If
you're reading this via RSS syndication, and this is the first update you've
seen since I said I was moving my web page, then I lied when I said my feed you
previously subscribed to would automatically update to the new site. I've made
several posts at my new site, but it looks like LJ and a few other places are
stuck on this old feed, and I can't figure out how to forward it, from my end,
to the new feed.
Anyhow, as just noted, I was wrong when I
said the old feed would still serve you. If you want to keep reading my blog at
its new site via RSS (as opposed to just going there every so often to check
it), you'll have to subscribe via this
link:
Yes,
it's true, I'm moving my web page and blog to a new site, one that I can more
easily update, regardless of what computer I find myself sitting at. The url
should look familiar . . . brucecordell.com!
If
you read my blog via a feedburner subscription, don't worry, I've already
redirected the feed to the new site--you need do
nothing.
However, if you're reading this at all, that
means you might have my old bookmark in your browser (something like
homepage.mac.com/macbruceetc.),
or you are subscribed to my old, non-feeburner
feed.
To get to my new blog, change
your bookmark to brucecordell.com or type in brucecordell.com
into the navigation window, or subscribe to this
feed.
See you on the other
side! You'll find it looks a lot like this side...
If you or a friend need pet care while
away on a trip or want someone to daily walk your dogs, consider Dee! (assuming
you live in Renton, Kent, or selected areas of south King County,
WA.)
Dee is also launching a pet blog,
which'll recount her experiences as an animal lover and pet sitter. Subscribe here.
Also, if you want to discuss
Stardeep
with other readers, Candlekeep is hosting a book club for
Stardeep,
where you can discuss the book with others as you progress through the
novel.
Stardeep
is part of the Dungeons series, but like all the Dungeons series, it is a
stand-alone novel that takes place in and around a dungeon environment.
Though it truly is a stand-alone
novel, it turns out
Stardeep
is a prequel to a novel trilogy pending in 2008, the first book of which is
nearly through its first draft; 73,000 out of 90,000 words are complete, but I
can't disclose the title or topic quite yet. If you read Stardeep, it's possible
you will be able to guess.
Buyer Beware, or, Apple Done Me Wrong (UPDATED: Apple Done Me
Right)
UPDATED
(see bottom of post)
I have an iPod
nano, 4 gigs (Red). I got it in January of this year. About 6 months in, it
stopped working. The Tukwila, Southcenter Apple Store here in Washington
replaced it under warranty.
Great!
Today, the replacement stopped
working. The unit was still under the original iPod's year warranty. No problem
I thought. But as I learned at the Apple Store today from Josh the manager, the
warranty doesn't cover 'corrosion.' He pointed at the slot in the bottom of the
iPod and said, "You must have got it wet--see, corrosion. We don't cover
it."
Since Josh the manager was the 2nd
guy up the chain I talked to at the store, I realized I was out of
luck.
I've never dunked the iPod in
water, nor do I use it around liquid; I carry this thing around in my jeans
pants pocket day in and day out. If it's corroded, it is through normal usage.
The fact that the warranty conveniently doesn't cover the issue mostly likely to
be the culprit in causing this model to go on the fritz strikes me as slimy
business.
Apple, you've let me down.
This after I've been such a loyal customer, buying your computers, your web
service, and your iPods. I had even been toying with getting an iPhone. Well,
f___ that. I'll wait for the gPhone now. I'll pull my old 3rd generation
hard-drive based iPod out of storage and replace it's battery.
What I won't do is buy another piece
of corrosion-prone crap from you.
Oh
yeah, and I'll tell everyone about my experience with your so called 'one year
warranty.'
UPDATE: So, I went home, got
out a can of pressurized air, and blew out the connection slot on the bottom of
my iPod. All the 'corrosion' immediately dispersed; it was pocket lint! Like I
said, this thing lives in my pocket. Unlike my old 3rd generation iPod, the slot
is on the top, and apparently acts like a collection bowl for stray
lint.
So I went back to the Tukwila
Apple store, hoping there was not some sort of 'lint exclusion' in the
warranty.
Jake, the original tech, and
Josh the manager weren't on premises anymore. So I related my story to a new
Apple employee. He was taken aback, but didn't have time to check it right then.
So I made an appointment for the following morning (this morning). I showed up,
and a new tech, Mark, checked out my iPod. He immediately ordered me a new one,
paid for by my warranty.
So, I've
learned that it wasn't the faceless Apple the corporation that did me wrong. I
apologize, Apple, for being so quick to anger.
It was Jake and Josh who did me wrong.
Of course, Jake and Josh are still
you're employees, so you're not completely off the hook, Apple, but I'm
mollified. Thankfully I decided not to take their refusal as my final answer,
and to investigate the 'corrosion' claim on my own. And, thanks to Mark for
following through and honoring the warranty my $200 purchase was
due.
What the
hell is going on? Here we sit with southern California burning, and the White
House Office of Management and Budget sees fit to chop the teeth out of this
report that attempts to warn against potential biological disasters as bad or
worse as drought-caused wildfires.
Tomorrow I'll be attending an event in Tacoma for
Teen Read Week with Stephen Radney-McFarland. We'll talk about being game
designers to interested Teen Readers. (http://www.piercec ountylibrary.org/ki
ds-teens/teens/teen -read-week.htm). Depending on how many people show up, we
might even be able to run a few demo games--but of course, not if there are too
many. We're told about 60 teens showed up last year, which sounds like too many
to sit down and demo for, by a factor of 10.
I'm migrating my Wizards staff blog to Gleemax,
which is still very Alpha--which means it doesn't support a lot of functionality
yet--those things are being added as we go along. Also, sometimes it just fails
to respond. But it'll improve as we continue to add features and fix bugs. I
guess that's par for the course for an Alpha
release.
As I'm sure many of you have read, brain-eating amoebas enter the body through the
nose, whereupon they travel to the brain to feed. Lately, they've killed several
people.
Intelligent Design likes to
claim that all creatures were created by a benevolent higher entity they call
the the "designer" (which is a code word for the Abrahamic
God).
Then along come
brain-eating amoebas. The mere fact brain-eating amoebas exist disprove the idea
of an intelligent designer.
Or, more
accurately, brain-eating amoebas disprove the idea of a
benign
intelligent designer. [cue scary music]
So, I was planning on doing a long report on my
UK visit, including pictures. Well, I'm waiting on a few (me in armor!), and
truth to tell, this whole upper back injury has somewhat taken the wind out of
my sails. But, I still intend on providing a visual tour of my trip in the
future. Here's a pic of me in Avebury. See, I do have pictures! More hopefully
to
follow.
My web site has moved to here! (http://www.brucecordell.com)
Unless you clicked to 'learn more about bruce," you might be perusing my old site and not realize it. If the book mark in your browser is something like homepage.mac.com/macbruceetc, or you are subscribed to a non-feeburner feed, you are at my old web page.
To get to my new web page and blog, change your bookmark to brucecordell.com or type in brucecordell.com into the navigation window, or subscribe to my blog by clicking on this link.
See you on the other side! You'll find it looks a lot like this side...
Search Brucecordell.com
Novels
I contributed a short story to this anthology.
T. H. Lain is the house name
I used to write Oath of Nerull.
Links
GAMES
Psionics
Adoption Videos
I make a new animal adoption video every so often to help the Humane Society for Seattle / King County. If interested in any animal you see here, visit seattlehumane.org
East Hill Pet Sitting
Happier News: Stardeep Published
More White House Climate Censorship
Do You Love Cthulhu?
Teen Read Saturday
Brain-Eating Amoebas and Intelligent Design
