Today’s the day that Tiger (Mac OSX 10.4) was released to the public. As promised by Apple, pre-orders have been despatched in time to arrive today. We weren’t in when the van from TNT came to deliver it so we decided to go and collect it after work. Lori phoned to find out when we could pick it up and apparently the chap from TNT said they didn’t normally deliver on saturdays but this weekend they were because of all the packages from Apple that needed to be delivered!
Author: Simon
iPod solution
Problem solved thanks to Canis. The trick is to install the iPod updater software in Windows. Reboot the PC (as requested by the installer). Run the iPod updater and plug the iPod in. Restore it (note that it will wipe everything on it) and plug into the mains charger as per the instructions in the installer. Once it’s rebooted, check that both the PC and the mac can talk to it and that’s it. Job done.
iPod problem
I was lucky this year – I got an iPod for my birthday so now I can listen to audiobooks and music on the go without the hassle of running out of unique tracks after 60 minutes of CD or the joy of tapes being chewed up by old cassette playing personal stereos.
I had planned to use some of the disk space to carry documents to and from work but having used the iPod with my mac, Windows XP refuses to show it as a usable disk instead asking if I want to format it! I tried using the iPod restore software in Windows but almost broke it when it refused to give me the normal menu until I re-restored it using the restore software for the mac.
Any ideas on how to use it with both Windows and OSX would be much appreciated.
Jetlagged?
Even after the 9 hour flight back from Dallas to the UK, I can’t believe I’m still jetlagged, or at least have my internal clock screwed up. Bed at 6am, up at 2pm.. not good considering that I have work tomorrow and it’s almost 3am and I’m not that tired yet.
There are some more pictures that I have still to put online from the holiday, but I’m not sure whether to add extra entries in the for the days that I took the pictures, or just add an entry, at whatever time/date I get around to it, that has the pictures and bits of information about them. I suspect the latter would be best as then if you’ve read the older entries already you won’t miss anything.
The journey back to Texarkana
Thanks to not looking at the map on the way back but relying on signposts, we ended up missing the turning from I-10 back onto I-49 and went about 80 miles too far along I-10 ending up in Westlake, LA. Instead of going all the way back to Lafayette, we turned north onto US-171 and then cut across back onto I-49. In all the whole trip back was about 8 hours long in spite of the wrong turning.
Bourbon Street
Walk out from Margaritaville away from the river and most of the shops seem to make way for what appears to be residential, with the odd shop advertising voodoo, tarot and other kinds of mystical services.
A few blocks down and we’re on Bourbon Street, pretty quiet road with mostly apartments etc. Is this the right place? We headed back down Bourbon Street towards the hotel and suddenly there are bars opening onto the street, great crowds of people and lots of noise.
If anything, it was too crowded for my liking but it looked like everyone was having fun. Given some of the things that were going on there, I was very surprised to see several young kids with their parents and several older kids (I guess in their early teens) doing tricks, dancing, etc on the pavement.
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville
Although we found the restaurant on friday evening, we didn’t eat there until saturday evening. They have a queuing system that during busy times conveniently places you in front of the bar for about 10-30 minutes before you get to sit down and eat.
We had a nice meal and then went for a walk down into the French Quarter a bit more to find Bourbon Street.
Aquarium of the Americas
One major attraction in New Orleans is the Aquarium of the Americas. It’s got sharks, jellyfish, and all kinds of other fish. There’s also a section that has parrots, an alligator and turtles.
This is a lionfish that was at the aquarium.
Here is one of the seadragons, there were several of these swimming round in one of the tanks. There were also some ‘leafy seadragons’ which were very strange looking things much like the one below but it had some small leaf-like bits to help camouflage it.
Right next door is an IMAX theatre showing fishy movies – Sharks, Ocean wonderland, Volcanoes of the deep sea and Into the deep. They’re in 3D and the 3D effect is really neat. Fish swimming out of the screen towards you, quite a few of the kids in the audience were being a bit silly and reaching out trying to grab them.
Walking in New Orleans
We walked from the hotel down the river to the French Quarter in search of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville which is a restaurant that had been recommended to us. It also gave us a chance to see some of the other sights of the French Quarter. We saw the French Market, the Hard Rock Cafe and Jackson Square.
This is the view into Jackson Square over the railings, looking away from the river.
Harrahs – New Orleans
Last time we went to America, we visited Harrah’s in Shreveport, LA and there were people wandering round with huge cups full of coins from the machines. This was just a year and a bit ago. Harrah’s in New Orleans had similar machines but instead of dealing with coins, they accept $5 bills or greater and spit out a small barcoded ticket with the amount of your winnings (or remaining credit) on it. The ticket can then be redeemed at one of the machines around the edge of the room.