Well I've installed both iWork and the new iLife '05 and overall I'm mildly excited about the new applications. Why? Well Pages seized up on me after creating a simple layout using one of the Apple templates. When relaunching the program it didn't recover the document like Word does most of the time. Keynote is impressive but I wish they'd improve the outliner. As for iLife '05 the look and feel of iPhoto seems much better and I'm anxious to dig into the program more. Perhaps most interesting to me is iDVD's capability to capture video and burn it to DVD simultaneously. Because sometimes you just want to put raw footage on a DVD to give to someone to review. Not everything we shoot needs to be an editing project. I haven't tried this yet, but will test it sometime next week. And while I haven't to date been a heavy user of GarageBand, I do look forward to experimenting with the music notation capability.
For those of you who don't care about this Macintosh stuff, I'm sure soon enough I'll be writing about wine, music or travel very soon. Next trip? I'm gearing up for Costa Rica in the spring. Watch out!
And those of you who missed the posts from last week, BlogLet was down again (what a suprise) so I hope you go back and scroll down.
Okay. So you thought I was kidding when in my last post I asked if you'd ordered your new Mac Mini. But no. I'm serious. I saw one the other day. And for those Digital Tavern readers who laboriously struggle through their days reading these and other pages on Windows-based system, your liberation is here. And it's not going to cost you that much. Plus, you get to keep your keyboard, your monitor and those things that might still provide you with sentimentality of those days when you did have your cuddly little Windows computer close by.
Walt Mossberg the typically hardball technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal says "If my e-mail from readers is any indication, more Windows users are thinking of switching to Apple Computer's Macintosh models than at any time in a decade." I'd have to agree. In fact, this could be just the thing to get my dad to finally own his first macintosh -- though that would mean he'd have to return my phone calls, which would be a miracle in itself.
In the morning some people roll out of bed and take a shower. Others might turn on the TV for a dose of morning talk. Still others might make a cup of coffee while reading the morning paper. Today, I opened my Mac and tracked a few FedEx packages.
You see I bit the bullet earlier this week. That is, I ordered Apple's new iWork which contains Pages, its new word processing program and Keynote the upgrade to Apple's answer to PowerPoint. Plus, I ordered the upgrade to iLife which includes new versions of iPhoto, GarageBand (now with music notation capability), iDVD and iMovie. These products are not officially available until tomorrow, Saturday January 22, 2005.
This is where the tracking at FedEx intrigued me. Both of these programs were shipped yesterday via FedEx's priority overnight service. This means I should have both programs within the next couple hours. I'm sure I'm not the only Mac enthusiast who will be pleasantly surprised to have a day jump on the latest, newest and coolest stuff.
Suffice to say I probably won't have much time to play. But I'll comfort in the fact that they will be installed on my computer before the hordes line up at the Apple stores nationwide tomorrow not only to buy their versions of iWork and iLife '05, but the new Mac Mini, too.
So rather than rant, lament or comment on those things that are certainly more important than my random muses here tonight (Tsunami, Iraqi elections, my brother's birthday today, etc.) I'd rather just blaze into the tavern this evening with a simple comment.
I bought a few miscellaneous items at the local grocery store today. Instead of pushing a cart around the store I opted for one of those plastic hand carry baskets. Keeps me focused on my current needs and gets me into the checkout line (most times the express) quickly and economically.
So a few bananas, oatmeal, fruit and odds and ends (yes, still working on cholesterol lowering strategy) the young lad responsible for bagging my items turns to me and asks "Plastic okay with you sir?"
Sir? Good god. Sir! Well...
"Yes. Plastic is okay."
I bit my lip as these words leaked from my mouth. I hate those damn plastic bags. He was supposed to give me my option. But I simply reasoned that the boy was lazy, didn't want to open the bag and would rather stuff items into a series of plastic bags to keep his mind from thinking about the most efficient and product favorable manner of using paper.
The worst part is that my small little hand carried basket which all of my items fit into now required four (4) plastic bags.
Four bags? What a waste.
Yes. I usually am much less passive when a young lad looking to waste rather than think takes the assumptive approach to my bagging preference. "No. I'd rather paper, and could you fit all the items into one bag?" After all, a bachelor rarely fills a shopping cart and as such, items are purchased on an as needed basis. That is, I need these now. Tonight. Yes, there is no toilet paper. You get the idea.
So I walk into my home with four silly plastic bags.
Did I tell you I hate those plastic grocery bags.
Paper, I'm told, i recyclable and eco-friendly. So why not paper?
