My New Mac Book

I had been talking about buying a Mac Book for months, even putting it off till after my overseas tour claiming financial constraints would prohibit a purchase prior to then.

Before having a Mac Book I was using Danny’s iMac, which acted as the family computer. Unfortunately its hard drive was continually reaching capacity. I received the blame constantly due to my large iTunes collection, photos and all my short movies. Most of the time the blame was unwarranted however, Danny did sometimes take responsibility for his contribution to the hard drive filling.

The new Operating System (OS) had just been released so the timing seemed right. Might as well get a new computer when the OS is brand new and not when it’s getting old and another new OS is being bandied about.

I have only had my Mac Book for a few weeks and I love it. I feel comfortable with a Mac and feel I can rely on them more to deliver what I want, not that I am overly demanding on my computers outcomes.

The Facebook Revolution

Where did this come from? Facebook has swept into my life, and the lives of many others, where other social network websites have failed (eg Bebo).

I don’t even remember how I got started now. I think it was through a friend who emailed me the suggestion that I join facebook. All of a sudden I’m finding friends and friends are finding me, I’m hooked.

Within weeks I’ve somehow gathered nearly 70 friends from a variety of backgrounds (eg school, church, footy).

For a little while I was addicted to searching for friends in other’s friend lists. It became a maze of friends of friends of friends of friends. I’ve largely forgotten who I’ve asked to be my friend and have a decision pending. I’ve weened off that practice though and have moved on to checking out some of the fun applications they have as part of your profile. There are so many applications, thousands in fact. Some seem ridiculous while other seem like they might be good. Unfortunately you can't really tell until you give it a go.

iTunes Music Store – 100th Purchase

I waited anxiously for the opening of iTunes Music store in Australia and soon after it’s first birthday I complete a transaction of my 100th song.

I mainly enjoyed using the music store for classic 80’s stuff that I could only find on an album. I was able to pick only my favourite songs from musical acts such as ABC, Madness, Suzanne Vega, Elvis Presley, Roxette, 10cc and The Beach Boys.

As well I was able to get particular singles of modern day artists that I just don’t like enough to buy their album. These artists include Eskimo Joe, The Whitlams, No Doubt, The Dave Matthews Band, The Killers, The Fray, Yellowcard and Bernard Fanning.

There are also some music videos that I have purchased, only the good ones of course.

Let’s not forget all the great Podcasts now available. I would probably download a lot more if it weren’t for the lack of hard drive space. Over the year I have downloaded podcast from Triple M, Sydney Anglicans, 103.2, ABC, Triple J, Network 10 and of course the Bible Talks at TAC.

Mac Vs PC

I had it mentioned that I start a lot of computer debates yet never follow it through. I thought this was a bit unfair as I usually just say comments in jest such as, “That’ll never happen on a Mac.”

So to set the record straight, here is my position on things based on my experiences, and if you care to expand on my lack of knowledge, then by all means.

• I have always had a Mac, originally because all the schools had them
• I have never had any problems with a Mac
• The iLife package integrates so well together
• Everyday at work there would be a problem with one of our PC’s – I acknowledge that mostly it was network problems
• Fair to say I have been influenced at least slightly by my brother Danny

There are debates coming from PC users that I don’t understand. One from my school days was that “Macs are too easy to use.” Is that supposed to be a put down for Macs? The latest, that I may have interpreted incorrectly referred to the lack of skills gained with using Macs. I think he was referring to skills fixing up the computers as he mentioned how if you have a problem with a Mac you have to send it away to a Mac specialist. This brings me back to a previous point, I have never had a problem with a Mac. Never had a virus shut down our Mac. Shall I go on? OK I will:

• Straight out of the box – plug and play
• Now with the latest Intel chips
• They also have a funky design
• For more go here.

I have all the skills I need and they all came from a Mac. If I need to advance my skills you know where I’ll be getting them……a Mac