Thursday, June 29, 2006

Gay Emo Poem That Leaked Out Of My Head Practically On Its Own

I saw you out the window… walking by.
So perfect, so full of grace…
You were a rare sight in this shithole place.
You turned your face toward me and looked past into the distance and I saw the sadness in your eyes.
I can’t get you out of my mind.
Fucking girl in designer low-cut jeans, high-heels and pretty white top!
I thought you were just a piece of ass at first, but then for a moment, I saw what’s inside.
When I remember you, I wanna cry.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Wireless Desktops and Logitech DiNovo Laser Desktop Bluetooth Impressions

I've been shopping around for a decent wireless keyboard because I got bored of my old PS2 HP keyboard and also wanted something that would work with my new MacBook Pro. I've been doing quite a bit of online research and "borrowed" a Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 from Best Buy. I liked the feel of the semi-ergonomic keyboard that came with that, even though it gave me random connection quality warnings and the driver would crash from time to time. I disliked the MS Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 though. No matter how hard I tried to get used to it, it just felt "off" compared to my old Logitech MX1000. The tracking didn't seem as precise and it just didn't fit comfortably in my hand and was hard to pick up. So, I tried to use just the keyboard with my old mouse, but unfortunately, they seemed to intefere with eachother, giving me all kinds of weird movement anomalies in games. So, I took this MS combo back to Best Buy. I didn't see anything to replace it with at Best Buy and went to Staples. Staples had a much finer selection of input devices, which included the ultra cool looking Logitech DiNovo Laser Desktop Bluetooth. The idea of Bluetooth is really appealing to me, due to its increased security over the standard RF wireless and ability to connect to something without some external receiver device. Of all the Bluetooth combos on the market (all 3 of them), this one had the most decent reviews and a major coolness of design factor. Unfortunately, it was a steep $200, but I decided to "borrow it" to see how it works, figuring that if I like it, I could always take it back to Staples and buy it for much less online. So, here are my initiall impressions:

So far, I have to say, I AM rather impressed. A lot of the reviews mention how sucky and hard to install the software is, which is not that unusual with Logitech products. This is why I just avoid installing their software. Both my PC and Mac picked this up right away (Mac using its internal Blutooth) and it just worked. The volume control and media keys work just fine without the bloated software suit. The numpad/remote thingie doesn't work I'm sure (well, the numpad part of it actually does), but I already have a PC remote and thus not interested in this functionality.

I really like how small and low profile the keyboard is, in addition to looking hella cool and futuristic. It will definitelly get you some jealous looks from your buddies. Since I don't really use numpads, it leaves a lot more room for my mouse on the desk too. I am still getting used to the keys, but I think I am going to like them. Overall the keyboard is pretty comfortable, especially if you like laptop keyboards. The mouse is a new and improved Bluetooth version of the venerable MX1000 Wireless Laser Mouse. It adds a tilt wheel for horizontal scrolling and seems to be a bit lighter. The charging station is a lot smaller too and the mouse fits into it easier. As a long term MX1000 user, I really like this mouse. Despite some users of this combo reporting mouse lag problems, it seems just as accurate and lag-free to me.

I also really like how there's no big ass wireless receiver that plugs into a USB slot through a cable, like Microsoft products use. The only thing here is a little flash drive sized Logitech bluetooth dongle that plugs directly into the USB slot. I believe it lets you connect any other Bluetooth stuff as well.

Oh, I did run into one issue with this combo. I was playing Half-Life 2: Episode one and I have the Alt key assigned to Sprint. I noticed when I hold it down to sprint, it often doesn't stay pressed and instead goes into a kind of "auto-fire" mode or makes me stop sprinting all together. Hopefully I will be able to resolve this issue.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Macs vs Dells: The Price of Trendiness

I originally posted the following as a comment on this post --> http://lseeley.blogspot.com/2006/06/macs-are-expensive.html

I thought it relevant enough to make a blog post out of, so I hope you enjoy:

Here in the US, Dell offers insane deals on their Inspiron line, practically on daily basis through coupon codes that you can apply when the configured laptop is in your cart. Sites such as www.techbargains.com and www.bensbargains.net post these coupons all the time. The typical coupons are the $300 off a $999 purchase, $450 off a $1499 purchase and $750 off a $1999 purchase.

I have a 1.83 Ghz MacBook Pro that I paid $1900 for, but I recently ordered a Dell Inspiron E1505 for someone else, using the $750 off coupon. That system was configed as follows:

2 GHz Core Duo
1 GB RAM
1680x1050 15.4" TrueLife display
120 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD
8x Dual Layer DVD Burner (Wish my MBP had this)
9-cell battery
Radeon Mobility X1400 256 MB
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Windows MCE 2005 (this OS is actually based on Pro and not the Home Edition)
Audigy HD Audio
TV Tuner and MCE Remote

Guess how much it cost? $1286.
Do I feel bad that this laptop blows away my $1900 MBP in most features? No. I'm a shallow, consumerist, trendy gadget whore and I was willing to pay the extra dough for the Apple design, 1 less pound of weight and the little extras such as the MagSafe connector and backlit keyboard. OS-X is one awesome, good-looking, easy-to-use Linux distro and I love playing with it but I didn't really _need_ it. You see, I'm what you'd call a PC power user. With a few tweaks and free pieces of software, XP Pro (or MCE2005) turns into a very secure, fast and stable OS. Norton and McAfee? No thanks. No one should pay for that buggy bloatware when something like AVG Free works so well while using so little system resources. The thing is that I'm a very heavy XP user and I haven't even come close to getting infected with a virus or a trojan in many, many years and only have downloaded stuff infected with that stuff (Adware trojans) once or twice. All it really takes is not using IE, keeping up with Windows Updates, virus definition updates and using your brain when it comes to choosing the web content you access. Something like Windows Defender or SpyBot provide a nice safety net.

Ok, I'll be realistic and admit that the vast majority of PC users wouldn't know a thing about XP security tweaks or that they don't have to pay for bloated software suits to get virus protection. Yes, OS-X is much safer "out-of-the-box", but you do have to pay a hefty premium for the previledge of using it. Bah, who am I kidding? Most people don't know about those Dell coupons either. :)

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

myPod Nano Update: myBad

All of my problems with the Nano went away after I got rid of the iPod Linux partition, reformatted with FAT32 and restored the Apple firmware. All those who follow in my steps, beware... In other news, I'm turning into a Mac fangrrl. Hopefully, I'll post more on that later.

Random Notes

We have this old lady wondering around downtown all the time, checking around the parking meters, phone booths, soda machines, etc, like she's trying to find dropped change. Any way, she actually looks pretty normal and not that badly dressed, but she's always talking to herself, using some rather colorful language. For example, I was getting some cash out of an ATM recently and as she was walking by, I heard "fuck shit cocksucker."