2nd Kernel Panic, and a HDD Panic

I had the second one not long ago. This time it is for no particular reason, so my only guess is it's a software problem. I didn't quite believe it when the panic screen appeared. (I thought it was the screen saver. That one that simulates a KP for joke. I had it but was not using it at that time.) Restarted and did the Apple Hardware Test. No problem found, and it's running smoothly since. So, I still don't know what problem it is.

Next thing is more serious. I seem to be constantly reminded of the fact that I don't have a proper backup of my Mac. I tried to imagine what would happen when the hard disk fails. It would be quite bad indeed. What I want is a hard disk that I can mirror my data to, but I don't have money to buy one.

Anyway, a few days ago my Mac was making some funny noise – symptom that there is a problem with the hard disk. So I was worried. I checked the disk with Disk Utility, and it said there was some kind of problem. Then it repaired it, and I am hoping all is well now. There still exists a need for a proper backup, though.

Kernel Panic …

Yesterday I had my first kernel panic. I didn't think it would happen to me! :( I was panicked. Not really. I read the message (even the worst message on Mac OS X is better-looking than Windows' Blue Screen of Death!), and restarted the Mac, as instructed. Then all is fine again.

But actually I was solving a problem with my printer when this happened. I read the Apple discussion boards and they say OS X screwed up. I guess the recent 10.4.9 update screwed up mine. So disappointing, it's the first OS X update that screwed up anything for me. So I was fixing that, and then the kernel panic, restart and the printer works again. Didn't think I need a kernel panic to fix my printer! :(

Review of iClip 4

I have used it for quite some time now (the trial only, I have no money). Here's a review.

The first thing you see when you use it is that it's pretty. Although it's not a very Mac-like app, it's pretty with those transparency and animation effects. I think it's the best looking clipboard manager you can find. And it doesn't only record the clipboard. It lets you store bits of information in "clip sets". It's convenient to store things there and get it later quickly. But I think it's better to use journal apps like Journler to organise stuff. So I only use iClip to store URLs of articles I want to read later.

It's definitely an app worth checking out. Download it from Inventive.

Update: I thought of a new use of iClip this morning. GTDers can use it as the inbox. Just drag whatever things to iClip to collect them. Then when processing, you can go through the clip set and delete the things one by one. When you delete things, there's a nice effect that you would enjoy.