Life in the Southern Caribbean

Having just mucked around for the last two days reinstalling everything on my primary laptop for no really good reason and then replacing the power supply and guts on Sybil the PowerMac  myself ( 4th Apple machine to die on me in 4 years) I am have been led to think about the operating systems I use. I am sure I am not typical but in any given week I use OS X, Windows NT, Windows Vista, Ubuntu ( Linux), and Mac OS 9. Despite so many people haranguing on about how their OS is the best I really have to say they are all pretty good in their own unique ways. I might even say that I am fond of them all….though the degree of fondness varies greatly depending on how much they are annoying me.

The picture at the top of this entry is my desktop on my PowerMac Sybil which is an ancient machine ( 2001 I think) but, after a few upgrades, runs anything I throw at it in OS X. Apple’s latest OS is something I resisted getting until about 2 years into its development when the Jaguar edition came out.  As a purist I was fond of  OS 9 and, despite its many flaws loved it for the way it followed logic. Click on a folder and another folder popped out showing what was inside…just like the real metaphor on which it is based. Multitasking was a hot and miss affair and frequently resulted in system freezes from which the only recovery was a reboot. Still, every Mac user knew to save work regularly and a reboot of OS 9 was laughably quick compared to any other system  at the time and still is today. When I purchased a new iBook it came with OS X as well so I got used to it and appreciated its stability, lovely colours and plethora of eye candy. It is rock solid and I don’t recall it ever freezing for any reason. Having used Macs since 1984 the lack of viruses were not really a benefit since the old OS didn’t have any real viruses either. I still use OS X a fair amount at home as a lot of my photo editing and other programmes are  on it. That sort of thing happens when you spend so many years on one kind of machine…you build up a lot of very useful stuff.

A year and a half ago, as I mentioned in this blog, I was shopping for another laptop when a comely Toshiba caught my eye and I bought it. Sure it ran Windows and I had been sufficiently indoctrinated into the Mac world that I feared the Apple police would descend on me with hundreds of pitchfork toting Mac users right behind them…but such was my shallowness that I fell for the looks of the thing. As it tuns out I really don’t see what the hatred of Vista is all about. It is a lot more convoluted than OS X but everything works as it should. There were a few devices that I had to get special drivers for but I can’t hold Microsoft responsible for that since, unlike Apple, the don’t make computers and the sheer number of different PCs Windows has to be installed on is staggering. Most days I take my Vista laptop to work and I am able to accomplish as much as I could with my Apple machines. In fact, I use a proxy software called Identity Cloaker which lets me watch BBC’s iplayer shows even though I am not in the UK…and that is Windows only. Like my OS X machines I have been able to customize the laptop exactly the way I want it and, thanks to Kaspersky Internet Security I don’t have to think about viruses much at all. Speaking of which Microsoft should be commended ( I can’t believe I am writing this) for releasing their own free Antivirus tool called MSE…there is no excuse for anyone not to get it.

As you can see I have chosen a serene Irish countryside scene for my Vista desktop most likely because whereas I am always relaxed on a Mac  I tend to be a bit edgier on Windows out of habit and the peacefulness helps. Still, no complaints so far and I may even get Windows 7 one day though I don’t find it that different from Vista.

Ubuntu fascinates me. It is a freely downloadable operating system that comes with all the programmes one would most likely need included. Whatever isn’t included can also be downloaded for free with just a  click. I love the concept  and also find it to be a remarkably good OS.  Like the others it is very stable and even better it runs amazingly fast even on quite old machines. It is based on Linux which is , in turn, based on UNIX so it is, in fact , a cousin of Apple’s OS X but without the price. The basic look of Ubuntu is fairly basic but a few tweaks and it has eye candy to rival even Apple’s best effort – I especially like being able to work on multiple desktops and then turn the whole desktop into a rotating cylinder in order to choose which one I want to use.

I an not sure which Ubuntu committee ( and it is Open Source so there are many heads involved) thought that brown was all the rage but thankfully it is easily changed. The screenshot above is what it looks like when it first starts up. It is still a remarkable and very easy to use Operating system though…even for non geeks.

I have already written my ode to OS 9 in an earlier entry but I still bott into it at least once a week to appreciate its simple beauty.

Time to get off  Vista now and work on my plan to escape to Tobago during Carnival so I can escape the annoying noise  and even more annoying brain dead people it seems to bring out.

Long day today and given that I am tired it may be best to summarize it in my much loved point form.

• Woke up a bit earlier since the folks and I had to go on an expedition to help Mum’s best Toronto friend buy a new Mac. Apparently, after using them for a mere 25 years I am considered an expert on such things by the elderly.
• Her friend Mickie arrived at about half past one and we headed to her house so I  could see her existing Windows setup and figure out what she needed to get.
• Drove to Best Buy..saw the Mac Mini which seemed ideal but they were sold out of the lower priced model ( and the other one is something of a ripoff in comparison)
• Drove to Square One in Mississauga to  go to the Apple Store there.
• Drove around for 30 minutes looking for a parking spot.
• Got into the mall and managed to find the Apple store.
• One of their “geniuses” aka sales clerks latched on and questioned us about our “needs” as if she was planning to make a feature film at home.
• He kept talking trying to sell her every bloody extra service that Apple has ( MobileMe, One to One etc etc) which , even though I subscribe to a couple of them, I just know is a total waste of money since Google does it all for free.
• He rang up the Mac Mini, a mouse and a VGA adapter while standing there using  a clearly non-Apple manufactured hand held device.
• Walked out of the store before the bugger tried to convince Mickie to buy something else or to pay for Apple Care ( if it buggers up it will most likely do so during the normal warranty year and if it buggers up after that it will most likely be an Apple manufacturing flaw which will force them to extend the warranty or risk a class action suit.)
• Left the store and looked at the bill..I expressed horror that an Apple USB mouse cost $50 before tax and said we could get a cheaper one anywhere else.
• Walked back into the store and returned it – ignoring the sales clerks view that it was the mouse equivalent of Jesus.
• Walked over to The Source and bought an HP 4 button mouse for $20.
• Drove back to her house where I used her existing monitor and keyboard an had it up and running in about 15 minutes.
• Kept switching back the keyboard and monitor to figure out how to transfer her files over without a flash drive or a DVD burner ( and no blank CDs)
• Scratched head a lot. Had Coffee.
• Eventually managed to network the Mac and the Windows machine using an ethernet cable.
• Dragged all the files over quickly.
• Was then asked if I could “erase” the old machine so they could get rid of it.
• Scratched head again since my Linux boot disk was home and I couldn’t very well erase the drive it was booted from.
• Had a lovely salmon dinner Mickie made for us.
• Went back at it using Mac logic.
• Created a new administrator account on the Windows machine. Erased the original my documents folders and wiped the free space.
• Logged out of old account and into the new one.
• Erased the old Admin account and all its files.
• Wiped the free space using a 4 pass system.
• Unplugged everything from the old computer and cleared up the cables leaving the Windows box all packed up and ready for donation.
• Mickie was thrilled with her Mac and was especially thrilled by all the included Apple software.
• I downloaded Open Office for her to open all her old docs and spreadsheets etc….as I also had to beat the Apple genius away from trying to sell her iWork.
• Showed her the old “hold down shift key while clicking the minimize button on an open window” trick and let her marvel at the slow motion genie effect ( that one gets them all the time.)
• packed up and all of us were driven back home after hugs and thanks.
• Logged on to Ubuntu on my Toshiba and typed this blog entry.
• Had a scurrilous text exchange with Alvin back in Trinidad simultaneously.
• Pondering bed now and resisting the urge to check over this entry for the innumerable typos that are present.

T&T has been a flurry of activity these past few days with the visit of HRH Queen Elizabeth II and 50+ heads of state visiting for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Naturally, those of us in the news business have been running about trying to gather stories as best we are able given the fact the local media have been treated like scabrous lepers and excluded from most of the main events. Thankfully we have a media pool provided which worked out quite well despite numerous last minute changes to the schedule of events. CHOGM has been, as would be expected, a non-event since nothing significant has ever emerged from the Commonwealth except nebulous decisions to possibly do things. WHat can anyone expect from an organization that gives the same voting rights to Vanuatu as it does to the UK or Canada?  The reality of life is that bigger developed countries have the authority to make important global changes and any other discussions are just idle chit chat. Even the UN recognizes this by having the security council to hold the rest of the throng in check when needs be. Now our illustrious PM’s ego is even further out of check courtesy our money.

In my view the only meetings that result in anything earthshaking are the G-8 and G-20 which at least have only heavy hitters and tend to end with actual decisions for concrete action. How can anyone take the Commonwealth seriously when the majority of its members have questionable human rights records? Not me. It is easy for them to talk about grand plans for sustainability ( a buzz word if ever there was one) and climate change – let’s see them commit to something as simple as assuring basic rights for their own citizens.

In any case, the average person here didn’t really care two hoots about CHOGM as Queen Elizabeth seemed to steal the show. HRH did her usual things and politely sat through the requisite “cultural ” shows and plaque unveilings. While she carried herself around with the customary grace and Prince Philip managed to keep his foot out of his mouth ( no mean feat) one can’t help thinking that the whole time they were thinking “another day..another set of darkies beating drums and dancing.”

I was rather thrilled to know that HRH was staying at the Carlton Savannah which meant that for the first time in my life I spent two days sleeping in the same neighbourhood as the Queen. Understandably, my Irish mother was not as thrilled about my proximity and expressed her predictable views on royalty during our weekly telephone convo. I know the monarchy is not really essential but to me it conveys a sense of timeless civility and order. Where else could you get that much glittery class for a few pence a year – paid by UK taxpayers. In a world full of useless and irrelevant things the Queen is at worst innocuous and is undeniably decorative. Long live Liz.

Just returned from Peter Sheppard’s 2009 exhibition at the 101 Art Gallery in Port of Spain. Too tired to blog but I think a few pics of the event might be in order. It was obviously well attended and Sheppard managed another excellent collection.The apres-show gathering at Drink! in Woodbrook was fun too.

Naz, Samuel & Peter during the show

Celebrated Cuban artist Jose Fuster and Donny Hadeed of Y Gallery.

It is after midnight and I find myself doing everything except finishing off a short piece on Carnival I pledged to do for my editor.  This blog entry stands as testament to my willingness to do anything but write about Carnival at this moment. I could say it is the result of getting home at 10pm after doing my nighttime chat show or even that I am tired but that would not really excuse my recalcitrance. Though I live in Trinidad right now and it is often pushed in marketing brochures as the land of Carnival ( and steel pan, limbo blah blah) my love for that particular observance/festival is not even skin deep. Given that I shudder at the very thought of modern Carnival it is somewhat North of ironic that I am supposed to express superlatives about it for a guidebook. To be fair to Fodor’s they don’t actually require me to gush effusively about the joys of it . Even so, it would be silly to give the usual “watch your purse” advice if I did not also give some reason that made attending worth the risk. I supposed my hesitation to write may be related to me avoiding the urge to give my usual four word summary of it – loud, inconvenient and pointless.

A few years ago when Minshall had a band I might have been able to muster a few words about the theatre of the streets or a spontaneous expression of freedom and joy. Today I would feel disingenuous stating such a thing. MacFarlane makes a noble effort but he doesn’t quite have the groundbreaking impact of  his predecessor. What I am left with is writing about throngs of people who buy beaded bikinis and board shorts with appliqué  and then make their way through the streets in between music trucks and food carts. I suppose it should now be called what it is – a two day fete ( all-inclusive in many cases). It definitely isn’t an expression of the creativity of the people of this odd land since creativity has been replaced by commerce with the exception of a dwindling few small bands that are essentially run off the road by the bigger bikini bands.

A few years ago I might have also written about steelbands roving the streets but for the last few years I have been forced to walk the streets looking for them. Pan has been relegated to an accompaniment to a few traditional sailor bands and even then they are usually drowned out by the passing parade of music trucks blaring soca. On a side note, why does everyone wonder why soca has never “caught on” outside the islands or island communities around the world? There is little universal message in “jump and wave and wave and wave”..it simply doesn’t have the universality of something like reggae.

Maybe inspiration will come to me tomorrow and I will be able to wax rhapsodic on the joys of the self-titled greatest show on earth. Watching the dreary spectacle of the National Performing Arts Centre today has numbed whatever creative sparks I might have had today. I can’t believe I just wrote an entire entry about Carnival when it is only November and my intention was to deal with something else entirely.

If I write tomorrow I think I shall deal with my gradual  and painless escape from my Apple addiction.