Here are some pictures of our living room, completed, and decorated by my wife, Candy. You may recall some of the photos that I posted a few updates back showing some work we did on the living room to install a new door and create a partition separating it from the kitchen.
tHe iPad tWo, hAha
The iPad to is a fun device, and can be used for many purposes, all of which overlap with features provided by a smart phone, or a laptop. This device does not replace a smart phone because it cannot make calls and it’s data connection is only useful with a wifi network nearby. The device is also not a replacement for a computer. Actually, it requires you to have a computer to use it because you will need to sync the iPad with iTunes prior to using it for the first time, and if you wish to get music, movies, or content added to it. That does not mean you can’t download directly to it, because you can download music, movies, and apps to it from the App Store or iTunes. Just understand that if you want to add music from the collection of media that you already own, or have iTunes manage podcast subscriptions for you, it will need to sync with iTunes. Also, any and all software upgrades (iOS updates) need to be installed by syncing with iTunes. I can’t say that it is really a necessary item to have, but once you use it, you may not be able to imagine life without it.
I have found that since getting my iPad, I have spent time on it for a while each and every day. I check news apps for the latest technology related news, or local news. I have read a bit of Braham Stoker’s Dracula, on Kindle. I’ve read magazines, ebooks, and pdf’s. I’ve played lots and lots of games. I’ve watched movies. I’ve checked and written email. I’ve surfed the web. I’ve watched YouTube videos. I’ve captured video of the kids playing. I’ve made music, and I’ve had a blast spending quality time playing games and making music with my oldest son, Simon who is only two and a half. He loves the iPad and asks, “Daddy, where your iPaddy?”, whenever he’s wanting to play a game, or play drums. It’s really a great device, with some really great features.
MOBILITY
One of the thing I like the most about the iPad is its battery life. It’s been reported that the iPad 2 has a battery life of 10 hours. Now, I’m not going to lie to you and say that I’ve sat there and watched the clock while using my device and calculated the potential lifespan of the charge. Nah, I was too busy having fun. I do know that both my laptop, and my Android phone can barely last a couple of hours without charging when I am using them for doing the same types of activities. I’ve never felt like I could really do anything with wither one without sitting near an outlet and having the charger at the ready unless it was only going to be for a short time. The iPad is freeing in this way. I can take it with me to any room in the house, or on the porch, or even take it to work for the day, and not worry about bringing the charger along.
DISPLAY
I’ve had lots of fun putting that Battery charge to the test by watching movies. I can say that the iPad has a beautiful, vibrant 720p display screen that just begs you to play a movie on it. It’s a really nice size, especially when compared to a smart phone, or a media player screen. The screen is durable, and I’ve read that Apple has managed to make it stronger and thinner than the screen used on the first iPad. If I had one complaint about the screen, it would be that it’s not necessarily shaped in such a way as to make it optimal for widescreen movie viewing. The form factor is more handy for reading or browsing the web, but since this device is multi-purpose, it’s really not fair to make a judgement solely on viewing from one aspect. So, all in all, I think the screen is great, and will be perfect for most uses.
APPS
I’ve been an Android owner since last summer, and before that I had a blackberry phone, so the concept of apps is nothing new to me. I have always heard that the number of apps available for the iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) was immense, but I had no Idea just what that meant. Yes, Android has managed to crank out a ton of apps for it’s market over the past few years, but the App Store is redonkulous! There have to be an average of 30 apps for any one type of function that you are looking for. I have had no trouble finding Apps that will do anything that I want, the only trouble is deciding which one to download. I’ve found that my best apps come to me by word-of-mouth or by reading reviews from iPhone/iPad websites. I know that Apple is still working on the best way to rank apps in their app store, but rest assured, if you want you iPad to do something, it’s like they say, “there’s an App for that.” Also, if there is not an app for what you want to do, it’s probably out there from other sources for jailbroken devices. Even though the iPad 2 is not capable of being “jailbroken” yet, I’m certain that somebody will figure out how to do that, and then anyone who is into hacking will probably be able to do so. At this point, I do not see a reason to hack the iPad, but it might be useful if it gave you access to the file system.
Cut the Rope
Garageband's Drums
OTHER FEATURES
I’m not going to go into any of the other features in detail, but if I fail to mention anything you are welcome to ask me about it here or on Facebook or Twitter. I’ve never been an audiophile, and since I’m not picky, I will just say that the speakers work, and headphones sound adequate with the device. The screens are intuitive, and navigation on the iPad is easy enough. I happen to think that the only issues I had with navigation stem from the fact that I was just accustomed to Android. The rules are simple. Tap on something to interact with it, swipe to move around, and use the one button to go back. There are instructions for anything else, and everything is easy to learn. When you are using the device, certain apps may notify you that something happended, for instance, maybe you are reading an article, and you get an email, you will see a pop-up notification asking if you want to go there now and read it, or ignore it for now. That’s not uncommon when using a smart phone. Android does the same thing, but one thing I like about how Android devices do this is rather than pop up in the middle of you screen, they often, just place an icon in the status bar, and then you know you have a message, and you can check it at your leisure. I will say that if you are watching a Video, and all of a sudden CNN has a breaking news story about Lady Gaga’s fued with “Weird” Al Yankovick, you can get slightly annoyed. I don’t know for certain, but I’ve read that there is a solution for this in the works for a future update of iOS.
PRICE
The iPad 2 starts at $499.99. When you compare this price to a netbook, smart phone, laptop, or desktop computer, you will see that it’s pretty steep, but you’d be hard pressed to find a dual core netbook running with a 16 GB solid state drive for that price. Apple was the first company to release a tablet like the iPad, and was able to set the pricing. If it wasn’t for them, who knows what the Android tablet makers would be charging for their entry level wifi tablets. As it stands, they have to be in the $500 range to even compete.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When it comes to the competition within the tablet market, Apple is the leader by a long shot. Granted, they had a year head start on every other manufacturer. The iPad 2 is in high demand right now, even though it came to market over a month ago. The iPad 2 is a solid tablet, capable of handling all of the tasks you enjoy like browsing the Internet, playing games, watching movies and TV Shows, and creating content. It may lack some of the features that are soon to be available on some of the more ambitious Android tablets that have been released, or are “soon” to be releasing, but rest assured, all of the features that are available for this tablet are well supported, and will continue to be for years to come. Apple is able to insure this because they have the advantage of being both they software and hardware developer for the iPad. None of the other Tablets can offer this peace of mind. Dollar for dollar, I can say without a doubt that the iPad 2 is the best tablet to own right now. Go grab yourself one, and have some fun!
Image via Wikipedia
So, Candy and I have been busy lately. We have decided to commence working on remodeling our home. Our house was build in the late 60′s or early 70′s. I can’t remember which, but since we have moved in we’ve replaced all of the appliances, the water heater, the air conditioner, and the garage doors. We have added on a car port, and a patio cover, and we have remodeled the bathrooms and our bedroom (which was done last year). This year we were just going to kick back and take it easy, but we got inspired to do more.
With the help, and no interest financing (haha) ofHome Depot, we went and got some supplies, and got to work on the living room. The first two minor projects are ones that will alter the shape of our living room floor. You see, we put carpet down six years ago when we moved in and the living room carpet is now worn out. We would both like to have laminate flooring in the living room, but the difficult part is the living room shared a wall with the dining room. There was no separation between the two. Of course we plan on remodeling both, but not at the same time. So the question for us was, “How do we separate the two, and if we do paint and crown molding, are we going to have to put the same in both rooms?” We definitely needed a way to separate the two, and we decided that a partition would be best.
Subproject 1: Partition
We bought some 2 x 4′s and some drywall and screws, and built a partition that extended the current partial wall over to the shared wall thus separating the ceilings and shared wall. Pictures are as follows. (Note: first picture was taken after we put up the first 2 x 4.)
before partition facing living room
before partition facing kitchen
The partition
The second project that would alter the shape of the floor was a big one that I had been putting of for years. We needed to replace our front door and the screen door. The living room would not look remodeled with the old front door. When we moved in, we were fortunate to have a front door, and my father-in-law James was gracious enough to give us his old solid wooden one and his old screen door. He even installed them for us! The doors worked fine, they looked decent, and for six years they served us well, but the door frame was in bad shape and it was prone to letting our air conditioned air escape. It was time for some new doors, and I knew that this would need to be done before we laid a new floor so that we would know whether or not we needed to alter the floor.
Subproject 2: Doors
We bought some new doors and supplies from a guy named Dudley at the local Home Depot. Dudley rocks, by the way. He has been helping us with our projects for years, and he remembers us when we come in because we are always looking at the doors. I will say that installing the entry door was very difficult, and I had a small problem with a fiberglass door being scratched on the backside where we couldn’t see in until we were ready to install it, but Home Depot was good to let us return it, and we even ended up upgrading our original purchase to a textured and stainded fiberglass door. Pictures are as follows.
The old door
The new door and storm door
Apple iPad 2
Ok, so everyone knows that I have been making a big deal about my switch to Apple the next time I replace my primary computer. I have pretty much decided that I want a MacBook Pro. The only question is when, and I’ve decided to wait a little longer. I knew that I still wanted a new toy, and felt like a tablet was something that might be fun. I can honestly say that there is no “need” for a tablet. Everything you can do on a tablet can also be done on a computer or a decent smart phone. As a matter of fact, I’ve spend countless hours playing with my Android phone in the evenings after Candy and I put the kids to bed. I really enjoy reading news articles, playing games, watching movies, and reading my email on the device, but I have always thought it would be nice to have a bigger screen to use for those purposes, and the great thing about a tablet is that the keyboard is not there to get in the way when all you want to do is relax and read.
I decided that a tablet was definitely for me, and the only question remaining was, “Which tablet?” With all of the new Android tablets coming out, and the iPad 2 recently coming out, I knew that there would be lots of options to consider even if they were not all available for sell just yet. I have been watching my rss feeds for months concerning information on the Motorola Xoom, and had recently seen that the Xoom would be available soon in a Wifi only format. I had no interest in signing up for a new contract that would only be used on a device that would normally be within range of my home wireless network. I also knew that the iPad and iPad 2 were available in a Wifi-only model, So I decided to start comparing these three devices.
When I was out shopping with the family one day at the local Best Buy, I decided to take a look at the iPad 2 display unit. It was really cool looking. It was small and comfortable to hold with a vibrant screen, and the apps on it looked amazing. So I immediately marched over to the customer service desk to find out when they would have some in stock, and was told that I would be able to sign up on a waiting list for one when they became available again, but they had no idea when more would come in. In case you have been living under a rock, it is no secret that the iPad 2 is incredibly hard to get a hold of right now, and it may be months before the supply catches up with the demand for them. Back to my story. I was not ready to buy a tablet just yet, but I wanted the option to buy one before next Christmas, so I happily signed myself up to wait for an iPad 2, and left to do more research. On to the Motorola Xoom.
The features on the Xoom looked quite impressive. It was running Android’s Honeycomb (3.0) OS, it had an HD widescreen display front and rear cameras, an SD card reader, 32 GB of storage, and a dual core processor. It looked to me like it was going to be a very nice tablet. I decided to look into the Xoom further, and read some reviews that had been written about the 3G Xooms that were released earlier this year. I was also sure to check out everything that I could comparing the Xoom to the iPad 2. I learned that overall the Xoom was a solid device, and the only main complaints had to do with the price, the lack of flash and 4G LTE upon release, and The card reader was was not working, and was supposedly going to be fixed by a future patch released by Motorola or Google. I figured that these few dings weren’t that bad, especially considering that most of them were temporary problems, and half of them wouldn’t even affect the WIFI version. I knew that I liked my Android phone, and that I was happy with being able to access the file system on it and play any sort of audio/video file I wanted. So I decided to pre-order a Xoom from Amazon. I knew that I had a week or so until the tablet was to be released, and I could take that time to research my decision further.
Motorola Xoom
I saw lots and lots of reviews and head-to-head comparisons of the iPad and the Xoom. I was surprised to see that the iPad was often seen as a superior tablet to most reviewers that I would consider to be more neutral on the iOS/Android subject. I couldn’t believe that a tablet that was likely to be tied to iTunes and locked down would be desired over an “open source” alternative like the Android. I thought that I had made the right decision, and felt good about it up until the day that I received a notice from Amazon that my Xoom would be arriving in just 4 days. Then it happened…
What happened was, I had read an article just minutes before my email from Amazon had arrived. The article was taking about how Google was going to be holding back releasing the Honeycomb source code to developers. It speculated that Google needed to lock down the Android platform to prevent further fragmentation (caused by multiple versions of the OS having to be supported on multiple devices). I immediately began to wonder if my tablet purchase was going to become less valuable. Would the Android community that had developed such great Android ROMS (redesigned and tweaked operating systems) as Cyanogen or Bionix be able to get their hands on an official Honeycomb build for the Xoom and if so, when?
I was already hoping that the android community might be able to come up with a solution to the SD card slot that was inoperable, but now it seemed that that may never be fixed. I had heard from a friend of mine just a few days before that a similar tablet to the Xoom had been on sale recently for half the price of the Xoom. Sure enough, when I went to look up the details on it, I realized that that device had pretty much the same internal components components as the Xoom and it had been on sale for that price. Was the Xoom really worth what I was about to spend? So many questions came up in my mind. I started to think about my last electronics device that I had purchased to stand out from the crowd and be different, and there again I was reminded of what a mistake that was. My Zune had never been what the iPod has become. I was doubting my own decision about purchasing and Android Tablet, so the next day, I cancelled my pre-order.
After cancelling, I felt good. Like I had done something really smart. I continued to compare tablets, and thought to myself that it would be good for me to get an iPad becasue that might be a good way to get started with Apple products before going out and spending so much on an Apple laptop. I wanted to get a device that had lots of apps that were useful now, and that was going to be relevant now. I didn’t want to buy something obscure and base my decision on what I hope that it would be at some point in the future. I decided that the iPad was for me, and so, I went and bought myself and iPad 2, and I couldn’t be happier.
A few days later, I went back to the Best Buy and saw a Xotorola on display, and I picked it up to compare to my iPad. I noticed that the screen seemed much smaller, and darker. The Xoom felt like it was not made to be as sturdy as the iPad. It felt much heavier and clunkier overall. It was made from thick plastic, like a kid’s toy. I was not impressed. I am glad, that for once, I finally stepped back from my misconceptions about Apple, their iTunes platform, and their devices, and decided to try something different. I have learned that even though the iPad is not perfect, it is the best tablet out there for me. I really have enjoyed the nice selection of apps, both free and paid. I like reading, playing games, and watching movies on it. I am enjoying the larger screen, and that’s what I wanted all along. I do not have to wait fro the device to be completed before I can enjoy it, and I don’t have to worry about whether or not it will be supported with future software, or accessories. It seems like now, my only issue is convincing others that I am not an Apple fanboy. Check back soon for a full review of my new iPad 2.
Xoom vs iPad
Image via Wikipedia
OK, so last week I dropped the blog bomb. For anyone who knows me, and didn’t already know about my desire to switch to an Apple Macintosh computer I’m sure that my last blog was a surprise. Historically, I’ve never been a fan of Apple products. I have always owned PC’s running Windows software. I waited for what I thought was a viable competitor to the iPod to come out before I decided to purchase a personal media player. I decided to get the first and the most recent generations of Zune players from Microsoft, and consequently, I have read just this week that the Zune hardware may cease to exist. I have mocked Apple and it’s products for years and years, and now I’m staring at Apple MacBook Pros on Amazon on a daily basis and asking myself, “How could this happen?” And that, my friends, is exactly the story that I am going to tell today. This is this is my personal story of how I was engulfed in the hype machine that is everything Apple.
It all started a couple of years ago. My family and I were at a kid’s birthday party and a mutual friend happened to be there with his family. He is Certified Cisco Network Engineer, and I am a computer programmer, so when everyone else was busy, it was natural for us to talk about tech. Troy is one of those people who just strikes me as very smart, and not just because of what he does for a living, because he’s not someone who I would consider capable of being caught up in the hype. In the past when I would forward some dumb email about a new computer virus that was destined to take down everyone’s computer, Troy was the only person to respond with a link to Snopes.com exposing the email as a hoax, or some rational explanation as to why that email made no sense. I respected this guys opinion, and always liked to hear him talk about what his opinion was on the latest hardware was, and how he was implementing it. So, naturally when he mentioned the word “Mac” I thought he was joking, or maybe he had lost his mind, or maybe he had just won the lottery and ran out shiny things to buy.
I decided not to question my friend at this birthday party about his latest purchase, and managed to listen to how much he loved his new computer without one singe outburst or any anti-mac tirades (Yeah, I was that bad). I went on after that day not giving much thought to Apple products other that the occasional snub as I was sure to purchase hardware that I presumed was superior. Products like my Microsoft Zune, and my Android smartphone. Last summer, I decided to write a few articles about Android apps as a way to get involved in the Android community, and practice my writing. It was fun for a while. I compared apps and posted screenshots, and even managed to shoot some video for the reviews. I got really into it, and realized that not only was I able to shoot video, and I had the know-how to edit the videos into something really spectacular, but that’s where the wheels fell off. When I went to edit said videos on the laptop that I currently own, I realized that trying edit movies was going to require a beefier computer. I was not even able to cut a few seconds out of a short two minute video and watch the clip. I would usually just see a still image and hear some jerky audio. The dual-core-2GB-of-Ram Toshiba that I had was not going to make this enjoyable, and after that, writing articles with video just felt like a waste of time. I decided then that it was time to find a new laptop, a laptop that was going to make video editing less of a pain.
So I was off in search of a video editing beast. I knew that my current status as a dad with two young children required me to get a portable machine, not a bulky desktop pc. I wanted to find the best of the best laptops; one that had plenty of power to edit video, and all of the features that I would require of my main workhorse. One of the first things I decided to do was post on Facebook to see if any of my friends who liked technology had any suggestions. It was not long before I got lots of helpful replies, and when I went to see the suggestions, I was overwhelmed with the number of responses urging me to look at Macs. I was surprised to say the least, and thought to myself, that since Macs always seem to be geared more towards the “artsy-fartsy” (it’s a technical term) crowd, maybe I had a need to check the Apple computer out afterall. At the very least, I needed to rule them out as an option in my search for a new computer.
One of the first people I decided to contact about Macs, given my lack of knowledge about them was my friend Troy. He had moved off far away since the day he had first mentioned his Mac computer to me, so I decided to send him some private messages on Facebook about what made him decide to buy a Mac, what his current thoughts were about his computer selection, and how much he didn’t realize that I was not wanting a Mac. His responses were lengthy. Troy went on an on in detail about how much he loved his Mac, how he liked the way it worked, the simplicity and design of the hardware, how he thought it seemed to be more secure if only for the fact that there were fewer hack targeting the Apple machines at the time, and how he understood where I was coming from. You see, Troy had been in my shoes. When I had mentioned that I had considered running Linux in the past because I really didn’t like Windows Vista, and wasn’t sure about buying a new Microsoft OS, he said he knew what I meant. He had considered running Linux himself, but didn’t see the need it for everyday average use. He had come upon a good deal on a Mac at the time, and decided that he’d give it a try, and he never looked back. After reading Troy’s replies, I decided that in the future I would honestly consider getting a Mac, and that I would take advice from others into consideration.
A few days later, when I asked my friends at work if they could help me spec out a decent laptop for video editing, I was once again caught off guard. It turns out that two of the guys I regularly eat lunch with had recently bought Macs, and both of them were pleased with their machines. One of the guys even took me over to his desk and showed me his own MacBook Pro that he had brought in from home. My first impression was, “That’s it?”, it was so plain, yet It was really well made, and the simplicity of the design was refreshing. No unnecessary web navigation buttons, no media player keys, just a keyboard. The casing on the machine was made of actual metal, and not plastic. It seemed quite sturdy, and solid, unlike my current laptop casing that can torque when handled, and had even had pieces of it crack off. The MacBook Pro was actually really nice. He then showed me how well it handled launching Photoshop and editing pictures, and I was sold. I decided that I had to find one of these for myself. Since that day I have been keeping up the latest news on Apple products like I always do for all other tech gadgets, and I was sure to take notice when Apple released their latest MacBooks last month.
In my last post, I wrote about my experience trying out one of the new 2011 MacBook Pros at the Apple Store, and since then, my wife and I have been planning for the actual purchase of the laptop. Some may call my change of heart an awakening, others may liken it to joining a cult, but whatever the case, the decision was mine to make, and it will be mine to live with. Or at least, it’s mine to live with until I decide to upgrade again in the future.
Image via CrunchBase
Anybody who knows me well knows that I’ve never liked Apple products. I’ve always had a difficult time holding back my opinion on iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and the “people” who buy them. I have pictured them all as mindless, hopeless, turtle-neck-wearing, Starbucks-sucking, cash-dispensing, easily-influenced sheep. Is that fair? No, but I felt like it was my way of justifying why anyone in their right mind would pay the boatload of extra cash required to own such shiny electronic status symbols. I have been a proud .Net Developer, and I have had no intention of ever becoming caught up in all the hype. Yet last weekend, I did the unthinkable. After months of internal struggle and information seeking, I visited my local Apple Store.
So, what brought me to change my mind about Apple is a story for another post or three, but I had already gotten the idea in my head that I wanted to look at one of the new 17″ Macbook Pro laptops. I have kept up with all the recent news on Macbooks for the last several months, and that is the laptop that I have chosen to most likely purchase. First of all, I had no idea that we even had an Apple Store in Oklahoma, but I was probably the only person who didn’t know because it seemed to me like everyone else in Oklahoma City was already there on the day I stopped by. There were people everywhere. All over the place. The were playing with the nicely displayed Apple products, and working on their own laptops with the help of the “geniuses” (glorified geek squad) on site. The amount of people gathered around the tables near the “Genius Bar” was hard to believe, and it seems like everyone else in there was playing with the iPads. My first thought was, “OMG! I will never get any help in here, because it’s too busy in here. I should just leave.”, but I decided to stick with my game plan of looking at a laptop, and went looking for the 17” Macbook Pro.
My attempt to find the device on my own failed because I was not sure which one was for certain the 17 inch model. That’s when John the genius asked if he could help me. I wasted no time and asked to see a new 17″ Macbook Pro, and he took me over to a laptop that had two young boys planing on it. He politely asked them to let us have a look at it, and I was finally able to view the machine that I’d been reading about.
As I looked at the machine I thought that it was rather simple, and yet quite beautiful. It was a minimalistic work of art. Yes, I know PC lovers, it sounds stupid, and I never thought I’d be uttering such words about and Apple product either. Nonetheless, I was blow away by how nice it looked, and how it looked so small even though it was the largest laptop in Apple’s line. It was much more compact than my 17” Toshiba at home. I was impressed, and I was looking forward to interacting with it.
John was still there with me and on the way over he had asked me why I was coming in to look at the laptop. I had told him that I was a PC user who was thinking about making the switch to Mac, and I had noticed that he immediately looked excited to hear that. I though maybe because he was glad to see another client won by Apple, but I quickly realized he thought this was his opportunity to sign me up for one-to-one personal tech support, and extended warranties. Both services did not appeal to me because as I am quite familiar with computers, and I feel confident in my abilities to figure things out using my powers of Google search. I was also not interested in tacking another $500 onto the final price of the laptop that I was not even planing on purchasing that day. I almost chuckled when he asked how I planned to learn to use the laptop. I simply said, “I’m a computer programmer by trade. I’m sure that I can figure it out.” I also found it odd that he asked me why I thought I needed the 17″ Macbook Pro. He asked me if it was just because it was bigger, and I said that I of course wanted the biggest screen. He then asked if I understoold the difference in the Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, and I informed him that I indeed understood that they were quad core processors, and that there were generally speed enhancements with each level. I really don’t know what the guy was getting at. Was he trying to down-sell me? Maybe he was trying to save me a few hundred bucks so that I could buy his service plans. Whatever the case, I didn’t like it because it made me feel like he was telling me he didn’t think I could afford this computer, and a salesman should never underestimate the ability of someone to pay for what they want. Overall, John was very helpful and informative about what services the Apple store provided, and told me to ask him if I had any questions for him.
In a short while, John walked away and I was left with the computer that I had come to see. Now, I haven’t used a Mac since I was in Jr. High, and things have changed quite a bit since then. That was back in the day when a 2880 modem was all you needed to hit the BBS systems and chat your heart out. I had a few simple tasks to complete in mind, and I was ready to try them out. Immediately I used the touchpad to navigate to one of the icons on the launcher bar at the bottom of the page. I double tapped on the touchpad and nada. Nothing happened. “What? I double clicked? Why didn’t something launch? Is there something wrong with this new Mac?” I tried to do the same with a few more program icons, and still nothing. Finally, when I pressed down harder, I noticed that the touchpad had some give to it, and I realized that this was the “click” action.
Using my newly found powers of “clicking”, I was immediately able to launch a program from the launcher bar, and there I was, on the screen in High Definition. I could see a huge grin on my face because for one, I had not planned on launching anything that was using the built-in HD camera, and two, I had realized just how gorgeous the resolution of this screen was. After closing down the iChat ap, I launched Garageband (music mixing software) and Safari (Apple’s in-house browser). I played a bit with the Garageband app, making some noise, and that was fun, but it was not really my thing. I then decided to check out YouTube and GameTrailers to try and see how the processor handled HD video streaming, but I was quickly annoyed to see that the display models did not have flash installed, and they did not allow non-employees to install software. You might say in a sense that it was like an iPhone, flashless! As an Android phone owner, I had to throw that one in there.
So after seeing that flash was not available I decided to shut down the Safari window by clicking on the red dot on the LEFT-HAND side of the window and then I opened Apple’s email program. Now, I am an avid fan of Google’s Gmail, and I use it every day. I have no idea how well this email client will handle gmail, but I though that the setup of this client was fantastic! Whether or not it was the crystal clear screen or just the program itself, I was truly wanting to use this to read my own email, and not the dummy ones put there by the sales staff. I had done my research, and I was ready to hit the road.
My assessment of the Apple Store overall is that it was a cool, trendy place, and I’m not a cool, trendy guy, but the customer focus was obvious, and that made it nice. The frenzy created in that place was amazing. It had people clamoring all around to buy the latest do-dad to add to their current apple products. As far as the laptop was concerned, the hardware and software across the board had managed to amaze me, and I left the store wanting a Macbook Pro even more that I had imagined that I would. Now I realize that it’s time to save up a little more coin, look over the budget again, and make room for this beast at home.
So, how does this work?
Hi everyone. I know that I’ve been extremely quiet on my blog lately, but I’ve just been really busy. I need to do some serious remodeling to this place. Hopefully I’ll get more time soon. I recently dropped some freelance work that I was doing, and that might help.
TMONEWS has a video of the phone that I plan to get next week being unboxed! Yes, I am a nerd! I can’t help it, but you have to admit, it looks pretty cool!
Over last weekend Candy and I actually got a chance to work on the bedroom remodeling project of ours. On Saturday, we got to staining. We stained 3 interior doors and the trim, and we also stained over 140 feet of trim. I hate to brag, but we did a good job. As if that wasn’t enough, on Sunday, we got out there in the backyard and polyed all of that stained wood. Thank goodness we have a big shed, or we’d be in trouble. I am excited about remodeling the room. I think the trim is going to look great once we get it all placed on some freshly painted walls. I just need to take my time and do a GOOD job measuring so that when I actually make the miter cuts, I won’t have pieces that don’t match the walls. I’ve done that before, and adding in pieces here and there just doesn’t look good.
I have started working on Candy’s photography site. I have created a logo, I’ve made a layout, and I’ve scouted some nice WordPress plug-ins to make things as simple as possible for me to build, and her to maintain. I have a hard time finding opportunities to code on on-the-side projects at home. Things like that take time. I suppose if I was charging for the site, I might be more motivated to get it done quickly. Maybe I will have a few rainy weekends, and then I won’t mind staying indoors to work on the website. Maybe I’m just used to having a desk and dual monitors. Whatever the case, I’m gonna’ get it done pretty soon because I want to see Candy’s photos online. She does a great job on her photography, but I took the pictures of our boy Isaac in his Beastie Boys outfit!
