Earth: Mostly Harmless

Continuing MacBook saga

Apple and TNT are complete knobs. Really. They are.

As I posted before, my MacBook went bananas. And I’ve had a hell of a time trying to arrange a replacement. Originally, they agreed to do a straight-out swap, and DOA MacBook #1 (which will henceforth be known as Hiroshima) was promptly returned via the ever-useless TNT:

Apple are going to replace it - they say it’ll take a week but I’m sceptical given that it’s a configure-to-order machine, and the new one will need to be shipped out from China.

Oh capitalism. How you mock me.

So, in the best spirit of tempting fate, more mocking was to come. The one-week shipping time for MacBook #2 turned into an indefinite malaise - I received notification that it had been built and dispatched, but the TNT package tracker showed no movement whatsover after the first two days, as you can see here. TNT aren’t sure (which amazes me), but think it’s still in China. Apple don’t know. TNT are investigating with Apple. Apple are waiting on a response from their investigation with TNT.

A woman at TNT kindly explained to me that there is a time zone difference between China and the U.K., which is why the Chinese warehouse’s investigations had taken so long. I pointed out that while this was perfectly reasonable, the time difference was in fact in the region of eight hours, and not five days. Harumph.

I called Apple this morning, and was ready to either get angry at them or demand a refund. To my surprise I actually got a straight answer: that MacBook #2 is now considered MIA somewhere in Asia. It shall henceforth be known as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz.

The other upshot of that call is the appearance of MacBook #3, which is (hopefully) being frantically assembled at this very moment. I’m also getting a ‘goodwill’ payment for my troubles.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Stay tuned for updates on the Lazarus MacBook…

Not good - not good at all

My MacBook is dead. It just committed Seppuku.

I put in a DVD containing some software and it, and…

Ok, so it wasn’t quite that dramatic. But the DVD drive and hard drive are well and truly OJ’ed. Which makes the machine pretty much useless. Unless you enjoy looking at a blank grey screen.

I’ve also lost a few documents and files - nothing major, as pretty much everything was on my iMac anyway. But I had spent a considerable amount of time setting it up the way I wanted it - and a day trying to fix it.

Apple are going to replace it - they say it’ll take a week but I’m sceptical given that it’s a configure-to-order machine, and the new one will need to be shipped out from China.

Oh, capitalism. How you mock me.

Initial thoughts on the MacBook

I received my new MacBook on Friday, so I’ve been swiftly copying everything I can onto it in the hope of moving lock-stock to it from my iMac G5 in the next few days. Some initial thoughts:

It’s built like a tank.

I managed to drop it this morning but despite a nasty deflection off a wooden desk it survived unscathed (the desk came off worse somehow - a big slice taken out of it).

The AirPort connection is erratic

This could be none of the MacBook’s fault, since my AirPort Express is very flaky, but it does tend to drop connections quite a lot. I haven’t had enough time yet to evaluate it on the office or university WiFi to verify this though.

The power system is extremely well designed

The battery itself is really very capacious - and the MagSafe adaptor is a decided improvement on the old Apple adaptor. Power management is also very good - including the very cool safe sleep (watch video demo) function.

The screen is a fingerprint magnet

I should also say that it looks fantastic in all conditions despite this - but I’m definitely going to have to get a proper cleaning cloth…

The iSight is streets ahead of the FireWire version

Perhaps because it’s so small - but having it built-in is so much more natural during conference use than an external camera. The resolution also seems better, though it’s probably just the same in fact.

It gets hot

Really quite hot! Not enough to burn you, but certainly a little uncomfortable for long periods on your lap. The obvious solution is to put it on a desk, but clearly this isn’t always possible. This isn’t really a design fault - I’d rather have a hot but quiet notebook than the noise of a small aircraft engine taking off every time I run something demanding. Interestingly, the battery doesn’t heat up at all, unlike our 12″ PowerBook G4.

It’s fast

Really very fast! Rosetta apps (ones written for PowerPC chips and so which run in a transparent emulation layer) aren’t noticeably slower, though I’ve been sticking to Universal Binaries wherever possible out of consistency.

The graphics chip could be better

It relies on Intel’s integrated graphics system, and so doesn’t have a dedicated graphics chip in the normal sense of the word. This is a bit of a shame, as my quick high definition video tests show. Playing 1080p24 clips from Apple’s HD movie trailers site (an activity which pushes my iMac G5 2Ghz over the edge) hardly even taxes the processor cores (about 20% CPU usage on each). But actually displaying twenty-four frames of 1920×1080 seems to cause the graphics system a bit of a problem. QuickTime Player reports that the full frame rate is being attained, but there’s a noticeable flicker. This could be a player/codec issue, so I’ll persist and see what I can find out.

However, 720p24 plays great. EyeTV footage looks fantastic in progressive scan mode too.

Overall, I’m really happy with the machine. I think it’s one of the best-value machines that Apple have ever made, and it will serve me well.

‘The Podcast Revolution’

This is a story I wrote for publication in my University’s student newspaper. It went out in the 16th October edition of the Strathclyde Telegraph. My thanks go out once again to all my interviewees.

South Kent College has become the latest institution to issue MP3 players to students. The college is issuing iPod nanos to enable learners to download lectures and other content from the college through podcasting technology. Podcasting, for the unfamiliar, is a system of distributing audio or video via web ‘feeds’, where new content is made available automatically to feed subscribers with ‘podcatching’ software such as iTunes or Juice.

Typically, this content is then synchronised onto a music player for listening. Mark Hunter, creator of the popular tartanpodcast (http://www.tartanpodcast.com), is enthusiastic about the medium’s educational potential. “Versatility is embedded in what podcasting is - user-created content. That means that every user can create content unique to them: their tastes; their passions; their vision; their message”.

South Kent is not alone in recognising the power of podcasting: many educational institutions now have podcasting schemes. Some, like Stanford and Wisconsin-Madison University, have set up ‘iTunes U’ sites with Apple’s assistance. Others, such as the University of Western Australia have created bespoke systems: UWA’s solution is now marketed commercially as ‘Lectopia’. By all accounts, both types are extremely popular. Indeed, the Wisconsin-Madison programme was initiated as a result of student and staff demands.

The policy of institutions distributing MP3 players to students is more contentious. The first institution to do so on a large scale was Duke University in North Carolina, where media reports suggested that students and staff were failing to take full advantage of the devices. A report in Duke student paper ‘The Chronicle’ even contained a plea for the programme to be scrapped, according to Christian Science Monitor. Beginning with the current semester, Duke will instead lend the devices to students, with a fee charged to those wishing to retain players after term.

Meanwhile at Strathclyde, some academics have been pushing forward with podcasting. Kevin O’Gorman, PhD student at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, is creating ten video podcasts based on BBC archive material thanks to Higher Education Academy funding. The ‘Talking Hospitality’ collection takes in such themes as the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the indigenous hospitality of the Bedouin peoples. The BBC programmes were sourced through Spoken Word Services at Glasgow Caledonian University (http://www.spokenword.ac.uk).

Does this new technology pose risks to the traditional relationship between lecturer and student? Hunter sees podcasting as a way to “augment traditional learning” rather than replace it. O’Gorman concurs, seeing the mechanism as “another space for learning and teaching”. Lack of appropriate written evidence on subjects of interest led him to look elsewhere, and “constructing podcasts from BBC programmes has been a particularly rich theme”, he attests.

A wider podcasting strategy at Strathclyde is currently in development, according to Prof. James Boyle, Academic Champion for Teaching & Learning Through Technology. “Mobile devices, including the ability to work with podcasts, will have a major role in the future”, Prof. Boyle explains. He notes that Strathclyde has plans for deploying infrastructure to support technologies like podcasting: “Learning Services also recognise that their existing Streaming server (for streamed video and audio) should be extended to allow podcast downloads”.

The opportunity to be Scotland’s leader in academic podcasting is still within reach, if staff and students are willing to embrace the medium soon. Persuading them to do this shouldn’t be hard: Hunter suggests that part of the appeal of podcasting is the masses of free content for MP3 players. And who could say ‘no’ to that?

By Graeme West


9th October 2006

Northwestern

I’m still trying to get my (possible) trip to Northwestern University organised. It’s been a little stop-start from the beginning, but despite the obstacle of limited time (it’s now less two months until I am supposed to go), I’m feeling relatively optimistic about the prospects of it happening.

I’ve been reluctant to post anything here related to it, partly because the proposal has never been concrete, but also because I don’t want to say anything which might prejudice my chances of being able to make it happen.

Regardless, I now seem to have Strathclyde in the right frame of mind about the whole thing: they are now happy to approve me going over, course choices permitting, now that they’re clear that I’m not actually asking them to do anything actively - just to rubber-stamp the proposal. I would need to defer taking my January exams until the resit period in August, but that’s no biggie, I think.

I’m waiting for various responses from Northwestern at the moment.

The rough plan is that I go in January and take 4 classes there during the Winter and Spring terms, and do research work for Professor Goldman and Spoken Word while I’m over there (unpaid most certainly - which is fine).

If I want to take Honours History or History as part of a Joint Honours course when I come back, I have to figure out a way of taking Strathclyde’s Historiography class remotely (not likely to be possible). But I’m leaning towards Politics anyway so I’m willing to forgo that option to make this all happen. I could also defer honours till the next year after I come back in order to be able to take that class in semester two next term and give me the history option.

If the visit happens, I’m sure it’ll be amazing. If it doesn’t, it will be very disappointing, as I’ve been trying to organise this for a while. But I have my eye on other things as well.

Either way, I’m going to buy myself a Core 2 Duo MacBook