OnTrack called me this morning to let me know that my hard drive is unrecoverable.
I'm 100% positive all the experimenting I did to get it to work sealed its fate.
I was ok up to this point knowing that it would just be too expensive to recover, but the fact that it can't be [well, maybe the military has the technology and time to do it] is a bit of a blow.
Funeral services will be held here, in this post.
I've been annoyed with OS X not supporting merging directories together (like if I copy the directory 'kaiser' to another directory that already has a directory 'kaiser', I don't want the new directory to replace the old directory—I want the contents of the new directory to add to the contents of the old directory). Not only that, I don't think there's a pretty or straight-forward way of copying all files newer than a specific date.
Windows Explorer did the merging thing naturally, and xcopy copied files newer than a specific time. And I think the issue is that Unix commands don't operate like that.
Well, thanks to my own ingenuity, I've created a PHP script that does both those things. And with a little more work, it could do a lot more that I've been hoping for in the past.
So exciting. !
When a Mac computer can network with a Windows XP computer easier than two WinXP computers, do I classify that as ironic or weird?
I'm reluctant to admit that I'm starting to love Macs. And it's not so much because of OS X (though the interface looks crisp and has a few cool things Windows should try to implement (like showing all open windows at once)).
The first thing that has earned my respect is the hardware design. The Power Mac G5 is the most beautiful desktop I've ever seen, inside and out. For years I've been griping [at least in my head] about how terribly cluttered and congested the inside of desktops are. It could just be a bad mismatch between motherboard and case, but it's apparent that the only form most computer manufacturers care about is the outside. Maybe that's just a reflection of society? Hah.
Whatever the case, it doesn't seem like most people care about the guts of the system, and manufacturers are happy to put out things that will passably work. Does it matter? Yes. Giving the inside of your computer breathing room not only helps in upgrading/installing components, it prolongs the life of everything – ll the heat and dust that builds up because air can't circulate properly will wear down parts faster.
So big ups to Apple for creating an ideal I've been dreaming of.
The second thing, and this really has nothing to do with Apple, is the Unix foundation that OS X is built on. I've been used to the command line because I was brought up on DOS around 14 years ago, and I've been exposed to Unix and Linux at college and through my server host, but to actually play around with my own system has been an entirely different experience. I haven't even scratched the surface of what can be done, but it's exciting to think that the interface to the operating system [the shell] can also act as a scripting language. *giddy* I could write some fancy scripts to automate backing up my files a smarter way.
Anyway, yay Macs. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up Windows, either.
Now it's time to buy laptop sleeves for the Mac and Toshiba. The MacBook's case is already starting to get scratches from being in my bag. And I need to make sure the laptops are protected from small spills.
Hard drive update: I've been informed that the damage to the HD was severe, and that they're having trouble locating the parts needed to even attempt reading the data. I'm guessing that also means recovery will be on the high end ($2000-$2500). Sigh. Goodbye, data. I was a stupid, stupid person.
As in, old habits like infrequent posting die hard.
In the last two weeks I failed to mention that my brother was here for a week (left on the 10th). It was good times, which could have been better if my dead hard drive didn't throw everything off. Hasan gets along well with Mona and Mohammed, which makes me happy. In fact, Asma's family gets along with my family pretty well in general.
I'm starting to catch up with hype as hype becomes standard and useful. In this case, Flickr. So I present to you my first set of Flickr images ever. My gut reaction was to just code my own photo album, but I really don't have the time for that. Flickr's got it down.
And guess what? I've finally been transferred to the tech team at AARP. It's something I've been wanting for about two years now. So I'll actually be involved with work that I want to do and that will challenge me. I got a MacBook Pro (15.4") and I have the option to work remotely when I need to. I'm excited. !
I think I might get some McDonald's fries now. Yeah, I know the pictures show that I've gained weight. What other excuse do I have to leave the building on the first cold day in weeks?
I decided to go to campus with Asma yesterday to get out of the apartment and do work (AARP was off because of a national day of mourning for Gerald Ford). The contents of my bad included a laptop, yarn, paper, and a bottle of juice.
As I'm taking the laptop out I notice that it's wet and sticky. Throughout the car ride to campus I kept thinking, What if the juice spills? I feel stupid about it but think that it's not a major thing. So I dry off the laptop as much as I can (it's just the bottom part that was exposed) and get setup.
Everything is working fine for the first 30 minutes. Then I start to hear clicks, and the hard drive seems to lag a bit. Within fifteen minutes of that the computer freezes, and restarting results in either a blue screen or an 'operating system not found' error.
Fuck.
After Asma gets out of class we go back home much earlier than planned. I poke around in the laptop and see that the hard drive is installed right in the back, where it would've experienced maximum exposure to juice. I take the hard drive out and see some small burn marks, burnt plastic, and liquids on the circuit board.
So, I've lost two weeks of work along with many other things. Data recovery will cost a minimum of $500. Can't really afford that, and it might take up to a week to get any of the data sent back.
I ordered a replacement hard drive for overnight shipping and it should be in today. Judging from the damage and how the internals are sealed, I'm hoping it's as simple as swapping the circuit boards (assuming the circuit board malfunction didn't corrupt the data on the disk platters).
This is such a shitty thing to happen. I know I just have to move forward and hope for the best, but it's my work. I don't know what notes I've jotted down or all the changes to files I've made between mid-December and yesterday. Blah.