Computer Update

Today I got some news from the computer repair shop.

Apparently the problem has nothing to do with overheating. It seems that the first series of iMac G5 used a bad batch of capacitors on its circuit boards (I think that sensors for the space shuttle fuel tank were plagued by a similar problem recently!) and that they burn up after a while. Apple has acknowledge the problem and extended the warranty of the flawed models (see the Repair Extension Program page). So as soon as they received the needed parts the repair shop will replace the logic board of my iMac G5 (hopefully before the end of the week) and I will be back in business with a FAST computer (switching back to a G3/G4 made me realized how fast the G5 is!). Let's see if Apple hold to their reputable customer service.

I have therefore regained confidence in my beautiful iMac G5 and will stick with it for a while. Probably until we see what those new Intel Mac that Apple is planning to release are capable of.

Ikea website offer bad service

One week ago a placed an order online on Ikea's website. Unlike most online store where your purchase and payment are automatically confirmed, at Ikea someone has to call you back to confirm the details of your order. So far, after a week, nobody has called. My advice: if you want to buy something at Ikea, either go to the store (that's if you have a car, or a friend willing to help you) or order by phone. It is much quicker!

UPDATE (9/11): well, after more than a week without news I deciced to call to reissue my order, via phone this time. When they told me that it would cost me $80 shipping for a $140 bookshelf, I told them to cancel my order. I'll find someone to drive me there instead later this week. Such a poor online ordering system (no confirmation of shipping cost, having to be phoned back, long delays, etc.) is really outragous.

My Computer Dies!

After having printer's and cat's problems, I was not out of the woods yet. Yesterday night, my iMac G5 died in a terrible smell of burned electronics. That was NOT an happy moment either. After spending part of the afternoon doing diagnostics, it is now packed and ready to go to an Apple Service Center monday. I should be able to get it repaired within a week (however I am considering eventually replacing it by a dual processor G5 2 ghz tower -- if I can get a good price for the iMac, which, being an all-in-one model, has the unfortunate habit to overheat).

I had to take out my old G3 (boosted with a G4 processor) and update its files in order to be able to do some work in the meantime. Anyway, that's life.

Hopefully, that's the end of my bad luck streak.

Take care!

My beloved departed cats

The backstreet is always full of stray cats. Some seek refuge on our balcony and we feed them out of compassion. Four years ago, one of those cats touched our heart more than the others: it was a cute one-year-old female part siamese, part tabby. The winter was coming close so we let her in and she stayed with us since then. We called her Nyako. She was the best of cats: never complaining, never scratching furnitures, always clean. Like most cats, she was affectionate but distant.

One year ago we noticed that her face was not symetric anymore and that a tumor was slowly growing on the right side of her head. We knew that there was not much to do for that but hope it would not get bigger. It did, but we wanted to keep her as long as she would have a decent quality of life. We hope that she would grow old and eventually die peacefully. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago the tumor got so big that it deformed her mouth and pushed her eyes a little forward. She was constantly drooling and her eye was crying. She was sleeping all day and looked pityful. So, this morning we had her euthanized, relieving her of her misery. It was certainly not an easy decision to take, and the visit to the vet was not an easy moment either. At least now, she won't suffer anymore and she's probably happier in some cat's heaven somewhere. But, to make it harder, it is the second cat that we lose this summer. Those cats were like our children and we miss them. At least, we still have one.

Earlier this year, we adopted two more cats: a black & white female with a black spot on the nose and a white spot on the tip of the tail (so we called her Spotty) and a light brown-reddish male, very noisy, that we called Nyaboy (and sometime also Foxy, because of his color and pointy ears). We couldn't, obviously, keep too many cats so we found someone to take care of the very gentle and affectionate Spotty. Unfortunately, last April, Nyaboy was shot (twice!) in the back with a pellet gun by some moron (probably a kid playing with his new toy). He got a very nasty infection, but for some time it looked like he was having the upper hand. However, he did lost the battle after a while. Luckily, a few weeks later we learned that the young lady who was taking care of Spotty just got a new job in Hong-Kong and couldn't bring her along. So we took her back. Now we have only Spotty. I'll post some pictures of her later (right now I have computer problems, so I cannot).

Relaxing a bit

Sorry for not having post much lately. I've spent most of July and August working hard on the layout of PA#85. Now I am done and I can relax a bit -- but not too much because there still lots of updates to do on the web pages, back issues to convert into eBooks, preparing the shipping and finally starting the plannification and layout for the next issue -- watching some anime series or movies to review, cleaning up and doing a zillion things around the house.

Unfortunately, starting a series a bad luck that struck me in the last few days, the PA#85 will be delayed a little. Apparently, the printer press broke down and they had to wait for replacing parts. Then the printer had a big printing job to do before us and we were pushed back. Hopefully, we'll start shipping by the middle of next week.

BTW, I forgot to post that link before, but here are the pictures from Anime Boston '05.