August 2006 Archives

After having a lot of fun installing software and getting familiar with all the new toys included in the Mac OS over the past few weeks, it's time to begin getting down to the nitty gritty of what my new laptop is primarily for -- work. So I have begun focusing on what core applications I need in my average day. The cornerstone of business day is e-mail, so I figured I better try a few applications to see which e-mail client would work best for how I work.

Since I use IMAP as my mail protocol, trying out different programs isn't a big deal. Techinically speaking, I could have multiple e-mail clients configured on the same machine and use them interchangeably, but I was looking for "one to rule them all." There are a ton of e-mail applications for the Mac, but I narrowed the choices down to three: Apple Mail, Entourage and Thunderbird.

The second episode for the Simply Digital podcast has been posted. This week's episode is on Firewalls. Although the topic of security isn't necessarily an exciting one, it IS an important part of your home and office Internet security. So if you have about 15 minutes, stop by and take a listen. :)

FYI, I'm posting the new episodes every Wednesday, so if you've subscribed already, that's when you can expect to find a new one.

For the past few weeks, I've been waxing poetic about how wonderful my new MacBook is and how fond I am of it. Since I began using a laptops 12 years ago, I can say without a doubt that my new laptop is by far the best laptop I've ever owned. I know, I know, I sound like a lovelorn sap who can't stop talking about his new girlfriend. We've all had friends that just won't shut up about their latest infatuation and I know that, at least here in my weblog, I'm modeling that same behavior. So in an effort to redeem myself, my dear friends, I'll now share with you the things that I don't like about the MacBook.

Wi-Fi Drops The Network When On Battery
As long as the laptop is powered by an outlet, the Wi-Fi connection is solid as a rock. Unfortunately, the same thing can't be said when running on the battery. From time-to-time, the wireless network connection drops without warning. After working for awhile, I'll find that an instant message, a web page, or an e-mail that I'm trying to send won't work. Looking up in the menu bar, the network icon is greyed out, showing that there is no connection.

Yesterday, a project that I've been working on for over a year has finally taken shape and launched! It's a weekly podcast called Simply Digital. With my co-host, "Analog Dave", we discuss a single topic regarding technology and try to break it down so that it's easy to understand. I guess you could call it a tech podcast for the non-geek. ;)

The first episode is on "podcasts", which at first glance may seem a bit redundant to talk about podcasts IN a podcast. However, since Simply Digital is a podcast, what better way to kick things off than by breaking down this new technology?

Came across this on /. this afternoon. The Oregon State University Linux Users Group created a 45,000+ square foot crop circle of the Firefox logo. Brilliant! Photos can be found here and a write up of how they did it can be found at this link.

The best part is that the guys got full permission from the farmers before hand. Nice.

One of the things that I've played with over the years has been Bluetooth. In fact, I jumped on the ill fated Sony Ericsson T608 back in 2004 because it was the first Bluetooth (BT) phone on the Sprint network. I've had a collection of headsets, adapters and devices that all worked with BT, but I haven't had that great of an experience using the technology itself.

It's really been a comedy of errors on all fronts. The T608 was a totally crap phone and the BT headset was more pain than gain. BT HotSyncing with my Palm didn't make much sense given the fact that if I'm THAT close to the computer, I might as well sync it with the cradle and charge it at the same time. I even tried surfing via BT, but it was just too slow. About the only thing I haven't tried was using a BT headset with my computer, since my BT adapters on my Windows machines didn't support the feature. That changed recently though when I purchased my MacBook and began playing with iChat and Skype.

This morning, as I was reading my RSS feeds, I came across an article about a Microsoft venerability and how the patch was released on Tuesday. As my mind was mulling over this article and few errant thoughts floated around. "That's right Windows Updates are always on Tuesday. Oh yeah, and Apple's updates are on Wednesday aren't they?" It's at that point that I realised that today is Friday and I didn't receive any updates. Something must be wrong.

Regardless of the operating system, computers aren't perfect and problems arise from time-to-time. So I wasn't alarmed by the fact that my new MacBook hadn't alerted me to the fact that there were updates this past Wednesday. Microsoft Update gives me trouble all the time. I have several machines that I manage that still require manual updates, even though I have them set to auto-update. It frustrates me to know end, but that's just how it works, or doesn't as the case may be.

I've been writing a lot the past week about my migration to the MacBook. During this migration, I've had a lot of help along the way from fellow Mac friends. However, it became clear to me that there was one person that I failed to thank and I need to right this wrong.

During my initial diving into Mac OS, Mike Rohde and Justin Nolan gave me a lot of assistance. Having them both online so that I could assault them with questions was a big help for me. For some of the more obscure questions related to Parallels and Windows-ish questions, Hal-J was a great lifeline. Yet none of these questions would have been possible without the years of gentle council and guidance of my Mac-Zen guru Fred Heumann.

Holly will be performing live at Lyrix tonight at 8pm. She's part of a ladies' night with an organization called the Women in Music Business Association (WMBA) of which she is a member.

Holly's performing a total of four songs - three originals and one cover. Her set will include:

» I Wanna Live Like That - by Larry Wayne Clark
» Lost In America - by Larry Wayne Clark and Tom Fisch
» You Don't Know Me - by Eddie Arnold and Cindy Walker
» What's Not To Like - by Holly Ashby

Yesterday I became "one of the gang" in the Apple scheme of things. I've always been interested with Apple's products, but now that I'm a Mac user, my interest in all things Apple has just gone to "11". It became crystal clear to me today just how passionate I am now for the Mac, when I eagerly refreshed two web pages every thirty seconds to see just what Steve Jobs was saying in his Keynote for the World Wide Developers Conference 2006 (WWDC2006).

It's my understanding that Apple used to do a streaming version for those not in attendance, but they don't do that anymore. So my only other alternative was to monitor two web sites that were updating live from the conference floor. I had Engadget's page updating every 30 seconds (a cool feature in Opera), and I had MacRumorsLive had a built-in refresh to the page every 60 seconds. MacRumors had faster coverage, but Engadget had better a transcription as well as pictures.

I've been taking a few pictures as I've been migrating to my new MacBook. They've been posted to Flickr and you can find them at this link. I think I'm going to move my current photo gallery to Flickr as well, just to keep everything together.

The hardest photo to post in the "Making The Switch" photo set had to be the one of my cluttered office. Kerry challenged me to take a photo and I'm never one to back down from a challenge. I hope to have a follow-up picture soon of my office nice and neat, but until then I'll just have to live with the shame. ;)

After a crazy week filled with stress and deadlines, the Ashby gang was ready to enjoy a dinner out on the town. Everyone's jaw seemed to be set for steak, so last Friday, we all drove out to Cherokee Steak House & Marina to enjoy some big fat rib eyes and t-bones. As great as the food is, I had another reason for wanting to dine out, because it would give me an opportunity to take my new MacBook out on the town as well. 8)

One of the features I have been most eager to try is almost not even a feature to most Mac users. It's the fact that you can simply shut the lid and put the laptop to sleep. If you're a Mac user, this may seem old hat, but for Windows users, this is a very big deal.

Wow, what a day! After knocking out a few small fires, I was finally able to hit the power button and dive in to setting up my new MacBook and what a swim it was. I had hoped to post smaller posts throughout the day, but things were just too hectic -- between work, the huge storm that blew through town and my intermittent Comcast connection, there just wasn't enough time. This is the first Mac that I've ever set up for myself as a primary machine, so I'm really going deep into the whole experience and go through it step-by-step.

The Packaging
I have to say, when you're sitting there about to un-box your new pride and joy, there is just a little bit of doubt and buyer's remorse that begins to surface. "Was this really the best laptop for me?" "Can I really afford this purchase?" Well, all doubt fell to the back of my mind lifting the lid on the box.

I just got back from CompUSA and although I'm very excited about setting up my new MacBook, I was a little disappointed in the trip to CompUSA itself. I think this was a case of where I had over hyped what to expect, so it's simply a matter of building something up in my head to something more than it was.

First off, let me just say that, Justin and Arnold at CompUSA were great. Arnold always takes good care of me and Justin was right there with my MacBook. My buying experience could not have been better. It's just that the crowd wasn't there that I was expecting. Let me back up.

I've been thinking about migrating to the Mac for about 3 years now. OS X really won me over when it came out and I've been playing with it off-and-on since 10.2 when I switched Holly over, but using an old Bondai blue iMac isn't the best of environments. So I stuck with what I knew -- Windows -- waiting for the time when I could make the leap. Well, today is the day.

What started the switch was the fact that the new Intel based Macs allow you to run Windows via BootCamp. This free boot loader allows you to install Windows in a separate partition and thus dual boot your machine. So when it starts, you can either load OS X or Windows XP. The rub is that you have to reboot if you want to switch the OS. Then came Parallels Desktop For Mac, which allows you to run Windows within Mac OS. With this product, you no longer have to reboot, you simply launch Windows from within OS X. The bottom line is that you can run Windows in a variety of ways on a Mac. :)

This morning, as I was perusing through my RSS feeds on Bloglines, I came across this issue of PVP Online, which had be laughing hystarically. Why? Well, because it reminded me of my own Drive Thru Trama from three years ago. *Whew* I'm still crying from all the laughing. Pain is just so funny once everything heals. :P