Friday, February 10, 2006

Worth a try.

I took all the keys off my laptop, which was getting a bit grubby, cleaned the underneath with proper under-keyboard cleaning stuff and put the keys back again. And now my '2's gone all wobbly.

So at the moment, I can't write any sequels, and Fingle, my troll mage in World of Warcraft, is having some difficulty with fireballs. Honestly, I don't know how I find the strength to get up in the morning.

Anyway, please can someone send me a new G4 Powerbook? I put some extra memory in as well, so one of those too please.

Ta.


23 comments:

Dave said...

I spilled some coffee from my mug,
Now my computer's got a bug.
My number 2 is now very poor (ly),
I love my Powerbook no more (y).

James Henry said...

*applauds*

patroclus said...

When I patent my revolutionary pull-out crumb tray for keyboards, I will be rich. Oh yes.

Danny Stack said...

God, you opened up the technics of your laptop? Impressed.

A few keys on my laptop keyboard aren't working, most infuriating being the space bar. It happened when it was still under guarantee and they fixed it. Now it's happened again and it's out of guarantee. I strolled into a local PC repair shop to ask them about it and they said it needs a brand new keyboard, regardless of just a few keys not working.

I am so angry and frustrated I can't tell you. I just did I s'ppose.

James Henry said...

Well the powerbook keys are supposed to pop off for easy cleaning, but you have to use a fair bit of force, and of course the 2 didn't quite pop back again.

My space bar didn't work either (which prompted the whole cleaning thing) but it turned out a tiny broken bit of plastic from something else had got caught underneath. Tried hoovering the keyboard?

It is infuriating though. The bit that holds the 2 in place is the smallest conceivable bit of stuff - too small to even ask about getting a replacement, although I may give it a go.

My sympathy to you, sir.

James Moran said...

My keyboard is working fine (G4 iBook, since we're sharing), but the N on the N key has almost completely worn away. I have no idea why, I must write lots of N's, or n's. And this comment is making it worse. None of the other keys are affected, they all look brand new. Why N? Aren't E and T the most commonly used letters in English? Why haven't my Shift keys been affected? I use Shift a lot. For big letters.

Jocelyn Lavin said...

Mine is a G4 iBook too, and the N has also worn away. The H has too. Every other letter is fine. This baffles me, particularly as on my previous iBook keyboard, it was just the G that wore away.

I had to replace a key - one key - once, and the experience was scary. I don't think I can face removing them all. Particularly as my main reason for doing so would be to remove all the cat hair that's underneath, and I suspect that if it was visible I would be too disgusted.

James Henry said...

JL, are you still reading? I am literally touched (not literally). I still like choirs. Have you heard the I Predict A Riot cover? It is ace.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't it annoy anyone else that whoever they are who wrote I Predict a Riot used the line "not very pretty, I tell thee" just because it rhymes? Or are we to suppose that the eponymous riot is taking place in medieval times or possibly depicts a scene of stereotypical Yorkshiremen in a state of civil unrest? Is it wrong that a mere pop song should provoke such rage in me?

Matt said...

in Oh My God they have the lines

"But you work in a shirt with your name tag on it
Drifting apart like a plate tectonic"

i wouldnt buy their album if i were you...

Jocelyn Lavin said...

JH, I check your blog every day and frequently point people at it :-)

One day we must get you to a Hallé gig. Although we probably won't do I Predict A Riot, sadly (I agree the cover is ace). Or, even more sadly, the Honda Civic advert. Can't believe they didn't ask us to do that! We are really, really good at making vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvppppppppppppssssssssssss noises etc :p

Anonymous said...

Go to a dealers and ask nicely if they have a replacement "2".

I did this a couple of years ago with my Toshiba when the "A" broke. They fixed it for free.

Danny Stack said...

In 'I Predict a Riot', the Kaisers also refer to something like: "it would never have happened to Smeaton". If I'm hearing correctly. And this could be a reference to Smeaton, Anne Boleyn's lover that Henry VIII got so narked about. But I could be reaching...

Jocelyn Lavin said...

Wikipedia, at least, claims that the Smeaton in question is this one. There's a page just for the song! Who'd've thought it?

Anonymous said...

The S and Shift on my Toshiba were playing up so I thought how much harm can it do to lever them off and re-seat them? Well, A LOT OF HARM, that's how much. The Shift key pings off at random moments and the S won't go back on at all. There's just a little rubber stump thing, which barely reponds <<< ha! there's an example of it right there! And like someone else mentioned, man-in-the-shop says that I need an entire new keyboard. James, you could mail me scripts etc for me to put in '2's, and you could capitalise my 'S's? Or I could just send you a lot of '2's in a document, and you could cut and paste them?
thanks,

Richard (GW)

BiScUiTs said...

I once had a number 8 that didn't work. Apart from that it was a great keyboard, so I was very annoyed. Can you use the number 2 on the number pad instead?

James Henry said...

Richard - I might get a rubber stamp with a '2' on it, but that looks a bit like an 'S', so maybe I can get 2 '2's and you can have the other one. Although I agree, it's not an ideal situation.

bisqui - Don't think I can use the number pad in Warcraft, so fireballs still a difficulty. However, as you can see from above, the '2' seems to work okay as long as I carefully place the key back each time after it has pinged across the room.

BiScUiTs said...

Bisqui hahaha I like that.
Ah I see. It sounds dangerous, do wear some safety goggles.

Anonymous said...

Life on Mars was wonderful as ever. wikml- the name of an actor from 'Bottom' said quickly by someone who can't pronounce their 'R's. Hmm..

surly girl said...

i thought the "i tell thee" was a sort of nod to bo! selecta. but then i am shallow and dim (all at the same time).

it's not a bad album though, as long as you don't actually listen to the words. which may detract from your enjoyment. but that's not my fault.

Abaculus said...

I thought 'I tell thee' was an idiom common in the Kaisers' native Leeds?

Anonymous said...

Speaking as a native Leeds lass meself, I can tell you its true - it is the kind of thing we say. In out defence, we're not being serious; its "kinda ironic" doncha know.

Anonymous said...

I once changed every key on my keyboard into the "Dvorak" keyboard layout - scientifically proven to be healthier and faster. check it out! But, it was pretty scary listening to every key crack as I delicately removed them... I ended up breaking none of them though!