Technology-a-go-g..err..make that Technology-a-no-no!
Some time ago a test copy of Ubuntu (despite the problems I'm about to describe, was a very nice experience while testing it) wiped out part of the Windows XP partition on the PC in my bedroom, which at the time was very inconvenient as it was coursework season, I reinstalled XP Pro and forgot about it.
Booting it up last night I discovered the time to activate XP had ran out, meaning I had to either phone MS up or connect to the 'net, which was kind of difficult considering without being able to log on I couldn't load the wifi card drivers to connect to the 'net.
So my PowerBook came to the rescue, connecting a regular ol' CAT5 cable (no need for a crossover cable, it detected the PC on the other end and emulated the crossover), OS X automatically setup a connection share between my wireless network and the ethernet connected PC, I was able to re-activate XP.
Right, now onto loading the wifi drivers, and updating to Service Pack 2.
Last time I tried this, this worked fine. Not this time, the piss-poor drivers that came with the card didn't help, but I finally got it connected after mucho-fiddling about with the custom wireless utility provided.
Install SP2 off a free MS-provided CD..half a fucking hour later (second time I've been left hanging around installing SP2 on a PC in the past week, last week was for work and didn't go any faster)..tell SP2 to take over managing wireless, it detects the network fine..and..bumph..every time it tries to connect, it clears the entry from the list of detected networks, and reports it's out of range, then automatically rescans, there's the network again, showing excellent signal strength! Gaaaah.
For the most part I remain fairly ambivalent about the whole "Windows is a big steaming pile of excrement" argument, and there are tiimes that I recognise there are many things that Windows does well, and also understand the pressures placed upon the dev team at MS.
This is not one of those times. Switching the PC off until I can be arsed to faff about with the drivers some more, I move back to my PowerBook. And it works. Surprised? I'm not, funnily enough.
Then there is the fun I always had with my old Sony Vaio laptop, which mostly consisted of problems with the Vaio itself, but was only ever exacerbated by XP, which originally finally gave me the push to using a Mac, after the Vaio dramatically died (or rather it's motherboard did), round about coursework season if I remember correctly.
The reason I mention this motherboard failure now, is that after some time searching for a replacement motherboard, I think I've found a compatible gutted model on eBay, unfortunately I'm also battling with someone for it who based on her past winning bids has a purely eBay-bought wardrobe. Oh the joy of it all; it's very close, I believe I may have to try and catch the winning bid close to the end of the auction, although as the other bidder is a Yanklander, it will be difficult indeed.
You know what I'd do if I got the Vaio working again? I could install a student copy of Embedded XP on it for improved customisation and optimisation, as well as getting rid of a license problem I had with the Sony-provided copy of XP Pro.
But I'm not going to.
I would either install a Linux distro on it and have it as a spare laptop, or possibly get another copy of XP for cheap and give it to Andrea for playing games she can't play on her laptop due to it's lack of graphics card.
To top this weeks wonderful escapades off, I was even banned from the webmail and portal systems at uni (the portal system by the way gives me access to my list of modules, exam dates, and exam results), because Mail.app (the default OS X e-mail client) apparently crashes the IMAP daemon they use. What the fuck?
You have got to be kidding..what are the hell are they using? Exchange does a bloody better job at IMAP and interrop.
Apparently many of the lecturers who own Macs (and some with different tastes in e-mail clients, other than Outlook) have caused this to happen before, and our illustrious Computer Centre's response to this problem has merely been to tell them (and me) not to use Mail.app (or any other client that causes it) and then merrily ignore it. This left me so speechless I don't even now have the words just to describe my lack of words, let alone the god damned situation! So no checking my uni mail via IMAP for me (for the record Evolution on Linux works fine, according to the venerable Jonty), just great.
This was the reason I asked if anyone knew of a good IMAP mirroring of proxy app/daemon, as I'd like to setup either a spare box, or 'hackworth`, to grab or tunnel my uni mail; yes, I know, I could just use the webmail like everyone else, but where's the fun in giving up? (Also, I forget too much, and our department uses mail for important announcements a lot.)
And through all this, despite the Mail.app problems (which due to having used it fine with plenty of other IMAP services), my Mac has worked fine, while it's the damaged computer in the house.
If I was someone else, I'd hate technology...damn me.
The perfect PVR
Mac mini + eyehome (and yes, I do see the parallels with the originally rumoured iHome which turned out to be the Mac mini, but then I don't think it's quite there yet).