Fighting with computers

The las version of Arduino I bought is the micro. Around the size of the Arduino Pro Mini but featuring a processor that handles the USB port too and costing $7.50. As I bought mine from an Asian online seller off eBay I decided to give a try before providing feedback. Last week I have got trouble with two items I bought on Aliexpress: a set of Kossel linear rails that have rough spots along the rail and a set of hardened chromed smooth rods that are very smooth but bent too. In both cases they first impression was they were ok and I give them the heads up so they could get my money. Unfortunately, on closer inspection I discovered the problems mentioned above and I am still in the process of sorting it out with the sellers. This time I wanted to be quite sure everything worked as expected ... but it did not. I could happily upload new sketches once I selected the Arduino Micro as the target board. But I could not get Blink program to work. After checking Arduino docs about the Mi

Today, after a long wait, I made my mind to shopping for a brand-new MacBook Air. I went to the Apple store in my city before the summer but I did not like what I was told: They will make me a nice discount for being a university professor but only if I was billed personally. I wanted the machine to be invoiced to my university that would slash the discount seriously. It did not matter that my university was a leading public university in the country. I left the shop shocked and empty handed. After checking with some colleagues it seems that is Apple's usual policy, though nobody was able to explain why. Anyway, after doing some taxes math I saw it was still more convenient for me to charge the bill to my personal expenses account I hold with my employer so I went for it. These is more or less my experience today at the Apple Store in Valencia. Apple rep1 (at the door): How can we help you today Sir? Me: I would like to buy a MacBook Air. Apple rep1: Do you have it reserved