fox

Also, hmm, the touchpad on my computer is lately both more and less sensitive than I'd like it to be. That is: I can only track with the actual trackpad, of course, but there are times when hardly any pressure at all on the entire bottom half of the keyboard half of the laptop - sometimes no pressure at all, by which I mean, it is not even sitting on my lap, it's on a neutral surface with nothing touching it - convinces the thing that I've clicked on something, so all tracking becomes dragging, and it takes several minutes of careful coaxing and judicious tapping of things for recalibration/rebalancing purposes to convince it that I haven't selected anything at all.

I removed the hardshell case the computer has been living in all this time and that helped a lot - apparently the pressure it needed to hold on was causing a lot of the trouble - but now it's a naked laptop and still experiencing this issue.

The computer is two and a half years old, and there are two small cracks in the plastic on the inside of the bottom of the keyboard half. (Just down by the rim, I mean - but obviously near to the pressure-sensitive stuff.) I would not like to have to replace it, as my life is full of other expenses right now (lots of curling stuff this year, also summer vacation, but mainly dental work), but if this is only going to get worse, I might have to think about it.

Any thoughts?

So my trusty external hard drive will not, at the moment, work with the new Mac. I know this can be fixed, because ellen_fremedon's computer took it fine, but I get an error that says "the disk you have inserted cannot be run on this computer", and giving me choices like "initialize", which I know better than to select and lose everything on there, which is quite a bit.

What do I need to do to the new computer to make it accept my external HD?

[eta: The answer is apparently "use the other USB port". Who knew?]

So I know Semagic doesn't work on the Mac. But I see how I'm supposed to be able to run it under WINE. Sadly my skills are insufficient to work out how to operate WINE. Anyone? Or, is there another LJ client I can use? I don't think I care to depend on the web interface, after depending on the client for so long.

Turkey etc. consumed.  Nap taken.  Mom taught to knit.  (Casting on and knit stitch.  She has so far done six rows, of which only one was completed without acquiring another stitch somewhere.  It's so cute.)  Appointment made at Mac store for tomorrow, because computer freakouts coming across the plate pretty quickly now -- if I turn off the wireless device, no worries, but when I turn it on, which I need to do here, it periodically (sometimes with periods as short as 45 seconds) gives me BSOD and says "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL", the only remedy for which I have ever discovered has been ... to turn off the wireless device.  I'm not fussed.  It's getting on for five years old, and I'd been thinking of replacing it anyway, so I may do so as soon as tomorrow lunchtime.  Mac owners may commence preparation for killing the fatted calf.

Posting quickly before I get booted.  Hope everyone's Thanksgiving/Thursday/Friday (if you're in Australia) was happy.  Shopping and movies tomorrow, probably.  Whee!

Also, I put gas in the car yesterday at Frederick, and then drove the rest of the way here -- a little over 300 miles -- on less than half a tank.  The second half will go quicker than the first, so I won't get 600 miles on this tank, but still, DUDES.  How awesome is that?  My cruise control loves me, this I know, because the half-dozen other drivers getting pulled over by the PA and OH state troopers tell me so.