Happy Birthday Mac!

Given that I've made my living the past 18 years on a Mac, I need to wish a Happy Birthday! to Macintosh.

Here's a link to the famous 1984 commercial and some film of Jobs' unveiling.

And, I'll quote a post I made elsewhere:

In November 1984 Apple was running a promotion - "Test Drive a Mac". You could go into an Apple store and borrow a computer for over night to, well, test drive it. Being a clever lad, I arranged my pick-up for a Saturday night, so I had Sunday, when the store was closed, to play too. Consistent with Apple resellers everywhere at the time, they forgot to pack the manuals. The fact I could figure it out was amazing to me. Apple later made a commercial joking about the difference in the size of the Mac manual compared to a PC manual set.

I still remember figuring out how to enter a formula in Multiplan. Type an '=' and then CLICK IN THE CELLS YOU WANT TO ADD! Holy cow. And MacPaint!

So, the first purchase was a 128 Mac (even though the 512 was shipping or was imminent, I forget which). An ImageWriter, a case. Multiplan/Chart (which turned into Excel. My Windows using friends should know that Excel shipped first for Mac.) and OverVue (now Panorama) and an external floppy drive.

So, the fallout from falling in love with a computer?

I was working for a tax-funded non-profit at the time and had to appeal to a board of elected officials to get the money for the computer. One of the members, a city councilman from Roseville was also a Mac fan and this public hearing turned into a conversation as we talked about the wonder that was Mac and the programs that were pending and MacPaint! That guy became a ringer for me on the board and was key to the future success of the organization I ran.

My work in OverVue led to working in Helix and then in 4th Dimension. In 1990, I left the non-profit world and began a database and Mac consulting business that continues (albeit in a different form) today. Sadly, the original Mac (which was still around when I left) belonged to the non-profit and had to stay there. The first Mac I bought with my own money was an SE/30.

Update: This site has the videos referenced above as well as some additional ones. Including Bill Gates extolling Mac's virtues.

A New Day

President Obama:
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.

Ok. Fine. I'll try to do better.

- The Cynic

Someone's having a bad day in tech support at Bluehost.

About four times in the past few years I and everyone using my domain loses the ability to send email. I send panicked emails to Bluehost support (from a different account   - doh!), they do something (I assume) and after a day or so, we can all send email again. Receiving mail works just fine, always. It's just the sending that breaks.
 
Historically, BH support has been great, they respond quickly and I get an email back that there was a problem with the box or some setting or whatever. Always prompt, always polite.
 
On January 2nd I reported another service failure. I helpfully included a screenshot of their server monitor status indicating a disk was nearly full (their status system put it in the "red" zone - green is good, red is not good, I assumed.) I have no idea the relationship, but it was data, so I forwarded it on.
 
10 days later I get this:
 
 
From: "Bluehost Support"
Date: January 12, 2009 1:13:03 AM PST
To: lee@mydomain.net
Subject: [ #1425841]: can't send mail
Reply-To: "Bluehost Support"
 
Hello,
 
Space on your server is currently not an issue. We are holding at around 92% capacity on your server meaning there is around 100 GB of space available for use. Therefore this is not affecting your email. I want you to please stop looking at the server status page and assuming it's tied to your issue.
 
Also, please respond with your outlook configuration. Two of our techs have already asked you for the information and both times you did not respond with the info. Your reason is that "it was working fine before" well, we hear that a lot here at bluehost, but we still have to check your settings because the server reports that there is nothing wrong with the email.
 
Therefore, please fill out the form with your current outlook settings and we will start troubleshooting your accounts:
 
REGULAR CONFIG FOR OUTLOOK
<snipping stupid questions /> 
 
When you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. -- Spock

What's the oldest file in your home directory?

based on this link:

 http://rhodesmill.org/brandon/2009/new-years-meme/

 Here's my spin. (I didn't follow his rules, rebel that I am.)

 I need to do some disk housecleaning.

 1991-04-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Extensions/TTY Tool
1991-04-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Extensions/VT102 Tool
1991-04-05 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Extensions/Text Tool
1991-04-07 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Fonts/EurosObl
1991-04-07 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Fonts/EurosBol
1991-04-07 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Fonts/EurosDem
1991-04-07 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Fonts/EurosBolObl
1991-04-07 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Fonts/Euros
1991-04-07 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/System Folder/Fonts/EurosDemObl
1991-04-19 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Panorama 3.1/Sample Files/Catalog
1991-06-03 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Panorama 3.1/Sample Files/Invoice + Catalog
1991-06-04 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Panorama 3.1/Sample Files/Mailing List Data
1991-06-05 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Panorama 3.1/Sample Files/Checkbook
1991-06-05 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Panorama 3.1/Sample Files/Sample Mailing List
1991-08-27 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Graph™
1991-08-31 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE™ Library Mover
1991-10-21 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Utilities/CanOpener 3.5/CanOpener™ 2/Test
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/AGX/AGXit 1.09 for FX and CI
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/AGX/AGXit! 2.01
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/AGX/Agx3.00
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/AGX/Read Me AGX
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/B:W Library
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/Click:Art® Library
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/Color Library 1
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/Color Library 2
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/Color Library 3
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE Graph™ Library
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.EPSF
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.GrandView
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.Graph
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.MSWord
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.MSWord4
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.MacPaint™ Cutter
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.MacWrite
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.MacWriteII
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.More1.x
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.PICT
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.Paint
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.Ready!
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.Tank
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.TankPC
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.TeachText
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.TextwCR
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.WordPerfect
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE3.WriteNow
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE™ Balloons
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE™ Help (3.1)
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE™ Library
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE™ Main Dictionary
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/MORE™ User Dictionary
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/Manager’s Toolkit 1
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/MORE Files/Manager’s Toolkit 2
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Slide Show (B:W)
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Slide Show (Color)
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Tutorial Files/Edison
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Tutorial Files/Edison Rules Tutorial
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Tutorial Files/Edison Sales Estimates
1991-12-02 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Tutorial Files/MORE Tutorial Library
1991-12-18 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/Read Me MORE™ 3.1
1991-12-18 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/MORE™ 3.1/TeachText
1991-12-29 ./Documents/MOVED/Macintosh HD/Applications (Mac OS 9)/Panorama 3.1/PT/Panorama/Panorama Prefs