Wednesday, August 10, 2016

iPod 6th generation blackout crashes

Almost a year ago, I bought a 6th generation iPod touch, which has largely been a huge improvement over my previous 4th generation one.

However, it has had maybe half a dozen "blackout crashes" from Sleep mode (screen stays dark), which I had imagined were due to faulty hardware. Although an in-warranty replacement would include the benefit of a new battery and shell, I hoped to keep this unit since I'd had the back personalized by Apple.

When it has plenty of remaining battery power, I've put it into Sleep mode, only to find that it won't turn on (Wake) when I pressed either of the two physical buttons. Up until a few weeks ago, my fix had been to charge it for a long time (e.g., overnight), then hope it turns on (Wakes) later, which did work but was frustrating.

Eventually I searched on the Internet and found the "Force restart iPod touch" solution, which worked for me and is in Apple's downloadable iPod touch (iOS 9.3) manual as well:

"hold down the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears."

Maybe I'd used this technique for earlier iPods, but if so, I hadn't remembered it.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Sea creatures in Chinese and French


(Mandarin Chinese Pinyin) French
whale 鯨魚 (jīngyú) la baleine
squid 魷魚 (yóuyú) le cal(a)mar
dolphin 海豚 (hǎitún) le dauphin
jellyfish 水母 (shuǐmǔ) la méduse
seahorse 海馬 (hǎimǎ) le hippocampe
shark 鯊魚 (shāyú) le requin
turtle 烏龜 (wūguī) la tortue marine
crab 螃蟹 (pángxiè) le crabe
skate 鰩 (yáo) la raie
octopus 章魚 (zhāngyú) la pieuvre

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Sunday, January 31, 2016

French porcupines and Porky Pig

After listening to my Larousse dictionary app pronounce porcupine in French (porc-épic), I could not help but think of Porky Pig, an American cartoon character.

That link can serve as a mnemonic for remembering the French word for porcupine, if nothing else.