ZogBlog

Yeah... I took a vacation. Between the podcast habit, my new Smartphone, KOTOR II, and a missed deadline on my first big app in my new position... blogging had to give. Besides I've been in input mode with CES and MWSF. I may post on my favorites sooner or later. Stay tuned.

I'm going to get back into blogging... with hopefully more technical content. SQL Reporting Services, VS Team System, SQL 2005. Anything that I actually use. ;)

Promise.

I've refrained from posting my thoughts on these new products while I wrap my head around Steve's goals. It's time I added my feelings to the blogosphere.

Mac Mini. 2" tall. 256MB standard. Slow. Painfully slow. Fully tricked out (though still slow) it's $1200, but the base box is $499. Disclaimer: I *hate* the iMac/eMacs. These products are made for the people that could care less about performance. A 10 second wait for an app to open is no... big... deal... Me, give me the one that instantly turns on and apps instantly fire up ready for use. To me the computer is enabling technology. If my beautiful mind has to wait one extra cycle... than my time is wasted. Curiously enough, a coworker (who incidently works for MCS) told me today that he's considering dropping $500 for this little box. A little Mac envy maybe? Whatever his reasons, this box would be perfect for my Mom. Slow doesn't bother her like it does me... and as long as you don't have iTunes, several task widgets and 3 Firefox windows running (with like 15 open tabs) - it should be perfect.

iPod Shuffle. This is an inexpensive thumbdrive that can play music. You won't be able to tell what you're playing because there's no screen... so it's best for the workout, or while driving (Podcast driving). Stupid as a primary music player, but perfect as a thumb-drive or a second music player.

iLife 05'. The only thing I care about is iPhoto 5 which finally adds folders and management of pics by date. iMovie HD doesn't help me because I can't make DVDs of my favorite TV shows (either in snippets or in their entirety). GarageBand 2 does nothing for me... I'm not going to make music any time soon (my music is C# code). iDVD is pretty useless as well because my PowerBook (with the superdrive) can't even make a usable CD, and if can't use iMovie to suck in DVDs from my DVD recorder what's the point? That leaves iTunes which is free. So can someone please tell me why I'm paying $79 for iPhoto... if it's just going to be bundled for free in OS X 10.4 Tiger?

iWork. Pages? Give me a break. I'm happy with Word / Office 2004 (props to MacBU). Keynote? I'm not writing presentations at home for myself. Besides, I have PowerPoint even if I wanted to (which I don't). Next.

This is all cool, but where's the G5 PowerBook with a kick-ass display like the Dell Inspiron wide-screen UXGA? Where's Tiger with spotlight and dashboard? Release them already! Tiger almost gives us what OS X 10.0 should have given. Too bad even Tiger doesn't address the horribly inconsistent UI. Though Windows XP gives you painfully few options to change the window dressing, at least the windows all look the same - they... are... consistent... Open different apps in OS X and you will see different UI frames (not content mind you). On one the lower right hand corner handle *is* the edge of the screen, on another you've got a brushed-metal rounded corner *around* the corner handle. On one you have the brushed metal title bar, on another you get some white thing. I don't get it. But apparently the predominantly artist community of the Mac-heads don't care.. because I'm the only one saying this. Go figure. If it wasn't for shapeshifter... I would go back to skinning my PC to look like an apple. Heh.

10 years ago I bought my first microwave. It's now sitting on the island in my Kitchen. Defunct. Dead. I had the microwave longer than I've known my now-ex-wife.

We've been through a lot that microwave and I. I've moved it from my first apartment in New Jersey (where I was briefly stationed during the overhaul of my ship, the USS JFK), to my barracks room on Bolling AFB, to my 2nd apartment, to my 3rd apartment, and finally to my current townhouse.

I remember it blowing up on the first day I plugged it in here. Something about the wiring setup for 220V vs 110V. Stupid mistake that I made the builders pay for... even so, it's worked for 10 years. 10 YEARS. I've watched computers come and go; washing machines die and get replaced; I've even gone through 5 cars. Back in 1993 when I first bought it, it was the biggest I could find @ 2.0 cubic feet... oh, and it was 1000 watts. That was definitely *nuke* power back then.

After it blew up I was excited. "I get to buy a *new* microwave!" Whoopee! But this exuberation rapidly turned to disgust. An internet search seemed fruitless, as it's hard to tell anything about a microwave from it's specs (always the wrong stuff tracked), it's price, or it's small, grainy picture. Un-deterred I headed out to Wal-Mart, then Best Buy, then Target, then Circuit City, then Sears, then Macy's, then Home Depot. Nothing.

You see I'm looking for something to replace my Tappan microwave. I want a black microwave with an actual handle, a minimum of 1.8 cubic feet - all for less than $200. Seems simple right? Wrong. The closest I could come to *these* stats was a KitchenAid Convection/Microwave combo contraption.... that retails for $550. My microwave was *under* $200. My next one better be... because technology is not supposed to become more expensive after 10 years of technological *progress*!!!

I'm still searching. I doubt I'll find it, and may resort to having my trusty old Tappan fixed. What the hell has the world come to? Who *actually* likes a button door? Think about it! Does your stove have a push button? How about your refridgerator? Car? Any doors in your house that open at the push of a button? No of course not. It's a *stupid* idea.

Someone actually said to me the other day... "my microwave has a button - what's wrong with that?" If you don't know - I can't explain it. For any of my regular readers, I'll just say this: EXPECT MORE.