mashby | The personal blog of Michael Ashby

August 8, 2006

One Of The Gang

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.

August 8, 2006

New Photo Gallery Posted

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. 😉

August 6, 2006

Taking Her Out On the Town

MacBook with the lid closed.jpg

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.

August 5, 2006

First Impressions

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.

August 4, 2006

Meh…

The front of CompUSA 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.

August 4, 2006

Making The Leap

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. 🙂 Continue Reading

August 1, 2006

The Humor Of Scalding Coffee

PVP Logo 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. 😛

July 28, 2006

Going Cold Turkey From “The Juice”

Beverage can I’ve been hooked on “the juice” since I was a young boy. It’s what all the cool kids were doing, so it just seemed natural to follow suit. It started as an occasional thing, but by the end of high school, I was drinking regularly and within the first few years of college, it was starting to catch up to me. No longer was I able to slug back a six pack without seeing it’s effects on my system. College life had me hitting the books and spending untold hours in the practice room (I majored in Trumpet Performance), so I wasn’t as active as I once was and all that drinking starting packing on weight. That’s when I made the switch to Diet Coke. Yes, I’ve been talking about Diet Coke! What did you think I was talking about? 😉

I gave up Diet Coke a week ago Thursday and I went cold turkey. Why the sudden change? Well, Patty, a co-worker of Holly’s, said that aspartame can mess with your brain chemistry. When mixed with MSG, which is found in more food than you’d imagine, can really do some freaky stuff to your head. I knew that Diet Coke wasn’t a health drink, due to the aspartame sweeter, but hearing that it could monkey with my brain chemistry was the final push I needed to give it up.

July 19, 2006

Kenny West Tonight On Computer Outlook

Computer Outlook Radio Show with John Iasiuolo

Tonight I’ll be co-hosting the Computer Outlook Radio Show for their monthly “Palm Lifestyles” show. Our guest will be none other than Palm OS Legend Kenny West. The show airs live at 7pm CST/CDT on AM radio stations around the US.

If you’re like me and don’t live in an area where the show is broadcast, you can listen live via the Internet at this link. Simply choose your preferred stream and you should be good to go. If you miss the live broadcast, there will be a podcast available in a few days and I’ll make a new post when it becomes available.

About Kenny West
Kenny West first rose to the attention of Palm Users when he started PalmGear, the first online Palm OS e-tailer. From it’s humble beginnings, to the juggernaut it has become, Kenny created the premier online retailer for Palm OS software. To this day, PalmGear is the market leader for mobile software.

Earlier this year, Kenny left PalmGear to take the helm of Get Mobile Solutions which, through a partnership with GoTreoSoftware, has breathed new life into the very popular launcher application LauncherX — which has users VERY excited.

In addition to LauncherX, Get Mobile Solutions has a bevy of other Treo utilities that enable users to maximize and harness the power in their Palm OS devices. Applications include VolumeCare Pro, PowerLink, and ProfileCare, just to name a few.

So if you’re interested the history of the Palm OS space, where it’s at now, or it’s future lies, be sure to tune into tonight’s episode.

July 15, 2006

“I Find The Pastrami To Be The Most Sensual Of All The Salted Cured Meats”

George Costanza It’s been quite a while since we’ve had cable television in the Ashby household. Most of my TV has come from either rabbit ears, or BitTorrent, so when we sit down to watch the boob tube it’s a bit of a challenge. Either the picture is fuzzy and peppered with artifacts, or I have to boot the laptop and find the show I want to watch. If it’s not downloaded already, then I get to watch it the next day. :s

Feeling as if Holly had suffered too long from being about to watch CMT and GAC, I finally broke down and ordered it for her. Comcast came out this week to install digital cable and I’m happy to report that it went without a hitch. Wanting to “test the system,” I bounced around a few channels and explored the online guide. Since it’s digital cable, there’s a programming guide that shows you what’s coming up. Scanning the channels, I came across my much beloved, and sorely missed station — channel 72, OLN.