David Barr Kirtley

Science fiction author and podcaster

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Goodbye Computer

May 18, 2006 by David Barr Kirtley Leave a Comment

So last week I’m sitting in LAX and it’s a half hour until my flight to the Netherlands. I pop open my laptop to copy pertinent information about my itinerary from an email into my spiral notebook — information without which I will have no idea what to do when I land in Amsterdam. (I hadn’t had a chance to do this earlier, and I couldn’t just print it out because my printer was already in storage.) And … my laptop won’t boot. Not even in safe mode. It just cycles continuously between the loading Windows screen and a Blue Screen of Death error message: “UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME.” That doesn’t sound good. But I’m able to use my cell phone to get my itinerary information.

Then I call up IBM tech support. They say I should replace my hard disk. Thanks, guys. (I sometimes suspect that instructions for tech support workers read: “1. Ask customer to describe problem. 2. Instruct customer to reboot computer. 3. If problem persists, instruct customer to replace hard disk. 4. Thank customer for calling. 5. Hang up.”) They say that I may be able to retrieve data off my computer. This is an even bigger disaster than usual because I had just moved out of my apartment and tossed out most (hopefully not all) of the hard copy backups of some stuff I worked on this past semester. And of course, all that stuff’s in storage in the U.S., so I can’t dig through it and check to make sure I’ve still got everything.

Blurgh. At least the laptop’s still under warranty (it’s less than a year old), but working this stuff out from the Netherlands is a serious hassle.

On the other hand, my bicycle tour around the Netherlands was cool. If I ever get a working laptop around here, I may post more about it. One of the photos did come out looking suitably authorial enough that I decided to toss it up as my new author photo on my website.

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Geeks Guide to the Galaxy

Geeks Guide to the Galaxy

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy is a podcast hosted by author David Barr Kirtley and produced by Lightspeed Magazine editor John Joseph Adams. The show features conversations about fantasy & science … Read more

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Geeks Guide to the Galaxy

Geeks Guide to the Galaxy

Geek's Guide to the Galaxy is a podcast hosted by author David Barr Kirtley and produced by Lightspeed Magazine editor John Joseph Adams. The show features conversations about fantasy & science … Read more

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My grandfather Roger Barr passed away early this morning at the age of 98. He was my mom’s father, and was my last surviving grandparent. He was being cared for by my uncle Steve (his son) and aunt Denice — both medical professionals — and was still sharp and good-humored in his final days. Yesterday […]

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David Barr Kirtley

David Barr Kirtley is the host of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast, for which he’s interviewed over four hundred guests, including George R. R. Martin, Richard Dawkins, Paul Krugman, Simon Pegg, Margaret Atwood, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Ursula K. Le Guin. His short fiction appears in the book Save Me Plz and Other Stories.
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