Mac

The New 12″ Powerbook

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So knowing I was getting a tax return I went out and ordered myself a new 12″ Powerbook. I probibly didn’t “need” it, but I wanted one. It is in addition to my iMac. I wanted the Powerbook for the commute, and around the house. I find that I do like to write away from my desk. Since I had “found” money I splerged and got the new 1gighertz Powerbook. It is almost like the one I had before but faster. I also think it runs a bit cooler. that was a problem with the old one.

I didn’t get the DVD burner since I have the super drive on my imac.

The only problem is that out of the box the dam hindge that locks the screen in place when you close it is broken. Apple wont exchange it for a new one, so I have to get it fixed. That may mean up to a week of not having the laptop. I am not happy, but lets just hope they fix it. I am hoping to take it to the apple store in SoHo and see if they can fix it onsite.

More on my support issues as they develop.

First Blog From A Fresh Clean iMac

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This is my first post from my newly formatted iMac. I had problems with it crahsing allot so I decided to reformat the drive and start over. I thought it was a software issue. It is begining to look like I either setup the software in the same way, or I am having a hardware issue since my problem is still happening. I have most of my settings recovered but it won’t be perfect for some time. I am just pissed that it is still crashing…

This entry was written while listening to Washin an Wonderin from the album “Nasty Little Thoughts” by Stroke 9

Tech Shake Up

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I am having problems with my iMac. it keeps crashing on me almost once a day. My Powerbook never did that on me. It started happening after I put in the Airport Extreme 802.11g WiFi card and my extra 512 megs of ram. At this point I honestly don’t know if either of them is causing this problem. I took out the Airport card. I don’t use it that much since the mac sits on a desk with a switch right on the floor. If it keeps crashing I will take out the ram. if it still is having problems I may just wipe the hard drive and configure it from scratch. I did just open up out of the box and started using it:)

I am still waiting for the Treo 600 to become available for T-Mobile. No end in sight for that. I called handspring to buy an unlocked version of the phone. They said they had unlocked Cingular branded (but it would work with T-Mobile). the only problem was that it is backordered for 2-4 weeks. No one else has them in stock either. I can get an AT&T version, but it is locked. Been there, and done that. I can also get a sprint one from anywhere, but I want a GSM version. T-Mobile has been good to me for most of the time since September 2000. I don’t count that period of 4 months after 9/11/2001 but we did have issues with service in NYC. Handspring wanted $700 for me to wait 2-4 weeks. I decided to wait a bit longer. I don’t want to order the phone and then be able to order my T-Mobile version for $399, and not be able to because I already had an order in. If/when they can ship my order same day or next day I may get it. I am not happy!!!

This entry was written while listening to Wherever You Will Go by The Calling

Cool Tech

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i got to use some really cool tech today.  I have been using Net Newswire on my mac for almost a year.  it is a fantastic program.  I use it to see if my favorite blogs have been updated.  I just started using it to see the latest news stories from my favorite news sites.  it makes browsing the web so simple.  I just launch the program and it tells me if each site has a new story.  I can see what I want to read and then I just click on the link and it brings me to the site.  this is nothing new.  RSS has been around for a little while, but it is starting to go more mainstream.  Yahoo now has RSS news feeds for their news sites.

I just finished adding a bunch of RSS feeds to Net News Wire for sites I visit often.  My internet browsing will be cut by like 60% by having all these sites together.  Now what will I do with all that free time???

This entry has been edited to remove WORK content.

This entry was written while listening to Another Postcard from the album "Everything to Everyone" by Barenaked Ladies

iTunes Rocks

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So I bought some more music on the iTunes store. I am not a huge fan of buying music, but getting it online from apple is flexible (i can burn to disk and use the files anywhere I want, unlike other services) and it is cheaper than buying a CD. I got Barenaked Ladies latest CD. You may have seen some of the songs listed as what I was listening to when writing this blog. It is a decent album. I found 2 songs I liked, but I think there last one (or was it 2 albums ago) was better. They are a band I would like to see in concert. Their music is funny, and they make good music.

This entry was written while listening to California from the album “Rip It Off” by Stroke 9

Lazy Day And Hardware Upgrades

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Today was a lazy day. I caught up on what I had on the Tivo. I also did some email and just hung out. I did some food shopping since they say it may snow tomorrow. I had no food left, so I figured it was a good time to do that.

I also installed 512 more megs in my new 20″ iMac. Now I have 768 megs in it. I can put a full gig in it, but apple decided to only include 256 with them machine. If I want to get a full gig, I need to remove that 256 and put a 512 meg chip in its place. The only problem is you cannot get to that memory without going to an authorized repair center. It is sealed within the machine. The other slot is not. So for now I am at 768 megs, it should be enough for now. I also put my airport extreme card into the mac. I don’t have the laptop anymore so I figured I would use it. Since my server is in the closet on wireless, I get no extra speed by leaving the mac wired to my 100megabit switch. I cannot transfer files between the desktop and server any faster than the wifi anyway. Now I just have 1 less wire plugged into the iMac.

In my free time I also imported most of my online photo album into iPhoto. Photos imported allot faster on the iMac then they did on either of my Powerbooks. I need to get photos from my parents to scan and increase my album a bit.

Also today I watched some DVD’s. I just got 2 more shows on DVD. I got Firefly on DVD. It was a scifi show that didn’t last too long on tv. It was actually very good, and I was surprised when it came out on DVD. I didn’t watch too many of them, so I decided to buy it. I also got Buffy season 5. I mocked that show for years, and then Rich gave me season 1 to watch and I actually liked it. Go figure.

This entry was written while listening to Maybe Katie from the album “Everything to Everyone” by Barenaked Ladies

Technology Is Not All Bad

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Just to show you I don’t gripe about everything, this new iMac rocks. I still cannot get over this huge crisp screen. I was watching the Two Towers on one half of the screen while working on a word document on the other. it is big and I still can see the text even with my less than perfect vision.

The only problem I am having is that I cannot figure out what I am going to do with the free desk space I now have since I moved the other computers out my living room.

The New Mac

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So I sold the Powerbook like I said. Now what? It is not like I didn’t have another computer to use. In fact I have 1 desktop at home, a server and my Dad’s old desktop that can be built into anything I want it to be. I also have my work laptop and countless desktops to work off of when there. So why did I feel compelled to buy a computer? I missed my Mac. I sort of didn’t want to part with it, but I got a decent deal and I was thinking about a mac desktop for a while. I did the math and figured out what I wanted. I wanted a huge flat pannel monitor at home and a decently powered machine. To get another top of the line powerbook and a 20″ flat pannel would have been super expencive. To get a low end G4 Powermac and a 20″ flat pannel would have been in the mid $2500 range. Then Tuesday Apple came out with the 20″ flat screen Imac. I always said I was not a fan of the all in one computer, but this machine had some nice features. it was also several hundred less than doing a powermac and a large flat screen. Another major selling poing was the fact that it took up very little space (it really does) and it is not loud. The G4 towers are know for the noise they put out.

I tried to goto the Apple store thursday and friday but work would not permit it. I went Saturday and was instantly sold on the imac. the screen is beatiful, it is so small, and it is not a slouch when it comes to power. I think this will do me well for a desktop for the next 2 years. I know they say desktops last 3 years, but I am a realist. I used to go through desktops every year. I am averaging 2 years now, or actually 23 months since I last got my Atholon XP desktop. I go through laptops quicker.

So far the iMac is great. I got most of my software on it. I just plugged in my Lacie firewire drive into it and all my stuff was restored. I also got the Apple bluetooth keyboard. it is nice. I think the usb keyboard that I had before felt better to type on, but this is pretty good also. Now all I need is a wireless mouse. I didn’t like the mac mouse so I need a logitech one.

The jury is still out on if I want a laptop also. I like the thinkpad, but I may at some point in the future get my own small laptop that I can kick around. I will see how things go with the iMac only and my ThinkPad. The iMac purchase revolves around my desire to write when not at my desk, and I don’t like doing it on the thinkpad. I have issues with its keyboard. I know I am nitpicking, but I have to be realy cofmy when I write, especially when my hands react poorly to bad keyboards.

With the new iMac also comes more space at/on my desk. I had a 4 port KVM with 2 desktops setup, along with a space for my powerbook and Thinkpad when I brought it home. That makes for tons of cables and a mess. I ripped out the KVM. I put my desktop in my closet near my server. It is now connected via 802.11g. If I need a windows xp box, all I do is remote destkop into it. It is faster than setting up virtual pc on the mac. I still have some cleaning up of some cables but the desk looks much better now.

My living room is a mess with all the old cables thrown around. I need to put them away neatly, and store my old 17″ flat pannel.

Updateathon

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I reinstalled the OS on my ThinkPad last week. I was having some weird issues so I felt it was time to do a refresh. I like to do that every few months. Another advantage of the mac. I never felt compelled to do that on my powerbook unless I was upgrading the OS to a newer version.

With my powerbook gone, and both my home computer and work computer’s just receiving new OS’s I don’t have a single machine that is configured with all my stuff on it. My data is backed up on a firewire hard drive I cannot access since I don’t have a mac. My mail is only on my laptop and almost nothing is on my desktop at home.

Stuff

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Last night I got my new Firewire 200 Gig hard drive. I plugged it into my Powerbook and an icon for it came up on my desktop. That was all I needed to do in order for me to start using it. They sent a CD along with the drive, but it must have been only for windows. I love Mac’s. That was the easiest upgrade I can remember.

I already started offloading data from my powerbooks hard drive onto the firewire drive. Next up is getting quicktime pro and pulling some of my MPEG-1 files into Final Cut Express and editing them for burning to a DVD.

I also received my Dad’s flash memory key chain. I got him a pen sized usb flash drive that holds 512megs of memory. he will use it to shuttle data back and forth between work. not sure how fast it will be but it is USB 2.0.

Monday I ordered his new computer. I settled for a dell. It is probably overkill for his needs, but he likes over kill.

I for one have been shuttling ISO images from work to home. I think I recovered almost all the images now. I just copied over ISO’s for red hat and FreeBSD 4.7.