Mac laptop issue

I appear to have a serious problem with my laptop, and I'm wondering if any of the technically savvy folks I know have any advice on what to do about it. Since I'm guessing that most people aren't particularly interested in reading about problems with my four(?) year old Powerbook (possibly related to overheating), I'll hide most of this behind a cut. (Whether you have technical advice or not, I'd also welcome any thoughts or advice on whether the tech support people in my local Apple Store are a reasonable option in a situation like this.)

The timing on this is particularly poor, since I'm giving the physics colloquium at Mudd on Tuesday. (My presentation is backed up in several places, but I'd planned on updating it a bit before then. In any case, I should start looking for a computer to borrow to give it with. Hmm... maybe the other folks in my office would have one to lend for the day.)


( More details than you ever wanted to know... )

Mac laptop RAM issue, actually

Well, my fears that my entire laptop was quickly turning into an expensive paperweight have receded. Someone pointed out that even fairly thorough memory tests may not catch problem RAM, and that a better test would be to actually pull out RAM modules and see if the problem persisted. Sure enough, ever since I replaced the new memory upgrade I'd gotten a few months ago with the smaller original module, the problems with my laptop seem to have gone away. (Whether Leopard will be happy with just 512MB of RAM is another question, though it seems to be doing fine thus far.) I wonder why it took so long to give out?

Anyway, whew. Now I can actually do some of the work I've been putting off over spring break.