Day of Silence: summary

It was interesting, although, sadly to say, I decided to end at 5 PM, since that was when everyone else was breaking their day of silence. So it was like a~ morning+afternoon of silence. Oh well. Keeping silent for the whole day would have been much much harder.

And I figured out why I had that need to talk? It's because I talk to my self, constantly, throughout the day. And part of not talking yesterday meant I couldn't do that.

Hm, I'm weird.

--

And there's something STILL wrong with my iBook. Now, when I plug in the power adaptor, it doesn't always light up... no, I should say, it doesn't always charge the machine. When it doesn't light up as orange, it's not charging the battery. And it doesn't light up as green either.... Not a big deal, but still a hassle, 'cause that means I have to plug and unplug and plug and unplug (thrusting in and out... ::mutters::) the adaptor end until it does light up. And I don't know why... However, leaving it plugged in (without it lighting up as orange OR green) still sends power into the machine... but doesn't charge the battery. WTF? I'm calling Apple after lunch, once I bring my computer elsewhere and see if it's the charger that's messed up, or the iBook. ::sigh:: In a way, I'm hoping it's the iBook. 'cause that would mean I might be able to get a refund and get a PowerBook?

Oooh, now that's weird. I just saw the power indicator flash RED? and then blink out. As I was pushing the battery in (upwards, really) and then letting it go... might be a battery problem? >.>

Overseas Taiwanese Summer Program

http://www.nsc.gov.tw/otsp/

This summer program is part of the NSC's overall effort to recruit new generations of overseas Taiwanese for the purpose of raising Taiwan's overall competitiveness. This generation possesses the language abilities, professional expertise, and international savvy that are advantageous to Taiwan's S&T industries and manpower needs. Building a strategic liaison with this generation can attract long-term returnees for the future, infuse fresh energy into Taiwan's workforce, and ultimately increase international support for Taiwan.

My parents want me to go, but I'm feeling very reluctant, and I'm not too sure while... At the moment, I think it's because:
-I'm being shy and not want to face an entirely strange environment.
-I don't particularily want to live in the house of one of my Taiwanese relatives. It's always somewhat awkward.
-I had plans to pick up all of C/++ and become proficient in it, for both mac and PC apps - being in Taiwan would make that a bit harder. Internet isn't going to be readily available either. XP
-If anything goes wrong with my iBook, it's going to be hard as hell to get support. While I'm sure there's an Apple store somewhere... :P
-I do still speak chinese. I think.
-It would cause problems with my vague plans to go visit Karen and other people.
-And that above paragraph? Yes, I'd like to help Taiwan, but I would also like to be compensated with more than $1,000 USD. 'cause in all honesty, I don't think that's enough. 5 weeks, and I'm expecting a 40 hours a week sort of thing = 200 hours. That's less than minimum hourly wage, yo. Yes, this is an unpaid internship. However, if they really wanted a "strategic liaison with this generation can attract long-term returnees for the future, infuse fresh energy into Taiwan's workforce, and ultimately increase international support for Taiwan", shouldn't they offer something more attractive? Paid travel fare, in addition to living costs would have been the minimum, I think. (the $1000 is just supposed to be the living costs. And we're supposed to arrange our own living and such, as well.) Or maybe I'm expecting too much.
-Knowing me, I'll be lonely and bored. And unwilling to go out and meet people, since I don't care for bars and clubs, and I'd feel strange to wander out for such, while I'm a guest at someone's house. If I lived alone, on the other hand, that'd be ok.

Advantages would be:
-Something for my resume. Internship in a foreign country, for (possibly) a national science institute. Would be nice there. Maybe.
-Brushing up on chinese. Whee. And maybe I'll pick up a bit of Taiwanese, too.
-My parents would be happier with me doing something "productive". Or something like that. At least my mom will stop nagging.
-...I can't think of anything more.

Garrrrrr. Opinions?

iBook Power Adaptor problem~

So I called Apple and they'll be sending out a new power adaptor. I doubt that'll fix the problem, however, since I've found out, thus far that:

-Occasionally, the ring on the power adaptor (the one that glows orange when it's charging, and green when the battery is full, or there's no battery) doesn't light up.
-And occasionally, it does.
-When it doesn't, lifting the front of the laptop and knocking on the the area to the right of the mousepad (above the battery, note!) will cause the ring to light up, either as orange, green or interestingly, red.
-The computer DOES know that the power adaptor's plugged in. However, it will not calculate (it stays with "calculating" the time remaining, if the ring is off. Nor does it actually charge the battery (left it on all night, battery was at half when I woke up this morning). However, it keeps the computer running... on AC power, just.. not... charging the battery.
-Tapping the area above the battery doesn't always cause the ring to light up.
-Unplugging it, then plugging it back in will not always make it go back to it's previous behavior. (ie, if it was working fine, then unplugging it and plugging it back in might cause it to malfunction again. Or it'll work properly.)
-It'll take a while to go from off to green to orange, if it ever does. Like, after a minute.
-Sometimes, when it's orange, the time to full charge is around 9 hours. Typically, it's 2 hours.

I'm suspecting the iBook. However, it could be the adaptor... maybe it's not sending out enough power...? But then, why does knocking on the area above the battery change things? And why did it work before I sent my iBook in for repairs?

...oh, and the presence of other Apple products causes both items to function properly. I tried it in our local computer store - no problems whatsoever. Granted, I only tried things once, and sometimes, both will behave perfectly for hours on a time, as long as nothing's changed....