Dispatches from the Flying M

This is how I feel almost every day...

Another Cow & Boy classic by Mark Leiknes:

Epic fail reversed?

For most of the last month--since we got the satellite, basically--I've been unable to see this blog.  I could post to it, I just couldn't see the posts or the comments.  After many, many hours on the phone with HughesNet tech support, today I finally got someone who seemed to know what he was doing and instead of blaming Typepad or my router, fixed the problem.

Fixed it for the moment, anyway.  We'll see if it stays fixed. Keep your metaphorical fingers crossed.

A couple of random updates: Presidential Material: Barack Obama won none of the Glyph Awards it was nominated for at the event last night. The winners are here, and congratulations to them all.  The big winner, a series called Bayou, isn't even a print comic but an online one (on DC's Zuda site).

And last night I invented "cupcake pie," only to learn today that it has already been invented.  Still, I like the concept

UPDATE: Okay, that was premature--the blog has already gone away again.

UPDATED UPDATE:  Another 40 minutes on the phone with tech support and maybe the problem is solved for good?  We'll see.  But it's working again right now.

Podcast

Last night I taped an interview for the podcast "The Chronic Rift," which I've never listened to, because, you know, podcast.  Dial-up.  Doesn't work.

It'll be edited and released on Monday.  I'll post a link when I have it.  One of the hosts was my old pal Keith DeCandido.

In case you can't get enough, here's a link to my recent Metal Crypt internet radio appearance.  No, I haven't seen or heard it either.

Facebook

Last night, possibly under the influence of not enough sleep, I broke down and joined Facebook.  Like everything else on Earth, it's incredibly slow on dial-up.  If you're on there, track me down.  I'm Jeff Mariotte (and you can also become a fan of Jeffrey J. Mariotte--I did!).

Facebook

I've been on MySpace for a while now, although I'm not terribly active there.  I've resisted joining Facebook, because the busy schedule that keeps me off MySpace would also prevent me from giving much time to yet another social networking tool.  But I keep hearing good things about Facebook, so have been considering signing up (if my schedule permits...and that's a joke).

Now there's a fan page for me on Facebook. I didn't build it, and without signing up I don't have access to even see much of it.  But it's there, and I'll try to keep news flowing from there as well as here and MySpace.  So if you're on Facebook, add my page and let me know you're there.

Mac sadness

I have my desktop computer back, two trips to Tucson and almost $700 later.

I'm a confirmed Mac guy from way back.  The first computer I bought after my old Kaypro II was an Apple, and I have been a faithful user/customer ever since.  I can't quite imagine ever putting myself through what PC users do, and like to support good, reliable, user-friendly technology whenever possible, even though there's a premium--the Mac tax--on it.

But, in my continuing efforts to warn the world about bad customer service, I do have a complaint about the Apple store.

As mentioned previously, this computer needed a new logic board.  The computer is only 4 years old, and that's the third one it's had.  For a usually reliable product, that's not a great track record.

When I suggested as much at the store, though, the "genius" at the genius bar told me that people usually buy new computers before then, so it's not an issue.

That upset me.  I still have a first generation iMac that runs fine--you can't get software for it, of course, and the software it does have is outdated, but it runs.  It has never had a logic board replaced.  If I was using a PC, I'd expect to replace it every few years.  But I pay more for Macs specifically because I expect them to be reliable machines, easily upgraded, that I won't have to keep replacing.  Telling me that I should expect to have to spend as much to fix the Mac as some PCs cost new because I should just be replacing them on a cheap PC schedule eliminates the main reason for buying Mac.  If that's the case, then why haven't I been buying cheap PCs all along?

I'm not ready to make the switch yet.  For one thing, the environmental costs of junking old computers every couple of years are huge.  For another, I like the Mac user experience in general, I'm used to it and to my software, and I have a lot invested in it. 

But meeting another "genius" or two with that sort of attitude will sour me in a hurry.  Has Apple decided that it's real business is in phones and music players?  Have they given up on the idea of outdoing PCs in reliability and quality?  Or was this guy a fluke, maybe someone brought in from Circuit City or Best Buy who doesn't understand Mac users yet.

Either way, the next time this thing needs a new logic board, I have a feeling it'll be headed for the scrap heap instead of being fixed.  And for the first time, I'll have to give serious consideration to replacing it with a PC.  Unless Steve Jobs does something to bring me back into the fold...