When I was a kid, my parents and I spent a week in New York City.
I don't have many memories...lots of sirens at night, walking up the Statue of Liberty, getting my foot stuck in the revolving door at the Commodore Hotel, etc.
One place I do remember, though vaguely, was the Automat we went to.
This was a chain of cafeterias where food was served vending-machine style...you put change or tokens in a slot next to a given food item and then could open the door for that item.
Magic.
Anyway...apparently there's been an exhibit running at the
Museum of the City of New York about the Automat, with the NYT running an article about it today:
The Automat's Golden Age.
e.p.c. posted this at 09:41 GMT on 8-Apr-2003 .
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...a new battery makes.
I've had an IBM Thinkpad X21 for nearly two years and have seen no reason to upgrade (a change from when I was at IBM and regularly changed Thinkpads yearly, I think partly due to abuse).
One problem I've had is that the original battery lost 50% of its capacity to hold a charge (it's rated for 40 Watt hours, was holding 18).
Complicating things was that the battery indicators on the system don't really warn you that a 100% charge is 100% of whatever the current capacity is, not the original capacity.
Sealing the fate of my old battery...I tried to cycle the battery as recommended by the IBM online help.
This process implies that you might get more life out of the battery.
The reality is that it seemed to be the last shove over the edge.
I did that about a week ago and the battery dropped from holding about 90 minutes of charge to 30 minutes of charge.
Again, all the while the battery gauge happily reported 100% (or 97%) charge available.
I gave up and bought a new battery and am back to having nearly four-five hours of charge time.
e.p.c. posted this at 09:46 GMT on 8-Apr-2003 .
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Am waiting (wasting time) for some movers we hired to move stuff within the house.
The last time we tried to move something inside the house, I aggravated the micro-fracturs in my left foot.
I figured the cost for movers was less than the cost of not being able to walk without intense pain for several days.
Assuming the movers actually come of course.
e.p.c. posted this at 09:49 GMT on 8-Apr-2003 .
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Movers came...house is now all flippy-floppy (what was in the den is now in the living room and vice-versa), which is the way it was supposed to be.
e.p.c. posted this at 17:05 GMT on 8-Apr-2003 .
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