The death and resurrection of my iPhone (thanks, AppleCare)

It looks just the same, but it's different -- in fact, it's a completely new phone.

Sometime yesterday afternoon my 7-month-old iPhone's sound card -- or chip, or whatever it is -- died. I was on my way to an appointment when I called ahead. The phone clearly was connecting, but there was no sound. I made several more calls with the same result, before concuding that I was just filling up an answering machine with silent calls. Tried my home number. Same thing. Tried music in my iPod app. Nada. No sound, period.

It was terrifying. I have come to rely on the phone for so many thing. You might say I'm addicted. I certainly went into sudden withdrawal. As chance had it, I became aware of the problem on the far west side, on Mineral Point Road. I headed for the Apple Store, went in and said, "My baby died!" They got me an appointment at the "Genius Bar," and in no time they had checked the phone, found it unfixable, and swapped out a new phone. An easy switch, and under AppleCare, it didn't cost me a cent.

A took me awhile to restore my apps and data from the backup on my computer -- mainly because my backup settings were sort of eccentric -- but I got everything. As of a month ago, that is. (I need to set it to back up more often.)

I usually don't buy extended warranties. Consumer Reports usually says they're a bad deal. The iPhone seemed different, mainly because I wanted to be able to replace it quickly if need be. Glad I did.

NOTE: I was warned by a commenter on Flickr that the AppleCare warranty does not automatically transfer to the new phone. There are hoops to jump through, people to talk to. More time-consuming than transferring apps, especially if -- like me -- you've lost original receipts and serial number of old phone. Make sure you don't lose out on the protection you've paid for.

The fighting Wisconsin Supremes get physical and multiple narrative scenarios ensue

I always thought this detail of a mural in the Madison Trader Joe's looked sort of odd, but tonight I was struck by how timely it suddenly seemed. It brought to mind Wisconsin's Fighting Supremes, Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley and Justice David Prosser.

See the woman with her fists raised in anger? Angry women are so terrifying, aren't they? See the man threatened by the rampaging harpie, the man who is crouched fearfully behind her? He needs to do something to protect himself from her feminine wrath. Cagily, he extends his arms and starts to whirl around her, preparing to grab her neck in a defensive head lock. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

Sound absurd? No more so than the far-fetched tales concocted by Prosser's anonymous spinners and their account of how Prosser simply tried to ward off an angry Bradley, who approached him with "raised fists," and how in doing so he "accidentally" made contact with her neck. Yeah, right. (And doesn't this whole defense come embarrassingly close to the classic defense in abuse cases that the woman was somehow asking for it or brought it on?)


Here's what Bradley said actually happened:

"The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," Bradley told the Journal Sentinel.

"You can try to spin those facts and try to make it sound like I ran up to him and threw my neck into his hands, but that's only spin.

I believe Bradley. She doesn't say he tried to kill her. She said he put his hands around his neck in a choke hold. Regardless of intent, or whether there is any injury, this is serious behavior anywhere, especially in the workplace. In the private sector, where employees serve at will without the constitutional protections enjoyed by Supreme Court justices, such behavior often results in instant dismissal.

Even before this incident, David Prosser had exhibited an unjudicial temperament and an abusive, threatening attitude toward women, calling Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson a "bitch" and threatening to "destroy" her. And somehow, it's always someone else's fault. I'm curious how much longer Wisconsin Republicans are going to continue supporting this behavior. Theyre acting more like enablers than political supporters.