I hate those guys.
i'm really grumpy because:
my computer sucks. We've been over that. Everything about my computer is insufficient except maybe a couple of the software packages
my ISP sucks. Ok, yeah, you get what you pay for. But how come if I can't use my email client to read Juno mail, I can't use ANY SMTP server on the planet at all? You don't want me to send mail? Ok, officially, juno bites. It may be free, but pay for something. ANYTHING, rather than use it.
ANd now the M-Machine is dying. About a year and a half ago we thought the M-Machine was going the way of the ghost when the left speaker inexplicably started popping and I couldn't fix it. I still kept it, because, frankly, the M-Machine is so cool you can store a side of beef in it. I used it as a platform to make the bottom of my CD tower more accessible. Anyway, on a whim, I tried it again about 6-8 months ago, and it worked! Hooray!
The other day the pops started again. Now the left speaker is very, very dim. If you put the balance all to the left and turn the volume to 100 (normally 7-11 is a very comfortable listening range, and often too loud if the kids are asleep) you can faintly hear it behind a bunch of white noise -- white noise not audible till the volume gets to 50 or so. This is only if you're using the "Aux" mode, y'know, so I can run my mp3s through it or my CD player. In tape mode, there is a plethora of EMI and tons of pops. Annoying. In radio mode, it appears to work fine. No fricking clue.
Seriously, Jeffe will attest, as will anyone else who has seen it. The M-Machine rocks the casbah. i'm seriously, seriously asking for donations, a buck here or there, to my paypal (benreilly AT myrealbox DOT com) so I can fund the service. I've ruled out the power supply and the wiring. But I want this fixed. The world needs the M-Machine to go on living. (I'll post pictures of the M-Machine as soon as se.com starts workign again).