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Email presevation

I sort of got the big geeky digital preservation bug tonight, and finally converted eleven-plus years of email — half of it in the old Eudora mailbox format — into the current Apple Mail format. It was harder than it sounds; this nifty little open source uttility was a big help. But now, I can read and search messages gong back to 1996, and they’re in what I believe to be a much more sustainable format.

Of course, such a project also meant I spent a little too much time reading old email. That’s always fun.

In case your inner geek is looking for some stimulation, note that the Eudora site above includes installers for some really old versions of that now-defunct email client for your amusement.

New hard drive

After dealing with one mini-catastrophe after another the past few days, I can no longer live in denial of the fact that (a) my primary hard drive is in fact failing, albeit in a slow and lingering sort of way, and (b) that my assorted patched and coping strategies are no longer working.

The replacement arrived from MacMall today, and its 500GB will double my capacity inside the G5 tower. I don’t anticipate drama, but if you don’t hear from me for a few days, you’ll know why.

Just in case I miss it, I’ll wish myself a happy anniversary right now, two days in advance of the actual date. I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for twelve years now…

New hard drive, part 2

Success! And with no discernible data loss.

The new drive is quiet and big, and I’m very happy to be in the Terrabyte Club, even if it is spread over two different internal drives.

Hard, barking roommates

Let me clarify my earlier statement: no discernible data loss except for some problems I had with Apple Mail.

And let me also clarify this: I don’t find it particularly complimentary when people bark at me, so please don’t assume I’ll be flattered if you say (or type) “woof” to me, no matter how affectionately it’s intended.

One more thing directed at my three (two? one?) remaining San Francisco readers: can someone please offer my husband a room? He’s really nice, and he never does stupid stuff like smoking pot or peeing on the carpet.

Snow comes to Winston-Salem

It wasn’t major, but it was the first relatively decent snowfall I’ve seen since moving back east two and a half years ago. Which sort of sucks. I remember when I was a kid that we always got a couple of fairly good snowstorms every winter, usually in the 3-4 inch range and very often more than that. Come to think of it, it seems like we even used to get one every time I came home to visit when I was living in San Francisco.

I guess we’re in a bit of a warm phase now. Maybe it will go away soon.

Music? With Video?

Interesting interview tidbit from a 1981 Hall & Oates syndicated radio interview that was in today’s “to digitize” pile. The subject is music video, and the potential effects of a just-announced music video channel on cable.

And yes, that does mean that I possess several disks full of syndicated shows like “The BBC College Concert” and “Rock Over London” from my radio days, all of which were supposed to be destroyed right after they aired. You wouldn’t begrudge me a moderately rare Lords of the New Church live performance and the occasional interview with a long-forgotten Britpop star, would you?