Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 28th December, 2023 Teaser.

28th December, 2023.

Right … 

I owe people a BIG “Thank You”.

As you know, my iMac — the machine that formed the technological backbone of both this blog, and my YouTube channel — rolled over and died, a few days ago.

And, thanks to the generosity of friends, family, and readers, I was able to fund repairs.

In theory.

Had the thing been fixable?   Fixing would’ve happened.

And insurance, extra storage, and extra cloud storage, would’ve happened.

It wasn’t.

Neither did the planned extras.

But?

Thanks to the generosity of many, I was able to fund buying a base-model, Mac mini.

One I was initially told would be delivered, tomorrow.

But eventually arrived, yesterday.

I am grateful for that.

As it only took an hour or so for me to;

• Set up.
• Sync most of my bookmarks and passwords.
• Find and sync my Photo and media library.
• Download and install operating system updates.
• Download and install newer versions of software.

I’m grateful.

To everyone that’s helped, and that the process went well.

~≈💾≈~

Just in case you have donated?

And want to know what your money’s paid for?

It’s a 2023 model Mac mini: with 8gb of RAM, a 256gb solid state drive, and an M2 system-on-a-chip.

Attached to a Benq monitor, the Apple mouse and keyboard from my iMac, an external blu-ray drive, and both my media storage and Time Machine external hard drives.

Things I’ve owned for a while.

It’s not the most powerful machine in Apple’s current line-up* but — thus far — it seems to be working well: at least for my basic needs.

• Handbrake, iMovie, and the various media/productivity apps, are working well.
• My data is safe, useable and accessible.
• Drag and Drop is working the way I expect it to.
• I’m back using familiar keyboard shortcuts.
• Formatting blog posts with my preferred software, is working!

Granted: I’ll need to replace it with something newer, at some point.

And — under ideal circumstances — I would’ve got something far more powerful.

But?

I’m grateful for what I’ve been given!

~≈💾≈~

As a last thought?

How do I feel about what’s happened?

There’s possibly a lot to say, there.

Grateful for the help I’ve received: that’s the important thing to stress.

But also?

Deeply upset about my iMac crashing the way it has.

I’ve had several Macs, over the years.

And, usually?

The build quality has been pretty damn good.

I’ve still got a sixteen-year-old, Mac Pro tower, that is showing its age: but still useable for some tasks.

And my original Mac mini only needs a replacement hard drive — if I can find one — to be functional, again.

So, for a six year old, 2017, iMac to go under the way mine did?   With short circuiting, a knackered power supply, and a duff screen?

Is shocking, to say the least.

~≈💾≈~

Let’s move on, shall we?


Yesterday’s Teaser saw Olga†, Mum‡ and Debbi§ putting in their answers: with Olga and Debbi scoring five out of five, and Mum on three.


Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video.

Q1)        Wilhelm Rontgen announced he’d discovered x-rays. In a paper published on 28th December of which year: 1895, 1897 or 1899?

Q2)        Adelaide was founded on 28th December, 1836. Where: Tasmania, South Australia or New South Wales?

Q3)        Noomi Rapace was born on 28th December, 1979. She played Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon what?

Q4)        F. W. Murnau was born on 28th December, 1888. He was a well known director, born where: France, Germany or Sweden?

Q5)        Finally … ? 28th December, 1903, saw the birth of computer scientist, John von Neumann. Where: Budapest, Berlin or Birmingham?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1)        In a non-leap year, 27th December is the 361st day of the year. Is 361 a prime number?

A1)        No: for a start, it’s a multiple of nineteen.   (See question two.)

Q2)        361 is what squared: 19 squared, 20 squared or 21 squared?

A2)        19 squared.

Q3)        What’s 361 in Roman numerals: CCCLXI, CCCLX or CCCLIX?

A3)        CCCLXI.

Q4)        There’s 361 spaces for pieces, in which Chinese game: Go, Mah-Jong or Xiangqi?

A4)        Go.

Q5)        Finally … ? AD361 was a year that started on which day of the week?

A5)        Monday.

Here’s a thought …

“Don’t act - think!”

F. W. Murnau, December 28, 1888 – March 11, 1931.

And a song …

Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Decisions about scores are final.

Thank you for coming: have a good day.

*        That’ll be the 2023 Mac Pro tower!   To paraphrase The Silence of the Lambs?   “Oh, it’s a monster … !”

†        “Give it a Go”?   Can I groan now, Olga, or should I wait until later?

        On a more serious note?   It’s been relatively glitchy free: bar the odd problem with some use of the system alerts.   They’re using the olde (female) system voice, rather than the new, male one.   I suspect most of those will just need reinstalling!   (Oh, there’s a good version of Pac-man that’s only available for Macs with these processors!   Hmmm … )

        I suspect the US government’s site possibly not open source, Olga: but are trying to encourage taking part!

‡        Hello, Mum!

§        It was the theme to Rocky 3, Debbi: that was Mr T’s cinematic debut.   (Lord knows what he’s doing these days!)

        I’ll tell you what, Debbi, I’m looking forward to the speakers turning up: the new mini’s speakers aren’t quite as powerful as the old iMacs!   But it’s nice to be able to use the right keyboard shortcuts!