Upgrading – part 2

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Kathy

Upgrading – part 1

I was able to print to the LaserWriter 12/640 PS over ethernet from the new MacBook Air with a generic postscript printer driver and printer sharing active on the iBook. Guess I gave up too soon previously when the “downloading software” dialog box came then said it was unable to access any at this time. Can’t use special printer features (choose paper trays, manual feed, etc.) but handy to have it available.

I connected my CanoScan 5600F flat bed scanner (USB) and it was recognized immediately. I was able to acquire images using Image Capture, Graphic Converter, and Preview.

My older LaCie pocket drive wouldn’t mount with a USB connection although it is accessible through sharing while connected to the iBook. The newer LaCie Porche worked well though. It would probably work with Time Machine for backups now but it has about the same amount of storage as the laptop. Need to think about it.

I worked some more on connecting my Samsung mobile phone. Think the difficulty I experienced at first with Bluetooth transfers is that the connection gets dropped periodically — perhaps to conserve battery charge? In addition to transferring pictures and video files, I was able to export phone contacts as individual .vcf files and batches and merge them into the Contacts application on the MacBook with the contacts I brought over from the iBook.

Still getting accustomed to the newer autocorrect — have to watch what I type carefully! Transcribing manuscripts has been difficult for some time due to medical problems so this just makes that even more iffy.

Have two more devices to check, an external CD burner and a hard drive, but they are in storage. Fortunately the snow and ice is melting quickly with two consecutive days of temperatures well above freezing so should be able to get to them soon.

In the realm of Geezerdom, I could have sworn that I had more ethernet cables! So far I have found one six foot crossover cable and two 24 foot ones. I must have put the others somewhere special!

Atticus was getting a bit ticked because of the extra attention to computer stuff and now there is a rat’s nest of cabling to contend with too!

With better performance on the internet I have also been getting caught up with updates, etc. In the process of upgrading a photo gallery I actually opened a terminal window and used ssh to connect to a server and run a shell script to clean out old files. Also have switched my online genealogy software from PhpGedView which isn’t being updated to webtrees which branched off. Safari has been very stubborn in replacing “webtrees” with “welters” – can be frustrating. Wonder if it learns your vocabulary as you use it?

Now that binge viewing on Hulu is practicable suspect that productivity may suffer. Still holding off installing Angry Birds for the same reason. Netflix recently released Season 4 of Game of Thrones, so will be transported to Westeros for hours at a time. Returned the first DVD (two episodes) of four today.

Oh yeah, messing around doing selfies with the FaceTime camera:

my selfie

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Upgrading – finally

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Kathy

Much of the past week has been devoted to migrating what I want to keep from my vintage 2006 iBook to a new MacBook Air. Although that was too big a gap (OS X 10.4.11 Tiger to 10.10.2 Yosemite) for the Migration Assistant to bridge it hasn’t been an unpleasant task.

I have been quite happy with with the iBook G4 but with no updates being made available for PPC Macs, it was getting more and more difficult to use the Internet. Alas, even WordPress was complaining about my browser being out of date.

Even with a DSL connection, the new computer was able to play video and audio streaming with little or no rebuffering. On the iBook that was frequent plus when advertisements came on they would often crash Safari or Mozilla. It often took an hour and a half to watch a one hour show.

I ordered a Thunderbolt to Ethernet adaptor and was able to connect the iBook to the Air easily. I downloaded Numbers first but found that AppleWorks files are not compatible, so I got on to the iBook and exported my “housekeeping” spreadsheets to Excel format which opened in Numbers. Only lost the charts and some formatting. There was a learning curve but there are a lot of nice features in Numbers and it is actually easier to use in many ways.

One of the big disappointments was with my Samsung S390 mobile phone’s lack of compatibility. I had been unable to connect it with the iBook:

  1. With the iBook you had the choice of AirPort or Bluetooth cards, I got the AirPort
  2. the phone wouldn’t mount as a volume when connected to a USB port (presumably because the iBook was old)

I have been using a Bluetooth connection between the Samsung and my old Motorola flip phone to get pictures then connecting the Motorola to the iBook with a USB cable. It would mount as two volumes and I could drag and drop files (and can do the same on the new computer). The Samsung phone still won’t mount on the MacBook Air. I was able to transfer a few files via Bluetooth, but it was frustrating and I haven’t been able to replicate that! Since the Samsung phone is over two years old, suspect that the most viable solution will be to never buy another Samsung phone. Saw a lot of references to such problems when I searched, for both PCs and Macs.

Alas, my Apple LaserWriter 12/640 PS doesn’t work with the new computer. It dates from the 1980s and recently found that it won’t feed paper when it has been powered up more than an hour or two. So, I am printing files to PDF documents then copying them to a folder on the iBook for printing in batches. The other thing that makes this not a serious issue is that there is print shop just up the road that does beautiful work and has more hardware than I could ever fit in here.

While you can’t play audio CDs (or DVDs) over an ethernet connection, discovered that the new iTunes, by using the Open Library command under File, will bring in entire CDs as well as other audio files that were in the iTunes library folder on the old machine. Fortunately I only view one or two DVDs a month and listen to fewer audio CDs.

I probably should have upgraded sooner but the past few years have been hectic.

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bye bye to June

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Kathy

Have had several days of haymaking weather in July!

round hay bale in field   Field with round hay bales

I remember the hard work making hay was when I was growing up. Everyone in the family needed to pitch in and guaranteed there would be a weight loss. Children got to haul jugs of lemonade and iced tea to the workers in the field. Sweaty, dusty work. Now there is one operator of an enclosed tractor pulling three different devices.

Seemed like June was a month of bad hair days and stagnant, humid air. Then a wind came up in the afternoon on July 3 and it has been gorgeous since.

Thistle and vetch flowers in vase on sewing table

Thistles were growing at the side of the house. Apparently the guy who keeps things trimmed decided that they were weeds yesterday, so I retrieved some and added yellow vetch for contrast. The thistles are quite fragrant but I was hoping that they would go to seed and attract finches. “Still Life with Sewing Notions” could be the title.

Nasturtium flowers in planters  Orange nasturtium blooming  140705_020

The nasturtiums I started from seed are blooming now, have three different colors so far. The lettuce started to bolt, but the chives, parsley, and mint are doing well and good additions to meals.

Small black and gray dog with topknot

Atticus noticed when the fireworks in Elderton started last night but unlike Bode, didn’t feel the need to bark them into submission. Neither did he try to hide the way Ling Ling used to when we lived in Milwaukee.

I have been applying a rubber band to his forelock to make a topknot lately. Was going to mail order some but then found that the craft stores have inexpensive Rainbow Loom rubber bands that come in a multitude of colors.

Red 2012 Fiesta Hatchback  140630_001  140630_002a

Still getting used to the 2012 Fiesta SE I bought on June 30. Have had my dad to two doctor’s appointments and shopped for groceries. Also found out that the Fiesta can easily accommodate (in the back seat and cargo area) three weeks worth of laundry, detergent, plus two buckets (3 and 5 gallon) with hand wash: one of my sweaters, two hats, mittens, two of Atticus’ sweaters, and a wool skirt soaking in Eucalan. It is late in the season to be doing this but it is better to wait than to chance that moths will ignore residues of perspiration, food, etc. if you don’t clean your woolens first.

It has been a week of discoveries and adjustments although many things are similar to the 2000 Windstar I traded in:

  • Gear shift is on the floor between the seats instead of the steering column
  • Adjusting the steering wheel and seat position
  • Finding the hood release
  • Remembering how to change radio station presets
  • There is a map pocket!
  • The fuses are behind the glove box
  • A Rubbermaid tote and a styrofoam picnic box can fit into the cargo area together
  • The rear seat headrests may be removed and doing so increases the area visible in the rearview mirror
  • The spare tire and tools are under the carpet in the cargo area
  • Fueling is a breeze with the “no cap” fuel system plus half the tank capacity means less time for hand cramps to develop

There are still surprises, but fewer since I read the owners manual PDF I downloaded from the Ford web site. (Yeah, I still read documentation…)

Turned out being able to haul a lot of cargo in the Windstar was too tempting given my physical limitations. I’ve decided that using a truck and getting people to help load and unload is more sensible. Better fuel economy is a plus since I seem to be driving more lately. It will be interesting to see if lower fuel consumption makes up for the increase in insurance premiums though.

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Atticus video

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Kathy

These have been in the mobile phone since last month.

Atticus just loves string cheese!

I was going to title this one “Why we don’t have nice things” but he does have nice things. It is just that his favorites get some hard wear.

It has been brought to my attention that many people can’t view these videos. Here are the YouTube links:

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shades of white

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Kathy

Yesterday I officially initiated my new (from February) refrigerator by getting ice cream — Giant Eagle’s triple vanilla, a favorite. Atticus, who doesn’t eat just any ice cream, just politely asked for seconds in his little dish.

Looking at the ice cream, I was noticed that it matched some of my favorite colors of thread for crocheting doilies:

  • White
  • Ivory
  • Cream
  • Ecru

I am still working on sewing projects including some overdue mending. The latest morphing project is turning a pair of pajamas into a casual skirt:

pastel blue plaid ruffled skirt

Only the seat and shoulder backs were worn thin. Made a 6 gore skirt by alternating three tapered upside down leg sections with two straight ones from the front (retained the pocket of one) and a cut down leg piece. There was still quite a bit of fabric left after sewing them together and attaching them to the waist section (elastic with drawstring) so I cut out strips matching the plaid for a pleated ruffle on the bottom.

I’ve been wearing the royal blue tank swimsuit I made last month for pool exercise. It is comfortable but it stretched a bit more than I anticipated with wear. Decided the next one will be a tankini with a high waist on the bottoms. Did some casual research and discovered that Calvin Klein is selling one so it isn’t a totally revolutionary idea. I made a pattern for the bottom from a 1970s vintage pair of bike shorts. I omitted the extra bike seat padding and lined the entire short instead. Still measuring for the top.

My dad was ill, ended up spending a few days in the hospital two weeks ago. He is still getting some tests, but is feeling a lot better.

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