Ultra Mega Ghetto Macbook Lapdesk

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Mark Tisdale

Ah, happy times.  In the past month, my MacBook Pro has been with the charming folks at Apple twice.  Granted in less time than I have owned my Mac, my Fujitsu laptop I had previously was dead.  So, no complaints.  Maybe I just got a dud, but I was in no rush after the death of the Fujitsu to replace it with another.  Hence, my conversion to the Mac World.

Anyway, the first to die was my hard drive and the cheesily named “Super Drive” (a cd/dvd drive to the rest of the world).  Yes, together.  Well, I think the Super Drive was trying to go for a bit but I use it so seldom I was ignoring it.  Anyway, I still have a year of Apple Care left.  I usually don’t do warranties, but on a laptop, it seemed prudent.  Sure enough, I win that gamble.  The Mac went off and came back seemingly better.  But less than a week later, I turned it on one evening, click, click, silence.  Pushed the power button again, click, click, silence…  And the next day, back to the Apple store I went.

Interestingly before it left, I had noticed it was running warmly.  Not blisteringly hot, but warm.  Considering the logic board, something to do with charging it, and I think another part or two, that may have been a symptom.  But I was looking the day before it died at new lapdesks.  My old plastic one was slowly giving up the ghost and I was never overly taken with it’s passive cooling design for the mac.  For my Fujitsu, the fans blew somewhat through the gullys in the plastic and I felt like it did cool it somewhat.  For the Mac, never seemed much cooler in it but kept me cool at least.

So, I found this neatly designed metal lapdesk.  My only complaints were no place for my mouse AND good heavens, $60 for a piece of metal!  It was an Aluminum iLap that I grant you has a few neat bells and whistles – little padded front and a long leg across the back similarly padded to keep it elevated.  Basically for a Macbook, which has a metal body as well, the thing is supposed to act as a big heat sink.  But $60 for the 15″ size, nowhere for my mouse, and what if it doesn’t even really work that well?

So, I started hunting for lesser priced yet still metal laptop stands and, I found precious little that differed in price, and previous little at all.  The longer I looked at it the more familiar the shape seemed to be, and it finally hit me, a cookie sheet!  Not the old fashioned type with the lip all the way around but the newer, thicker types that are supposed to keep cookies from burning.

T-Fal AirBake Ultra Mega Cookie Sheet

And sure enough, when I started hunting for cookie sheets, they could be had fairly cheaply, flat, double thickness.  And the little lip acts as sort of a bottom to the desk that my Mac rests against.  I’ve been using mine for several days now since it came back from Apple.  And it does seem to run a little cooler although, it could possibly be due to the repairs.  Or I could just be perceiving it that way.  Either way, $14 for the T-Fal AirBake Ultra Mega Cookie Sheet at Target sure beats the stuffing out of $60!  I figured if it fails to work out, I can make cookies!  LOL

Now, you could probably find it cheaper.  I saw cheaper ones with the lip on the short side, but for a small lap desk, that was just oriented in the wrong direction.  All my extra mousey type room would be at the back!   Still, if you shopped around more, you might find one like this a bit cheaper, but it wasn’t worth driving about for me to save what I’d spend on gas.

I’ve discovered it’s not a unique idea.  Others have gone this route as well, but I thought of it on my own, so I’m proud of my ghetto metal lap desk.  Sure, I don’t have the cushioned front bumper or a leg at the back to elevate it, but I could probably figure out something if I wanted to on those fronts!  So far, I think the slightly larger size is working out.  It gives me mouse room or room for my Bamboo tablet, etc.  And I think hypothetically the extra size would make for a larger heat sink to draw heat from the metal body of my MacBook.  And it was definitely A) cheaper than the iLap and B) cheaper and more durable than another plastic desk/lap desk like the one that has nearly bit the dust after nearly 5 years.

Now, think good thoughts for my Macbook not needing any more service ever!  Or if it does, make it in the next year before my warranty runs out!  Hopefully now that virtually everything inside it is new, I have a few years to go trouble free again.

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Hill of Tara & The Boyne Valley

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Mark Tisdale

My last day in Ireland I finally made it to see the Hill of Tara and Brú na Bóinne (the Boyne Valley).  I had passed ever so briefly through the area on the way to Northern Island a month earlier, but it was literally one of those “outside the window” moments on the bus when we passed over the river Boyne.

Ireland - a view of the historic river boyne

River Boyne

Above is the winding river that gives the Boyne Valley it’s name.  This was taken at the foot bridge that crosses the river from the museum to go to the chamber tombs on the opposite side.  As you can tell, I had a treat of a day before leaving Ireland.  The skies alternated between clear and speckled with picturesque clouds.  It wasn’t the only such day I had, but they were on the rare side in winter, so I much appreciated the send off gift from Eire

megalithic observatory - Newgrange Ireland

Newgrange

The highlight of the tour was getting to go inside the chamber tomb at Newgrange.  Excavated and restored in the 20th century, the reasons for its construction around 5,000 years ago are still unclear.  However, the knowledge and skill of its builders is clear.  It was discovered that the sun near the winter solstice shines precisely through the entrance lighting up the center of the mound’s interior.  There are a limited number of people allowed in each day, and no photos allowed within, but they do simulate the dawn light of the solstice to allow you to experience it inside.  It was incredible.  I highly recommend you go within if you can on your visit.  The panorama above was taken while waiting for our group’s turn to enter.

Newgrange Ireland Chamber Tomb entrance

Newgrange Entrance

Still waiting to go inside, but this is a closer image of the entrance.  It’s my understanding that the center indentation is not original.  The original entrance required you to climb over the curb stone in the middle (the curb stones were beautifully decorated with original carvings from millennia ago).  In order to preserve the stones as well as, I suspect, keep tourists from injuring themselves, the stairs and gray wall indention were added.  The white stones with dark stone pattern and curb stones on either side of the entrance is the original finish to the tomb.

newgrange ireland ancient tomb photo

Newgrange Shadows

One more photo of Newgrange – this was taken after the trip inside this incredible site.  It was amazing seeing something this old, one part ancient observatory, one part ancient site where cremated remains were housed, and a huge enigma because of the lack of any concrete recorded history of its purpose.  I’ve read that the ancient markings seen on these type ruins have until only recently been regarded as decorative but are now thought to be an ancient writing of some sort.  Maybe we’ll yet uncover some real information about sites like this.

Ireland - HIll of Tara photo

Hill of Tara Mounds

An image from the trip to the Hill of Tara.  It’s a much different experience than visiting Newgrange.  I’d seen finds from Excavations at Tara in the national museum in Dublin, so I was prepared pretty well for Tara.  It’s an ancient site on par with Newgrange, however,  Tara remained a site of importance to the Irish people for far longer.  Most of the truly ancient surface features were wiped from the face of Tara for later (still ancient) uses.  Tara still has evidence of the tombs and such that dotted its surface, but it would also later be the home of the high kings of Ireland.  So, history is built upon history here.  And visiting the site, you understand why so many generations regarded this place favorably, the unnaturally high hill affords an incredible view of the surrounding countryside.  So, whatever spiritual reasons the ancients may have had for beginning the use of Tara, it was also a highly defensible place.

For more of Tara and the Boyne Valley and Ireland in general, please be sure to check out my Ireland album.

I’ve also begun working on my Paris photos, so if you’re interested in a sneak preview, the Paris album has begun.

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County Kerry Photos

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Mark Tisdale

One place I thoroughly enjoyed on the too fast jaunt around the Isle of Eire was County Kerry.  This was where I awoke on New Year’s day 2010, and after a brief morning ramble for breakfast, we were all boarding the bus.  This view was worth the morning wake up call.

dawn near Killarney Ireland

Killarney Dawn

This may not technically be Killarney, but it was a very short drive from the town where I bid farewell to 2009.  Look at those snow covered peaks!

Dingle ireland waterfront houses

Dingle Waterside

Meandering along the coast a bit, we had a lunch stop in the lovely village of Dingle.  Apparently this town has the most pubs per capita or something like that.  Lots of shops do double duty, i.e. you can have a drink and buy a hammer in the hardware store.  Sounds stereotypically Irish doesn’t it?

Dingle was at any rate quite lovely and had I more time, there’s little doubt I would have made my way to that southwest corner again.  It had some beautiful vistas.

Slea Head Drive - County Kerry

Slea Head

As if Dingle wasn’t pretty enough on its own, it was just a short drive to Slea Head.  This incredible road hugs the coast and as the weather was splendid, we walked a portion of it and met back up with our bus further down the road.  This may well have been my favorite part of the whole tour.  The weather was cold but beautiful and the scenery like something out of a book.  I’ve been to multiple places that lay claim on being the end of the world, such as Land’s End in Cornwall.  And they are all something special, but this place really felt like the edge of the Earth, like nothing more spectacular could lay beyond this place. I heard that a lot of artists seem to come to County Kerry to stay, I fully understand why.

standing stone in county kerry ireland

Standing Stones

We also stopped off at this place on the way around the Slea Head Drive.  I’ve been unable to find hard facts on the standing stones we saw there (this was the largest, most were small).  The bus driver had a few stories about them that sounded rather doubtful but fanciful.  If anybody has any details on the standing stones, I’d love to hear.  At any rate, they looked ancient and the landscape was just, as you can see, fantastic.  The last rays of a short winter day were bathing everything in this fab light .  The wet spots are ice, and of course, that’s the sea beyond.  This must have been an incredibly important place to some ancient people.

For more of County Kerry and the Slea Head Drive, please check out my Misc Ireland Album.

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Photos from Northern Ireland

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Mark Tisdale

Finally making some headway on the rest of the photos from Ireland now.  They are somewhat scattered and mostly from the Paddywagon  bus tour I took, but there are a few stray ones from my solo trip left yet.

Northern Ireland, however, I did not make it back to on my own.  I wasn’t intrigued by Belfast.  To be fair, it was entirely too brief a visit to really say one way or another, but my first impressions didn’t inspire me to spend any of my limited time coming back there.  Still, Belfast is an intriguing place for anyone who is the least bit interested in the study of people and history.  I love history, and I was a sociology major for heavens sake!

murals as seen on black cab tour of belfast

Black Cab Tour

The highlight of our brief time in Belfast was the chance to hop on a black cab tour and see the division of Belfast.  This was the first stop on the tour, to see some of the murals that are painted in Belfast and hear from one of the cab drivers about the situation in Belfast.  Outside of Ireland, it’s painted pretty much as Catholic versus Protestant.  And the lines fall pretty neatly there, but there is so much more to the situation there, more than I could hope to explain, but essentially it has become an ethnic issue, which seems odd to say because looking at the people involved, an outsider such as myself would be hard pressed to see how they differ.  But Protestants here tend to be loyalists, and likely their family trees trace back to English sent over to colonize Ireland and subdue the locals.  Although if you go far enough back, you might find plenty of common ground in their trees, too, because many who came to Ireland in the first waves were there to fend off the next waves, going native so to speak.  Anyway, the Catholics are the “native Irish” who had been held down for generations, often with no right to vote, no right to an education, treated differently by the authorities in all ways.  This is the messy pot that brewed the situation in Northern Ireland.  I,  in no way, am suggesting that this 30 second explanation is remotely complete or 100% accurate, but what I got out of what we were told.  The gist of it is, if you take nothing else from this, it’s complicated.

Belfast Murals Che Guevara

Politically Aware

It may well be that the Northern Irish are some of the more politically aware people in the world, at least in regards to who else in the world are the underdogs.  The murals we saw were not static.  If you click on the above to see it larger, you’ll discover the mural of Che Guevara contains a note to President Obama about Cuba.  Very timely considering he’d been in office not quite a year when I was there.

Frederick Douglass mural in Belfast

Frederick Douglass

More to comment on in regards to the political awareness and memory of the Northern Irish, if I ever knew Frederick Douglass had been to Ireland, I didn’t retain the information.  And there his likeness was amongst the murals in Belfast.  We were also told, by our guide in Derry, that there was very much a connection between the escalation of issues in Northern Ireland in the 60′s and the Civil Rights struggle in the US.  They saw the struggle and identified with it and were motivated to try to solve their own issues.

Derry or Londonderry Loyalists

Londonderry Loyalists

Speaking of Derry, or Londonderry, depending on who you ask.  While Derry seemed comparatively less tense than Belfast, there were still signs of old wounds here.  Most of the Protestants have moved to the east bank of the river leaving the old town to the Catholic nationalists.  But there are holdouts like these people, who still refer to Derry by it’s colonial English name.  Imagine living with steel shutters over your windows because of principle…  While maybe not the powder keg it once was, Northern Ireland is still not over the issues that has divided it…

Giant's Causeway Ireland

Giant's Causeway

Lest this post become entirely political/historical/social studies class, here’s one shot that has nothing to do with those subjects.  This is the Giant’s Causeway.  The light wasn’t the best when we were there, but I did my best to take advantage of the moody light.  There are stories of an Irish giant, Finn McCool who was the builder of this bridge to Scotland where he hoped to best a giant there.  There were stops earlier where we could see the Scottish coast, but not so here this day.

To see more photos of Northern Ireland, please check out my Northern Ireland Album.

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Coming Home – Montezuma, Georgia

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Mark Tisdale

I’m really pleased to announce a new book featuring my photography!

 

Photo Book Cover - Coming Home, Montezuma, Georgia

Coming Home - Montezuma Georgia

I think this description (which is part of the introduction), explains it best:

This collection of photos has grown over the past few years as my interest in photography grew. Originally, it was just an opportunity to exercise the camera but being home again after a decade in metro Atlanta, my walks around town told a story of loss and change. Old homes that had become derelict were removed and I began to recollect in my own life how much had changed. I became interested in documenting the town as it is now. This also coincided nicely with a tour guide being produced by the Downtown Development Authority for which I agreed to lend some work.
This book is the result. Think of it as a time capsule of Montezuma as it is now in the beginning of the 21st century. The photos are one person’s attempt at collecting the images that define a place. I hope you enjoy them and hang onto your copy to share with your children and grandchildren who may one day want to know what your home used to look like.

The book at 13×11 is in the largest landscape format produced by Blurb, a print on demand publisher who does brilliant work.  I personally recommend the image wrap version where the front and back cover are printed on, really a beauty to hold!

I’m really proud of this book and the photos it contains.  It’s impossible in eighty pages to cover everything, especially considering how many full page photos there are, but I feel like my choices encapsulate the heart of Montezuma.  So, I hope you’ll check out my book – the link below will show you a preview of the entire book – full screen if you’d like.

Coming Home – Montezuma, Georgia

Available at Blurb

 

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