Fiat 500 Abarth

Can I tell you how freaking excited I am about Fiat-Chrysler bringing the Cinquecento Abarth edition to the US? SO EXCITED. I’m already trying to save my few pennies.

I think I NEED this guitar.

Vox Virage Double-Cut Semi-Hollowbody

Go read about it on Musician’s Friend »

Taken this morning with the new 50D we got at work. Also with a 580EX II speedlight.

Anyone else notice the idiotic Mac v. PC flame wars going on again? I don’t want to add to it–in fact, I didn’t even want to pay notice to it at all. But people are dumb and I’m tired of them being so.

Disclaimer: I’m a Mac user. But I’m sure you knew that.

I must say though, Windows 7 is looking mighty nice. I’m excited to play with the next release candidate. But will it make me switch back to a Windows PC? Probably not. I’ve chosen my plight in life and I’m much more content now, using OS X on my MacBook Pro, than I ever was using a PC.

Windows Desktop with BlackBox circa 2003

In high school and first three years of college I was a total PC guy. I built computers quite often, went down the computer fair in Pomona, CA, overclocked… all of it. Even dual booted Linux a few times, trying to get used to Slackware and Dropline. I did a lot of open source, used various shells (I loved blackbox for a while), blah blah blah. I was a PC nerd.

But I always liked Macs. Junior year of high school was my first significant introduction with the platform. I had a video editing internship at the local megachurch and we used a Media-100 editing rig with a PowerMac. At school, in computer graphics class, we had the first and second series of iMacs to do editing, photoshopping, etc. on. And I loved them. In fact, the more I used those Macs, the more I liked them. Especially after OS X released.

When I worked at a camp we did our video editing on a PowerMac as well, in Final Cut Pro 2 (horrible software!). So I used the tool fit for the jobs. I built my desktop PCs, but after working at our college’s IT Helpdesk on so many Dell laptops I quickly decided that I wouldn’t by a name-brand Windows-based laptop. Too many problems with them. But I’ve had minimal problems with my Macs.

So the point: Stop Hating! It’s a computer. Just because someone has a different preference than you doesn’t make it bad. Macs are not inherently better than PCs or vice versa. Macs are better for me and the way I use a computer in the same way the Windows PCs are better for some programmers. Design-wise, Apples locked that objectively. But if you don’t care about design or UI, it doesn’t matter.

This isn’t 1997. The flame wars are done. No matter how much Microsoft or Apple are trying to make you believe they aren’t, the simple fact is that it doesn’t matter. You buy and use what you buy and use, and you are not obligated to justify it.

I got a NAS!

My D-Link DNS-321 came yesterday and is running well. Although… I haven’t put any data on it. I’ve sort of been messing with fun plugs and features and stuff.

The greatest benefit to this NAS is the Linux kernel underneath. That lets me add whatever features I want (within reason and skillset anyway). So I’m busy setting up Bonjour (for our Macs), Firefly (for iTunes sharing), and a bunch of other things.

I need to brush up on my Linux commands… because I am way out of practice when it comes to working in a terminal. But it’s going okay. I’m gettin’ there.

Photos of the NAS to come, I hope. If you’ve got tips for working with the DNS-321/323 PLEASE let me know in the comments or with the Contact link at the top. I’d appreciate any help I can get.

Hope you’re having a good week!

So, with all of the updates Apple pushed out today to their products, the 15″ MacBook Pro also got itself a bit of a boost in the processor department. It now has the same speed as the 17″ MBP. I called them up to see about getting the upgrade. I’m within the 14-day return period.

I was hoping I might be able to drive out to the Apple Store in St Louis and return it. But because I have a “custom configured” (read: a remote and iWork added – nothing done to the computer’s configuration itself) model, the rep said I’d have to RMA it and ship it back, probably with a 10% restocking fee.

Since I can’t wait two weeks to get a replacement with all of the projects I’m working on, she offered me a $50 price protection credit. So that’s cool. I’m getting $50 back for keeping a computer I am already very happy with. I am a little bit bummed, because I was waiting for that first hardware refresh and missed it by two weeks – and didn’t get my MBP until 8 days after the order.

But! The $50 goes a long way to un-bumming me. And my MBP is great anyway.

It came. It’s set up. Files transferred. Amazing battery life. Beautiful design. I’m very happy.

We also upgraded our TV to a 32″ Vizio Java. It’s nice. We are happy.

In Transit

I just hope it gets here a little bit sooner than Monday. Saturday would be ideal. Then i could actually do some work.