Mortaine’s Blog

It’s like the fun with iSync just never ends.

I have a Nokia 6682 cell phone with service from Cingular. This thing, despite being my third unit due to defects in the previous two, is terrific. It does it all. Video, photos, Symbian apps– and it syncs with my Mac like a dream!

Or, it used to. By now, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that I have had more than a fair share of problems with iSync on my Mac lately. First, I had to re-install Mac OSX because .Mac wouldn’t recognize my login (this after six months of it quietly not syncing, without ever telling me it had failed. Bitch.) Then, iSync magically stopped working one day.

Well, I was at a meeting on Thursday night, and I decided to Sync my cell phone to my Mac. After all, I had time to kill, and my phone was within arm’s reach. At this point, iSync has only two things to put in sync with each other– my computer and my phone. No PDAs, no .Mac, no second computers…. The iPod isn’t handled with iSync anymore, even. What could go wrong?

Uh, yeah. So, the Mac spins its little wheels for a while and finally iSync pops up a message that says it can’t find my phone, and maybe my phone is turned off or not within range?

*groan*

I could connect to the phone using Bluetooth without a problem, and could send files back and forth, so I knew it wasn’t strictly a Bluetooth hangup.

I found it in the Apple knowledge base this time, which makes this one of the first times I’ve have a Mac problem that was quickly solved by official Apple documentation. When your iSync suddenly stops being able to find your cell phone and powering the phone off and on again doesn’t resolve it, your phone’s iSync profile is hosed, and you need to remove it and re-install it.

Which is exactly what I did. Instructions for the technologically clueless follow, but if you set your Mac up to reach your cell phone in the first place, you’ll be able to get it.
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My post about the Paperless Office made it into the Working at Home Blog Carnival today– very cool!
And then it hit the “Best of” carnival over at On the Moneyed Midways. Awesome!

And then a few that I found to be “must reads,” from the Working at Home blog carnival:
Seth’s Blog: Can’t vs. Won’t: via Business Advice for Artists and Sensitive People - Christine Kane - Blog » Blog Archive:
Another Fundamental Flaw with Online Advertisement « Phil for Humanity:
Life Changing Experiment: Day 1 | Wise Bread:

Oh, and a reminder: Run your system backup! Right now! It’s a great time to do it!

[I swear, I'll start compiling these into a daily speedlink roundup.... someday.]

Via boingboing, we have an excellent excerpt from Scott Kirsner’s new book about online video: Sites that Pay for Web Video: From CinemaTech

And my article “What to Consider When You are Thinking About a Career Move” is currently being featured on the Helium.com homepage! Check it out! If you’re wondering about my other articles over at Helium, click the “More” link below– I’ll post a list of them for ya.

Finally, for all the fellow travelers and travel-addicts out there, Matador Travel has finally made its public launch! I joined the site about a month ago in the beta phase, and am very impressed and intrigued by its focus on ecotourism, volunteer vacations, and sustainable travel practices (even though they don’t say it in so many words). It’s a free site and gives you a geo-tagged blog space for your travelblogs, photo space, local-oriented classifieds, and a really beautiful site design. My username over there, as everywhere, is mortaine (and yes, in keeping with the “Megablog” philosophy, the blog posts over there will be ported over here shortly).

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From Boingboing….. why am I not surprised this is happening in my backyard?

Robert Anton Wilson memorial celebration February 18:
Mark Frauenfelder:
Here’s a public announcement for the upcoming Robert Anton Wilson Memorial:

Join Together at the Robert Anton Wilson Cosmic Meme-Orial
& Lasagna Levitation Celebration!

Hail Eris! All Hail Bob!

RAW DATA:
Where: The Cocoanut Grove, on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz,
CA
When: Sunday, February 18, 2007
Time: 1 - 6 PM
Tickets: $23 each [Proceeds go to Amnesty International]
Limited number available! To purchase tickets, or for additional
information, click here: Link

Well, I got home on Friday. The trip home was entertaining. We were delayed about an hour coming out of Marquette, but I didn’t notice– I had my wristwatch on Central time instead of local (Eastern). I didn’t figure it out until we were landing.

My flight home was supposed to be Marquette-Detroit-Minneapolis-San Jose. The Detroit connection was tight, only an hour, but I was supposed to have 2 hours in Minni. Rough ride, huh? Of course I missed my flight out of Detroit– we landed a few minutes after that plane took off. I was automatically booked on the next flight from Detroit to Minni, and catching the same flight I was originally scheduled for out of the Twin Cities.

It’s odd, but no sooner am I home than I’m ready to start planning my next trip. I unpacked right away, but the feeling didn’t go away. I’ve always been the kind of person who comes home from a trip and collapses for a few days, but this time…. I’ve been reliving the trip, enjoying the memories, and thinking “when can I get on the road/in a plane next?”

The answer? Unless business calls me back to Michigan soon, Minneapolis in May. In the meantime, I get to play in my own background for a while.

[Originally posted on my blog at Matador Travel.]