Adventures in Australia

New Computer

I am a huge fan of Apple Computer. HUGE FAN. In fact, when it comes to Apple, I am a geek. There are two times a year when I get really geeky. These two events are MacWorld and Apple's World Wide Developer Conference when Apple announces new products. Yesterday was MacWorld.

Specifically Apple announced two new computers today, each using the new Intel chip. The computers are amazing, running at blazing speeds compared to the previous models.

Well, I needed a notebook for my graduate studies. The main reason I justified purchasing a notebook was because I am going to be doing a lot of writing in my graduate studies. I have a great computer right now. The PowerMac Dual 2GHz G5. It is my creative beast. It is what I do all of my creative work, from editing to graphics. I am going to be bringing this computer with me to Australia. However, a desktop is stationary as you all know, and I want to be able to take my computer and go where I need to go to write. It will also allow me to take notes during class right on my computer.

Apple announced the new MacBook Pro today. It is an amzing machine. I want it so bad. However, I am not getting it. The main reason is that I want my notebook for the flight. I also don't want to pay a GST fee when entering the country with a notebook, and I won't have to pay the fee if I carry the computer with me and show I am going to use it for my educational studies and return with it when I leave. The new MacBook Pro doesn't ship till February. When Apple says they are going to ship something in a month, it normally, based on prior history, ships at the end of that month, which is after I leave.

So, I was left to think. What exactly am I going to be using my Notebook for? Well, I've allready stated it. I'm going to do a lot of writing, and then surf the internet, and listen to music. So, when it comes to this, I really don't need something with super speed. I have my PowerMac G5 to handle all the serious work. However, I needed to buy my computer now, as I want to get everything setup, a do some work with it before I leave to make sure everything is working and I don't have to swap it out incase it is bad. So I drove down to the Apple store and picked up one of the previous PowerBooks. I got the PowerBook 1.67GHz G4 15 inch. It's a great machine, I am truely happy with the machine, and a few years down the road when I need a new computer, there will be even better intel macs. With that, this blog post is the first of many to be posted from my new PowerBook.

24 Days till Australia.

Digital Camera

So I'm getting a digital camera, and a beast at that. As a cinematographer, I take all aspects of Photography very seriously, and have been pushing off getting a digital camera as I want something that was not only professional, but cost effective. Well, as you know, I work for a large electronic retailer, and my employee discount is decent. When I saw this camera and checked the employee price, I couldn't pass it up.

The camera is the Olympus EVOLT E-500. Not only is it a Digital SLR, but it comes in at a large 8 Megapixel, and most importantly to me, comes with two lenses. So, as I was talking to my parents about the camera, they offered to purchase the camera for me as my Christmas present, to which I went bouncing off the walls. Of course, this will be my one and only gift from them, which I am more than fine with.

I should be getting the camera in approximately two weeks, so expect to start seeing photos throughout the site, and probably an entire redesign for a more gallery/blog feel. I'm frickn' excited.

UPDATE (Nov 27th): I couldn't wait, I wanted the camera now! I found a store close to me that had 7 of these units, and I am now the proud owner of the EVOLT E-500. The only downfall I've heard / read / and now experiencing is that it takes a little bit of time to charge the battery, but besides that, it is truly a great camera!!

DAMN FUNNY

All right, so I was browsing a few blogs and I happened to find a link to this video. This had me on the ground laughing my ass off.

Link to the Video.

I am not going to say anything except that this is funny as hell. Watch it, and tell me what you think in the comments.

UPDATE:
I have found two more videos. Add them to your must watch.
Link to Video 2.
Link to Video 3.

Design

I've decided to apply a new design to my blog. I like the orange, but I feel that the blue just looks a little better. I needed a change.

I also went through a lot of my old posts last night, just browsing through them, and I've noticed that I'm not posting as many pictures as I've used too. So, the pictures are going to have to return, and I'm going to try to put them back in.

I've also noticed that I have no section setup with any of my work. This is something I am going to be working on over the next week or two, and hopefully I'll be able to get up a quick web video of my reel.

Uh ohh..

So I work as a member of the Geek Squad here in Chicago - I'm a computer tech. Today, my sister called me saying that her PowerBook was making a loud noise. Guess what, her Hard Drive had died!

So, I brought her PowerBook into my tech bench to replace the Hard Drive. Replacing a Hard Drive on a PowerBook ain't easy - I had to take the entire thing apart, something like 40 screws! Anyway, I added the new Hard Drive and installed Mac OS 10.4 Tiger, then when I got home I installed some other applications and walked my sister through all the cool new features of Tiger.

It sucks that she lost all her data, but at least she's happy cause I updated her computer.

My iPod

In a previous post I talked about how I loved my iPod. Guess what? My iPod broke!

Yep, my iPod wouldn't mount on my computer. Basically, it would connect and charge the iPod, but it wouldn't transfer any songs or files. Luckily, I had the apple care protection plan. I went to the Apple Store with my plan, and got a brand new one right there.

The one thing I was bummed out about is that I was hoping they'd give me one of the new models. Nope, they gave me the exact same third generation iPod that I had. I guess they keep a stock of all iPods for exchanges. But, I'm happy once again.

Blogs from Down Under

As you may now know, I am addicted to Australia. I can't stop thinking about it, and I really can't wait till I start my studies at Griffith this January. One thing I have been doing is reading some Aussie Blogs. I've found a few that I really like, and am looking for more. If you've got an Australian Blog or know of a good one, post it in the comments so I can check it out and add the link to my Aussie Blogs section.

This Week In Tech

I admit it. I am a geek. Technology and me have always just clicked. I'm so much of Geek that I work for the Geek Squad fixing peoples computers. Now, there once was a Television Channel that was for me. It was something unique, original. And then, comcast, the evil ones bought it.

But the originals are back, podcasting away. If you like technology in anyway, or are a fan of The Screensavers, the original, then I beg you to check out This Week in Tech

Roar .... Mac OS 10.4 Tiger

I am a huge fan of Apple and the Mac personal computer. I personally have a Dual 2.0 GHz G5 that is now running Mac OS 10.4 Tiger. I have to say that spotlight is a really cool new feature, but the feature that I really enjoy is Dashboard. Now, I know that widgets ain't anything new, but it is just cool. But there is one big reason why I like it: Converter

I admit it. I am a product of the US Education system. That means that my experience in the metric and celsius systems are weak. Now, the only saving factor is that I went to a private school, and that my education was a little better. But I still really do not know metrics and I couldn't at this moment understand celsius if my life depended on it.

And who comes to my savior? That's right folks. Apple Computer. This little widget can convert anything. Including Kilometers to Miles and Farenheit to Celsius. Now, I am 100% positive that I will learn the metric and celsius system when I arrive in Australia. It is just going to take some time. Until then, I'll just be keen on Dashboard.

Wireless In-Flight Broadband

So I got really excited when I was reading about wireless broadband service on flights from the United States to Europe. I started thinking about how cool it would be to fill up 10 or so hours on the 26 hour flight with being able to be on the internet. Then I did a little research, and my dreams came crashing down.

Service not offered in the Southern Hemisphere! What! I was left thinking: How can you block out half of the world? And then the obvious answers filled into my head, and I understood a bit, but still, come'on!

But hey, I'm not going to be flying till late January of 2006, so maybe I can hope there will be something available. I don't even know if Qantas would offer the service if it was available, and how much they would charge, cause god knows they like to charge a lot - but thats an entire different post that is soon to be coming.

But if anyone hears anything about any type of service that does not cost me $10 a minute, let me know!