Looks like bad luck comes in pairs… now my PowerMac G5 1.8 Ghz (1st generation) won’t turn on. Last night, while working in Adobe Photoshop, the computer just turned off. I’ve currently posted a topic over at the Apple discussion forums (G5 (1st generation) Randomly Shut Off ) but if anyone else has any ideas, please leave a comment!
To follow up my previous post about AppleCare, it looks like Apple is going to do the right thing. I phoned up Apple Customer Relations ( 1-800-767-2775 ) and explained my problem with their diagnosis, emphasizing that there was no way that the damage to the PowerBook 12″ screen could have been caused by accidental damage. After being forwarded around a bit, I spoke with an agent named Shirley who took charge of the situation. After making sure (for what seemed like twenty times) that I didn’t drop the PowerBook, she gave the San Francisco Apple Store a call to find out more. After being on hold for a few minutes, Shirley came back on the line and said that Apple would cover the repair as the technician (genius?) at the store would have known to mark accidental damage in the log before sending it in. So, if all goes to plan, I should have my PowerBook back by the end of the week. Fingers crossed :)
AppleCare and I have had quite a long relationship, ever since I purchased an iPod. Before August 2002, I’d never really had a problem with any of our computers. The Macintosh II that we owned lived for a very long time. In fact it was working perfectly when we decided it was taking up too much room and got rid of it. The Performa 5200/80 and Performa 6500/350 were also wonderful workhorses (although long obsolete). Even the PowerMac G4 Digital Audio we own (and still use today) has never had a problem, save the modem being destroyed by France Telecom’s faulty phone lines.
However, ever since my first generation iPod, I feel I’ve been dealing with AppleCare in one form or another (telephone, Apple genius, etc), at least bi-yearly. My first generation iPod was replaced two times before I finally caved in and purchased a third generation model. It didn’t take too long before that too began to have problems and was replaced. My current 4th generation one (knock on wood) has been a charm, but like the others, it’s too early to know whether it will have any problems as I’m still under warranty! In addition, my 1st generation PowerMac G5 also has had work done on it, having it’s logic board replaced, as well as, video card. However, Apple’s support for their pro-machine has been more than stellar - although I purchased the AppleCare extended warranty on it, I received on-site repair which had my machine fixed in about an hour. Plus, having telephone support on hand is also handy for simple questions that I might not know the answer to!
Ah! It’s pretty difficult to rely just on public terminals to have access to the internet. Perhaps I’ve been spoilt at Hamilton and at home with instant-demand Internet. Anyway, today is the last day of WWDC and in fact, the last day I’m in San Francisco. I fly out tonight on a red-eye flight to head back to Syracuse, arriving hopefully at 9:30 AM tomorrow in sunny - but hot - Syracuse. Morning and afternoon plans seems to have already been made and I hope I have enough energy to make a half-decent attempt at staying awake and being interested in what we do!
Yesterday, Day 4, was an interesting day at the conference. I attended more sessions on Core Data and a few on Web Kit. Great technology that I’m eagerly awaiting to use. In the afternoon, we lined up around 4:15 PM or so to wait for the buses to Apple’s Cupertino campus. Mathieu and I were able to get on the first bus to the campus, and as such, were the first to the Campus Store. Last year, I remember waiting almost two hours to enter. This year, there was no wait. Of course, I didn’t buy anything (even though they had 25% off on iSights, Airport Extreme and Express products, and 15% off iPods). Actually, I really didn’t need anything - I just want my PowerBook back … fixed. After the obligatory reading of t-shirts and other Apple memorabilia, we headed inside to the center where there was plenty of food and drinks, and to our surprise, The Wallflowers. I was perhaps one of … twenty or so who actually knew who they were. They played a pretty good set for about an hour and it was entirely enjoyable. We then spent the rest of the time mingling, talking with slightly inebriated students and developers, and then escaping on one of the buses back to San Francisco.
Today’s been a pretty laid back day. This morning I went to two feedback forums and listened to Apple developer’s complaining. The first was on Core Data and Cocoa and the second was on a topic more to my interest, Human Interface Design. Good stuff being brought up and it gave Apple quite a bit to think about. Lunch was had and then we got to listen to a developer for Pixar’s in-house team. He showed off some clips, demoed some programs, and inspired us to “Go Create Something Beautiful.” Great. Afternoon sessions (at least the one that I went to so far) seem to be a bit of a bore. I’m currently thinking about spending a few hours walking around downtown to get my last fill of San Francisco. We’ll see. Anyway, hopefully I’ll post some photos soon when I get back to campus. Till later…
This is going to be a short blog post since I’m using a public terminal in between the Apple Design Awards and Stump the Experts - the evening activities. I’m using a public terminal because I finally decided to go over the Apple store at 4:00 PM, sign up for a genius bar time (7:00 PM), and send my PowerBook in for repair. It’s got white dots on the screen that really suck - it’s not a big deal normally but when working in Word or other applications that are predominately white, you can see three or so spots where the pixels have either died or … ? Whatever the case, it’s being sent in to Apple (the genius took one look at it, said it sucked, and then had me backup my files). Let’s hope that it gets repaired properly!
This morning was more of the same. Woke up, walked to the Moscone Center, had breakfast, and then it was start of the sessions. I went to Using Bindings to Help Sync your Data and UI and then to the Advanced Document-Based Application Techniques. Both were good sessions but half way through, I realized I didn’t really follow anymore. These are things that I definitely need to read more on. Lunch came, I ate the food, and then went into the Union Square area to do a bit of shopping. Then it was time for more sessions and they were really good. Went to .Mac integration, Sync Services, and then Core Data. Core Data rules. It really is an amazing technology and so much is provided for us. It’s built upon SQLite (XML and Binary too) and it’s fast. It’s also really easy to use. They showed a very good, clear example, and it used zero (yes, zero) lines of code. That’s the beauty of Xcode, Interface Builder, and Bindings.
It’s time to go now- the final activity is starting. Tomorrow will be more sessions, followed by a trip to Apple’s campus in Cupertino for the Campus Bash … music and food and drinks. I’ll post more when I get a chance…
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