Finally

Posted by Evan in Computers, My Favorite Posts, What's new with me?

My stomach problems are gone and things are back to normal. I couldn’t be much happier. Now, if only I could find a way to make my grass stop growing and always look beautiful. Oh well, another day.

I’ve been doing more computer technical support for friends lately and it’s made me ever more confident that there are much better options out there than PCs. It’s amazing that people are willing to put up with Windows and the slew of problems that come along with it JUST BECAUSE that’s what everyone else is using. Do some research people, come on… You can get any apps that you want, they will work better, and you’ll enjoy using those programs more. AND IT’S EASIER TO USE!!!!! It should be a no-brainer. But it isn’t. And that burns me up.

Here’s how I think of it: It’s like going up to someone and having this conversation…

Jerry: “Hey Bob, did you know that you can have everything you want absolutely free?”
Bob: “No, I didn’t but thanks anyway, I’d rather have nothing at all than something.”

WHY!!!! Don’t tell me cost, because you can get a Mac for about the same price as a PC. Don’t tell me software, already covered that one… Basically don’t tell me anything, because I already know you’re wrong. Case closed.

Apple unveils new iMac

Posted by Evan in Apple, Computers

For the past few weeks I’ve been very excited about the upcoming release of the new Apple iMac. I’ve been pondering silently whether the new computer would come out the first part of September or would Apple torture me by delaying their launch until the later part of September? I woke up this morning and turned on the computer and much to my surprise there was an article on Yahoo’s front page about Apple’s new iMac being announced in Paris.

I quickly went to Apple’s website so I could see photos of it and I was impressed to say the least. While the design isn’t exactly perfect, they’ve managed to fit an entire computer into the space a flat-panel monitor usually takes.

While the computer seems very nice, the only problems I have with it are the video card and the head-on view. They’re still only offering the GeForce FX 5200, which just won’t cut it if you’re doing any games or video work. As for the head-on view, there’s a large amount of blank space at the bottom of the machine that looks wasted and makes the computer appear a little unbalanced.

I’ve been planning on getting an Apple for quite some time and I’ve been holding off to see what the new iMac would be like before deciding on which machine to purchase. So, has the new iMac earned my $$? Not sure yet… I can get a Dual 1.8Ghz Powermac for about the same price as the 20-inch iMac. However, then I have to turn around and buy a monitor for it… I’d prefer the raw processing power and the expandability of the PowerMac, I think. Not sure, have to think on it a little.

Either way, I want to buy a Mac and soon. I’m beginning to acquire some home recording equipment to start a simple and cheap home studio, and the Mac is my centerpiece.

In other news, I’m currently looking to purchase a guitar effects processor. I’m bidding on one at eBay and I really hope that I get it. It’s sort of a dream-come-true. When I was in high school, I played in a band and the other guitarist had this effects unit that I just loved. The only problem is that it was around $500 and I couldn’t afford it. Now, many years later, it’s old news and I can get one for less than $100.

The unit is basically an all-in-one special effect unit for the guitar. It has lots of different effects that alter the sound of the guitar. I mostly plan on using the unit for home recording, but who knows where it would home in handy.

First experience with a LAN

Posted by Evan in Computers

I was bored this Saturday. Very bored. I had spent most of the day playing Warcraft III by myself and I was getting pretty tired of it. That’s when the idea hit me. I had been poking through the menus in Warcraft and noticed that there was a LAN (Local Area Network) option. This sounded fun. I would be able to battle against someone in real life… The only downside is that they would have to be at my house and they would have to have their own computer… That’s where my brother-in-law comes in. I went over to Jamie’s house and we gathered his computer hardware (including a huge 50lb monitor, we were dedicated) and brought it over to my house.

I did a little reading online but wasn’t able to successfully connect the two computers together using a cable between our network cards (as a couple of articles stated this was possible). So, after several hours of frustration and fruitless labor, we went out to buy a hub or switch. After having no luck at Wal-Mart (not my idea to go there in the first place) we decided to go to Office Max. We found a D-Link switch for $30 and that was a wonderful purchase. We got home, plugged it in, hooked both of our computers to it and voila! It worked. We were now able to play against each other. It was pretty cool.

So this got me thinking. Since I didn’t pay for the switch it isn’t mine, but I know that I want a way to do home networking (not necessarily for now, but later). I had some money in PayPal from some stuff that I recently sold on ebay so I got on ebay and got some equipment. I purchased a router/switch (so I can have multiple computers online at once) and a newtork card (because mine doesn’t work and I’ve been using a USB to ethernet converter).

I’m mostly looking to the future. Kristen and I are both online a lot and we plan on buying a Mac later this year or so. Once we have the new computer I’d like to have them both hooked up so we can be online at the same time and also be able to play games and other fun stuff like that. So, I’m taking steps.

I’m sure that I’ll have some other things related to this once my hardware comes in the mail. I’ll write back soon.

Web browsing

Posted by Evan in Computers

I think you can tell a lot about a person from looking at the web sites that they browse. Well, I’ve decided to list out some websites that I visit pretty much every day so you all can get a sense of just what I read and look at. They are in no particular order.

Computers:
- http://www.slashdot.org
- http://www.macrumors.com
- http://macslash.org
- http://www.wired.com/news/mac/
- http://www.apple.com/ (I like to read hardware descriptions for the G5 and different displays)

Others:
- http://news.yahoo.com (I like to browse through the different news categories)
- http://news.google.com (I like to browse through the different news categories)
- http://www.theonion.com (very funny sometimes)
- http://www.imdb.com (to get information about movies)
- http://forums.christianity.com (sometimes interesting)

Those are some of the most popular ones with me. Have fun.

There are some more that I know that I’m forgetting, but I think I’ve covered the important ones.

2004 Macworld Expo Keynote

Posted by Evan in Apple, Computers, What's new with me?

Well, the 2004 Macworld Expo was yesterday and it was amazing. The keynote address was given by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He took time to reflect on the history of Apple and the Mac and then announced some new and upcoming products. I was most excited by their new application, GarageBand, which is part of the iLife suite. You kinda have to be a fan of audio production-related software to really appreciate it. It basically does all of the same things as a $300 application for around $25. It’s quite amazing. They had John Mayer out to help them demo it and that alone was pretty cool.

They also annouced the new iPod mini, which is a cheaper version of the iPod aimed at the high-end Flash MP3 Player market. People are a little unimpressed with the pricin structure of the iPod line, but I can see a niche for it in there. The basic problem people have is that the price is too close to a model that has 3 times the storage space. You can get the 4Gb iPod mini for $249, or you can get a 15Gb iPod for $299. Who knows how people will react to this…

They also announced a few other new items, but I was mostly interested in GarageBand.

There’s not a lot new going on right now either (why do I feel like I have to say that a lot on here…). Kristen’s getting into student teaching and spending a lot more time away from home as a result. I’m doing more work around the house to try to balance things out, and it’s going pretty well right now.

We’re getting very excited about the changes Kristen’s teaching job will bring to us when this Fall rolls around. We know that money isn’t important, but we’ve also been living a very tight lifestyle for a long time now and we’re ready for a change. Luckily we’ve had a lot of help from family, it’s been wonderful.

BSF is back in full swing again and I have a renewed interest. The lesson has been somewhat slow at points (at least compared to last years John study) and it was hard to keep going. However we’re now getting into the minor prophets and I’m enjoying it more and more.