{ personal }

Returning the 11-inch MacBook Air

Almost two weeks using the 11 inch MacBook Air.  Sad to say, I'm seriously considering returning it.  Two reasons.  One, for no apparent technical reason, Apple has disabled booting into 64-bit kernel mode.  The hardware supports 64-bit but it has been disabled on the MacBook Air.  It's like buying a 200 mph Ferrari with a 180 mph speed limiter.  Just on principle I should return the MacBook Air.

Two, the font is just too small to read.  This is my real problem. 1366 by 768 pixel on an 11.6 inch diagonal screen makes text on every web site I visit too small for comfortable reading.  I have to resort to zooming in on Firefox but this causes page layout to get all screwed up because pages aren't designed for 30 point font.  The alternative is to change to a different resolution but this causes blurriness and distortion. Maybe if my eyes were 10 years younger, but right now it's just too much strain on my eyes.

Tough call.  It's such a pleasure to use in every other aspect.  So thin and light I barely notice it in my backpack.  Very quiet, super fast bootup/resume thanks to the flash storage.  There's a 14 day return policy so I basically have 1 day to decide...

Ditching AT&T and the iPhone

Thinking about switching carrier and getting a new phone.  So sick of AT&T's service.  The other day someone left me a voice mail at 9:30 AM but I wasn't notified until 4:30 PM.  Never mind that it was a telemarketer, a 7 hour delay is unacceptable and I should switch carriers out of sheer principle. 

Then there's my iPhone.  I swear, underneath it all, the iPhone is running Windows XP.  So slow, freezes up all the time.  Sometimes when I'm taking a shit I'll pull out my iPhone to play a game and whatnot.  But by the time the game loads I'm ready to wipe.  Useless.

But switching carrier and phone is such a pain in the arse.  Been with AT&T--amazingly--since 2004.  Really don't want to deal with Verizon salesmen trying to convince me I need unlimited texting.  And moving over my contacts.. And moving over my music.  Well, I guess my music can't really be moved, since Steve Jobs has locked me into iTunes for life.  It says a lot when it's easier to get a divorce from you wife/husband than to sever from Apple.

I'll never buy another Apple product again (the iPad was my lame April Fool joke).  Apple epitomizes everything that is wrong with society.  Their CEO is a megalomaniac.  Their software is closed.  The company spends half of its budget on marketing, brainwashing us into buying crap we don't need.  I'll give it up though, they are brilliant at what they do.  To convince the sheep he is special is no small feat.

So that leaves me with HTC, because lets face it, the Chinese are taking over so I might as well jump on board.  Although technically some friends will say HTC is Taiwanese but it's all the same to me (I can say this with immunity since I'm not white).  The Droid Eris by HTC looks pretty nice, much better than that brick they call DROID by Motorola. 

Callaway uPro Mac Problems

I decided not to renew my iGolf (now Bushnell) NEO subscription.  Thought it'd be $19.99 for the year but it's actually $39.99.  $40 ain't that much, but I hate that it doesn't work with my Mac, forcing me to go into work to download and sync courses.  Plus I wanted a more feature rich GPS.  The Callaway uPro seemed ideal.  Mac compatible, aerial photography, flyover videos...Not a big benefit at the local muni, but I imagine at new courses or courses with lots of trouble the satellite images and flyover videos would come in really handy.

Unfortunately, it did not work with my Mac (I'm running 10.5.8).  The uPro would say it's connected to the host but the USB drive (that's what the uPro basically is) doesn't mount.  I did get it to work with my Windows PC, but then it crashed after trying to sync about 10 courses.  PITA so I returned it.  But here's the email I just got from uPro support about the Mac issue in case anybody out there is having some problems.  Good luck, the uPro looks awesome, just wished it wasn't so buggy.

Here are some instructions on formatting your device and restoring the files to your microSD card.

1.       On the uPro, navigate to Format microSD in the Device Settings menu

2.       At the warning screen, hold the left arrow button for 5 seconds

3.       After the screen changes warning information, arrow to the left and select YES (highlighted selection will be lighter gray)

4.       Screen will show “Please Wait! Format In Progress…” for a few moments, then return to Device Settings

5.       Press the menu button twice to return to the main menu

6.       Connect your uPro to your MAC

7.       Open the uPro drive by double clicking it and verify it contains two folders: “course_data” and “system”

8.       Click on this link: https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=ZW9DcmxVMVhCMTVMWEE9PQ

9.       Click on Download and Save to your MAC (preferably the desktop)

10.   Open the Disk Image that has downloaded to your MAC

11.   Double click the restore file

12.   Click “Open” then click “Start”

This will complete after approximately 10-15 minutes.  Once complete, open the uPro drive on your desktop by double clicking it and double click the MacSync icon to synchronize the uPro to your MAC.

MacBook Review, One Year Later

I'm starting to really like my MacBook.  When I first made the switch to Apple about a year ago I kind of regretted my decision.  I had to return the MacBook twice because of keyboard and battery problems.  And my wireless always hung after waking up from sleep (still does).  Maybe I should have just spent half the money and gotten another Dell... 

But recently I'm starting to understand why so many people love their MacBooks.  Little features like Spotlight really make a big difference.  Having to click around menus to launch an application is really annoying.  Installing apps is also easier, just move it the application directory.  Of course I also like that I have a terminal available so I can ssh into work/do work without having to download cygwin.  The bells and whistles don't impress me that much, like the minimizing effect/expose.  And I still think coverflow is pretty retarded except for displaying photos.

So I'm no longer regretting my purchase and would recommend a MacBook over a Windows PC--the 20 percent or so price premium is worth it.  There's still a few applications that won't run on Macs, like the iGolf Neo sync software that I really want so I don't have to bring my work laptop home, but almost everything I need/want is available on the Mac these days.

I Shit A Lot, But Don't Fuck Enough

Apparently I type the word "shit" a lot.  I was trying to type "should" but after only entering "sh" the iPhone suggested "shit".

The iPhone must keep track of how often I use certain words, because there's no good reason to suggest "shit" after only entering "sh".  According to this website there are 1708 words that begin with the letters "sh", so suggesting "shit" is only meaningful if the iPhone keeps a tab on my word choices.  Interestingly enough, the iPhone doesn't suggest "fuck" even when I enter in "fuc".  So what this means is that I shit a lot, but don't fuck enough.  I guess there is truth in that statement, although I have been a little constipated taking Naproxen for my neck issue.

iPhone Battery Issue with ActiveSync after Firmware 2.2

I have a 1st generation iPhone (non 3G).  After upgrading to the 2.2 firmware my battery drained like crazy.  Got maybe 6 hours in standby mode, which is ridiculous.  As it turns out, there's some issue with ActiveSync.  I use ActiveSync for my work Exchange email.  After the upgrade ActiveSync was basically on all the time, draining the battery.  Must have been some problem with the push notification.  Ended up deleting the mail account and re-added it.  This seems to have fixed the problem.  Standby time is back to normal.

Air Sharing for iPhone

Love this Air Sharing application for the iPhone.  With Air Sharing running on the iPhone you can mount your iPhone as a network device to easily and quickly transfer files from your computer.  No more emailing yourself.

The technology for wireless synchronization is there in the iPhone, now I'd just wish Apple would let you sync with iTunes over WiFi.  That would make the iPhone 10x better than it is right now.  But then Apple wouldn't be able to sell you their $29.99 USB cable.

Mr. Prima Donna

Brett Favre must be the most annoying athlete living.  Mr. Prima Donna can't make up his mind whether he wants to play or retire.  Play.  No, retire.  No, play. 

Still haven't decided if I'm going to get the new 3G iPhone.  With the 2.0 firmware upgrade my 2G iPhone is pretty sweet.  Could spend the $300 on a new driver, or pay off some bills.  Do I really need the speed of 3G?

Offending Lesbians

All the music on my iPhone got erased when I upgraded to the new 2.0 firmware.  Since my old laptop is dead I can't resync my music library.   Good thing I don't listen to much music, otherwise I'd be really piss at Apple.  I ended up buying I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry on iTunes so my iPod wouldn't be completely unused.  I Kissed a Girl might be the best song, ever.  Pure genius.  Perry sings about making out with a girl while drunk.  Nothing gets guys more excited than straight girls acting lesbians.   I wonder if this offends real lesbians, that their sexual orientation has been reduced to a pop song.  I think if I were a  woman and a lesbian I'd be annoyed at the frivolity that my sexual orientation has become compared to how society treats male homosexuality.

Incidentally, last night at Temple, I was rather surprised that this one girl I know gets very lesbian when she's a little tipsy.  She doesn't look like a "girls gone wild" type, but apparently when she drinks she likes to get freaky with other girls.  This definitely ups her hotness, but then I sadly found out she's a Barack supporter.   Boo.

Apple MacBook Battery Not Charging

I'm all about trying out new things.  Life would be pretty boring if you only did familiar things.  God create blondes and brunettes for a reason, right?  That's why I bought the Apple MacBook, to give Apple a try, see if it's better than Windows.  What do I get for trying something new?  A bad keyboard and a dead battery.  Wasted two hours today waiting for the "genius" guy to tell me something I already knew, the battery on my one month old MacBook is defective.  So the life lesson that Apple has taught me: stick to what you know, trying new things is so overrated.