Re:i welcome our new ... uh ... wait ...
on
Fix a Troubled Mac
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· Score: 1
i managed to get it banned in ireland..
Re:This Comment May Be Slightly Off Topic
on
Fix a Troubled Mac
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· Score: 1
yes, google is faster and more up to date. google it. but then when you look for that webpage and it returns a 404. bugger mate. this book brings order to finding info quickly (and with or without a net connection).
>I'm also a little disturbed that the advice that was taken from the internet sources hasn't been digested and distilled by the author and instead simply reprinted directly.
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Don't be disturbed. I've been troubleshooting Macs for years and have bought many books in that time, and have fixed thousands of Macs. The last thing i want to do is produce some piece of crap for people to buy.
> You don't get that perspective on the internet and it would be nice for the author to have tried to digest the information and filter it through his own experience and mindset.
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this is exactly what i've done. the end result is the book. If this book is not filtered down from years of Mac experience and from a troubleshooting mindset, then seriously i dont know what is.
Rather than write realms of personal reasoning etc etc. Lets just get straight to the point. Fix the Mac in question... People who are troubleshootng do not have time to weed thru pages of blurb to find something they read 3 months before.
and with a PDF, just search NVRAM, or PRAM, or open firmware, or prebind or defragment or udp or 53 or dns or delegation...
> As far as some of the technial issues, I'm a bit concerned it tries to cover everything and by being too broad, lets things escape in the cracks.
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this is a problem for any writer. Or producer of any content. Yes, i'm torn between tech and non tech, troubleshooting, or advice. It's difficult to strike a balance that is right for everyone.
hopefully 'fix a troubled mac' does strike that balance between a little advice in the right direction, or some comprehensive step by step procedures (like DNS, firewire drive or resolving startup problems).
> I used to know a cornucopia of Mac OS 9 troubleshooting tips and tricks ("Hold the command and option keys down while opening the latest memory control panel and you'll see an advanced config screen"). Now I don't even bother. Apple isn't going to update Mac OS 9 so it's just easier to refresh the disk from an image than try to troubleshoot quirky problems.
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indeed. but there are still millions of Mac OS 9 users out there who do want to know some tricks. On top of this, the book addresses just that technique on how to create a default Mac OS 9 image. (or Mac OS X) That in itself is beyond the scope of some users, until they realise that it indeed can be done.
> But if I have iBooks that have no Firewire ports, then I'll find these cross-references more of a bother than a help.
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I suppose i could make a version without referencing firewire drives for ibooks without firewire ports;-) or you could ignore those references. They are clearly worded so you can easily avoid them.
> I hope my comments don't sound overly harsh. It does sound like there's some good information in this tome. I'm glad that this review brought it to my attention, but I'm still a bit wary of whether it'll be applicable for my needs.
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I don't find your comments harsh. Your reservations about ebooks and authorship are entirely valid.
buy it and find out. Or if that's is too pushy of me. I'll give you a copy. email me.
i'm glad slashdot brought my book to your attention.
Slashdot Mirror
i managed to get it banned in ireland..
yes, google is faster and more up to date. google it. but then when you look for that webpage and it returns a 404. bugger mate. this book brings order to finding info quickly (and with or without a net connection).
dirtymouse
>I'm also a little disturbed that the advice that was taken from the internet sources hasn't been digested and distilled by the author and instead simply reprinted directly.
;-) or you could ignore those references. They are clearly worded so you can easily avoid them.
+
Don't be disturbed. I've been troubleshooting Macs for years and have bought many books in that time, and have fixed thousands of Macs. The last thing i want to do is produce some piece of crap for people to buy.
> You don't get that perspective on the internet and it would be nice for the author to have tried to digest the information and filter it through his own experience and mindset.
+
this is exactly what i've done. the end result is the book.
If this book is not filtered down from years of Mac experience
and from a troubleshooting mindset, then seriously i dont know what is.
Rather than write realms of personal reasoning etc etc. Lets just get straight to the point. Fix the Mac in question... People who are troubleshootng do not have time to weed thru pages of blurb to find something they read 3 months before.
and with a PDF, just search NVRAM, or PRAM, or open firmware, or prebind or defragment or udp or 53 or dns or delegation...
> As far as some of the technial issues, I'm a bit concerned it tries to cover everything and by being too broad, lets things escape in the cracks.
+
this is a problem for any writer. Or producer of any content.
Yes, i'm torn between tech and non tech, troubleshooting, or advice. It's difficult to strike a balance that is right for everyone.
hopefully 'fix a troubled mac' does strike that balance between a little advice in the right direction, or some comprehensive step by step procedures (like DNS, firewire drive or resolving startup problems).
> I used to know a cornucopia of Mac OS 9 troubleshooting tips and tricks ("Hold the command and option keys down while opening the latest memory control panel and you'll see an advanced config screen"). Now I don't even bother. Apple isn't going to update Mac OS 9 so it's just easier to refresh the disk from an image than try to troubleshoot quirky problems.
+
indeed. but there are still millions of Mac OS 9 users out there
who do want to know some tricks. On top of this, the book addresses just that technique on how to create a default Mac OS 9 image. (or Mac OS X) That in itself is beyond the scope of some users, until they realise that it indeed can be done.
> But if I have iBooks that have no Firewire ports, then I'll find these cross-references more of a bother than a help.
+
I suppose i could make a version without referencing firewire drives for ibooks without firewire ports
> I hope my comments don't sound overly harsh. It does sound like there's some good information in this tome. I'm glad that this review brought it to my attention, but I'm still a bit wary of whether it'll be applicable for my needs.
+
I don't find your comments harsh. Your reservations about ebooks and authorship are entirely valid.
buy it and find out. Or if that's is too pushy of me. I'll give you a copy. email me.
i'm glad slashdot brought my book to your attention.
dirtymouse
(author of 'Fix a troubled Mac')
>I mean cmon... will this book have information on the help viewer/safari security problem? It hit the presses and already it is out of date.
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yes it does.
P191
dirtymouse (yes, the author!)
and no, the book is not entirely out of date. Yes 10.3.4 came out yesterday. I'm writing new stuff as we speak.