How to plug in an Apple computer -- first the AC, then the computer?!

Wow. I'd never have imagined this one! This business of embedding computers throughout complex hardware has some substantial limitations. Hmm. I wonder how far that meme extends.

Apple machines are infamous for controlling hardware via software. My PC has a simple thermal sensor that controls fan speeds, but on a Mac fan speed is the responsibility of low level OS code. My PC does simple error checking on memory at the hardware level, the Mac expects error free memory. PCs power supplies are brain dead, the Mac has a 'power management unit' with its own OS and firmware.

Which approach is better? I'm sure there are good arguments for Apple's approach (not to mention it makes cloning very hard ...), but my experience is 'stupid is better'.

The story of the PMU is illustrative. As reported in MacInTouch (from Desktop and Portable Systems: A Guide to Supporting, Servicing and Troubleshooting Apple Computers):

While skimming the book, we noted some interesting tips about power management, including the non-obvious, but apparently critical, issue of exactly how you connect an AC adapter:

* The PMU [power management unit] is a computer within a computer. It has memory, software, firmware, I/O, two crystals, and a CPU.

* If you connect the AC power adapter to the computer before you connect the adapter to an electrical outlet, you can make the Power Manager software unusable. Symptoms of issues with the Power Manager software include startup problems and the inability to shut down the computer (the computer restarts spontaneously after shutdown.)

Oookaaay. A few comments:

1. Ever wonder whether you should connect your iPod to the charging cable and then the cable to the firewire port - or vice-versa? Given the above, this may a choice between devil or the deep blue sea. Do it one way and mess up the iPod, the other and mess up the iBook!

2. Generally one tends to do the "right" thing -- plug an AC adapter into the wall, then connect it to the portable (iBook, etc). But what about people who like to power up via a surge suppressor? That used to be common practice. I wonder what that does?! What if there's a power failure and the power comes back on again? What if you accidentally disconnect the AC adapter and plug it back in?!

3. Wouldn't it be nice if Apple documented this somewhere?

4. Clearly, computers aren't ready for use by normal people.

The Google maps revolution: Annotating the planet

Jon Udell: Annotating the planet

Jon is a big thinker. He's very excited about Google maps and what this will mean.

TypePad Features

TypePad Features

DeLong uses TypePad.

Finding an alternative to blogger

Movable Type

Movable type now owns TypePad, Movable Type and LiveJournal. I'm looking first at these as I try to figure out how to replace Blogger. I'm also looking at OS X clients and seeing which services they tend to support.

Dark side of Apple: why you shouldn't bother with AppleCare

MacInTouch Home Page

More on Apple's increasingly dismal customer service -- this time it's their 'bad RAM' policy. At this rate they'll rival SONY.

The bottom line is that it may be preferabel to work with a non-Apple Apple authorized service center. Instead of paying for AppleCare, look for a credit card insurance program and look for a private service center to work with.

I run an Apple Authorized service center, and on occasion, we need to send laptops into Apple for various reasons where they will not allow us to do the repair, or it is not cost effective for us to do the repair on our own.

I can verify the fact that if non-Apple RAM is installed in a machine, it is Apple policy to pull the RAM and send it back with a nasty note. This happens 100% of the time.

In many cases, they pull the memory, send the unit back to us, and the problem has not even been addressed. The most insane case was a PowerBook G4 that had a broken hinge. You guessed it, bad RAM caused the problem. It is now policy to remove non Apple RAM before sending any unit to Apple for service.

Outlook: Gregorian vs. Lunar - the rematch

Weirdest error message of the year, from Microsoft Outlook 2003

Cannot import vCalendar file.

This error can appear if you have attempted to save a recurring Lunar appointment in iCalendar format.
To avoid this error, set the appointment option to Gregorian instead of Lunar.
More information about this error message online.

Wow.

How a firewall works

MacDevCenter.com: Exploring the Mac OS X Firewall