Tag Archives: Apple

Apple Collectibles Up for Auction

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I start to liquidize my collection of Macworld Expo programs and vintage Apple and Macintosh t-shirts.

I’ve been saving them for years, storing them in plastic packaging to protect them from dust and dirt. Hiding them in dark closets to keep the sun off them.

Macworld Expo ProgramWhat am I talking about? Only 10 years worth of Macworld Expo souvenirs.

I’ve decided to put them on eBay, to make my collection part of someone else’s.

(Don’t laugh — I was recently paid $13 for a 1997 Apple Annual Report. I’d had it filed with my investment stuff and was about to throw it out when I thought of eBay.)

First up for grabs: my Macworld Expo Program and Buyer’s Guides. My collection appears to date back to 1993. Remember Aldus? Macromedia? ACI US? The Newton? They’re all here in listings and advertisements.

I’m especially impressed by my copy of the January 1994 program (shown here): It’s in absolute mint condition. And I’m listed in back as one of the speakers. (That’s probably why I kept it in the first place.)

Interested in taking a walk down Apple memory lane? Check out my auctions to see what’s available. You can find them at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZn630mlQQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0

But don’t wait. Each item will only be listed for 7 days. Who knows what you’ll find next month.

Can YOUR Mouse Last 18 Years?

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Jo’s did.

The call came early this morning. It was Jo, at the radio station.

“I was working on invoices on my Mac,” she told me. “And my mouse just died. Do you have a spare one?”

Mac IIciJo’s Mac is a Mac IIci. We’re talking a circa 1989 computer. She still uses it every day, with an Apple laser printer that’s equally ancient, to do the radio station’s invoicing.

Yes, that’s right: she’s using an 18-year-old computer daily to manage a radio station’s accounting.

We discussed the mouse’s problem. It was the clicker. It wasn’t clicking anymore. Not bad when you consider that she’s been clicking with it for 18 years.

I think she got her money’s worth.

Oddly enough, she didn’t buy the computer brand new. She used it when she worked at the local newspaper. They’d bought it brand new for their layout folks. As the layout folks got new computers, the old ones were shifted to other employees. Jo worked at the front desk and got this Mac IIci. When she retired, they sold it to her for a nominal price. So this is the computer’s third mission in its life.

I refuse to touch the computer. I figure that it’s lasted so long because no one has messed with it.

There’s an eMac with a G4 processor in the same room — I loaned it to them and installed it to do their WebCam and Internet broadcasting. She won’t touch it other than to periodically restart it when it gets confused and stops broadcasting.

Original Apple ADB MouseThe mouse she needed was an ADB mouse. ADB stands for Apple Desktop Bus. It’s the old interface for Apple computer mice and keyboards before Apple adopted the more universally used USB connections. Apple hasn’t made an ADB mouse for at least 10 years, so it wasn’t likely that she’d find one at Best Buys or Frys or even the Apple Store — all of which are in Phoenix, 40+ minutes away by car.

But Jo called the right person. You see, I’m one of those crazy people who keeps all that old computer stuff. I still own two SE/30s — one of which is in perfect working condition. Those computers use the same mice as Jo’s Mac IIci. So I opened up my big plastic storage box of old computer equipment, dug around for about three minutes, and pulled the mouse she needed out by its tail.

A half hour later, she was at my door, checking the clicker.

“Yes, this one still clicks,” she confirmed. She hugged me, then said quickly, “I don’t usually hug people, but I’m very happy about this.”

I was just happy that she’d come to pick it up and that I didn’t have to drive into town.

Webcam Timelapse – July 22, 2007

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Missed us again!

The forecast actually called for rain here in Wickenburg. And the storm got ever closer, as you can see in this timelapse, with dark gray clouds and high winds. But, in the end, it past northwest of us.

Dang!

Here’s the timelapse:

[qt:https://aneclecticmind.com/wp-content/movies/Timelapse-072207.mov https://aneclecticmind.com/wp-content/movies/Timelapse-072207-poster.mov 320 256]

Remember, after clicking this image, you may have to wait a few seconds for it to load before it starts playing. Be patient and click only once. It’ll play right in this window. QuickTime is required.

The good news is, the storm also dropped temperatures. At about 3 PM, when I stepped outside, I discovered that it was in the low 80s outside. That’s 20° lower than normal! Yippee! We shut off the air conditioner and opened as many windows as we could. Even slept with the windows open last night!

Harry Potter Fever

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I’m done.

I’ll admit it: I’m a Harry Potter fan. I think the books are well-written and entertaining. And I think the movies are extremely well done, faithful to the books in such a way to satisfactorily bring the author’s scenes to life.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)I’ll admit this, too: I ordered the final Harry Potter book three months ago. I ordered it from Amazon.com with another item, chose free shipping, and waited. I wasn’t in a rush. I just wanted my collection complete. Amazon shipped the other item immediately and put my HP order on hold until it was time to ship it.

Last week, Amazon sent me an e-mail suggesting that I upgrade shipping so I’d get the book on its publication date. I wasn’t in a hurry to get the book so I ignored the e-mail.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)Meanwhile, I was listening to the Slate Political Gabfast podcast. One of the staff mentioned that the audio books for Harry Potter were excellent. Since I didn’t remember much of the sixth Harry Potter book, I figured I’d try it as an audio book. I ordered it from Amazon.com. They gave me a free trial to Amazon Prime. Free 2-day shipping for a month (when I’ll cancel to avoid the outrageous $79 annual fee). I figured the audio book would arrive before the printed book. I could listen to book 6 and read book 7.

I got an e-mail from Amazon.com on Thursday to let me know that my HP book had shipped. I could expect it by July 26. Fine. I was in no hurry.

So imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox yesterday — two days after being told the book had shipped — and the book was in there. On the publication date. With free shipping. And the darn thing had cost me less than $20 — about half the retail price. Not bad.

So now I faced a dilemma.: read the book right away or wait until after listening to the Book 6 audio, which still hadn’t arrived.

Yesterday afternoon, after a pleasant day Jeeping on dirt roads and an even more pleasant shower, I cracked open the 700+ page final book of the Harry Potter series. The reason I didn’t wait: I was afraid that someone would spoil it for me by telling me the end.

I was 1/3 finished when I went to bed at about 10 PM last night. This morning, I got right back into it with my breakfast. By 12:30 PM, I was finished.

I won’t tell the ending. In my opinion, anyone who does is a major-league asshole. That includes the people who ripped off copies before they were released and published them on the Web. It also includes the reviewers for the New York Times who released plot points in a review the day before the book was released.

I will say that the ending works. That’s it.

I think J.K. Rowling has done a fine job on this series. Although a lot of the books were a bit longer than they needed to be, I think that gave readers — especially those who can’t crank through a 700+ page book in 8 hours — more for their money. It helped them stay in the fantasy world of Harry Potter and his friends for just a little bit longer.

Is the whole Harry Potter thing worth the ridiculous hype? In my opinion, no.

But then again, in today’s world, people seem anxious to grab on to any hype they can. It’s better to latch on to Harry Potter’s struggle against evil than Paris Hilton’s short prison stay — or to stand in line for an iPhone.

Isn’t it?

As for that Book 6 Audio…I look forward to hearing it. If it’s half as good as the Slate podcaster claims, I’ll enjoy it immensely.

WebCam Timelapse – July 16, 2007

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It’s getting closer!

My WebCam has been faithfully making timelapse movies every day. I’m trying not to bore you by showing you all of them.

Yesterday’s sky was extremely active. Cloudy then mostly sunny then cloudy with an approaching thunderstorm. This video shows an excellent example of a typical monsoon summer day here in Arizona. The storm was fast approaching and Mike and I really thought we’d get poured on. But when the sun sets, the storm’s main source of energy is removed. It dissipates quickly — usually within an hour of sunset. And although yesterday’s storm got close — probably within 20 miles — it died before it reached us.

Darn!

Here’s the video from the day. I’ve tweaked the settings to shoot a new frame every 8 minutes and create the video at the framrate of 5 frames per second. That stretches out the video to 20 seconds without making a major increase in the file size.

[qt:https://aneclecticmind.com/wp-content/movies/Timelapse-071607.mov https://aneclecticmind.com/wp-content/movies/Timelapse-071607-poster.mov 320 256]

Remember, after clicking this image, you may have to wait a few seconds for it to load before it starts playing. Be patient and click only once. It’ll play right in this window. QuickTime is required.