Sent from my iPhone

I work for an ASAP, repairing Macs all day and warning customers to backup their machines, be careful of drinks near their machines and so on. All the usual nuggets of common sense come through automatically – it’s the same few speeches over and over. Well don’t think for a second this doesn’t come from experience.

About 5 or 6 years ago I was sat on the couch sending emails on my PowerBook. It was only 6 months old and I had carelessly left the power adapter cord strewn across the room. The mail came, the dog went nuts and when running for the door, tripped over the cord, ripped the laptop from me and smashed it on the floor. Expensive, but repairable.

A few years ago, Chris, one of our techs got married. He took all the honeymoon photos off the camera (deleted them) and stuck them in iPhoto (pre-Flickr integration). 2 days later his hard drive died – no backup. We tried for weeks to recover those photos but to this day his wife hasn’t forgotten his incompetence.

Yesterday, I was sat at work, minding my own business. I reached over my desk and grabbed my headphones. Somehow, the headphones brought with them a giant mug of tea (ironically, it was a Microsoft Office branded mug). My MacBook Pro fizzed and popped. I managed to get the hard drive out in time to save it (though dropped it and damaged the motor I think). Oddly, my backups were in a state of transition and I failed them (all 4 of them). I’m recovering the data now and a new laptop is on order.

The point is that we don’t lecture for no reason – we’ve been there. We’ve paid the money and felt the pain. That’s why we are so cautious with customer machines.

Today was probably the most disastrous day of Mac ownership for me. I had previous smashed the casing on my old PowerBook when the dog tripped over the cord, but this really took the biscuit. I was at work when I leaned over the desk to grab my headphones. Somehow, I managed to bring a fresh cup of tea with them and soaked my MacBook Pro.

Worse in this situation was that it wasn’t the “posh” tea I’m so fond of but the office garbage. As such it was full of milk and more importantly, sugar. It is fried. No ifs, no buts, fried.

While I wait for my new MacBook Air (and indeed insurance claim), I will be using the dreaded loaner from work. I know I should be thankful I have anything at all for the next couple of weeks, but damn this thing is a dog. It’s an original MacBook Pro 15". 1.83GHz Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo, so just 32-bit) with 1GB RAM and an 80GB hard drive. I realise many people are on far worse machines but bare in mind it’s the loaner. The hard drive has paid its dues, the screen is hanging off, the fans are crying their final cries and as I found out earlier the battery is simply dead weight.

I am so glad I still have my iPhone, but there are some things I simply require a computer for (such as much of the software we use at work). While setting this machine up today I realised how dependant I am on two services:

• Dropbox
• 1Password

On attempting to download Dropbox app earlier the website happened to go down for maintenance for maybe 4 or 5 minutes. It was very distressing. I didn’t have the app and I couldn’t download my data. Thankfully it came online shortly thereafter but I was hit with another barrier: agilewebsolutions website was also down. So now I had my passwords, but I had no way of getting to them.

Thankfully I found an old copy of the software which was new enough to open the keychain (even without the update I couldn’t have downloaded) right from Apple.com. Lucky. Just download Chrome and I’m good to go – the rest I can now access with my passwords, serials and the work software server (for safe keeping).

So remember folks – this storing online can come in handy, but only if you have access to the services. Thanks to both companies who saved my bacon today though.

My favourite podcast

I have been a fan of podcasting about as long as I’ve been a fan of Macs. I guess I first started regularly listening to podcasts about 6 years ago when Adam Christianson started the MacCast.

Many other podcasts have come and gone since then^1, but there is one I have grown with since the very first episode and one which I can’t imagine not hearing every week; The Mac Geek Gab.

Hosted by TMO’s Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun, MGG is a wonderful show, chock full of useful tips, tricks and other geekery. Topics are well explained and ranges from the fairly simple to stump the geek challenges.

The real heart of the show is the user feedback. Users write and call in to ask and answer questions, build on previous discussions and even correct previous slights. It’s not something that can be summed up in words, but if you are at all geeky and a fan of the Mac then the 300th show has just been recorded and so you have plenty of back catalogue to learn from.

Check it out and don’t get caught^2!

Just a quick note for anyone not able to find any details about why they still can’t print from their IOS4.2 devices. It seems that a few much awaited features had to be (hopefully) temporarily crippled to make sure IOS4.2 was released sharpish. Gruber has some more on that.

Anyway, the following is a list of currently supported printers from Apple:

Works with AirPrint-enabled printers.

AirPrint works seamlessly with a new generation of wireless printers from HP.

AirPrint-enabled printers

• HP Envy e-All-in-One series (D410a)
• HP Photosmart Plus e-AiO (B210a)
• HP Photosmart Premium e-AiO (C310a)
• HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-AiO (C410a)
• HP Photosmart e-AiO (D110)
• HP Photosmart eStation (C510)
• HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf Multifunction Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fn Color Multifunction Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw Color Multifunction Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro CP1525n Color Printer
• HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw Color Printer

A couple of images

Being that it hasn’t yet been long enough for my readers, I thought I’d hold off another proper blog post for a couple more days. In the mean time, here are a few links that caught my eye over the past days (don’t worry, none of them are TSA related).

• Not so funny – auto-correct gone wrong
• Cute but funny – baby photo
• A brilliant idea – traffic lights of the future^1

can be easily overcome.

A while ago I decided I wanted to change how I write the blog posts that never see the light of day. I always used to write in HTML but that’s just a pain in the butt. When I moved to Posterous and I could enter rich text into Apple Mail and that would auto-translate across the board. That’s pretty good, but markdown seems even easier once you get in the habit.

The issue however is that there are no good, cheap or free editors that I can find for markdown. I asked on twitter what others used, but the only responses I got said either TextMate or BBEdit. I tried both, but neither are perfect.

TextMate has a like a very nice interface and a good preview pane. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to help make the syntax stand out so well. BBEdit on the other hand does do better with syntax checkability, but has a dog ugly interface and is even more expensive.

Both are massively over-powered and over-priced for my needs. They are great apps, but I want something cheap or free and far less powerful.

I’m typing this in Apple’s TextEdit simply because it works and it’s free. Checking the syntax is the biggest issue to me though, and that’s not possible here. The two big things that help are:

1. Colour coding the syntax in the edit pane
2. A good but simple preview pane

If anyone knows of any software that makes more sense for me, I’d really appreciate a nudge in the right direction.

Formula 1 is always changing, that's the nature of being the pinnacle of a sport and an industry. Over the years we have seen some massive changes, but the biggest for me was the return of the BBC a couple of years ago.

Since their return the BBC have made some huge improvements to the coverage of Formula 1. One of their key tactics has been the VT. VT's are pre-recorded and edited inserts into a live show. Emotional, evocative and informative, there is always something to keep you interested and I always wonder what they will come up with next. From montages accompanied by expressive music to technical explanations to interviews with the likes of Sir Stirling Moss. VTs add real drama and depth to a show essentially consisting of people standing around and talking about one event.

The team that has been built up has also found a real sweet spot. Martin Brundle and Jonathan Ledgard make a great commentary team, both flowing with stats and updates, but also with inside knowledge and great analytical skill. Equally, Ted Kravitz and Lee McKenzie keep feeding the main presentation team with information, updates and inside rumours covering every angle of the off-track goings on from pit-lane incidents, to opportune driver interviews, to stewards meetings.

Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard are an odd pairing for sure, but work in a funky kind of way. DC provides analytical analysis from a drivers perspective. He appears to have really ingrained himself in teams, understanding the ramifications of all actions and he's able to explain that well just as Brundle always has. Eddie on the other hand may be quirky and odd, but he brings an entirely different point of view, one you may not agree with but one which makes you think every time.

The whole thing feels like a big family event, held together brilliantly by new guy Jake Humphrey. Jake appears to be a genuinely nice guy who really wants to do the best he can for the fans. Always available through twitter, his blogs and email, he really seems to want to interact. It makes all the difference to have someone who can take a slightly odd, spur of the moment interview with the likes Nicole Scherzinger (who is always a little loopy) in his stride and then get back on track. It just feels natural with Jake at the helm.

Of course, the producers have done a great job. I'm positive the interaction, much of the ideas, the freshness and so on are down to them in much the same way that Top Gear isn't all about Clarkson, Hammond and May but really the producers. Still, the chemistry found in the on-camera team is phenomenal. Oh, and let's not forget the mad cameramen who keep up with these guys in some crazy spur of the moment trips down the pit lane.

All in it feels like a great young team, full of energy & enthusiasm & ideas, and long may it continue. Thanks guys!

I have made a few more mods to the bike now. I hope to get a proper walk around up soon, but for now here are the main mods in video. Full list below.

Most people think you need to go to California to attend the California Superbike School, but the beauty of it is that they are now international.

CSS are the best at teaching riders how to corner a motorcycle properly. The skills learned at a CSS translate directly to track days, racing or even the road. Many world champion motorcyclists have been trained by CSS before and since it's creation in the early 80's. Many professional racers today still seek guidance from their staff regularly, all the way to the race weekend.

I want to go to a CSS day badly. They aren't cheap though. You want to budget £750 for the day including leathers hire (save ruining your own £800 suit if you fall) and bike hire (same principle really). Additionally you need to find £750 returnable deposit in case you do bin the bike. All in, you need £1500 spare per day. The CSS is run over 4 days (usually spread out over weeks, months or years). These days must be completed in order so you can translate skills and build upon them.

It's expensive, but it's the best. You can't get David Beckham round your house to teach you how to shoot better for £1500 a day - he'd laugh at you.

I'm looking to do a day next summer most likely. If anyone is properly up for it then let me know. Until then, I'll keep practicing as best I can from the videos I've found on body position and "knee to knee". It's all a little weird, and I'm probably doing it completely wrong, but it does get easier and I feel a difference. Here is hoping I don't get into worse habits. Search YouTube for some highlights of days with CSS.