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August 2013

My Visit to the Apple Store & Time Machine’s True Test

By Technology, Thinking2 Comments
Apple-logo After my iMac’s hard drive failed (see My iMac and The Blue Screen of Death), I was quoted 5-7 days for repair.

On Thursday (day 4) I gave them a call to find out if they’d had chance to take a look at it. The Apple Rep. said that it was still in the queue, that there was nothing she could do as it hadn’t been the 7 days quoted and that they would call me when it was ready to pick up. I thanked her for taking the time to check.

By Saturday (day 6) I still hadn’t received a call from Apple. I became increasingly frustrated at the lack of communication from Apple and the lack of a working iMac. I started to read reviews of bad customer service experiences and even thought about going back to Windows on the Lenovo Ideacentre A720 27 inch All-in-One PC.

Steve called Apple. The Apple Rep. said that it would be ready in a few days. This was outside the 7 days quoted. Steve asked why they hadn’t called to let us know, the Apple Rep. was unable to give an answer. The Apple Rep. sounded generally unconcerned and was generally unhelpful.

So Steve & I decided to go into the Apple Store (Trafford Centre) on the Sunday (day 7) and speak to them. We arrived at around two in the afternoon and headed to the Genius desk. They said that it wasn’t ready so I politely asked to speak to a Manager. The radioed Manager arrived, I explained my story and he didn’t look like he was going to help.

apple-mountain-lion-hard-drive-icon But then a second Manager interupted, spoke to the first manager and then addressed me. He said it would be repaired that day and advised me to come back twenty minutes before closing.

At five thirty Apple called to say my iMac was ready for collection. Steve & I went to pick it up. I spoke to the Apple Engineer who said he had replaced the hard drive. He said that as part of Apple’s new Quality Improvement Program he did a test and it had red flagged the graphics card, so he had replaced that as well. Both covered under the EU law. I thanked him and took my iMac home.

The repair being done on the day did restore some of my faith in Apple. However some of my disappointment remained and I realised it was because of the lack of communication when Apple knew they wouldn’t meet their quoted turn around time. I think because Steve & I turned up at the Apple’s Store they prioritised my repair; otherwise I could possibly still be waiting now.

I got my iMac home and Time Machine’s true test was about to take place. I set my iMac up as a new one and then restored from my Time Machine backup using Migration Assistant:

apple-os-mountain-lion-migration-assistant

The restore took time but worked perfectly and this rebuilt some more of my faith in Apple. I had to re-enter the product key for Microsoft Office and re-sign into a few other Applications, then I was back in business. Relatively hassle-free.

The lesson learned from this experience: don’t rely completely on one machine. I’m considering getting some sort of other computer/laptop so that I can continue as normal if my iMac goes down.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Saturday 24 August 2013

Rivington Adventure: Ruins & The Picnic

By Adventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Nature2 Comments
Rivington View - Partway Up The Hill

Rivington View – Partway Up The Hill

 This is the second and final part of my Rivington Adventure (see Rivington Adventure: Lever Castle), which I had while off on annual leave a few weeks ago.

It was another glorious afternoon; Simon & I headed to explore some ruins in a less well-known part of Rivington’s Woodland. We traipsed uphill, the heat from the sun making the journey more difficult.

But when we got there, it was totally worth it. I could understand why Simon had wanted me to see this magical place.

The entrance included an archway, then stairs to a doorway and felt like stepping into another world:


Under the Archway

Under the Archway
Rivington - Stone Steps To The Doorway

Rivington – Stone Steps To The Doorway
Rivington - The Doorway to a Magical Place

Rivington – The Doorway to a Magical Place

The ruins were presumably built by the extravagant Lord Leverhulme as a place to entertain. They include an outhouse and what would have been a small cottage. These ruins have been named by some as the Chinese Village or the Hobbit Village. Here are some photos:

Rivington Ruins The Well Preserved Outhouse

The Well Preserved Outhouse
Rivington Ruins - The Small Cottage

Rivington Ruins – The Small Cottage
Rivington Ruins - The Small Cottage

Rivington Ruins – The Small Cottage
Rivington Ruins - Nature's Growing Over The Stairs To The No-Longer Existent 2nd Floor

Rivington Ruins – Nature’s Growing Over The Stairs To The No-Longer Existent 2nd Floor
Rivington - A View of the Man-made Pond

Rivington – A View of the Man-made Pond

Rivington - Another View of the Man-made Pond

Rivington – Another View of the Man-made Pond

 As we explored, we came across this beautiful, large man-made pond. We sat down and ate our picnic admiring nature’s full summer bloom. I didn’t need to open my energy centres to feel the hum of the natural world around me. But when I did I felt bright green natural energy flow through my entire self – body, mind and soul. The energy went were healing was needed and began soothing, reviving and recharging my batteries.

I haven’t felt that blissful and alive in such a long time.

We sat on a bench and ate our picnic. As I did an ash tree seemed to call to me. I lit up a cigarette and sat with my back leant upon the tree. I closed my eyes and was transported back into the past. To a time were the pond and ruins were whole and in their former glory. I pulled myself back to the present aware that I didn’t want to go to deeply into the past with a lit cigarette in my hand. But I have to tell you that the glimpse I caught was breathtakingly beautiful.

Then Simon & I saw some ducklings with their mother duck. They were just going about their business, not bothered by us at all. So I took some photos:


Rivington Pound - Ducklings

Rivington Pound – Ducklings

Rivington Pound - The Ducklings Close Up

Rivington Pound – The Ducklings Close Up

Rivington Pound - The Ducklings Close Up

Rivington Pound – The Ducklings Close Up

Normally doing the amount of walking we I did I would have experienced some back pain afterwards. But surrounded by the elements: the earth beneath my feet, the air that I breathed, the water in the pond and the fire from the sun in the sky that warmed my skin. I left Rivington feeling interconnected with nature, healed, relaxed, rejuvenated and without any pain at all.

It did me the world of good.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Thursday 22 August 2013

Jack The Giant Slayer Blu-Ray Giveaway!

By Amazon, The Web, TV, Online Streaming & Films8 Comments

The kind people at Partners Hub have got a copy of Jack The Giant Slayer [Blu-ray] for me to giveaway to a reader of my blog.

Here’s a really cool Blog App:

Click here to display content from archive.partnershub.com

Open content directly

And here’s some more information about the film:

Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants
strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing Jack (Nicholas
Hoult), into the battle of this life to stop them. Fighting for a
kingdom and its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes
face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in
legend… and gets the chance to become a legend himself! Directed by
Brian Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns)

Starring: Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy), Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!),
and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones).

To be in with a chance of winning comment on this post or send me an email on my Contact page saying you want to be entered into the draw.

The deadline for entries is Tuesday 27th August 2013 @ 17:00. The winner will be completely randomly selected by myself, notified through email and I’ll post the name of the winner on the blog. You’ll need to check your email on the Tuesday evening, as I will need your address so that the people at Partners Hub can send it out to you. Entries from the UK only.

Best of luck!

Blog soon,

Antony

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Friday 16 August 2013

My iMac and The Blue Screen of Death

By TechnologyNo Comments

I’m sat here writing this post on an old, dodgy and excruciatingly slow old Windows 7 laptop. Why? Because my iMac (see iMac Part 1 & iMac Part 2) has shown me: a black unresponsive screen, several not-booting-up grey screens and the infamous blue screen of death.

I won’t bore you with the tedious details of how this occurred; but when the Recovery software wouldn’t work I knew I needed a genius appointment.

apple-mountain-lion-hard-drive-icon Steve & I booked an appointment with an Apple Genius in our local Apple Store and went along. The genius did some testing and discovered that the hard drive had failed. I’ve never been so thankful to be in the European Union (EU).

I’ve had my iMac about a year and a half. EU law means Apple have a two year warranty rather than their standard one year warranty (without Apple Protection). The genius arranged for the repair, told us they’d pay the cost and that it would take about a week.

For the next week I have no access to photos, music, TV, films (both downloaded and DVD’s) and a limited ability to browse the internet. These are things I can easily live without for a week. But there’s never a convenient time for a computer to break and the timing is particularly bad.

This week I have some important documents to write and need to reference some other documents in my Documents folder. This will create some hassle and difficulty.

Luckily, I learned the important lesson about backing up files some years ago. I use Time Machine which saves a backup volume to a separate hard drive and then copies new or changed files once an hour. I can’t use Time Machine’s backups or access the folders/files until I get my iMac back.

That’s where my manual backup on another separate drive comes in. I backup important files (Documents, Pictures, Music & Movies Folders) whenever I make significant changes to them. So at least I’ll be able to access the reference documents I need while the iMac is away for repair.

I bought an iMac because I heard loads of people say: “It just works.” I’ve told many of my family & friend’s how great the iMac is for that very reason. I was disappointed to learn that Apple use Seagate hard drives, which are notorious for problems. If you don’t believe me just do a Google search. With the price of the iMac you’d expect good quality. But after learning about the use of Seagate hard drives I’m starting to worry about what other low quality parts are in my iMac.

I’ve become a bit disillusioned with Apple not standing by the iMac for more than their standard one year warranty (outside the EU). Do Apple really expect customers to buy such an expensive device for it only to last a year? Probably not. But the fear of problems with such an costly device and a short warranty is most likely a deliberate act to sell it’s Apple Protection to customers.

When I bought the iMac I was an Apple enthusiast; but not so much so any more. I just want a reliable hardware with software that “just works.” If Apple can’t provide this, then perhaps I’d be better back on Windows? At least with Windows I know where I stand.

I’ll give you an update on the iMac when I get it back. In the meantime I’m using the free time enforced upon me to catch up on some reading.

Hopefully write soon,

Antony

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Monday 12 August 2013
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