Boston & the iPod

This is my first attempt at a video post. Very boring. But here you go anyway.

The New iPhones

My favorite headline about the news out of Apple WWDC yesterday…

The 3G iPhone Is Here, Fanboys Rejoice And Start Waiting Outside Apple Stores, I Get Drunk And Try To Forget About Life Like Any Other Day

Classic!  And I can relate.  Though, I’m not as drunk as I’d like to be, and I’m secretly jealous ‘cu I wants one bad.  So sad.

Summer Projects

Okay, I have two summer projects I want to work on on-line. The first is my Can I Act idea, which I’ve already written about. I haven’t received any feedback about this yet, but I haven’t given up on this one yet. I just need to find a way to spread the word. Any ideas? Any scripts for me? Let me know.

The second project I want to do is a podcast/v-log type thing, where I just strike up a conversation with a complete stranger. (I’m thinking of going with the title “Stranger Danger”. Too cheezy?) I just want to see if I can have an interesting discussion with someone I do not know, without having preplanned anything, with having more then one or two prepared questions.  It will be interesting to see what common ground two strangers can find, what difference we’ll have, what we come up with to talk about, and if we can make it entertaining.  I think this will be a challenge, and I look forward to it.

I hope to do this online, via iChat or Skype or something, so that I can talk to people all over the world.  But, to keep it from being too tech-ish, I am also going to try and find some local strangers to talk to. I just have this urge to “put on a show”, and my whole idea of interviewing semi-famous people hasn’t really worked out, so I thought I would shift gears and move to more regular folk. (I know I’ve mentioned that idea before, i just cant find the post, so sorry, no link.)

So, if your reading this, and you’ve never spoken to me before, and you would like to spend 15 to 60 minutes chatting with me, let me know! Send me an email (SenselessBabble@Gmail.com) and hopefully we can talk sometime, and share the conversation with the world!

That’s Not Considered Stalking, Is It?

I’ve been playing with Twitter quite a bit lately, but I haven’t really done anything useful with it.  I think Twitter can be a great tool, but honestly, I don’t have much use for it in my day to day life.  It’s a fun toy, and I like using it as an add on to this site, but beyond that, it just doesn’t fit into my life right now.  My days consist of the under-10 age group during daylight hours, and then my nights working for a company that seems to fear any gadget that requires a battery.

None the less, like I said, I’ve been playing with Twitter and enjoying it.  And like all things I play with, I feel I need “a project”, to move my actions from “play” into something “worth while of my limited free time”.  (I still havent been able to make this rationalization with my GTA IV playtime.  Can anyone out there help me with this?).  So, I’ve come up with a Twitter project.

Here is my goal…  I have randomly and secretly chosen one of the people I am currently following, but who is not following me.  My intention is to get them to follow me, without coming right out and asking them to follow me.

I told my friend Roe about this, and his reply was “that’s not considered stalking, is it?”  Is it?  I don’t think so, but please tell me if you think I’m wrong.  Dictionary.com lists stalking as…

1. To pursue by tracking stealthily.
2. To follow or observe (a person) persistently, especially out of obsession or derangemen

I’m not doing this, I’m just playing a game.  Sure, it’s with myself (please hold the masturbation jokes to a minimum please people, we’re all mature adults here.  Aren’t we?), but still, it’s all just a game.  If anything, it will help foster a sense of community amoungst us Twitter users.  That’s me thinking anyway.

I invite you to play along.  Find your own person and do your best to get them to follow you!  Tell me if it works for you, how you do it, how long it takes, and so on and so on.  I can’t wait to get your feedback!  Thanks.

New Software

Today I purchased MacSpeech Dictate, a software program similar to Dragon NaturallySpeaking.  I am speaking into a microphone, and what is said is dictated into a notepad. I’ve gone through the tutorial to teach the computer my voice and now I’m testing its ability to understand me. I am wondering if this will make posting easier. In the past I have written that I wanted to make video posts, but I can’t bring myself to actually turn on the camera and talk to it; it’s it’s just a little too weird for me. I guess I’m more self conscious then I thought I was.  Talking is also a little too weird right now, I think it may be faster than simply writing, and in time many alow me to post more, and more easily, but it’s going to take some time to get used to.

Okay one paragraph down and so far it’s not too bad.  I see a few edits I need to make before posting this online, but I like it so far. Well, I like that it works, but getting used to talking out loud instead of writing is going to take some time to get used to. Simply because I don’t speak the same way that I write, and vice versa. Like I said, it’s a little weird, it’s a little odd.

Let me try some random stuff, and I wont edit it, the phrases below are as they software dictated them…

To be quick random (brown) fox jumped over the lazy brown dog.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

The wind is blowing through the true use (trees).

I invade a command (am the eggman), I am the walrus, Newton in June we (goo goo ga joob)

I can see a command (am the eggman), I am the walrus, do you think you. (goo goo ga joob)

May the force be with you.

And what’s the deal with airline food?

This little taking went to market, this little piggy stayed on (home). This little piggy had a roast in the and (beef), and in this little piggy and (had) none. And this little piggy went in the (wee) wee meet (wee) all the way home.

Okay, the first two paragraphs turned out better thenthese test lines, but, oh well, that’s what ya get.  We are far from Star Trek-like voice communications with our ‘puters.

I’m going to wrap this up, I’m worried that my wife is going to think I’m talking to myself, so I’m turning this off now.  I have a long list of of stuff I want to post, since I haven’t really written much in the last two weeks or so, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  For now, it is time for me to go to bed.  Sorry for another boring entry, I just needed to try this software out.  I think I’ll stick with it for now.  I’ll keep you informed on my thoughts and opinions about this project.

ROFLcon - Day One

OKay, so the day after i went to the Hospital for the flu, I was in Boston (actually, Cambridge) for ROFLcon. What is/was ROFLcon? It is/was the Internet, in real life. It was a gathering of Internet celebrities, meme makers, academics and people like me who spend too much time online. Speeches were given, discussion panels where held, shows were given, and people were met. It was a good combination of education and entertainment, about culture, technology, fame, fun and fads.

There was so much more when it comes to what ROFLcon was/is about, but I’m not going to go into that any further. There are others out there who are more articulate and more interesting and better writters then I who are discussing this. Just Google ROFLcon, and on Google News you’ll find a couple pages of articles.

Today, Im just going to write about my ROFLcon experience. What I did, what I saw and what I think. I’m not a reporter, so this is by no means a full report of the weekend, just my timeline of it.

OKay, so, Friday being a work day and all, we thought traffic going into the city would be thick in the morning, and as such, we left mighty early. Mighty early. 6am early. Well, traffic wasnt so bad, and we got to the M.I.T. campus about an hour or more before the 10 am. The worst part about the trip was that it cost me $70 to fill the gas tank. (As a side note, I have decided to start walking to work from now on!)

ROFLCON ON THE MIT CAMPUS

No problems going down, or getting there. Snacks were had, my fever wasn’t too bad, and the conversation was good. I went with my friend Roe. Roe is a talker, and normally people who talk alot bother the hell out of me. But I find Roe to be an entertaining conversationalist, so it’s like have a living talk radio next to you talking about things you are interested in, rather then being next to an annoying prick, which so many “over-talkers” can be.

Anyway, we get in line to register I think we are 10th or 15th-ish. Two guys in front of us are talking. One guy is a bit annoying (and oddly, this annoying guy will keep popping up around me all weekend, and all weekend I do my best just to ignore him. Sadly, I think he was there alone, and it appeared to me that he was trying to hard to make friends. Sad, sure, but I still found him annoying.). The other guy was a reporter. Turns out he was from Wired. After talking to the annoying guy he turns to us for our take on the weekend.

I dont really remember his questions, but I remember that in my answers I mention the long tail, the theroy of the 1000 “true fans”, and the saying that instead of everyone one being famous for 15 minutes, now we can all be famous to 15 or 15 hundred or 15 thousand people, and that is what this weekend was about. To cut forward a bit, the opening speech by David Weinberger was all about these topics, and every thing I had mentioned to the reporter, Mr. Weinberger referenced by name. This made me feel smart, and like I was in the right place for me! And I think Roe was impressed with my academic ability.

DAVID WEINBERGER GIVES THE KEY NOTE SPEACH

But back to the time line. We check in. We buy our t-shirts. I’m not cool enough to buy a lunch box. We get a goodie bag with a can of Brawndo, the official guide book for the weekend (which I have since lost. If anyone can spare a copy, please let me know!), and a crazy straw! We then go into the conference hall that will hold all 500 ticket holders, and where the opening comments will be held and the first panel discussion will be.

Now, it’s barely after 10 am. Things don’t start until after noon. We decide to leave and come back. But as we turn around to go, there he is, signing in like a mere mortal (but he is so much more then that!), there he is, the legendary Tron Guy!!! Holy Fuck, this Internet thing is real, and it is here in person!

TRON GUY CHECKS IN

Something about seeing the Tron Guy, ten feet away, well, it made us a bit giddy. Up until this point, we weren’t sure what we were in for. We didn’t know if this event would be a over hyped flop, full of faux academia and pretentious discussion, or if it would be something really cool. Well, when Jay Maynard, THE TRON GUY!, walked through the doors, then we knew it was on!

We said hello to Mr Maynard, and I had my picture taken with him. He was the only “celebrity” there I did this with. I didn’t feel comfortable walking up to other people, but there is something cool about a pot-bellied guy in a glowing spandex suit that makes you just have to go up to him and say hello and ask for a picture.

ME AND THE TRON GUY, MR. JAY MAYNARD!

After meeting Mr. Maynard, we couldn’t leave. We had to see who else was going to walk in! I saw faces I knew (Bre Pettis, Steve Garfield, Andy Ihnatko -all of who where there in the crowd, they weren’t even people on any of the panels!), and I saw people who’s sites I knew, but whose face were new to me. It was all very exciting in a geeky sort of way. Plus I got a free ‘Dead Meme’ T-shirt, for Snakes on a Plane! I love me the free t-shirts!

Oh yeah, and we met moot! Roe was giddy as a school girl! It was funny. moot was cool, but seemed amazed that two no-bodies like ourselves would want to talk to him. I bet he got over that by the end of the convention. Anyway, he was funny in very subtle way. (I wont tell you what he said about getting advertisers for 4Chan, but it was classic!)

Well, the standing around watching people did start to get boring, so we killed some of the the two hours buy running downstairs to Dunkin Donuts, and by counting the media. We saw press from BBC, The Guardian, USA Today, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Rueters, Boston Globe, MSNBC, G4 and others. Downstairs, we sit outside, and are right next to Andre Baron and the crew from Rocketboom! They looked busy coordinating, so I don’t say hello. But I do sneak a pict!

ROCKETBOOMERS

Outside, we listen to a live DJ from some outdoor international festival going on, I feed a bird from my hand, and we watch little kids dance.

Then the event starts. Who kicks off the event? The MC was none other then LEEEEEEEERROOOOOOOOOOOOOY JENKINS!!! Damn, I couldn’t get my camera into video mode fast enough to catch his battle cry on video.

As I mention, gave the opening speech, about fame and celebrity in the Internet age, and how the power of the people online can now “make fame” in ways that we were unable to do only 15 years ago. It was interesting, smart and fun. Then the first panel began. The topic was about if people are able to make money in there online endeavors. Andrew from Rocketboom was up there (yes, he does okay), The Million Dollar Homepage Guy (Yes, but that was the point of page, and now that he made the money, no new cash is rolling in), the One Red Paper Clip guy (yes, he traded up from a paperclip to a house, and he got a book out of it), the Chuck Norris Facts guy (no, no money. In fact, he is being sued by Chuck Norris), one of the guys from Jib Jab (yup, big time money there), and the Marmaduke Explained guy (no money going his way.)

The discussion was interesting, but it really didn’t stay on topic once the crowd was able to start asking questions. People just wanted to ask about the projects these people do. This was a problem at other panels I went to during the weekend; they didn’t always stay on target.

So, after that ended, we had some time to kill during the lunch break. We ended up at a place called Cinderellas on Mass Ave, where we GIANT sandwiches for next to nothing. I couldn’t finish mine. But then, at this time, my fever was back big timr and I was feeling oddly, but I was trudging on.

Walking around M.I.T., or any big college campus always makes me mad. I’m angry at my parents, my teachers, my guidance counselors and all the adults in my life who let me slip through the cracks as a kid and who didn’t guide me along the path towards adulthood properly, like I feel adults have the moral obligation to do with the children under their care. I could go on about how I was an abandoned child, but i wont, but I will tell you that I get so jealous/upset/regretful when I visit big schools. Sure, i should have taken more responsibility for my own education, but damn it, at age 15 I was only 15 years old, so to all the adults in my life at that time, fuck you, you all failed me.

Okay, enough of that tangent. After the lunch break, we got in line for tickets for the ROFLcon Concert that was going to be held that night. In line, we heard our first rendition of Rick Astleys “Never Going To Give Your Up”. Before this weekend, I enjoyed Rick Rolling. Now, I’m sick of it, and I think this fad has to end. Ugh! Also, in line, I saw Leslie Hall and Matt Harding, from “Where The Hell Is Matt”.

After getting our tickets, we then went to the talk by historian Jason Scott, who gave talk about memes in the pre world wide web world. Apparently, where there has been communication technology, there have been memes. Interesting stuff, and an entertaining speaker.

JASON SCOTT

MATT AND JAY

After Jason Scott was a talk by Matt Harding and Jay Maynard about surviving internet fame. Matt said it has been easy for him. He has not had to face any negativity, because he is just a goofy guy dancing with a big grin on his face. His videos are just pure joy, and it would take some one really dark to try and crap on it. The Tron Guy, well, he has it a bit harder, as you would guess. He didn’t set out for the world to find him. He just put his picture on his site to share with friends and family, and to show the creation process. But, the world did find him, and at first, there was a lot of negativity sent his way. But like I said before, he over came this, and is stronger for it. Actually, Matt did say that “wacking morning dj’s” have been rude to him, but that’s about it. Jay said he had the same problems. And he said they’re not wacky, just assholes.

When talking about places where people gave him crap, Jay mentioned Fark. And funny enough, Drew Curtis of Fark was there in the audience. There was a funny exchange between the two, but it was all in good nature!

That was it for the academic side of the day. It was time for dinner, then we needed to kill some time before the show. We walked to Harvard Square and got some undercooked burgers. On the walk there, we decided we would be best served to skip the music show and drive home. If we stayed for the show, we would have left Boston until after midnight. This would have meant a long drive home only to have to turn around and drive back after only 3 or 4 hours sleep. Plus, we thought MC Frontalot was going to be at the show when we got the tickets, but it turns out he wasn’t going to perform, and he was the guy we really wanted to see. Plus, I was feeling really crappy at this time, and Roe was tired (he said only got 4 fours of sleep the night efore) So, we ate, and drove home. We missed a good show from what I understand, but, well, we just simply weren’t up for it. Ugh.

That was it. End day one. Day two, tomorrow.

2 Meters!?!?

A bit documentary about the making of the original computer graphics in the first Star Wars film.  A bit dull, but interesting for a Star Wars dork like myself.

A Good Idea

I just had a good idea, that started with a good question. “Sunshine4All“, a member of ‘Wish Upon A Hero‘ sent me a note about my wish. In the note, she asked…

“…in the future how many will know or even care of any one person’s existence. Well I say where are all the blogs gonna be when the author no longer cares or is around. Hmmmm wonder what will be done with them??”

Good question. My first thought about this was the practical. Two ideas came to mind. First, the data would eventually be lost, as unused accounts are closed by the hosting companies, the hard-drives the ones and zeros are stored on will be wiped and reused. Or, the second idea was that, as technology marches forward, storage memory will be come cheaper and more plentiful. The spinning disks we call hard drives today will soon become solid state, and then some other fantastical medium. I believe that soon, there will be enough space for all the ones and zeros out there, that nothing will ever be erased. And that some way, some where, all the blogs will live on, like books in a giant library, though most likely books that are rarely if ever checked out, and ones that eventually only become of interest to historical researchers.

I’ve no clue if I’m making any sense here, but those are my ideas, and they make perfect sense to me. (so there! ha!)

But, after I came to these conclusions, my mind stayed on this subject, and looked at it in another way. I started thinking about my own blog. This blog. These words you are reading now. I wondered, when I’m gone, will my family, my decedents ever find these words? Will they get the chance to read them and get to know me through this site? I kind of doubt it, especially since I don’t really say my name in these posts. (I like the anonymity!)

So, I’ve decided to try a attempt a little project. I am going to start printing and saving these posts, (and all the related links and photos), and then binding them. I’ll create a journal out of this site. I’ll turn these ones and zeros into something tangible, something I can pass along after I am gone.

But, I cant think about this too much. Heck, I have yet to share this site with my family in the here and now because fear their response (I’m a bit shy!). Now, I have to worry about the reaction of my unborn grandchildren and great grandchildren!

Anyway, I thank Sunshine4All for the great idea, and say hello to my decedents (Hello from the past! Have the robots taken over yet? Do you have a flying car yet? How many of you are named after me?). Wish me luck as I undertake this newest endeavor.

ps - why am I ending so many posts with “wish me luck”? pps - how am I going to print out video links? ppps - why do people worry about where they go after they die, but they don’t worry about where they were before they were born? pppps - i really dont like the word blog. it’s such an ugly sound.

Cover Letter

My son is going into kindergarten in the fall. I have told myself that at that time, I will leave my sucky third shift job and get back to the “real world”. While I extremely dislike my job (hate is too strong of a word), it has allowed me to stay at home during the day for the last 8 years with my kids. Besides saving money on child care, being here with my children as they grow has been beyond any financial reward, and is the greatest thing I have ever done. I may grumble about the job, the lack of sleep, and the long days when the kids are, well, being kids, but I do not regret the path I have taken. In fact, just the opposite!

Away, with the fall coming, and with both kids entering school full time, I have decided to start a job hunt. I’m taking it easy, being picky, and just looking around. I’m in no rush, it’s not like I am going to loose my current job when school starts, so I can take my time.

One of the options I am pursuing is to stick with the company I am in, but to move to a position that is a better fit for me. And today, i stumbled onto a position that is PERFECT for me. They would be insane not to hire me right away! So, what do I have to do now? I need to write a cover letter. Ugh.

Okay, here is the problem, the position is nearly the same thing I did at my last job, before I left to stay home with the kids. It is a technical oriented position (with them new fangled computers and what nots), and one I enjoyed and would love to do again. The problem is… Well… I do not have a degree or certification in this field. I am a self taught geek. I got my old job simply because I was… Well, keep reading.

At my old job, I got by by learning as I went. The manager would present me with a project, ask if I could do it, and I’d say “Not yet, but give me a few days and I’ll figure it out.” (This is where I learned the ins and outs of Linux, a skill I taught myself on the job.) But, at my last job, i was 10 years younger then I am today. While I am no means old (yet), well, not to sound ageist, but computer related jobs tend to be a younger persons world. I know I was able to get away with alot of stuff at my old job simply because I was the youngest guy on the team. Heck, i know they hired me because of my age (The older manager who hired me for the position assumed that all young guys know the ins and outs of compouters. I don’t know if she was right or wrong, but it got me the position. That and my “yes I can” aditude Now, I doubt I would be even close to being the “young guy” on the team. I fear I wont be able to charm my way into basicaly the same job I did before.
So, anyway, my whole struggle right now is, how do I write a cover letter that says “Yes, I don’t have the training and degrees under my belt, but I do have the knowledge. Trust me! And the knowledge I do not have, I am willing to learn. And I am a fast learn who is self motivated and can easily self teach.” And how do I say “Please take a chance on this old guy. I wont let you down!” How do I say all of this in a professional manner, or at least in a way that will get me an interview?

This post is pretty poorly written. I guess it reflects my struggle to write a great cover letter. Both the letter and this post are coming out quite poorly. Ugh! So, does anyone have any ideas, or can make any recommendations? Any respected resources you can recommend, or a good turn of phrase? Anything? Anyone? Help!

Frustrated >:-(

I absolutely HATE when I get flummoxed by the ‘puter!  And it’s happening now.  Here’s the problem…

I have a video file in the .mpg format, that I want to burn to a DVD, so that it will play in a regular DVD player.  I went to one of my favorite tech forums, Leoville, the site run by Leo Laporte.  The kind people there recommended a piece of software called FFMpegX.  But darn it, i can’t get it to work right.  I can’t figure out what I am doing wrong!  But I can tell you what I am doing right; I’m making coasters out of disks, that’s what I’m doing right I tells ya!

Anyway, the “learning process” and problem fixing is one of the things I enjoy most about playing with new stuff on the computer, but… I’m tired and frustrated and not happy right now about this dilemma.  It makes me feel a bit stupid!  Ugh.

Twitter

I used to play with Twitter on one of my other sites. It’s a fun waist of time, but I really don’t see it as a great communication tool. At least not the way i use it. Anyway, it’s just a fun toy, like I said.

So, i decided to set up a Twitter feed on this site. You can see it over on the right, in the upper corner. But for some reason, I can only get it to show the first post I made on Twitter. Ugh. This stuff is so frustrating. Why cant everything work the way you want it to, the first time you do it? Oh well, at least it gives me a new problem to futz with and try to figure out. The problem solving is half the fun most of the time!

UPDATE: - It works!  It appears that there is a signifigant time lag between when I post on Twitter and when it appears here.  That’s annoying, but I can live it.

iStuff

Okay, my exploration of the iLife suite has begun.  I’ve had a choppy start.  I was hoping to find some kind of tutorial when I started it (I started with iMovie), but I did not find any instructions of any kind.  I finally found the video tutorials on Apple.com, but I felt that these instuctions were a little bit lacking.  But, after some hunting and pecking, some experimenting and playing, I finally got the hang of it (after a few false starts though).

My first “project” is simply to port my old home movies on tapes onto DVD’d.  I am not attempting any tricking editining, other then to break the long tapes down into smaller segments (basically, each event or day recorded), so that when I put them on DVD, each of these smaller segments can then be chapter on the disk.  (I am also adding titles to each segment, but that’s no big deal really).  The worst thing about home movies is having to sit through, and fast forward through, hours of footage when you just want to get to one little bit.  I hope to remedey this situation once the movies on on DVD’s with chapters.

As I said, after some poking around, i finally got to the place where I felt comfortable doing what I was doing, and now know I will be able to accomplish my simple goal of porting the home movies from tape to disk.  However, my one major gripe about all this is the time it takes.  I can edit and create a little move quite quickly now, but for the movie to be prepaired for disk, well the time it takes to render (I belive that is the proper technical term) is quite slow.  I dont think this is Apples fault, and I dont think i am doing anything wrong, this is just the limitation of the technology.  Oh well, it’s still something that bothers me and is worth a gripe.

I hadn’t intended this site to become all about my journey from a PC to a Mac user.  But, it’s what i am doing right now in my life (other then the kids, bad job, not sleeping and fretting over all my debt) so it’s what i am writing about.  Once I finish the home movie project, I will attempt to create some new “original content”.  But I have to do this first.  The home movie DVD’s are to be a birthday gift for the wife next week.  (I’m hiding the new ‘puter from her till then, because even though it’s MINE, it’s also for her, because she is one who likes to surf while sitting on the couch watching TV at night.)

Mac Update

So, this is what I accomplished today…  Not Much.  I installed FlickrBooth, a program that lets your PhotoBooth pictures load right onto my Flickr page.  I like that it works for you, you don’t need to do a thing.  What i mean is that there is nothing extra i need to do when using PhotoBooth; I click to take the picture, and bamn, the picture is on Flickr.  I like my pictures to be dated, it’s an organizational quirk of mine, and this program doesn’t do this for me (nor does PhotoBooth), at least not that I can see anyway, but, what it does is so cool, well, I can live with it for now.

The other thing I did was set up my Mighty Mouse.  That took all of three minutes.  Easy, no problems.  Then, I connected an external hard-drive I had to my Airport Extreme Base Station.  Again, Apple has made networking easy.  I got the hard drive connected, and shortly there after I was able to see it and access it on my lap top.  This was great!  (Now, to just set up Time Capsule.)

The rest of my time I have been importing my favorite sites into my bookmarks.  I’m taking the opportunity to weed trough the hundreds of sites i’ve marked, and then never gone back to.  In all the world wide web, I really only visit a handful of sites daily (see my blog roll), and only a few extras on a weekly basis.

So, in conclusion, all is going good.  I’m getting more comfortable with the system, and other then a few keyboard shortcuts that are hard wired into my brain, I’ve had no problems.  I still haven’t dived into iLife yet, but soon!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!

It Came Today!!!  My MacBook is here!!!  I’m So Happy!!!  It arrived two days early even!  I feared it was going to arrive late, due to a storm coming to New England this week, but instead I was amazed to have it arrive this morning.  I’m Typing On It Right Now!!!

First impressions…  Well, it is a thing of beauty, in many ways.  I had read that Apple does an amazing job at packaging, and I found this to be true earlier this week when my AirPort Extreme Base Station and Mighty Mouse arrived.  The laptop was very much the same.  It’s amazing how much a simple design can be a work of art, and how much a strong (and positive) first impression the packaging can be.  But of course, you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.  So, let’s get into the nitty gritty…

First off, I’ve only had this thing for about 4 hours or so.  But in that shory of time, I am already feeling very comfortable with OS-X.  I’m sure that it will take some time to get to really know the ins and outs of the operating system, but man oh man, this thing is pretty smooth and easy to use.  (that said, i think I’ve done a few things “wrong”, but more on that in a minute.)  This is a great feeling, because I was worried that I would be lost when first turned on this new system.

The first thing I did was set up the accounts; an admin account, one for me, and one for the wife.  It took me a few minutes to figure this out, but the Help feature seamed to have all my answers.  More so then the help I’ve gotten from the Help files on Windows programs before.  I found this to be quite impressive.  It’s something so simple, yet amazinly smooth, and it makes a big impact on the overall system.

Next, I set up my AirPort Extreme Base Station.  This was something I was dreading more then I was getting used to OS-X.  Yeah see, as much of a geek as I am, I have a bad history when it comes to setting up wireless networks.  I have had to rely on friends before, and even profession help once!  It was always embarrassing, but I always had to ask.  I never figured out why, but I always screwed up the process, and was never able to get myself connect.  Well, not today!  It was up and running in a matter of minutes!  I did have a little scare, when the ‘puter did not see the basestation right away, but one click later, there it was, and I was online.  Bless you Apple, for getting me connected to easily and so quickly.

Next, I went to download Firefox.  I should probably give Safari a try first, but…  Well, I really like Firefox, and want to keep using it.  This is were I had my first problem.  I went to the Mozilla website, downloaded Firefox, and then I wasn’t really sure what to do.  It took a me a few minutes to figure it out, and I still think I did something wrong.  I put the Firefox file into my Applications folder, and got Firefox running, but then…  Well, I have this Firefox icon still sitting on my desktop.  How do I get rid of this?  Anyway, Firefox was running, and this was on the Admin account (which I wont use for everyday use), so I can live with it for now.  But…

This lead to my second problem.  I went to one of my other accounts to set up Firefox, and I couldn’t get it running!  There was an icon in my Applications folder, but when I tried to use, I received a message saying that the file was missing, (or something like that).  Maybe, when I tried to erase the Firefox icon from the desktop of the Admin account, I did erase it, or at least partially.  Anyway, I redownloaded Firefox, and got it running, and everything was good.  And when I went to the last of my three accounts, Firefox started right up.  No neede to redownload. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but all is good now.

So, what did I do after that?  I played with PhotoBooth!  My son and I sat on the couch for over half an hour and had fun taking funny pictures of ourselves!  Simply fun!  But now, since then, each time I take out the ‘puter, he wants to sit on my lap and make faces!  Oh well.  It’s all in good fun.  (Now, to fihure out how to get my PhotoBooth pictures to automatically load up to my Flicker Account.)

Well, that’s it for now.  Just typing.  I think I am going to take the night off of work just to play.  I still need to figure out all the fun iLife programs, and Final Cut Express.  Those are the applications I really bought this thing for after all!  I want to do it all NOW, but I know I need to pace myself.  I think I am going to be very busy for the next couple of months!  I’m so excited to jump in!

Tom Petty was right…

…the waiting is the hardest part.  I am speaking about my wait for my new-to-me computer.  My Mighty Mouse and my Airport Extreme Base Station both arrived yesterday, but the laptop will not be here until sometime between March 3rd and 7th.  Ugh.  I can’t bring myself to use this lousy old desktop in the meantime.  My disgust with this machine, and it’s lack of capabilities, has grown exponentially since I place my order with Apple.  I feel dirty for simply touching this keyboard.  That’s it, I can’t go on, I have to go take a long show and figure out a way to hibernate for a week.

MacBook

So, Apple came out with their latest generation of MacBooks and MacBook Pros this week. I have been waiting for this since October! Now, I can’t afford a new new laptop, but when the new models come out, the older versions take a price cut. AND, the prices on refurbished (meaning used) older models take an even bigger price cut. So… Well… I made a purchase.

While this was stupid, it wasn’t completely stupid, I was also blessed with a bit of luck. I was able to sell some comic books this week! Not many, but enough to pay for the computer. So, I lose some comics, I gain the laptop I have wanted for a very long time! However, truth be told, I did need to buy a new wireless base station, and I also got a wireless mouse becuase I do not like trackpads all that much. So, I did spend a little bit of money. But not that much. You can still donate come coin to me, if you want to help pay this bill. I wont mind!

With the laptop comes a couple of things I hope to accomplish… Getting my home movies onto disks and online. This is something my current Pc desktop computer can not handle. Also, I hope to stop feeling so guilty when I am on the computer when the kids are home. Now I can come out of the den and be in the same room as them, and still accomplish what I want to accomplish. And finally, I am hoping that the Mac will be just the tool I need to create more “stuff” for this site. I’ve long though there is many things I would like to, but am unable to, but with this machine, i will finally be able to. If not, oh well. (as a side note, I’m looking at a work at home job in the fall what requires two computers, so this will be needed then anyway. Maybe I can write this purchase off next year when I do my taxes as a business expense.)

Anyway, I’m just rambling now. I’m just very excited! I cant wait for it to arrive! I am a little nervous about starting from scratch with a brand new operating system. After years and years of Windows, i know it pretty much inside and out. And no matter how “simple and intuitive” OS-X is, there are still some pretty basic things I’ll need to learn. Wish me luck.

That’s it. I hate to write about myself, but hell, it’s something new to write about. I’ll let you know when my dream machine arrives. See ya then.

Happy Face!

Mars says, “Have a Nice Day!”

The Book of the Future

I want the future to hurry up and get here. It’s a bit behind schedule.  LINK

Randy Pausch

This is amazing/sad/inspiring/funny/cool/depressing/uplifting. I don’t have the words to describe the story. Do yourself a favor and watch the full 1Hr 44Mn video HERE and visit Randys site HERE, HERE and HERE for more info.  I have never hated my own laziness as much as I do after learning his story.

The Downfall of HD-DVD

I’ve been closely following the HD-DVD vs Blue Ray battle. (I want to upgrade, but I’m waiting for a real winner to emerge. I also love a good joke involving Hitler. yes, i know it’s odd, but that’s how my twisted sense of humor is. Don’t question it, just enjoy it. Anyway, I never thought these two subjects would cross paths, but they have today. Enjoy!

PS - look for other “Downfall” videos online. There are some good ones!

[Update: this is an old post. Since I wrote this, Blockbuster, Netflix and Wal-Mart have all dropped HD-DVD. Can we declare Blue Ray the winner now?]