New laptop online!

So I've finally got my new iBook G4 connected to the Internet and fully working. I've now tested both the AirPort wireless connection and the Ethernet jack (I'm writing this sitting in one of those comfy chairs in Cornell basement). John B. helped me put IDL on this, so I'll be able to do a little number crunching if I need or want to. Someday I will learn more UNIX commands as well as LaTEX (at least before I have to write my senior thesis).

I should get a few books before I go to Iowa, or get some there. What do I feel like reading this summer, besides any necessary technical material for my research? I've thought about Austen's "Persuasion," having enjoyed "Emma" over winter break. I wouldn't mind looking back at some stuff by Dewey, maybe "Democracy and Education". Plato's "Republic" should be on anyone's list. Perhaps a little St. Augustine too? Of course, there's some stuff I should read just for fun, like the next installment of Harry Potter. I really should bring myself to read the LoTR triology, which I was terrified of as a kid and which I've never gotten around to reading since. I also was reading a review of some stuff in my dad's "Academe" magazine, and there was a book on the pervasive influence of big-time college athletics that I'd probably enjoy. We'll see.

Anyone else have other suggestions? Especially fun, non-academic stuff?

A panic, and relief

So I've been working on installing various things on my laptop this afternoon. I've been in Cornell and used my new lock to secure my computer. It is a combination security lock. So, when I entered my combo as I was about to leave, I was terrified when I found I could not open it. I tried again and again, to no avail. I was absolutely positive I had the combination correct. What had happened was that when I set the combo from the factory default 0000, two digits turned out looking very similar so that the combo I thought I had set was not what it actually was. I was able to find what happened when I discovered that pressing the lock release button while rotating the combinations produced different effects for a correct digit as opposed to an incorrect digit, probably something having to do with the tumblers. So I finally found the offending digit and unlocked the computer.

This whole darn incident, wasting half an hour of my time and causing an unnecessary amount of stress, was a result of my own stupidity in rushing to lock down my computer and not testing the combo a few times once I had set it. I was rushing to return the screwdriver I had borrowed to set the combo, but I really should have just waited 2 minutes and at least resolved the problem right there. One of my worst flaws -- impestuousness. One day I'm probably going to do something really really bad just this way...