In case you missed it, I blogged about falling out of my Apple "love affair" a few days ago. To make a long story short, my 13" MacBook Pro has been nothing but trouble (though it seems pretty good and stable now after a firmware downgrade, a clean install of OS X, and avoiding using iPhoto). The crowning jewel was losing one song (and, as it turns out, 3 1/2 photos also - 5 photos were in the error log - one still seems fine, and 1 has 1/2 the picture with the other half scrambled - the other 3 are totally missing in action like the song). iTunes treated me really well about replacing the song. The pictures were, thankfully, nothing important. But what if they hadn't been. What if it had been a book consisting of my life's work? The art and graphic design for my business? Financial records?
Also, I'll acknowledge that between the fact I had the infamous Firmware 1.7 SATA issue and the fact I'd dropped the computer (while off and not hard enough to be outside the specs of the drive I am using) that it is possible the files were already damaged - more likely from the firmware issue. Though I had JUST listened to the song two days prior. It doesn't really matter, see, even if the files were damaged, before erasing my hard drive I had a chance of recovering them! A damaged file can often be repaired. That chance went away with the reformat and reinstall and recopying of all my stuff.
Do I expect Time Machine to never have an error? Nope, not at all. But I sure expect that if there is an error, it'll tell me. Not say in the status that the backup was completed successfully! I had given Apple some benefit of the doubt and went back on my previous post by thinking that it could've been a fluke that didn't generate an error or something. Well, guess what, I found the incriminating error log. I posted it here. Put very simply, Time Machine *knew* that it failed to make a complete and successful backup of my machine. It was programmed not to make me aware of that fact, for whatever reason. To look prettier? To deny that Apple products can fail? I do not know. But I do know that the contents of that log file indicate that without any doubt and no excuse that Time Machine should have given a big visible warning that I had a problem to figure out and a backup that was unsuccessful. It didn't. It told me I had a completed backup.
P.S. To anyone saying "you should've checked the log file" - that log file is undocumented as far as I can tell and no, the status in the GUI should tell the user. Users shouldn't need to check a log file to see that backup software knows it failed. THE GUI SHOULD AND MUST TELL THE USER WHEN THERE IS A FAILURE. Anything less, in any circumstance, is completely unacceptable. Backup software isn't a game, or even a web browser, etc. It's a piece of software that *must* be reliable, predictable, and immediately and visibly inform the user if there is a problem. Of course, that last part goes against Apple's philosophy. They still haven't acknowledged the firmware 1.7 problems other than by releasing a top secret downgrade utility to their stores (but NOT their Authorized Service Providers even!). Why would they be expected to let me know that my backup had failed? The secrecy needs to end and isn't acceptable. Whether or not it is the reason the backup utility fails to report errors - that could be simple incompetent coding. Whatever it is, Windows 7
keeps looking better and better. I can't believe I'm saying that!
keeps looking better and better. I can't believe I'm saying that!
and offers a really excellent value as it is cheaper than the competing Microsoft Zune HD, which doesn't feature the App Store and widely supported developer platform. The iPod touch features a WiFi connection, but obviously not cellular data.
. The iPod lists for only $10 more than the Zune HD and yet you can get it for $10 cheaper though Amazon.com. What is the difference? The Zune HD has an OLED screen (beautiful inside - terrible in sunlight), HD output (NOT an HD screen, just HD output to an HDTV), and HD Radio. The iPod Touch has the App Store - which gets you more digital internet radio, games, social networking, productivity enhancers, and other random conveniences than you can imagine. All at very reasonable prices due to intense competition in the App Store.
bringing Windows much closer to feature parity with 
- I'm increasingly convinced that it comes down to hardware quality and price. I won't deny the beauty of Apple computers. The unibody design is unmatched, the backlit keyboard amazing, the glass trackpad a true joy to use, etc. And the price is very reasonable compared to the full list price of Windows computers - roughly the same. The problem is that you can get Windows computers at a discount. How substantial? Well, that's where you come in.
), I found this title shocking and figured it was some radical nutjobs. Imagine my shock when I found that this email came from a name I had previously respected, the 
. This movie (available to purchase on DVD through that link) is about a young girl named Chrissa who has to move to a new town and is living on her grandma's llama farm. In her new school, Chrissa is bullied from day one for no apparent reason. The mean girls in school treat her especially horribly, but even the one girl who seems to have not a friend in the world rejects her.
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