Major geekout
Wednesday May 18, 2005 – 8:12 am::sob:: I’m so happy with my Mac mini! So happy. Before, everything was so screwy but now it’s all about cohesion, elegance and simplicity. Before, I was using one big desktop PC for home use, but only for file storage, websurfing and occasional picture-resizing, things that required me to use the big monitor. All my documents, all my data, music files, pictures etc. were stored on my iBook which rests next to the PC. It’s so bass-ackwards to have this big beautiful monitor but only use it for websurfing. And to have this honkin’ PC case turned on all the time, draining energy like crazy, when I’m really doing all my work on the iBook, it’s just dumb. Working on the PC feels gross to me, it feels messy and and kludged-together, whereas working on the mini & iBook combo feels smart and pulled-together.
I do need to break down and get a real Mac keyboard though. I’m using a PC keyboard which works fine, but the control buttons along the bottom are all different from the ones on a Mac, there’s no apple / splat key. So that’s confusing me, and the thing’s all dirty too, maybe with leftover crud from when I used to be a smoker. Time for a new one, maybe I can pick one up later today or later in the week. No big rush on that… I’m still clearing stored files off the PC so the desktop’s still a big ugly mess. Man, I can’t wait to get rid of that PC and wipe everything down so it’s all clean and shiny. Usually I only do that when I move to a new apartment, sad but true.
We’re supposed to start recording the new album soon, is it next week? OhMyFuckingGod. I’m pretty terrified, but excited, but scared shitless, but very happy and proud and giddy with anticipation. That’s probably why I’m freaking out on the computer, just trying to distract myself from worrying about what’s coming up. I sure don’t want to get myself sick like I have for just about every other album session. I’m practicing my songs every day more or less, but worrying? No way, not me, I’m not worried at all! Heh.
May 18th, 2005 at 10:03 am
Geek out! (Le geek, c’est chic.)
May 18th, 2005 at 11:23 am
You may already know this, but the "Windows" key on a PC keyboard works as the "open-apple/command/splat/whatever" key when plugged into a mac. I have a USB Dell keyboard I use with my iBook when I writing papers and whatnot, and keyboard combinations are pretty darn un-ergonomical.
I want to get a new desktop, and I’ve been thinking of building a PC, but the Mac Mini is pretty attractive, except for its use of 2.5 inch drives. I would want it for managing Photoshop and video files, and I’ll max out the little hard drives pretty fast. At school, I have to switch between mac and PC all the time, which is probably why I wasn’t afraid to "switch," so I’m used to working with PCs still, but I’m not sure if I can handle at the attending cruftiness at home.
May 19th, 2005 at 8:49 am
To further get out of the MS mode, I would encourage you to take your old PC and put Linux on it. There is great open source software that will allow you to work seemlessly between your Mac and the PC.
Ubuntu is a good distribution and pretty easy to install.
May 19th, 2005 at 9:00 am
Heh… you should try looking up the word Linux in my search engine thingy. I’ve been using it off and on since around 1999, on both PC and Mac… I started on Caldera OpenLinux, back before they turned evil. Anyway it’s been a year or two since I’ve had any machines running Linux, but the thing is, I really want to get this PC out of my damn house!! And I’ve really made the decision that I no longer want to be one of those people with three or more computers on at all times. I’ve been that way forever and I really want to winnow it down to one laptop and one desktop (which will now be the mini instead of the old Dell PC).
Somewhere around here I still have an old Knoppix disc for Mac if I ever need to get a Linux fix in a hurry. :-)
May 19th, 2005 at 12:05 pm
My bad, Edith, I haven’t read your blog very long! Good work! Yeah, getting rid of computers is something I ought to do also. Although when you start to look into how these things are disposed of, it makes you kind of sick–basically old computers are shipped off to China where they are mined for recyclable materials in conditions that are extremely hazardous for workers. These boxes are full of toxic crap.
Check out the good work of the folks at the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition: http://www.svtc.org