All about Apple's WWDC Keynote in one 3 minute music video

So I made a decision to buy a new computer this year. After looking at all of my options I made the decision to buy a 13" MacBook Pro. The decision was for a myriad of reasons. The first is that it is portable and I wanted a device that I could use on my deck and sit outside. I looked at the 12" MacBook, but need something a bit more powerful for programming and being able to have multiple items plugged in at once. So, it was a 13" MacBook Pro.

With the MacBook Pro not being user upgradable, I chose to get 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. I ordered the laptop and waited for it to arrive. Once it arrived, I set it up and began using it. Last Friday, it decided to Kernel Panic while I was trying to do an update. It is not a good thing when any computer Kernel Panics but having a new laptop do so, is unsettling. After it restarted, I logged back in and attempted to do the updates again, and it Kernel Panicked again. It rebooted again and began kernel panicking again immediately.

I looked into what to look at that could be the cause. After resetting the PRAM and SMU, and running diagnostics. The error message provided by diagnostics was “There may be an issue with the memory module. Reference Code PPM002”

This is when I called Apple. After zapping the PRAM again, and resetting the SMC, the tech support person indicated that I should re-install OS X. So, I attempted to re-install OS X Yosemite. After three and half hours of attempting to re-install, I called Apple again.

The second Apple tech support person had me partition the hard drive. This resulted in an error, specifically "An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.” This led to the tech having me try and verify the disk and subsequently repair the disk. This also failed.

The exact error message for this was "Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your file as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files". When this failed, the Apple support tech scheduled a Genius Bar appointment for last Saturday. I took the MacBook Pro to Apple, they attempted to re-install OS X again, and received the same error messages I got. So I left the laptop at the Apple Store to be repaired and they quoted me a four to five day turn around time.

It has now been a week and I received a call today from the Apple Store. They tried to replace the logic board twice and it did not work. The issue appears to be the memory on the logic board that is the problem.

The Apple tech gave me three options. The first is to return the laptop and order a new one. Option two is to have Apple order a replacement laptop, this option would take two to four weeks to come in. The third option is to send it off to the Repair Depot and have them replace everything that is needing to be replaced. This last option may take an additional four to five days, beyond the week it has already taken.

While the first two options were both tempting, I opted to go for the third option. The laptop I ordered is the one I wanted to order. If I had compromised before, I probably would have taken option one and then gotten the one I really wanted. But I had already done that. While ordering a new one would get me a brand new one, it will take just as long to have it delivered. Hence, why I chose option three.

If I did order a new laptop, I would not change the configuration at all, so in the end it does not make any sense to order a new one. The laptop will be under the same warranty even if I bought a new one. One thing I did not order with the original laptop was Apple Care. However, I did order it afterwards and I am waiting until I get my laptop back to add the Apple Care to the laptop.

One possible decision to make, if I chose to return it, would be that I could wait even longer for the next refresh of laptops to order a new one, but that would not likely be until next year, and I need a new Mac now, not in a year from now.

With having the laptop sent to the repair depot, you are given an option of picking up the device at the store or having it shipped back to you. I opted to pick it up from the store, since I do not know when it will arrive and it will be secure at the store.

Once the MacBook Pro returns to the Apple store, they will test it to verify that it meets all of their criteria before calling me to let me know it is ready for pickup.

Overall, this is how technology goes. While it sucks not having a laptop, the thing that I can say is that I would rather have this happen three weeks into having the laptop rather than six months into owning it, when I would be more used to using it on a regular basis. Also, this is why I get Apple Care on everything, I would rather have a device covered for three years instead of only one.

Last Week Tonight is clearly hitting it on all cylinders. Here's another prime example of how they're doing so: Seriously, this has to change. I hope the Minnesota representatives are embarrassed by their hypocrisy.

One man, Ryan McHenry created a bunch of vine videos that showed Ryan Gosling. In these videos he attempted to get Ryan Gosling to eat some cereal, yet he never did. The video is below.

Ryan McHenry has died of osteosarcoma. To honor him, Ryan Gosling has made a Vine video. In this video, Gosling pours some cereal, holds up a spoonful in honor of Ryan McHenry, and then he eats the cereal.

I've never been a huge fan of Ryan Gosling, but I haven't disliked him for any reason. However, this gesture put him into the "Nice Guy" category. You can donate to the Sarcoma UK that is raising funds to research osteosarcoma.

This is so well put, it's not even funny. Sidenote, we need to abolish the "No Child Left Behind Act", because it's absolutely stupid and only causing more issues than its worth.

Today was the first day for Apple Watch pre-orders. Being an Apple nerd, I like to have anything that's newly released from Apple, that I want to purchase, on day one. Here is my pre-order story.

After Apple's September event, where they unveiled the Apple Watch, I looked at the different models of the Apple Watch. With this being a first generation Apple product, I knew that I would not want to spend a lot of money. Mostly because I do not know what the day to day benefit of a watch would be. The secondary reason is that I will likely end up getting the second generation when it comes out. Only time will tell whether I follow my iPhone [footnote] I have purchased a new iPhone every year regardless of contract. I have now decided on buying unlocked only.[/footnote] or my iPad [footnote] I bought the first, second and third generations. I then waited until the 6th generation to buy my next iPad.[/footnote] pattern. The third reason is that I stopped wearing watches about a decade ago.

As I mentioned, I looked at all of the Apple Watch models. I wanted to keep the price down, so I knew I was going to get a sport model. I have always liked the way that the Space Gray Apple devices have looked. I ultimately decided that I wanted to get the 42MM Space Gray Sport with the black band. Knowing that Apple Watch pre-orders started today, I favorited the configuration I wanted to purchase, to make it easy for ordering.

Living in the Central US time zone, I set my alarm for 1:45 AM. I woke up just before my alarm at 1:44AM. Bleary-eyed and only half awake I made my way to my computer to be able to order. I pulled up the Apple Store webpage in two browsers, and opened the Apple Store app on both my iPad and iPhone. I did this because during the iPhone pre-orders, the application came up before the website.

Once the Apple Store app became live, I quickly went to the watch section, went to my favorites, and began ordering. I chose the 42MM Space Gray with Black Band. I then added Apple Care. I went to check out. The date said 4/24 to 5/8 for delivery. It was not guaranteed to be delivered on launch day, but that was okay. I wanted to use a different payment method besides what I have setup in Apple Pay. [footnote] My bank does not support Apple Pay, why, I do not know.[/footnote] I entered in all of the information for the payment. When I got back to the confirm purchase page, I watched as the date refreshed from the launch window, to 4 to 6 weeks. At this point, my heart dropped knowing that I would not get it during the launch window. I think choosing a different payment method is what the time change.

Having seen this, I quickly went back and put in a second order. One for a 42MM Silver with the Blue sport band, since that was the only other 42MM Sport watch that did not have a 4 to 6 week shipping time. So I put in an order for that watch, and used Apple Pay to pay. That one stated 4/24 to 5/8. I then placed a third order. This one includes a 6 meter charging cable and a Black Sport band. Somewhat ironically, the charging cable will be the first item to ship and arrive.

Looking at it afterwards, the emails indicating that my orders have been placed were sent at 2:05AM, 2:07AM, and 2:16AM respectively. With the app being available at 2:00AM, this means that the 42MM Space Gray Sport sold out in about 3 minutes. As of this writing, all of the models have a ship date of June. The Apple Watch Editions vary between July and August for ship dates.

Dilemma

After having gone through the experience, I mentioned it to a couple of people I follow on Twitter, particularly @BearsFan34. So here is where the dilemma I am currently experiencing. Do I want to have the Apple Watch early and not get the model that I originally wanted or do I wait for the one I want and just not have it during "Launch window".

The other option I have is to just keep both. It seems excessive, but I could always return the 42MM Silver Sport with Blue Band or sell it to somebody. Unlike many, I would not mark up the watch 200%, just to make a profit. I do not see this as a fair thing.

My initial inclination is to cancel the Blue Sport After talking to a few people about the dilemma, and sitting back and reflecting on it, my inclination is to cancel the 42MM Silver Sport with Blue Band, as well as the Black sports band from the third order I placed. If I were to do this, somebody who pre-ordered from Apple would be getting their order early, which is always a nice thing to see.

I gave myself a deadline of tomorrow morning to decide. So I will be sleeping on it tonight and making my decision and then doing something at that time.

Sidebars

As a quick side note, Apple has released some new Beats Solo 2 headphones. These come in three new colors, Silver, Gold, and Space Gray. I am going to be on the lookout for a couple of pairs of bluetooth headphones. I may look at these, but given the price tag of $299, I will likely look for something a bit cheaper. If anybody has any recommendations, I will gladly accept them. If I really wanted to, I could justify buying a pair by canceling the 42MM Silver Sport with Blue band.

Also, today was the day that orders for the 12" Macbook. The 1.1GHz Macbook is seeing 1-3 business days for shipping for the Silver and Space Gray models. The Gold model is 3 to 4 weeks. The 1.2GHz Silver is 1-3 Business days, while the Gold and Space Grey are listed as 3 to 4 weeks.