Welcome to Coast to Coast listeners! If you found me though C2C, you probably want to read this post about Pluto.
In the meantime, my laptop AC adapter is busted, and I’m running low on battery power. This happens while I’m away from home, at a convention I want to blog about, and at the same time HUGE news comes about Pluto. So I’m basically screwed here. I tried buying a universal adapter, but it had no plugs that fit! So I doubt I’ll be able to blog much until I get back home. I hope to find another computer here or even borrow an adapter long enough to get a charge, but you may not hear from me for a few days.
I hate computers.
August 24th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Good job on C2C, BA.
And you can now add to your resume the fact that you opened for Whitley Strieber!
Eh, maybe not.
August 24th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Bah! I missed the C2C appearance; should have dawned on me to check their schedule.
Stupid adapters.
August 25th, 2006 at 2:00 am
Let’s hope you don’t have one of those exploding computer batteries they had to recall, eh?
August 25th, 2006 at 5:14 am
You want one of these…. http://laptop.media.mit.edu
August 25th, 2006 at 5:35 am
I hate computers
Freakin’ Macs…
August 25th, 2006 at 6:21 am
Take a lot of notes using that really old-fashioned technology: pen and paper.
Seriously though, at convention that … ah… geeky (and I mean that in a nice way)… there’s gotta be somebody who can rig something up for you. You’re a speaker — let somebody know in the Green Room that you’re having a problem…
August 25th, 2006 at 6:26 am
Get a Dell, you can do your computing AND barbecue at the same time.
August 25th, 2006 at 6:47 am
As a lifelong computer professional (yes I remember card decks, talk about hate), I find that users are usually culpible one way or another. Blogging from the bathroom while taking a shower is hard on the hardware.
Just don’t do it anymore, please.
I’ve got two rules for those who deal with computer customers:
1) The customer is always right.
2) The customer is always crazy.
August 25th, 2006 at 7:03 am
If the plug is good then splice it to the new adapter. You can run your laptop by plugging it directly to a car battery. I did it after my power was out for over a week during the ‘04 hurricanes came through my yard.
August 25th, 2006 at 7:09 am
Mind you, I’d recommend using the cigarette lighter connection, not the battery directly…all the more important if you have a Dell.
August 25th, 2006 at 8:09 am
I don’t think the batteries explode… From a link I followed in Linkswarm.com, I think they just catch fire… really violently.
August 25th, 2006 at 8:45 am
Get a Dell. You can then visit the arctic, view the northern lights and keep warm.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
My wife has a Dell which we purchased mainly to access the website of the investment club she’s joined (as a hobby - nothing serious here). We found out about the battery recall in the newspaper: nothing from Dell in the mail or the e-mail. Wife doesn’t use the Dell much, so she hasn’t experienced any of the Dell’s laptop toasting or the barbequed battery problem. Dell sent a new battery free of charge one day after we confirmed we had one of the bum batteries and so notified them.
Now about that laptop: it sure doesn’t sound like an Apple. Perhaps, B.A., you need to get a real computer…
August 25th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Hi BA,
I’m wondering - while your computer in down, there should be an internet cafe or computer room nearby. If possible, maybe you could pop in there and send a few words from the convention. On the other hand, I’ve found that hotel computers are usually useless but that’s also a possibility. There’s also the possibility of borrowing a little computer time from a fellow attendee.
August 25th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
Phil, hate not the computer.
Instead, hate the designer of the computer or of the software. They obviously designed it to annoy.
August 25th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I just bought a new Dell, despite previous failings of their customer service. Hey, it had what I wanted/needed. Right after I bought it, the battery recall happened, and they’ve been sending me message after message about it - but I checked and mine is perfectly ok.
As I understand it, the batteries won’t explode - but they could burst open into flames if you shock them while they are really hot. It comes, in part, from the fact that we are cramming so much more energy into these batteries.
August 25th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
Too bad you’re at a convention that isn’t populated with lots of computer geeks - otherwise you would probably been able to find someone (a geek) to help you out
August 25th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
The convention is likely full of geeks. Many of them likely know who the “Bad Astronomer” is. If you identify yourself as such, you’ll likely have folks tripping over themselves to loan you an AC adaptor, laptop time, or anything else you might need.
August 25th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
He should be in geek heaven. I’m surprised its not fixed yet. Some guy somewhere is just wishing that the Bad Astronomer would use his computer so he wouldn’t have to wash the keyboard ever again. Don’t be afraid to flaunt thy Astronomically “Bad” self to get some help.
August 26th, 2006 at 12:29 am
I was thinking about those Dell laptop batteries - they are mot likely Nickel metal/hydride cells. Energy is stored and released as the oxidation and reduction of nickel between its metal state (oxidation state 0) and its hydride (oxidation state +1). But nickel metal also serves as a catalyst (it is used in hydrogenation reactions), and if it is saturated with hydrogen gas (as it may be when the nickel is in its metal state), the combined application of heat and oxygen will cause it to flame.
The old test for Raney nickel hydrogenation catalyst is to place some on a filter paper at the entrance of a fume cupboard (where there will be a good draught of air across it). Once it is dry, it should burst into flames. If it does not, it is probably no good for catalysing a hydrogenation reaction.
Isn’t science fun?
August 26th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Spend the money for a couple of backup batteries. They’re spendy but it saves the hair pulling!!
August 26th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Re the batteries (which I realize wasn’t BA’s problem):
The Sony product is a Lithium-Ion battery. Apple computer bought some of the same faulty batteries also. THEIR recall was in the paper last Thurs. (I’m waay behind on my newsreading). So, the Dell Co. can be forgiven for partially screwing up, since Apple did the same. How’s that for partisanship left-handed apologies?