September 27, 2008

Paul Newman: R.I.P.

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He’ll be missed.

from the Washington Post

Paul Newman, 83, the actor and sex symbol who surged to stardom by playing loners as well as criminal and moral outlaws — anything to downplay his astonishing looks — died of cancer Friday at his farmhouse near Westport, Conn.

Newman was an Academy Award-winning actor and acclaimed director, and he used his fame to propel his political activism, race car driving and philanthropy. He donated all the profits from his Newman’s Own food company — more than $250 million — to charities and social welfare organizations.

In The “Q” and Updates: An Update

I’m just dumping a bunch of posts I’ve been holding onto because of a project I have been working on this week and my keyboard problem. (see below)

Sorry. It looks like I’m going post crazy but I’m really not.

The Book of Lies: A Short Review

I just finished reading The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer. By reading, I mean I listened to the audio version by Audible.com

This book is a long one to read and listen to but I have to admit that it’s well worth it. The author put at least 2 years of research into the book and it really came through loud and clear.

If you like hearing about the story of Cain and Abel, Superman, and World War II Nazi’s and their history all tied together in a great big mystery thriller, you’ll love this book.

Grab a copy in hardback on Amazon.com or grab the audiobook from Audible.com

It’s worth it.

The “N” Key Story

I have (and love) my MacBook Pro laptop and use it for everything from podcasting to video production to…

…writing.

Right after I got the laptop on the very same day, in fact, the “N” key popped off. One of the plastic pieces that are used to keep it in place broke leaving me with an “N” key that is hanging on to the rest of the keyboard for dear life. After a few keystrokes, it would come loose and I’d have to push it back in place again.

Well, during the week the key popped off and this time, it refused to semi-click back into place. In essence, it is now no longer even semi-secured to the keyboard.

During this whole thing, my father offered to call Apple and see if they could send me a replacement “N” key to simply snap back into place. Apple’s response was…

…”ahh, no.” We’ll replace your entire keyboard but the “N” key by itself is simply out of the question. This exchange between Apple and my father went on for about a week. My father lost the battle. Apple will not send out an “N” key by itself. If anything happens to your keyboard at all, Apple will replace the whole thing.

I just didn’t want to be without my laptop for any length of time. The compromise will be waiting while a local technician makes the repairs and changes out the keyboard with me watching him/her.

I haven’t made the reservations or called the technicians yet. In the meantime, I bought a HP USB 2.0 keyboard at Wal-Mart to hold me over. Of all of the keys on your keyboard, the “N” key is one of the most pressed.

At least, when you don’t have it you think it’s the most pressed!

I’ll let everyone know how the repair goes. It should happen sometime this week.