2006
Website and Photo Updates
As i mentioned previously, I’ve been updating the website. The ‘theme’ that is implemented now will be the default look. If you have any feedback on how the page looks or navigates, please feel free to comment on the page or write to me. I’m guessing feedback may range from the page being too dark or the font being too small, but I’m not sure. I find it easy to use and read, but do you?
Viewing photos also has a new option: viewing via //Smugmug
The reason why I chose Smugmug is the look and feel appeals to some of our visitors, as opposed to my //Flickr account. I’m guessing people do not want to sign up for a Flickr account (which is free) or simply don’t want to sign up for a Yahoo! account. I still prefer Flickr as a service, but understand the appeal of Smugmug. Either way, you now have two methods to view photos.
I do not have all the photos posted to Smugmug yet, but I will work on it. I have password protected several photo galleries on Smugmug, as individual photos cannot be password protected. In order to view those galleries, you will need to provide the password to the gallery. It’s a simple question, but if you do not know the answer, please write to me for guidance.
Photos can be ordered from both services. To order photos from Flickr, you need to be on my Friends and Family list. When you are a member, you can order photos, which are printed by //Target, and either have them mailed to you or you can pick them up at your local Target store.
You can also order photos through Smugmug. They will mail you the photos. I think the photos are more expensive than ordering them through Flickr, but I do not know if there is a quality difference. I’ll need to order some photos for comparison.
Anyway, back to more web stuff.
The First Saturday in February
I’m sitting outside Express in //Bay Street shops in Emeryville. Farrah is in one of the many shops, and I just got out of the Apple store. I’m sitting on a bench, and it is a pretty chilly late afternoon (around 5:30 PM). I’m not sure if I will be able to post this entry to the website from here. I’m getting a weak WiFi signal from the Apple store, but I don’t think I’ll be out here long. The day has been pretty much uneventful, though I the week holds promise.
Last week was pretty rough, and seemingly long. An uncle in Hawaii passed away. His death, almost any death, still reminds me of my father. I’m not sure why, even after all these years, but it still does. My uncle, someone as a kid I would call my rich uncle, had become ill in September. From what I understand he was up and around in the beginning of last year, showing no signs of disability, save his age. He was tending his garden still, going out when need be. But I suppose time catches up with everyone. He was 93 when he died.
I saw Uncle Teofilo after our wedding. I visited his home with my mom, where I saw my aunt and cousins. Uncle was bedridden, talking incoherently as we walked into his room. It took about 15 minutes to recognize my mom, 20 minutes to recognize me. When he did recognize me, it was as if a light switch had been turned on. He wished Farrah and I a happy honeymoon, as if we were in the middle of a conversation. His words brought tears to my eyes. After those words, I had to leave. I didn’t want to see him fade away. It’s something about seeing someone who you remember being so strong, now not being able to care for themselves. It hits hard. From what I understand, my uncle was pretty stubborn when he was lucid, wanting to move around and go when the urge took him over.
My mom went to the funeral, and stayed with relatives for a few days. I just contemplated life, thinking of what was, what is, and what will be. Yes, I’m getting a little reflective in my downtime. I need to find a job and keep busy.
So this week is almost over and a new one is about to begin. Let’s hope this week is a little better.
Cool Site - Pandora
You might have heard of this site already or not. It’s called //Pandora, created by the Music Genome Project. What the heck? To sum up what the //Music Genome Project does, it is a group of people who break down the DNA of a song or musician. They determine try to “capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony." Pandora offers a way to listen to the fruits of their labor.
When you visit Pandora, you will be asked to enter in an artist or a song. When the information is inputted, a song that exemplifies the artist’s music style will play. After the initial song, similar suggestions from other artists will play. You can choose to listen to the next song, skip to a following song, and even buy a song you have just listen to. Suggestions are not based on the old “if you like this artist, you might like this next artist because similar people listened to it as well”, but is based on the DNA profile of the artist’s catalog.
You can create a profile and save favorite songs, all it takes is an email address. The service is free, but you can pay as little as $3/month for no advertising. So try it out and see if you like it. This is a streaming music service, so you might need to wade through some songs you may not like. But if you are looking for new music, or just want to have a radio station playing in the background, you may want to give //Pandora a try.
[For more information on Pandora, please see the Podcast //Inside the Net 6: Tim Westerngren of Pandora Media All you need to do is download the Podcast and listen to it on your computer.]
[Also note: I was able to find most artists I searched for on Pandora. Not all will appear though, as they do have a limited catalog that is growing each day. So do not be discouraged if you are looking for someone that isn’t currently there.]
Working on the Site
I’m working on the site layout right now. The page may change from time to time while you are on it. I’m working on implementing a theme I like (and hopefully will stay with). This change will also affect how photos can be accessed so stay tuned!
Are You Pissed?
Apple today announced some new products. The Mac Intel versions were announced, as expected, with particular attention paid to the new laptop offered. It’s called the //MacBook Pro
After hearing about it, a friend contacted me on IM and said, “Dude, don’t you feel cheated? Are you pissed [for recently buying a PowerBook]?”
The quick answer is no.
The MacBook Pro has a lot going for it:
- It's stated to be four times faster than the current PowerBook.
- It has a built-in iSight camera.
- It includes Front Row with Remote.
- And it's thinner than current PowerBooks.
I’m sure there are a lot more positives about it. The way I see it, I am still happy with my current purchase because:
- It's a 12" laptop whereas 15" seems to be the smallest MacBook Pro offered. You can't believe how much 3" makes a difference.
- It's a first generation MacIntel collaboration. There might be some kinks to still workout.
- I got my PowerBook on a slight discount. With it, my PowerBook was considerably less in price than the least expensive MacBook Pro.
I’m sure I’ll upgrade some time in the future, depending on reviews. (You know how much I like reviews). But for now, I’m still a very happy Mac user.
PS: Want to see //photos of the MacBook Pro?
Mac or Windows?
Heard of the latest //Windows flaw? From what I understand of it, and I may not understand all of it, but the only thing a user needs to do is visit a malicious website to get infected. It doesn’t matter if they are using Internet Explorer or Mozilla, just as long as they are on Windows!!! The websites given as //examples seem innocent. So now viewing a seemingly simple photo can get your computer into virus issues!!!
My Reasons?
I’ve been looking at moving to a Mac for some time. I must admit part of it started with the iPod, a very cool product by Apple. I find the iPod to be a solid piece of hardware that has been very useful in the two years that I have had it. It’s been a great gift that I truly appreciate.
Other input has come from radio shows I listen to, mainly //Leo Laporte’s show, who touts Macs and Unix. Leo continually has end users calling in with a lot of Windows problems. Granted, 80% or more of the home users out their user Windows. But listening to these callers has just convinced me that their must be something better out there. One of Leo’s main reasons for moving is he feels that non-power users shouldn’t need to be security experts in order to use their computer. I mean, you need to know to run spyware protection, to run virus protection, to know what to disable and enable in your browser. I know all of this, but haven’t realized that I really don’t need to know all of this. After all, there are no known viruses or spyware for the Mac (at least not now).
Another part of it stems from all the computer problems I have experienced, mostly through friends and relatives, with Windows-based machines. I was at someone’s house (they shall go nameless) who was having computer problems. They said their computer was running very slow. I did a virus and spyware scan and…BAM! forty-four instances of spyware and at least four viruses! It was impossible to clean, so a reinstall will be the most likely solution. (I still need to do this).
Then on our recent trip to Hawaii, someone asked me to look at their laptop to see what was wrong. Guess what? It had viruses galore on it! The laptop wasn’t even used that much on the Internet, and when it was it was through a dial-up connection!
So I took the leap to Mac. I have used a Mac before. At my first Silicon Valley job we used Macs to answer customer questions. I took a while to get used to, and the group I was in was the only group on Macs. I slowly moved that group to Windows, as I had some problems exchanging reports with my boss who was on Windows. So that was the last time I touched a Mac.
Moving to Mac
I’ve been living with my Mac PowerBook for about a month now, about the same amount of time I’ve been out of a job! My last job had a perk where you could get a slight discount on Apple products. I decided to use it by purchasing a Mac computer. I wasn’t sure which one I would get, but I knew I wanted one.
I went with the 12" PowerBook. I knew I wanted to take a little leap, without too much cost. The Mac Mini might have been a good choice, but I didn’t need to replace my desktop. I looked toward laptops since I wanted to be portable. I was initially going with the 15" PowerBook, but the price for me turned out to be a factor. Plus I loved the size and feel of the 12" PowerBook.
How’s it Going?
What I’m finding is that the Mac is suiting most of my computer needs: surfing, emailing, and composing Word documents. I did plunk down some $$ for Microsoft Office, but other than that the PowerBook came with all that I needed. I still haven’t found a suitable photo management program, and probably won’t look for one until I get a Mac desktop computer. This PowerBook only has a 100 GB hard drive, so I’m not using it for music storage or image editing. But I am using it for everything else.
The only outstanding issue I have is my Mac is running slow on my home network. I don’t know why this is the case, as it seems to be running fine here at Starbucks. I’ll need to figure this one out. But hey, I highly recommend the Mac at this point. And with the new Intel Macs coming out soon, you should consider a Mac if you are looking for a new computer.