The ‘Switch’ Log – monthly findings

[Update 27/10/04. Just when things were going hunkydory … My screen turned dark and I received a warning message telling me to shut down or reboot my Mac. This hasn’t happened for a while, but this isn’t the sort of thing that should happen at all! Worse, I can’t seem to find a solution in the Help section. Anyone has any ideas what to do?]
[Update 27/10/04 part 2. It’s a ‘kernel panic‘. That’s what happens when the mice discover they’ve run out of grain. Just kidding. What else can I do? I mean, I’ve updated to the latest version of Mac OS X already. I don’t understand the gibberish in my Panic log. All they can say is, it’s a software issue. Bah.]
So it’s almost the end of another month and yes, I’m pretty happy with my G5 PowerMac and Cinema display. On the other hand, I just had dinner with a friend who has, like, over 20 of those machines each with a 23″ display in his workplace. Which goes to show that you can never get enough of a good thing!
My Mac does hang occasionally, though. When this happens, the cursor becomes a spinning pizza-disc, and no amount of force-quitting (ALT+APPLE+ESC) the Finder will help. My desktop icons all disappear. I usually shut down the computer, then start it up again.
My Apple wireless keyboard, miraculously, is holding up at 3/5 battery power. The Apple wireless mouse, however, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a dark drawer for sucking the life out of two batteries in just as many months. Its replacement, my old Microsoft wireless optical Intellimouse Explorer, is doing well. And – I can right-click with it! [Update 17/1/06 Duh, after over a year later I discover that I can also scroll horizontally using the Intellimouse. Pretty good for a Redmont rodent 🙂 ]
Software-wise, Logic is holding up well, although I am now careful not to open too many music programs at the same time due to some MIDI/Sound card conflict. I am contemplating upgrading to the full version of Reason after I earn more money, because it still is easier to use where dance/D&B music is concerned. Of course, what I’d hate is for Reason 3.0 to come out right after I upgrade to 2.5 – which is exactly what happened to me and Logic Pro 6 7. I expect better integration now that Emagic has been bought over by Apple.
But enough about old stuff – I have some new software installed on my Mac and they’re legitimate and free!
I confess – I actually installed one (1) game on my Mac. It’s called Wesnoth and it’s a toned-down Warcraft, so to speak. It has Elven soldiers and the Undead, with human commanders. It runs pretty smoothly on my system. However I’ve only done the tutorial. You can download it here (PC and Mac).
(Yes, yes… I know I should get the Sims 2!)
Next, there’s a new Bible tool for the iPod called BiblePlayer. I installed it last week after reformatting VanPod, but didn’t get to blog about it until today, when its creator, Pablo, wrote in to me. Anyway the scripture text loads fine, though I haven’t installed any of the MP3 readings yet. Give it a try. Oh, and if you hate people like us, at least give the poor guy a break – he’s already been flamed for simply creating this tool. Anyway at the time of writing this is ranked no. 4 on Apple’s iPod popular downloads list.