Today I am going to finally do it. I am going to cease with the snide comments about Windows. Furthermore I am going to quit saying “It’s just better.” Today I am going to give my top 10 reasons that you should get a Mac. Even though these are numbered, they are in no particular order. Nor is this an exhaustive list. These are simply a few of the reasons I believe the Macintosh platform is superior.

1. Want Something Done? Just Tell It
   

   Have you ever told your Windows PC to perform a certain task and it either crashed or took forever to do the task you just told it? That had been my experience and I did not even realize how accustomed to it I had become. However I immediately noticed that any time I gave my Mac a task to perform or told it to run a certain application, it was johnny on the spot. No waiting, no crashing, no ridiculous questions (“Are you sure you want to close the program?” duh). It just worked. I told my mac-using friend how amazed I was that everything on my Mac system “just works like it is supposed to.” His response was a no-brainer: “Isn’t that why you purchase anything? Because you want it to work for you?” What a novel idea. Purchase a product that actually does what you expect without question and without a lot of frustration. Too many Windows users waste their time troubleshooting, tweaking and working bugs out of their system. Cut yourself a break. Get something that works.

   
   



2. So Easy, a Child (or Your Grandma) Could Operate It
   

   When I pulled my Mac Mini out of the box, I was about to use a Mac for the very first time. However I did not need a textbook or a tutorial to help me. It was purely a matter of intuition. For any given application the menus were simple to figure out. If I wanted to perform a task and wasn’t sure where to find it, I would simply ask myself “where would I put that functionality?” I was right every time. The Macintosh is designed with the average user in mind. It is not designed solely for computer gurus who know all the ins and outs of personal computing. It is built for the user who simply wants to accomplish his computing tasks easily and without pulling his hair out.

   
   



3. Four or Five Apps Running and It Just Keeps On Kickin’
   

   When I was running Windows, I had to pay attention to how many applications I was running. Sometimes I would get carried away and actually have my email client, my browser, and my music player running at the same time. Well, thankfully, my Mac handles multiple application situations just fine. It is kind enough to indulge my morbid fixation with actually working on more than one task at a time. Thank you, Macintosh, for enduring my twisted whims.

   
   



4. It’s Ready To Go Right Out of the Box
   

   Upon firing up my Mac for the first time, I answered some basic questions (my name, a system password, and what language I would be using). After this it booted into Mac OS X and then it simply sat there patiently waiting for me to stop drooling and start using it. The first thing I did was surf the Web. I connected to my phone line (I had dial-up at the time) and I typed in my Internet Service information and was ready to go in about a minute. I clicked on Safari (Mac OS X’s browser) and I was online. Well that was easy. Next I imported my music and photos from my PC. No problem. iTunes and iPhoto handled them splendidly. I had anticipated a drawn out period of transition so I kept my old PC nearby. That period of transition lasted about half an hour. I proceeded to send a few emails using Mail (which was just as easy to set up) and play with some of the other useful apps that came on my Mac. By that evening I felt like a seasoned Mac pro. Everything was ready and waiting for me right out of the box. And perhaps the best part was that I didn’t have to uninstall a bunch of useless promotional garbage like I had to with a new PC.

   
   



5. Three Words: iLife, iLife, iLife
   

   iLife is the name of Apple’s clever suite of digital media products. Every Mac comes fully equipped with the latest version of iLife. Are you already familiar with iTunes? Well then you are over half way to becoming an iLife virtuoso. All of the Macintosh applications have been built to follow a similar user interface scheme (whoa…there is way too much tech talk goin’ on here!). All I mean is each of the iLife apps look and operate in a similar manner. Whether you are managing photos with iPhoto, creating a home movie masterpiece with iMovie or recording an album or podcast with GarageBand, you are going to see similar menus and features. This helps you become familiar with all of the iLife apps quicker so you can get down to business doing what you need to do on your Mac. If you know one, you know ‘em all!

   
   



6. Where Would I Be Without Exposé?
   

   Exposé can be a little difficult to explain. But it’s usefulness is unmatched by any other tool I have ever used. With Exposé, I can easily view any or all of the windows I have open.

   
   

   Have you ever found a use for those little “F” keys along the top of your keyboard? Me either. Well, I hadn’t until I got a Mac. By striking the F9 key I enter an “all windows” view which shows me, basically, thumbnails of all the windows I have open and I simply select the one I want to see and then it quickly returns to normal view with the window I selected in the foreground. While in “all windows” view if I put my mouse over any window, the title of that window is prominently displayed.

   
   
   

   Now, when I have a particular window open, by striking F10 my Mac will show me all the open windows that are part of that same application. So if I have multiple Word documents open and I am currently working one of them and I need to see a different one, I simply strike F10 and all open Word documents will be displayed in a thumbnail view.

   
   

   The final feature of Exposé will allow me to strike the F11 key and all of my windows are moved off of the viewing area and I can access my desktop. By striking F11 again, all of my windows coming flying back into view and in their proper places. Could it get any easier?

   
   



7. A Mac Doesn’t Bog Down Just Because It’s On
   

   The more I used Windows the more I noticed a strange (and unsettling) phenomenon. I knew of course that if I used my PC for extended periods that it would get slower and “boggier” during that time. That was, unfortunately, a given with Windows.
   However I noticed that if I would leave my computer unused for extended periods….the same thing would happen. So I had to get in the habit of shutting my PC down at night or at least restarting it every now and then to keep the performance level from going into the red.
   Now that I am a Mac owner the only time that I ever shut my computer down is during inclement weather (it seems that not even a Mac can withstand being jolted with a bolt of lightning) and I never have to worry about taking a performance hit. In fact you can even plug in a new peripheral (mouse, printer, etc.) without shutting down or restarting!

   
   



8. Amazing Hardware Design
   

   Macs are designed to be not only aesthetically pleasing, but practical as well. The Macbook line of laptops are super thin making them extemely portable. The Mac desktops are even more amazing. Mac Mini (which is what I own) is only 6 inches square. So you’re desk or the floor beside or beneath your desk is not overcrowded by a big tower. The iMac consists of a flat panel monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. That’s it! Because all of the “guts” are inside the monitor. Yeah, really! You feed CD’s and DVD’s into the side of the monitor and plug peripherals into the back. Other computer manufacturers have tried to imitate Apple’s great design, but it was Apple that pioneered and perfected these awesome configurations.

   
   



9. No Viruses, Worms, etc….Zero, Zip, Nada
   

   Yes, ladies and gentlmen, it is true. There are no viruses for the Macintosh. The days of having to install 2 or 3 anti-virus programs just to protect your PC are over. I can not understand why consumers continue to sink their money into machines that are basically sitting ducks for viruses when a virus-free platform exists.

   
   




10. Competitively Priced with Similar PC’s
    

    The main objection that people usually give for not getting Mac is that Macs are more expensive than PC’s. This, my dear friends, is a myth. You will find that if you buy a Windows PC with similar specs that Macs are no more expensive than a Dell. Sure, you can get a $200 XYZ computer with your basic Windows OS but be prepared to buy a new within the next 3 years. There are people who are still running and getting great service out of their iMac G3’s which came out in the late nineties. Not to mention, you have to deal with the performance problems, the absence of any useful software, and viruses (and more viruses and more viruses, and…). The amount of money you’d shell out for a Dell or an HP that has the same power, software and longevity as a Mac would be more than any comparable Mac. Not to mention that you miss out on all the little useful tools that only exist on a Mac (Exposé, Spotlight, Dashboard and many others that I haven’t mentioned).

    
    
    






Yes, It’s true. I’m completely head over heels about Macs. I admit it. I’ve sold out, I’ve drank the kool-aid. Say what you want about me, but just admit that these are great machines. Take some time and browser around Apple’s website and learn more about Macintosh. Go ahead. They won’t bite. I think you will find that my zeal for all things Mac is not unfounded.





Josh H.

The strange title of this post no doubt got your interest up. If you are wondering “what gives?”, please read on. You are about to be a part of an experiment.

A coworker of mine sent me a great article listing the author’s favorite Firefox extensions. I was familiar with several of them (Adblock, FlashGet, FoxyTunes), but there was one that really caught my attention: ScribeFire. ScribeFire is a full-featured blog editor that operates right inside your browser. After you install ScribeFire and restart Firefox a notepad icon will appear in the lower right of your browser’s status bar. Click this icon and your browser window will be split into two panes. The upper pane will display your usual browser whereby you can continue to visit websites. The lower pane is the ScribeFire editor. I was interested in this particular extension because I am the kind of person that takes a really long time to complete blog posts. This is because I spend the majority of my time preparing for my writings by locating links that I want to include and pictures that I may need in order to add some pizazz to my posts. ScribeFire allows me to write while still able to view websites in the top pane thus cutting down on tab switching and increases my efficiency by giving me a clean, single-window view.

Setting up ScribeFire is easy. Simply select the “Blogs” tab in the right-hand toolbar and the software will launch simple wizard to set up ScribeFire for your blog. It is also capable of handling multiple blogs (for all of you “Uber-bloggers” out there!); however I have read that this feature isn’t perfect. And since I only have one blog, I can neither confirm nor deny that fact.

Inserting links into your post is simple. Simply highlight the text that you want to act as a hyperlink and then select the Link button in the ScribeFire toolbar. You will instantly see the text change to indicate that it is now a clickable link. Inserting photos are equally as easy. Select the image button in the toolbar and you will be presented with a box that will allow you to enter a URL (for linking to pictures that reside online) or upload your own images from your computer.

ScribeFire also features an amazing toolbar on the right-hand side of the pane. Not only does it have a tab for displaying all of your blogs, but it also has a tab that displays categories, a history of past blogs, and your blog’s pages. The left-hand menu features even more options, including the ability to pull links from your del.icio.us account and the option to incorporate different Themes for the ScribeFire interface. Of course spelling correction functionality is included. Suspect words are underlined red and the user may right click to see suggested spellings.

All of this I learned while writing this post. So as you can see ScribeFire is quite intuitive. But there is still one more thing: I haven’t actually posted yet. I guess the time has come to see what ScribeFire is really made of. Well, here goes nothing!

Josh H.

Today is day six since I received and installed Mac OS X Leopard on my Mac Mini. As I described in my previous post, the installation was completely simple. But once it was installed and I began to give it real world use, I was able to really see the strengths (and the weaknesses) of Apple’s latest big cat. Even though all of the new features were groundbreaking and made for great eye candy, they are not all useful in every situation. Also since I was a whole version behind (I was still running Panther), there are features that I get to learn and use that were already present in Tiger (the previous version of Mac OS X). So this week has been one of breaking old habits and ways of thinking.

Spotlight is a feature that was introduced in Tiger and that I have come to love already. It is search tool whose magnifying glass icon sits in the toolbar and produces a small search box when it is clicked. Then as you type results start showing up quickly in a vertical list. It searches everything, and I mean everything. It returns results from text files, Word documents, song files, picture files, visited websites, everything that my computer saves. And the more I type the more concise the results are. I can then go and select the item I’m looking for and it launches in the appropriate application.  Two other neat tricks that Spotlight can do is you can type mathematical computations in and it will give you the answer.  Also you can type a word into Spotlight and it will give you the first part of the definition, which you can click to launch the Dictionary.  Both of these capabilities of Spotlight have been very helpful.

One of the new features that has already proven itself extremely useful to me is QuickLook. QuickLook is a function of the Finder. Before (in Tiger and Panther) if I was browsing through some files in the Finder and I found the one I thought I needed, in order to be sure I had to double-click it and it had to launch the application and if it wasn’t right I’d have to then close it and click on another one. Well, this does not take very long to do so I never thought much about it. But now that I have QuickLook I can not stand having to launch an app just to see what is in a particular file. Also being that I am a worship music leader and I have hundreds of chord sheets that I am dealing with, QuickLook becomes invaluable. The way it works is when I need to view the contents of a particular file (be it a photo or a Word document), I highlight it, click the QuickLook icon in the top of the Finder and new preview window fades into view showing me the contents of the document. I can scroll through it and even view it in full screen. And if I decide that is the one I need, I can double-click it to open it like normal. I have already used this feature a bunch of times. It is especially helpful for when I need to double-check a document to be sure it has all the information I need without launching it.

Spaces is a feature that is really cool but is not one I will use very much. It uses the idea of virtual desktops. By default it is set up with 4 “spaces”. If I have several different applications that I want to run but do not want the all running in the same space I can move some of them to other spaces. Clicking F8 shows me a sort of thumbnail view of all 4 spaces and I can drag my open programs to any of the spaces. For example if I am running iTunes, Firefox, iPhoto, Adium (chat client), Mail, iCal, and Microsoft Word and I want to group them by task I can hit F8 and launch my Spaces thumbnail view. I can drag Adium and Mail to the lower right space. I can then drag iTunes and iPhoto to the upper right space (I could have done these in any order). Then I would drag Firefox and Word to the upper left space and lower left space, respectively. Once that’s done I can click on which ever of the four spaces I want to work in. So if I click the Firefox space it returns to a normal looking desktop running Firefox. To access Word in the lower left space I press and hold Control and press the down arrow key. Firefox whooshes off the screen and in whooshes Word. I can use Control+up arrow to go back or I can hit ctrl+right arrow to go over to the Adium/Mail space. i can rearrange these spaces any way I’d like by hitting F8 and returning to thumbnail view.

Again, Spaces is neat and I have used it some, but it is definitely not central to my computing experience. But I have been wondering how I ever did without QuickLook, Spotlight, Time Machine (which has already been helpful in retrieving a deleted file), and the new layout of Mail. The Apple website has a Leopard page which boasts “300+ new features”, however I doubt I will ever find a use for all of them. Then again there will be some users who will feel as strongly about Spaces as I do about QuickLook. I am glad that Apple has created an operating system that can do so much for so many different people. And I have not experienced any bugs, application inoperability or any of the other problems that can potentially plague an OS upgrade. So if any one out there was hesitant about upgrading, I have had no problems. And if you have been thinking about switching to a Mac, take a trip to the nearest Apple Store and try one out (or heck, come try mine out). Leopard is the best version of any OS that I have ever used.

Josh H.

Why do people and groups continue to mislabel companies as monopolistic which clearly are not?

Various websites and news outlets reported recently of a monopolistic practices suit brought against Apple and its iTunes/iPod digital music platform. According to Appleinsider “the suit was brought about by Florida resident Frederick Black on behalf of all Florida residents who have purchased an iPod or downloaded media from iTunes and faced restrictions, such that they cannot transfer content purchased from iTunes to a non iPod digital music player, nor can they download digital content from other online vendors to their iPods.” Supposedly with iPod and iTunes, Apple is forcing people to buy into a closed ecosystem.

The problem here is that people no longer understand monopoly. A monopoly is “exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service (emphasis mine).” If Apple maneuvered so that the iPod was the only existing digital music player and if music companies could only sell digital music through iTunes, and if iTunes music was the only digital music content you could put on the iPod, then this lawsuit might hold water. But this is far from the case. It seems that everyone and his brother manufacturers digital music players. There’s Microsoft, Creative, Sony, and hundreds of no-name brands. And iTunes is far from being the only digital music marketplace. Consider Amazon MP3, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody. All of these, in addition to the non-paying (and in my opinion, illegal) services such as Limewire provide an alternative to iTunes. . And what’s more these are major companies and are well-known in the digital entertainment industry. They have some of the same deals with the music labels as iTunes. Furthermore iPod owners can still purchase CD’s online and in their favorite music stores, copy those CD’s into their iTunes library and put them on as many computers or music players as they want with no restrictions.

It is perfectly understandable for Apple to want you to use all of their products and so they make products that work well, and in this case exclusively, together. This is Apple’s prerogative. And it is definitely not monopolistic.

Josh H.

When I was in school I had all types of friends. I had some friends who were in the upper echelon of Dodge County society (yes, Eastman has an upper echelon) and were quite preppy. I had a few jocks that were my friends, including my best friend, Rodney (who was the best man at my wedding). I also had friends who were slackers and rockers (not necessarily the same thing, but often closely associated). I ran with all classes. What can I say? I was an anomaly. I had preppy friends who would never speak to some my lower class friends and vice-versa. But they had no problem with me. I was thankful for this attribute because it made me lots of friends.

I have seen this same powe of mine, if you can call it a “power”, at work on other levels—like geekiness. Now before I go on I must define my terms. By geek I do not mean nerdy. Nerdy is different. Nerdy often involves some of the same qualities as geekiness but along with that comes social ineptness and many times clumsiness. Being a geek means you have a particular subject matter that is a serious hobby to you. Nay! It is more than a hobby. You think about it in deeper ways than most people. You theorize, hypothesize, and…other words that end with ‘ize’, about this topic. A geek may look completely normal on the outside (unlike a nerd). However bring up the topic and it’s like Superman and a phone booth. Facts, figures, tips, tricks, theories, conspiracies and all manner of knowledge how are manifested.

That said, I have discovered that I can run with many different types of geeks and fit in pretty well. First I am definitely a music geek. I do not just play music (ie. more than a hobby), I like to think about and talk about music theory. I like to talk about and compare musical styles and keep up with the latest bands.

At this point I need to point out a heretofore unmentioned phenomenon of geekdom. Geeks often make, and laugh at, jokes concerning their topic of geekiness. Observe: What’s the last thing a drummer says in a band? ” “Hey guys, why don’t we try one of my songs?” Or try this one: Did you hear about the guitarist who was in tune? Neither did I. You Might be a Music Theory Geek if your favorite pickup line is, “What’s your favorite augmented sixth chord?”

I also classify myself as a Mac geek. Mac geeks are different from computer geeks in two ways: they hate Windows and they love the Macintosh. Pretty simple. They love to keep up on the latest rumors of new products possibly coming out of Cupertino. They discuss how “Microsoft/Windows would be better if they’d just (insert Macintosh feature here).” When one uses a Windows PC he is simply using another household appliance. But using a Mac, for a Mac geek, is a means of expression. And of course there are no shortages of Mac geek jokes. These are often at the expense of non-Mac products. “System Requirements: This virus requires Microsoft Windows 98 or higher.” Computers are like air conditioners—they stop working properly if you open Windows. You get the idea.

Well now I have been introduced to the theater geek. This is not necessarily the same as an acting geek. I have been studying this type of geek during my tenure as Sam Wainwright in the current Perry Players production of It’s a Wonderful Life. I have found that I can fit right in with theater geeks as well as I can with Mac geeks and music geeks and preppies and rockers and jocks, et al. The ability to do so stems from my love of classic movies, many of which are also plays. So when they begin discussing plays they have been in, I am often familiar with the storylines of the ones they mention. Theater geeks also have their own brand of humor which often involves talking like their character or using their actual lines to participate in real conversations. This will elicit any where from a knowing chuckle to an outright guffaw depending on well-timed and properly-placed the remark was. Theater acting is new to me and may be short-lived. So I can not say if I will arise to the ranks of theater geek as I have with Macs and music. But time will tell.

It is interesting how people seem to be endowed with particular gifts. You see, I did not set out to acquire these skills and knowledge for the purpose of assimilation with any group, I simply, by nature, am an eclectic kind of guy. That is except when it comes to computers: Mac only please.

Josh H.

Here on Monday, January 14, the annual Macworld Expo is beginning in San Francisco. This is the event in which both professional and consumer-level Mac users converge on SF’s Mascone Center to visit exhibits hosted by Apple and hundreds of companies that produce third-party products and software for the Macintosh and iPod platforms. Also there are numerous classes and how-to sessions that Mac users of all skill levels can attend to learn even more about the software and hardware they use. Without a doubt the highlight and most anticipated portion of the 5 day event is the Keynote on Tuesday morning. This keynote is traditionally given by Steve Jobs and this is the time when he introduces new Apple products. It was during the 2007 keynote that Jobs introduced the iPhone last year.

Each year the keynote (or “Stevenote” as it is sometimes called) is preceded by a whirlwind of rumors and predictions on the part of the mainstream media as well as the alternative media (ie. podcasters). The predictions have gotten some things right in the past but most of it turns out to be wishful thinking and wild speculation about what products his Steveness will announce. Since Apple has a long-standing policy of not discussing or announcing future products until their release, the predictors are left to their own imaginations and their analysis of past trends. I have never taken part in the aforementioned rumor mill that is such a part of the pre-Macworld hysteria however this year I actually have some strong gut feelings about some things. Two things in particular: a major change to iTunes and a dramatic change to the Macbook laptop line. And since most of my readership probably does not care about such things, I will keep my comments brief. But here on the eve of the Stevenote I thought it would be nice to list predictions and then see if I am at all correct.

iTunes 7.6

Each year iTunes and the iTunes Store have grown in functionality. The addition of video content, games for the iPod, ringtones for the iPhone and DRM-free music are some of the big changes that have happened in the last couple of years. I predict that Steve will announce the new version of iTunes (7.6) and that the major addition will be the ability to “rent” video content from the iTunes Store. This is a potential feature that once sounded completely ridiculous in my opinion. However with the advent of Apple TV (a unit that wirelessly syncs video content from your computer and then plays it over your HDTV), iTunes video “rental” seems plausible. Perhaps you will be able to select a “Rent” option on a given movie, then movie will download to your computer and you will have such-and-such amount of time to view it before it becomes inactive. The other option would be to take the Netflix approach and allow you to keep the movie for however long you would like but you must deactivate it before downloading another.

Some have speculated that the big iTunes announcement would be that it would go to a subscription model. I seriously doubt this will happen since Steve’s battle cry has always been that people want to purchase and truly own their content. However I do not believe the rental model described above would contradict Steve’s philosophy on consumer content ownership.

Major Laptop Line Update

The blogosphere and Mac User groups have long been ecstatic at the though of an “ultra-portable Mac”. There have been many different ideas on how such a product would look. Some have said that it would be very stripped down with no CD/DVD drive and only run on flash memory (which would allow for limited hard drive storage space) and that the device would be a sort of portable satellite for the user’s main system. It would basically mirror your main system and stay in sync with it. I do not believe this is what we will see. I believe that one of two things will happen. Either Apple will introduce a smaller Macbook Pro which is currently available in only in 15” and 17” models or we will see laptops across the board (Macbook Pro’s and Macbooks) going to a thinner, more portable form factor.

I have some other smaller predictions that many would not care about such as speed increases for iMacs, enhancements to .Mac , upgrades to iPods and the awaited release of the massive 10.5.2 update to Leopar. So rather than bore you with smaller details I will leave you with my two main predictions and we will see how well The Smoak House works as an Apple rumor mill.

And if I am wrong you can not make fun of me.

Josh H.

You probably saw my Macworld Keynote predictions. Well the keynote has taken place and all of the new products have been announced.

What I got right

I was correct about iTunes 7.6 and movie rentals. You can now (as of today) rent movies through iTunes ($2.99 for older titles, $3.99 for newer) and watch them on your iPod, iPhone, HDTV (via Apple TV), PC, or Mac. You download it, then you have 24 hours to view however many times you like. The rental will be completely transferable to any of the devices I have just mentioned, even midstream. So if you have rented a film and watch half of it on your computer. You can then transfer it to an iPod or iPhone or similar Apple device and watch the rest of it. Sounds very cool and will actually give me a reason to download a movie from iTunes. Like most people these days if I am going to own a movie, then I want the DVD so that I can have special features. But for the films I just want to watch once and then get rid of, iTunes rentals may be the ticket. This new feature of the iTunes store will be most appealing to Apple TV and video iPod owners and maybe a few laptop-using road warriors.

What I got wrong

I was right when I said that we could expect a change to the Macbook line of laptops. But I was wrong when I said it would be an update to the Macbook line. There as actually an addition. And it was an addition that I said would not happen. Steve Jobs introduced the new Macbook Air (Michael “Air” Jordan would be proud). Stupid name, but it is a nifty machine. I am not sure it is what I need at this time but it will benefit a great number of folks. Despite my doubts, the Macbook Air is an ultra-thin, ultra-lightweight laptop that does not have a DVD/CD drive. You can purchase a separate optical drive for $99 or you can do without. This is what Jobs would like to see people do. He would like to see folks watching movies via iTunes on their Macbook Air or on their television via Apple TV instead of on a DVD. As for installing software from a disc, well you would need another PC or Mac for this. Using a feature called Remote Disc you can tell your Macbook Air (MBA) to access or borrow the optical drive of another machine. Put the disc in the other machine’s drive and the MBA will download the software wirelessly from the disc in the other machine’s drive. Of course the MBA and the other machine must be on the same network. So this is most ideal for folks who have multiple computers set up as a network in their home. But what about burning CD’s? Well Jobs’ solution for that was a little strange. Though his exact words were “we have a much better way than burning CDs — most of us have iPods in our cars”, what it basically amounted to was “get an iPod!” I am not sure that is going to go over well with average consumers who are not all-out tech geeks.

The MBA comes with an 80GB hard drive with the option to get one with a 64 GB Solid State drive option. They have changed over to a smaller 1.8” hard drive to conserve space. It’s amazing how thin hard drives can be. I mean, just look at the iPod Classic.

Finally a product I did not anticipate was Time Capsule. Time Capsule is meant to work with Mac OS X’s Time Machine backup utility. Time Capsule is basically an external hard drive with a built-in wireless router so that Time Machine can back up the information from all of your Macs on your home network to this one hard drive (assuming you have enough available space on Time Capsule). But I will admit, this product was not even a blip on my radar screen.

Other things I was wrong about include upgrades to the iMac (there were none), upgrades to iPods (zilch) and the release of the 10.5.2 update for Leopard (though that may still happen via Mac OS X’s Software Update utility this week even if it was not formally announced).

Well this little experiment settles the question once and for all: The Smoak House is definitely not the place to go for Apple speculations and rumors. I was wrong on all but one prediction.

Remember. You can not make fun of me.

Josh H.

I am the kind of person who likes to plan for a rainy day. I am strange bird because I am generally optimistic however I am also the type who says “…but you never know what may happen.” I expect the best but plan for the possibly unforeseen worst. This is the part of me that decided to keep our current computer and just buy a Macbook laptop to complement it instead of selling off the current computer to get us closer to getting the Macbook. My logic was even though the Macbook will do everything our current Mac Mini does and more, you never know when the scenario may crop up that we need two computers.

Now this brings me to the idea I have had swirling around in my head for the past few weeks. I own two Gibson Les Pauls, arguably the best guitar on the market. One is the much coveted Les Paul Standard, the quintessential rock guitar. I will never get rid of it because it is the guitar I dreamed of owning from the moment I began playing guitar. My other Les Paul is the popular though less coveted Les Paul Special. I have owned this guitar since 2002. I bought it because I played one at a studio where my band at the time was recording. It had a great vintage feel and sound. So I saved up some cash and bought one. It served me well as gigged for the following year. But then after I quit my band it went into its case and only came out occasionally. Once I purchased my Standard in 2004 the Special basically became my back up.

Fast forward to 2008. The thought cross my mind of selling the Les Paul Special and using the funds toward a Macbook for which I have been saving since last August. At the rate I am going it would take me until 2009 to save the necessary amount for the laptop. But the plan ahead part of me gasped: “What if I need a back up? What if ninjas come and chop my Standard in half? What if Smokey steals it because he needs it for his upcoming world tour? What if I get too excited on stage and go Kurt Cobain on my Standard*? What will I play?” The questions haunted me. So I put the idea aside.

That is, until I realized that I have played electric guitar live before an audience about four, maybe five, times since 2004. During those times I have not yet needed a “back up” guitar. At this time my wife also inadvertently helped me come to a decision. It came about this weekend when she decided that even though we paid a lot of money for our current bedroom suit and even though we went through a lot of trouble to get it, it no longer serves our purposes and does not fit in with the style that we are now going for in our bedroom. She has wanted to sell it before now but I held back because of the above reasons. But she helped me to see that it is silly to hold on to something for reasons other than sentiment when it stands in the way of your getting what you really need and can use. I saw her logic and agreed to sell the furniture. You can see how I was able to apply the same logic to my Les Paul Special. It sits in its case in my closet while I struggle to save up for a laptop that we both want and could really benefit from on a daily basis. So with this in mind I gathered my courage and took some pictures. You can now find my Les Paul Special making its debut on eBay.com, playing the part of Item number 180208860766. There seems to already be tons of interest in it and so if all goes well this Sunday when the auction closes Lyndsay and I will be so much closer to getting our new laptop. Keep your fingers crossed.

Josh H.

*This is highly unlikely since I have always felt that Nirvana’s destructive displays were always kind of stupid and uncalled for. I don’t mean any disrespect to the dead, I’m just saying.

The operator and author of the blog Rotten in Denmark reported recently of his dealings with local police who came to his home in order to confiscate his roommate’s computer. You see, the roommate’s machine came under the authorities’ radar while investigating the case of a stolen credit card number that occurred because of an open, unsecured wireless network. The blogger let the cops in and told them help themselves, the computer is on the desk.

The cops began searching under the desk and then finally questioned the blogger asking “where’s the computer?” He told them it was there on the desk. “No, that’s the screen. Where’s the computer, where the data goes?”, was the reply. The confusion came about due to the fact that the computer in question was a first generation Apple iMac G3. The iMac is a computer that looks merely like a monitor because all of the computer components on inside the monitor—the hard drive, CD/DVD drive, the memory, everything.

A hilarious interchange took place in which the blogger was trying to explain to the cop that what he was looking at there on the desk was the whole computer. The baffled cop repeatedly responded stating that was only the screen and that he needed the computer. Finally the cops began to understand. The guts of the computer really were all inside that one unit. The officer then concluded with “New technology, huh?” The interesting thing is that particular version of the iMac came out in 1998.

He would have probably never convinced the officer had the iMac been the current version.

Josh H.

The day has finally come! Back in August 2007 I decided to start saving for an Apple Macbook laptop. At the time my goal was to purchase a Macbook by April 2008 using only income earned from blogging. I was on track and doing well in obtaining this goal until my blogging income began to slow rapidly (mostly due to writer’s block). So I edited my goal and decided that I would purchase a Macbook by April 2008 using any income that is not a part of my regular income (i.e. paycheck). This was because I did not want it to become any kind of burden on my wife and I or our ability to pay our regular bills, utilities, etc. (in other words, I was trying to be a good steward).

Well, thanks to some great blogging opportunites, some generosity on my father’s part, the selling of a guitar I no longer played, and a wonderfully hefty bonus from my employer, I now have raised the funds necessary for the purchase a little over a month ahead of schedule. At approximately 8:15am on the morning of February 12, my wife Lyndsay placed the order for our new Macbook. And let me tell you, just ordering the thing has been an adventure.

Rewind to two days ago. Lyndsay called me during my lunch hour on Monday (Feb. 11) to declare to me that I get to order the Macbook. I sat stunned wondering what in the world she could be talking about. Had she sold her hair a la “Gift of the Magi”? No, that couldn’t be it. Her hair is already so short that she would have had to go skinhead (no laptopto do so (no laptop is worth that). Had a rich uncle died and left us a fortune? Of course it turned out to be less exciting than the latter (though I would have missed my rich uncle—whoever he is) and less romantic than the former. It was a bonus from my job. Management at my employer had been repeatedly stating that some employees may get a bonus or perhaps no one. They said it may be a large bonus or it may be next to nothing. They could not promise anything. They really instilled us with a lot of hope and anticipation.

So as you can imagine I could not be happier on Monday when Lyndsay told me the news and I looked forward to getting home so that I could place the order. Now we wanted to order it as soon as possible because we are going out of town on Friday, the day after Valentine’s Day. Of course this would mean paying extra for faster shipping but thankfully my bonus allowed the additional funds to do that. There was just one things standing in our way. The money that I had already raised was residing in an online savings account. I had to first transfer that money to our checking account before I could place the order. I figured that would set us back twenty-four hours but we could still pay for next day shipping and get it by Thursday. Well, twenty-four hours came and went. What made for extra nail biting was that the money was debited from my online account before it was credited to my checking account. By the time Wednesday morning rolled around I was ready to give my bank a piece of my mind. Where was my money? That money represented six months of savings. I waited until the bank opened at 8am Wednesday morning. Sidenote: I pretty much had to guess at when the bank opened since the bank’s hours are not mentioned on their website, in their Yellow Pages ad or on their telephone banking service. In fact on their website there is a section called “Location & Hours”, no hours are given. Only locations are given in that section of the site. Thanks a lot.

So I call the bank and am met with a number of options by an automated system. I choose to be transferred to an attendant. It rings once and then hangs up on me. Ok, I can handle the occasional glitch. So I call a second time and get the same result. So before I call a third time and start World War III with them, I decide, for whatever reason, to check my balance one more time. Miracle of miracles the money is there safe and sound. Finally, I can order my Macbook. And hopefully it is still early enough that we can receive it before leaving Friday morning.

I am just grateful that I was fortunate enough to be one of the chosen few who received a bonus and that the bonus was indeed a sizeable one at least by my standards. It really boosts your morale to be rewarded extra for your hard work. At any rate it was large enough to close the gap between what I had raised on my own and the amount needed to order the conveted Macbook. I was also able to order a wireless router, which will allow the Macbook to share an internet connection and files with my current Mac desktop computer, and the Applecare extended warranty.

And now you know…thhhe rest of the stau-reeey.

Josh H.