The Ink-Pot and the Palette

Hard drive failure is what I'm (pretty sure I'm) talking about here. This Dell Studio workhorse laptop has weathered four and a half years of my significant demands, but is finally showing signs of...something.

Remember when hard-drive failure was a major catastrophe? Now, not so much. Virtually everything I need to save is in the cloud already. Because I run Ubuntu and work primarily in web apps, I don't have any expensive software. In fact I won't swear that I have any non-free software on here at all. And if I do have to resort to professional help, getting a laptop to the shop is nothin' compared to what it would take car-free me to get an old desktop machine there.

I'm reinstalling the operating system in a few minutes. Thanks to Linux, this operation is relatively painless. Free, too. If the symptoms (terribly slowed-down response times, web-page crashes in all browsers) don't clear up with a fresh install, I'll have to start thinking (fast) about a replacement drive.

Does anyone use a solid-state drive? And if so, was it a replacement for an older HDD? How'd that go?

If worse comes to worst and I have to buy a new computer: anyone using Chromebook?

There's nothing like burning a bridge or two to make you look at the landscape before you more critically.

Now that I've jettisoned Windows altogether in favor of Linux, I'm forced to face the fact that Linux, while amazingly user-friendly, good-looking and clean on its surface, is still VERY geeky under its one-electron-thick Graphical User Interface.

Case in point: Google "ubuntu sync windows mobile 6". That would be my attempt to find out whether I can synchronize my phone with my home computer.

First result is a forum. This is ALWAYS a sign that what you're looking for still exists only in the geek-o-sphere. Scroll way, way down in the forum and you find instructions. The instructions start like this:

In a terminal, type:

Code:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

In a terminal, type code...

*sigh*

I mean, it's not impossible. I remember MS-DOS. I remember command prompts. But there's not the slightest chance that anyone with less computer confidence and less free time than I have will tackle it.

On the other hand, my brain is alive with the sound of learning.

The sun came out today! And it stayed out all day! So I went to work late and left early (while it was still light--first time in months) and in between I took a break and walked to Waterfront Park...

( ...and took some pictures. )

And in Ubuntu news: wow! This F-spot Photo Manager that came with the operating system is slicker than snot on ice! It uploads directly to Flickr if you want it to.

And also: have .avi file of White Collar , am watching. "Easy as lyin'," so to speak. Still not finding any noticeable limitations, and am seeing some definite improvements over Windows.