bitbol

...Fifth Avenue that is. First off, I didn't take any pictures because I didn't have a camera. Overall, I must say that I was very impressed (even at the building). I looked at everything that I could.

Considering how it was making such a big headline in the news, I played with one of the iPhones as they had them out on display. The interface is very slick, but I could easily imagine being caught in all the layers of menus. The "home" button helps with that though. The only drawback is fat-fingering. It is hard to be precise, but Apple did well with larger buttons.

The big reason that I was even there was to look and touch the Macbooks. I will be honest when I say that I am in love. It is slim, and very light- about half the weight of my current laptop. I think that most of things that I am worried about are primarily how well I will adapt to a new operating system. I have used Windows machines for as long as I can remember, so I have no idea how smooth it will be. I totally forgot to pay any attention to the camera, but that is very minor. Thinking back, there is a bit that I overlooked.

I also looked at the displays, as I plan to get one when I go to college if I am entirely impressed with the computer. An extra display would be nice for managing space, as well as to be used as a larger area for watching movies, something that I know is very common in college. From what I saw online, I was split between the 20" and the 23". I needed to get a feel for the actual size (20" is good). The 30" is simply enormous.

I may go back again later this week so that I can cover all of the areas that I now realize that I missed. I tried testing some speakers, but found that some other jackass was playing with another set, making it impossible to judge the Harman Kardon Soundsticks. In many ways, I am going to miss New York; I don't want to leave.

Labels: Apple, Computer, Life

I have only been looking forward to this day since... well, the first day of school. Through bad teachers and general nonsense, I managed to pull off all A's and B's this semester. I still don't have a summer job, but right now I am making money working on my neighbors' yards. Then, I'll be off to New York in about week and a half. I'll do my best to stay connected.

Technically, I still have one more day, but I am the only person in my class tomorrow and the teacher has nothing planned. It would simply be a waste of everyone's time for me to go to class. I may be using that time to take a test anyhow, as I need to do it for a Physics class I am planning to take.

I'm thinking, depending on how things pan out, that I may go for a Macbook after I return. I was reading online about how leopard may be out in October, which is a long ways away. I guess my POS laptop may last that long. Until then, I'm saving my pennies in anticipation.

Labels: Life, Rambling, School, Summer

Since the school year is closing in, there is no homework, thus more free time. I must honestly say that I have spent much of my time browsing through Apple's product line. I've become obsessed with Apple.

It started this morning when I was thinking about a presentation a classmate had done. She brought in her Macbook to play music in the background. I was also trying to think of things to do on my upcoming trip to New York City. The only thing that I have come up with yet is: the Apple Store in SoHo. I got online to browse, and I lost track of time.

I have been looking primarily at the Macbook, as that is most likely what I would end up buying. I must say that I have learned quite a bit about Apple computers today. I found out that Macbooks have remotes, which I assume would control all the media options (music, video). And, Macbooks have a battery life of about six hours, or about five and a half more than my current laptop.

That was all I came for, but why not keep looking. I gandered at the Airport Extreme, which would come in handy if I were to ever get a second computer. The Airport Extreme would make printer/file sharing much easier to manage.

In line with the New York trip mentioned above, I will likely see my brother sometime during that trip, and I am planning to ask him to bring his Macbook Pro with him so that I can play with it. I have to get a feel for Apples before I will buy one. Also, he would be able to answer any questions that I have about them on the spot.

But if I were to buy anything, I would likely do so through my sister as she could get an educational discount, which would save over a hundred dollars. But thinking of such, my local Best Buy carries one iMac display model- that's it- no laptops.

Labels: Apple, Computer, Life, Rambling

My birthday is coming up (in about a little over a month) and I am already planning what I want to get. In the past, my parents have always tried to get me things that I don't care for that much. This year, I am going to push for a computer, which is no surprise to them as I have been trying to put one together. I will likely do a I'll-pay-for-half sort of deal with my parents so that I can get it.

I have what I want in mind already. I thought of putting it together myself, but finding (and knowing) parts that work together is a bit much for me. Instead, I am going to buy it from Dell because they are far cheaper, and they have what I want.

I am looking for a computer that has a 64-bit processor, preferably from AMD, and at least 1GB of RAM. Hard drives are not an issue for me, so most any size will do. Dell by default, offers a decent sound card, which I will team up with some new speakers. Then, I am going crazy on the monitor:

The monitor is about 35% larger in screen area than the one that my family uses, and is a 22" wide-screen. I made the image at right to show about how the two compare. This monitor will last me, and then when I go to college, I might get another depending on how things fare with this one.

Since the money will be burnt on Vista, by no option, I might install it to use for a while, just to review it. More likely, I will jump right in and install Fedora Core 6, which I have already tried on the LiveCDs. Before I buy, I am going to run all of this by my brother, who works with computers running FC5 to make sure that the computer I will be buying will be Linux-capable. I just need to hold out a little bit longer.

Labels: Computer, Fedora Core, Life, Linux, Rambling

Today has been a long day, and unfortunately it is not yet over. I don't have much time for anything today, so here is a brief story of my day, along with the news:

I am currently buried under a report due tomorrow, and am having difficulty thinking. But, my day has been both good and bad. It started bad with a school-bus driver nearly running over my car. I was in the middle of a turn when the driver lunged out in front of me. If I had more time to think about it, I would have gotten a bus number to report the driver. She nearly caused an accident, and I would very much like to see her disciplined in some way for it. The day did get better when I got to pick up my new car. We don't have the title yet, but we only paid half of the money, with the rest to be paid on receipt of the paperwork.

Todays news in brief:

• Shirts made after bomb scare - Shirts have already started be made reading: "Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the Bomb."
• Installer of "bombs" arrested - Boston has arrested the two men who installed the ads, but ironically, there was another person in town who put in two fake pipe bombs; that person was not arrested.
• Bill Gates claims you could run life support on Vista - The last thing that I would want to do is trust my life to Vista. Right after that, a security whole is found that permits a website to delete files from your computer.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for things.

Labels: America, Car, Legal, Life, Microsoft, School

I have been out/busy all day today, and it is such a great feeling to be able to sleep in tomorrow. My sister is finally home. I lost possession of my car to the sister, but is nice to see her once again. School was a waste today as nothing was done in any class. I watched Pirates of the Caribbean, then an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

These next days have the potential to be either enjoyable, or very stressful. I have no idea which it will be.

Labels: Life

Friends are those people that you enjoy being around, but can occasionally come to hate. One of the friends I played soccer with on Saturday said that he and his friend would come the next day to play outdoor (we were in a gym the first day). My friend and I, who come every week for the past x months (long time), were quite disappointed to see that neither of the two showed up like they said.

Today, I spotted said friend (skipper) in the hallway. When I was talking to him, he said that the two of them had been up all night watching movies, and he didn't get any sleep. Seeing the snow, he decided not to even show up. It's one thing to make a decision like that, but to do so after telling people the night before that you would be there is just plain annoying, and rude. I have to say that I was annoyed at what he told me to the point that I felt like hitting him. He didn't seem to care that he left others wondering why he didn't show up. He has no commitment.

Labels: Friends, Life, Rambling, Rants

I have been so busy today. It started with setting up for the homecoming dance, which I was required to do for my NHS membership. Setting up was a waste of time- nobody did anything, and it was so unorganised that nothing got done. Everyone was let go early because they didn't have half the things they needed to continue.

Just last night, I tried to download Fedora Core 5, which is a distro of Linux. I have been looking at different distros for a while, but I at least wanted to get this downloaded so that perhaps some day when things are slow, I can install it on an old box and test it out.

Unfortunately, the download was unbearably slow- about 7KB/s which by my calculations would have taken about 24 hours to download. I can't give up my internet connection long enough for this to download. Right now I am looking to try and find a physical copy of it so I don't have to download.

I choose to download Fedora Core over many of the other distros for a reason. I had been to MIT where all of their computers seem to run on Fedora Core, or on occasion, Apple's OS X. I figure that if a respectable university like MIT runs a particular operating system, it is probably a good choice.

Labels: Computer, Life, Linux, Microsoft