I had a MacBook Pro battery that was randomly shutting my computer off when draining down. Dismayed, I took it to the Apple Store to see if there was anything that could be done. I knew that AppleCare, Apple’s extended warranty that I highly recommend for laptop computers, generally allowed for one replacement battery. Unfortunately, this battery in question *was* my replacement battery.

The gentleman at the Genius Bar was kind and listened to me. I like it when, if I know what I’m talking about, people treat me like I know what I’m talking about; this man did. Within a few minutes, I had another replacement battery, and I was on my way home.

New Battery Screenshot

Gmail Gfail

Remember my ecstatic post three days ago about ridding myself of the wretched Invite a Friend box from Gmail? Well, it’s back.

I’m going to have to investigate this further. I don’t want to use a browser extension to hide it. However, if that’s my only option, I may cave.

Dear Richard,

Thank you for your descriptive and honest blog. I wish I had googled this topic earlier, I am about to undergo my third tympanoplasty. I got my ear wet after the first operation, and blew my nose after the second. My surgeons never really emphasized how fragile the graft really is, they just kept telling me about high percentage rates of success. Although I have not been the best patient in the past, I am going into this third surgery ready for hybernation. I plan on locking myself up for 8 weeks: no work, no showers, no physical activity, no blowing my nose and no sneezing. I hate to resort to this extreme form of rehab, but am desperate. How did your rehab compare? How did you take care of things like hygiene, congestion, and the constant idleness? Any advice is appreciated.

Yet another holy eared one,

Adam

The idea that people from across the world can search for stories about almost anything and bond over their experiences still surprises me, despite the fact that I’ve been on the Internet for close to six years now. It’s so amazing. Thank you for continuing to read what I have to say and have an awesome holiday weekend if you’re in the United States!

And that’s my obligatory birthday post.

Then it hit me. If I use up the invites, the box should go away. If it doesn’t have a purpose, a reason to exist, the server gods at Google will surely remove it from my Gmail web interface, right?

Fortunately for me, yes! And all I had to do to claim those pixels was to send 99 gmail invites to myself. Piece of cake.

I’ve been comfortable not blogging, whereas I used to need to blog all the time. It’s easy for me to blame Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media like Google Reader for killing my need to publish long-form. In this case, I’ll elect to take the easy way out.

I’ve funneled the energy that used to go here into sharing news stories, putting together 140 character quips, and tagging friends. I’m not sure whether this is a good or bad development, but a development nonetheless. When I blogged here, I wrote about my journey into college. As soon as I got there, I hit a wall of life and energy, and I focused on living.

In the coming days, I’m going to try to catch up with you all, if you’re still subscribed. I cannot express how grateful I’ve been for your support and advice during the run of this blog. You make it happen.

Ideas to write about?

That’s just about all I can say after watching the demo of Google’s new product, Wave. Wave is a lot of things. It’s a new metaphor for communication that goes beyond email, instant message, wiki, and docs. It’s a service that Google plans to release in the future. It’s an open platform for organization-to-organization communication.

If you have a little over an hour, watch the demo video. Over a million other people have, so you’re in good company.

My prediction is that Wave is going to make a big splash. I can’t wait to use it.

College is hard. That is to say, time management is hard. In a ridiculously social environment, it’s hard to make time to sit in front of a computer for the sake of sitting in front of the computer. I took five classes this last semester, and have been funneling tons of time into the Tufts Roundtable, a new publication at Tufts. I’m the head web designer.

What I’ve run against over the last year is the ongoing debate between living life and broadcasting life. It’s a debate I’ve been struggling with, and over the last eight months, I’ve focused on living over lifecasting. With my new pool of time, we’ll see how that changes.

This last semester was amazing, and I’ve actually had the time of my life at Tufts. For better or worse, I’ll be passing my time in Dover Plains until September, and because I’m Ricky, I have goals for that time.

1. Resting.
2. Reading.
3. Getting outside.
4. Tinkering with computers.
5. Spending time with friends.

This July, I’ll be working my standard summer job at the Dutchess Community College Computer Academy, a computer camp for kids. Other than that, I have no concrete plans. I’m looking for another job, or some volunteer work in Dutchess or Putnam counties. Let me know if you have anything in mind.

Oh, and welcome back! I’ll be writing much more often than I have now.

Blogging and other social networking activities like twitter suffer under a lack of time. In a list of my priorities, they come after my studies, which has been reflected by my absence.

Here’s the verdict: For now on at this site, there is no schedule, there are no quotas, there are no promises. But, if you subscribe (rss), you’ll find me sending some thoughts your way every once in a while. I’m retiring the Monthly Resolutions project, not because I think it’s a bad idea, but because I’ve demonstrated that I don’t have the time to keep up with it online. I’ll keep continuing to challenge myself offline, but the rigid structure of the project doesn’t fit my life as a student anymore.

It’s not the end of the world; the end of the world would be if I kept lying to myself and you, my readers.

Thanks for sticking around.

Today, I found my favorite video from when I was a kid – it’s Phil Collins’ final song on his Farewell Tour. He’s performing Take Me Home, undoubtedly one of the greatest songs ever written. I remember watching this video over and over again on a VHS tape. To me, it’s inspiring.

My point in writing this post isn’t to get you to listening to Phil Collins. Rather, I urge you search YouTube for things you loved as a kid. You’ll be amazed and delighted at what you find.

Google Reader allows you to share stories you find particularly interesting with a list of friends. It’s incredibly powerful for establishing your own news filter – something I’ve been very interested in over the past few months.

Go to “Sharing settings…” in the Reader interface and in the text box on the bottom right part of the page enter my gmail address (rice28m). Be sure to leave a comment on this post and I’ll start sharing with you, too.