While I’m happy with the service and even happier that I didn’t have to pay anything because the computer was under warranty, I’d think twice about recommending the MacBook. This was the second time I had to have the topcase replaced and I’ve had a slew of other problems. I think my next will be a MacBook Pro.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t computerless these last few weeks. My 8-year-old Powerbook is still going strong and totally saved the day. It was top of the line when I bought it and while I initially cringed at spending so much money, it’s paid off in the long run.

The saying, “I’m not rich enough to buy cheap things,” is starting to make sense.

The only Mac counterpart seems to be the free TAMS Analyzer, which I like and used for a recent paper, but it’s not nearly as powerful and the awkward interface keeps it from being user friendly.

The Omni Group to the rescue?

In my dreams I imagine The Omni Group producing a well-designed, robust qualitative analysis application that is made for the Mac and works as smoothly as OmniFocus or OmniOutliner.

I just asked them to do so on their user forum, but even if they did (uh, right), it’d be a long time before it’s available.

What am I missing about NVivo? I’ve already spent hours with it but it’s still like pulling teeth. Anyone have any tips or plugs for alternatives (e.g., ATLAS.ti)?

Pinar saw Rick and his crew on Istiklal Street and went up to him and said, “You don’t know me, but I know you.” She then told him how his program had been one of our favorites when we were in the States and that, as an American familiar with Turkey, I would be happy to help him out if he needed it.

He thanked her, but when she asked if he wanted my number, he said, “No, I have people helping me.”

As Pinar walked away, Rick told her that our baby is cute.

Unfortunately Pinar couldn’t say the same about Rick. She has worked in TV/film and knows how tired and frustrated people can get while shooting, but she says Rick lost a viewer because he was so cold to her.

Chances are she’ll run into someone from Globetrekker soon and forget all about this.

Wow. Deep breaths all around.

I was home alone with the baby at the time and holding her in the football position, walking her around to keep her asleep. I somehow managed to get batteries into the camera and take a bunch of shots all with one hand and without waking her. That was probably my biggest accomplishment of the day.

Leyla Rose Gibbon was born in Istanbul on Wednesday afternoon. She weighs 7 lb. 1 oz. and is 19.3 inches long. We came home from the hospital on Friday and everyone is doing great.

So far I’m absolutely loving being a father.

I’ve uploaded some pictures to Flickr and also posted a 3-minute, non-graphic video of the delivery on YouTube: (UPDATE: We decided to take down the video and just share that with close family and friends.)

I wonder how this story would play out if the neighborhood mosque tried to do the same thing?

“Track the time you spend on projects with this simple and easy-to-use application. Divide your work into projects, and split each into individual tasks. Stay honest, and not count those coffee breaks with the built-in idle time alerts. A menu bar icon reminds you at a glance whether the timer is running and allows you to easily stop and start the timer.”

This was exactly what I was looking for because it’s so easy to punch-in and punch-out.

It’s also a handy tool to have your research assistant(s) use for tracking their hours and the time spent on individual tasks (the next version is supposed to have data export, so it should be even more useful for this).

And if you have kids, they could use it to record time spent on chores, practicing an instrument, and doing homework - just keep in mind the entries are editable!

I learned this today after spending a few hours reading on our balcony. The weather was hot but breezy, and I was just wearing shorts and an A-shirt (I’m not comfortable writing the more common name).

I didn’t have on any sunscreen because I was sitting in the shade.

This evening I looked in the mirror and noticed that my left shoulder, forehead, and one side of my neck were pink. After pressing my fingers against my skin I had those telltale marks that linger white for a second before turning pink again.

But only on my left side - the side that was facing the balcony railing and the external wall of an apartment building about 20 feet away.

Then it dawned on me (sorry) that the sun’s rays reflected off the apartment wall and caused the burn, even though I had been all comfy in the shade.

Moral: Wear sunscreen whenever spending time outdoors, or at least don’t dress like Kevin Federline.

My first thought was, Great, we’re getting audited. Second thought: No way, they did not just mail us a check all the way from the US, trusting two national postal systems to deliver it.

But they did, and it was a whopping $1200, double what I expected.

I knew about the economic stimulus payments, but I never thought I’d get one all the way over here in Turkey, let alone stuffed into my door. What if it got lost in the mail?

Never fear, you can request a re-print. And how did I learn that? The next day I found another letter from the Treasury jammed into the front door of our building (i.e., out on the street!) that said we were about to receive a check.

Something tells me the Treasury more than recoups their airmail expenses through checks that go missing and unnoticed.