Kevin: January 2004 Archives

Yesterday our iBook died.

Regardless of what we're going to do, the most important thing is to make sure that our data are safe -- that's what I woke up thinking at 5am this morning. So I got up and got to it.

First item of the day was how to get the display to stay on so I could access the data -- the cause of the problem is apparently a situation where the video connection to the logic board is lost due to the flexion of the iBook. Our iBook is not completely rigid. If you were to pick it with one hand you'd see the entire body of the computer bend just a bit under its own weight. This is enough to severe the connection. For future avoidance of this problem, I'll try and remember to use both hands.*

Twice I got the video to come on, and twice it froze minutes later. Believe me when I tell you that I was completely upset. (And I use the word "upset" in place of the words I really want to use.) I read on Macintouch that some people have had luck with "pinching" the body of the iBook along the left side and then restarting. It didn't work for me. What finally did work, however was the following: I set the computer up on its display so that the body of the laptop (where the keyboard and trackpad are) was sticking straight up in the air perpendicular to the top of my desk. And then I rebooted the machine over and over until I got lucky -- the display came on.

After logging in, I decided that the contents of my Users directory would sufficiently contain everything from the computer I would need. This had Jill's account and all her files, my account and files, and the Shared directory which contains all of our digital photos. In order to back it all up efficiently to the iMac (our file and print server with remote login enabled) I decided to use rsync. rsync is a computer program that can make incremental backups of data easily and efficiently over a network. It can also be piped through secure shell (ssh) in case you are concerned about privacy issues on the network between the computers. A very nice tool. (It is also free and included in Mac OS X and most linux/unix variants.)

As superuser,

sudo su

I moved into the Users directory and used the following command to backup all of our data over the network (to a directory I had prepared on the iMac):

rsync -av -e ssh . krjordan@imac.local.:/Volumes/Storage/ibook

or more generically:

rsync -av -e ssh source username@server:/destination

I had to verify my password on the iMac and away it went. Fortunately, it was 6am and our kids were still asleep -- unfortunately, that meant I couldn't string an ethernet cable into the wiring closet for fear of waking them up (creaky floors). I had to do the whole thing wirelessly -- it took two hours; it moved 2.5 GB of data.

The great part about rsync is that additional updates would only be incremental -- they would only move those bytes that had changed. This means that in the future, if the iBook lives on, we could keep that 2.5 gig up-to-date much more quickly. I should probably add it as a cron job... but that's a big if!

* Honestly, I haven't given this a bit of thought in the past because our iBook has honestly been the toughest sub-notebook computer I have ever seen. In the past two years it has taken its fair share of knocks and kept on going. So while I am upset that it is broken at this point, I do not hold Apple entirely to blame. Over the last two years we have gotten a lot of fair use out of the computer.

Last night something bad happened.

Last night while working on our iBook, the computer seemed to freeze up. While this may be common to most folk our iBook never does this. I did a hard reboot and the computer came back up to the login screen -- and froze again. Another reboot and... no video. Basically the computer would boot up normally except for the fact that I could not see what was going on. Not good.

About that time, Jill got home and when the subject came up she mentioned that the same thing had happened to her -- freeze and/or no video -- and what she did to fix it was to continuously reboot until the video came back on. "About four times." Since we use a journaled file system, I'm not too concerned about that remedy but still, I don't like this. Granted, our iBook is over two years old and well out of basic warranty (no, I didn't get AppleCare). That's when I picked up my Palm and did some searching. Guess what I found?

Apple offers iBook repair via CNET News.com
Apple Computer on Wednesday [January 28, 2004] launched a program to repair some iBooks that have a faulty logic board.

In a posting to its Web site, Apple said it was launching a worldwide program offering free repairs to customers with faulty logic boards producing various display problems, such as scrambled or distorted video, the appearance of unexpected lines on the screen, and video that freezes or displays intermittently.

Problems with the iBook had been a frequent topic on various Mac enthusiast sites in the weeks leading up to this month's Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Apple said the program covers iBooks with serial numbers between UV220XXXXXX to UV318XXXXXX. The company said the problem was related to a particular component on the logic board and added that the problem does not pose any known safety issues.

"The iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program is a worldwide program covering repair or replacement of the logic board in specific iBook models manufactured between May 2002 and April 2003 that are experiencing specific component failures," Apple said on its site.

The computer maker said it would cover machines within three years of their first retail sale and also said it would reimburse affected customers that had already paid for repairs related to the logic board issue.

Those who think they are affected are encouraged to call Apple or an authorized service provider. Apple said it will bear all costs for the repairs, including shipping, and said that the fix could include either repairing or replacing the iBook's main logic board.

There has been a class action lawsuit against Apple for this very thing, and they responded! At least I know what the problem is. Now the fix...

Jill and I were doing a little (early) spring cleaning the other day and found the following poem. It was either penned or found by my Aunt Jan, and is really touching as I reflect on our young kids.

Just For This Morning
Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face
And laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you wake up softly, all rumpled
In your sheets and I will hold you
Until you are ready for the day.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear,
And smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry
And pick you and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink
And let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off
And sit in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble
When you scream and whine for the ice cream truck,
And I will buy you one if the truck comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be
When you grow up, or second-guess every decision I have made
Where you are concerned.
Just for the afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies,
And I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for the afternoon, I will take you to McDonald's and buy us both
A Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
Just for the evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you
A story about how you were born, and how much I love you.
Just for the evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for the evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch
And count all the stars.
Just for the evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours,
And miss my favorite TV shows.
Just for the evening, when I run my fingers through your hair as you pray,
I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given,
And when I kiss you goodnight, I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer.
It is then I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing.
Except for one more day.

With all due respect to people making their living writing children's books, there are just some books that are unbearable to sit and read with your children. The book Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss is thankfully not one of them.

When is a child's book a great gift for an adult? When that book has fantastic illustrations and a wonderful story of loving friendship. At least, that's what I was thinking when I gave A Snowman Named Just Bob by Mark Kimball Moulton to my wife Jill as a Christmas gift several years ago.

By doing -- I think. And in our household lack of money won't stand in our way. That's why, starting next week, Jill and I will each be creating and operating a mock money portfolio with the goal of learning what (not) to do with our money... Should we ever have any. I think it will be fun!

Each of us will receive $10,000 (USD) which will go into a mock portfolio bearing no interest. While even a regular bank savings account would bear some interest (making this part unrealistic) we will not be figuring in transaction costs, so I think it will all work out in a rough sort of way. This isn't an exact science, obviously.

Along the way, I hope that Jill and I will each be able to find some sort of strategy as far as the stock(s) we buy, and that we try and have at least some diversification. Or maybe dumb luck will prevail -- who knows? We'll see.

I get a lot of reading referrals from my father-in-law Bud, and since he is very interested in law there should be no surprise that John Grisham is a common author in our discussions. Grisham is a lawyer's writer, and a practicing lawyer himself, but in his book Bleachers being a lawyer isn't enough to get you noticed in the small town of Messina. You have to play football, and play it well.

Let me be honest: I've never done a book review before. And I don't even know what a book review from Kevin Jordan would mean to anyone -- perhaps it would be used as anti-advice to some. Which is okay. I think. Regardless, I've been in need of a way of keeping track of my thoughts about the books I read so that I can remember which ones are worth another read and which are not. So, if you want to know where The King of Torts by John Grisham lies on that scale, read on.

Addison slept through her first ball-drop, as Hale did through his second. Grandma Jordan (or as Hale calls her, "Momo") kept watch as us parents ventured out into the night. We had a progressive party in which we traveled from house to house celebrating with friends from church. It was a lot of fun.

Jill and I had what I hope most all of you had -- a safe and enjoyable New Year celebration with people we care about. Here's to a great year in 2004!