0540 - Linkage

Readers have of course noted the absence this past weekend of OO number 540, and, we like to think, have rushed hourly to open their E-mail in-boxes, looking for their pearls of wisdom for the coming days. We regret to report that the cause of the delay has been a multiple computer failure. The computer room at the Objective Observatory contained two high speed desktops, both fully configured. When the priceless words of the weekly columns had been produced and approved in the Staff’s executive session, they were saved on the main computer (a Micron) and on the back-up, and then on a CDRW disk. Well, the back-up machine (a Dell) suddenly went dead, and since Dell’s service has no idea where Anguilla is (they asked the OO sixteen times for the address here), that was that. It was time for a replacement, and a fancy MicronPC has been ordered by the Chief Technical Officer (who is unqualified). Whereupon, the main computer, learning that a younger rival was on the way, had a fit of jealousy and died on the spot.

This column is being composed on the only surviving computer, an older but reliable IBM laptop. Unfortunately, it can’t connect to our wireless broadband service. A helpful neighbor has all connections up and running, but the lists of OO subscribers – there are three lists – are located on the hard disk of the dead main box, coded in whatever obscure dialect is used by Netscape 7. Hence our silence and an opportunity to reflect on the delicacy of Anguilla’s connections to the outside world and the great machineries of civilization.

Anguilla has a weekly newspaper, but it carries a reduced diet of local news, not world news (cricket an exception). Daily papers from Miami and Saint Martin can be found, and magazines arrive, but the major sources of instantly current news, quotes and shopping gratification are Cable TV and the Internet. Both Cable and the Internet, along with such indispensable adjuncts of civil life as refrigeration, light and water (we pump our own) are all dependent on electricity. Power is shut off reasonably often, for reasons such as a car having knocked down a power pole. An outage requires re-setting some thirteen separate clocks here, not forgetting the microwave and the answering machine, which bleat continuously until reset.

In addition, much effort must be spent in such unrewarding efforts as getting parts for discontinued lines of track lights, or having the window cranks lubricated and repaired, since the windows, too, have been discontinued. Oh, and so have the much-admired ceiling fans. They finish, too. So, while Readers may believe that daily Anguilla life consists of lolling on the beaches and eating in the better restaurants, in fact much time is spent in a desperate and often futile effort to keep everything working. This includes one’s multiple body parts, of course, and the entire Staff has been ordered to Atlanta for an annual check-up. This means that the next column will be delayed, but, as promised, we shall then point out a number of errors otherwise undetected by most commentators.

A final note: the main computer died of failed memory chips, but blew its Windows brains out while dying. This is being sent from the Dell. The Dell’s problem was extremely high-tech: it turned out the power cable was faulty. That’s life.

Next time: Errors [OO #541]

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