Western Arab

Rest in peace Steve Jobs, it is sad that Jobs has passed away. A great mind who changed it all.

There’s an app for that! There’s an app for that! There’s an app for that!

There's an App For That!

Ok so apparently we can’t say that anymore. Apple trademarked the phrase “There’s an app for that”. Well I suppose with the release of Windows Phone 7, the timing is right. I mean if I wasn’t convinced to try a Windows Phone 7, I am pretty sure if Microsoft said there’s an app for that, I would be all over it.

Speaking of which, the Windows Phone 7 demos have been looking pretty nice. I am interested in Windows Phone 7, so maybe that will be my next phone. Can Microsoft trademark “I want that!”?

Windows Phone 7 - HTC HD7

The past week or so …

My youngest sister is now engaged. She had her party this weekend. Everything worked out well with all that. Obviously the talk of me getting married is now on everyone’s mind since she was the last in line to get engaged/married which leaves just me now. So everyone gives their hint here and there that it is time for me to get hitched. Congratulations to her.

So it has been pretty cool, not so bad. Seven kids six and under running around the house, opening doors that they never close after themselves, leaving trails of food, spilling drinks, poop time alarms going off, diapers changing, screaming and yelling, crying … the WHOLE kid package multiplied by seven. But really it has been cool, not as crazy as it should be I suppose.

I finally can complain about the new mac book not having firewire. It really is odd that they left it out. I didn’t think it was a big deal cause I didn’t really need it, until I wanted to transfer the mini-dv recording of the engagement to the computer to do some editing. Yah that was problematic. Luckily what became my gaming machine after getting the mac book, has 4 gigs or ram and I was able to transfer the video file to the windows machine and then copy it over to the mac. I suppose it is like some have said, they needed to remove the firewire so that they can justify their hefty price tag on the mac book pro, or maybe firewire will be dying out slowly as floppy disk drives did. Who knows but it was annoying not having the port.

Other than that, I have been missing my work outs and eating a lot more then I should, including lots and lots of junk food. I need to get back on schedule. Family get together usually meaning gaining a few pounds. At least that is what Arab families do, eat and eat, and complain about the weight we gain afterward. Complaining is usually done while eating more. What can we do? We love to eat! And the best tasting food is always that unhealthy fattening food like the lamb we had on the weekend. Delicious!

Finally, the apple mini-display port to vga adapter arrived today. I am using the macbook right now my 24″ monitor. Apple used the worst possible shipping method. What genius thought that shipping thru DHL to USPS was a smart idea? Why didn’t they just ship it via USPS in the first place? I would have received it much sooner. So what this means is I started using my macbook as my main computer. I setup my work applications on it today and used it for work. So far so good. I installed VMWare Fusion with Windows XP 64 bit. I am hoping I don’t regret the 64 bit choice with software issues later, but for what I need so far, 64 is working. I will also have to buy Fusion since I am running their demo right now.

So for the transition and because I will still need my windows machine (especially for gaming), I installed a USB/VGA KVM switch. I also had to buy a USB keyboard, yes I was still using a PS2 keyboard! So I am switching between them easily and I have a shared folder on a third machine I use as a server for work. I also ordered 4 gigs of 1066 DDR3 RAM to replace the 2 gigs the macbook comes with. Mac OS X runs just fine with the 2 gigs but I will be assigning the virtual machine 2 gigs for XP, and OS X will be awesome with 4 gigs when the virtual machine is not running. The RAM should arrive later this week or so I am hoping. So yes a geeky post here, but it seems I have converted to mac. And now when I travel, I won’t have to synch up my work files anymore.

The new macbook is a winner, and today is the day that I converted to mac. But I will still have to use windows as well.

My Macbook

It is here. The macbook has arrived. I am writing this post on my new macbook. Woohoo. I have to admit I feel like a total mac noob, trying to figure out how to set things and use the mac OS in general. But atleast I have a friend to ask how to do things in mac. I just learned that safari has it’s issues on mac and I am using firefox which is what I normally use anyway

Apple sure does do a great job with making their products look nice and function well, but it is still too early to say how much of a mac user I will be. I still plan on installing windows with bootcamp so I can switch in to windows when needed. But I am excited about the new machine! yay yay yay

The macbook, I have walked into the apple store at the town center many times, each time trying to convince myself to get the new macbook, my very own piece of aluminum. I have never owned a mac book or any mac computer. I did have an apple I got from a friend to use for web development testing for macs, but I never really used it. Every time I go in the store, I try out the macbook, and everytime my intial rejection comes when I go to click the CLOSE button on the top right, except it isn’t there. It is on the left! And that just makes me feel everything is backwards. So why am I interested in the macbook?

13" Macbook

I have been wanting to get a new laptop for some time, my old toshiba sits around collecting dust. I work on a desktop I built myself with a nice glossy 24″ LCD monitor. My work is all done here, on this PC I am using right now writing this up. I rarely need a laptop, but it is needed when I travel. What I would like to do is actually use a laptop and dock it at home, so there is no synching to do. One machine to use at home and travel. But I am not sure if I can pull it of. I play my video games on this machine, they require a good video card, which most laptops don’t have. So I think I would still have to work with two machines.

My initial reason for wanting to get the macbook other than apple making it look so pretty and cool in their advertising, was to learn OS X, to learn the apple side of things, including programming. I went back and forth trying to decide. I can either get a Lenovo laptop and install OS X on it as well (illegal) or I can get a macbook and install vista on it as well (legal). Lately I have been leaning towards the macbook, every visit to the apple store I get closer to getting it. I made a trip to the apple store one time with intention of buying it but clearly I backed out of it. But I am almost there, I am almost convinced to spend the $1300 on it, and maybe I will cross over somewhat.

I was actually thinking today, by the end of the year I will be considering a new phone, and I will have to choose between the blackberry storm and the iphone. But if I got the macbook, will I just have to get the iphone? Will I be loyal to apple? I love gadgets!