adobe Lightroom](http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/)? Anyone know?
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