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My trusty 12-inch PowerBook has been with me now almost 3 years, and while it’s still great for casual use, my purposes for it have changed since I started college, and I need something a bit more powerful. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I need to be able to run Windows and other alternative operating systems for my schoolwork. So, it will soon be time to upgrade… but to what?

When I purchased my PowerBook, I had visions of carrying it to class every day - but to the contrary, it’s been tethered to my desk (external monitor, external hard drive, etc.) for most of it’s life. Thus, I don’t intend on getting another portable. So that leaves 3 choices - the Mac Mini, the iMac, and the Mac Pro - but really only 2 of those are even viable, the iMac and the Mac Pro - and they are two very different machines.

But, I have very different uses for my Mac. I read news online, I browse the web, I check email, I chat online, I manage my schedule; in these respects I don’t demand much from my Mac. However, I also take a lot of pictures (a couple thousand a year) and have a need to store, catalogue, and review them with some degree of speed. I edit images and graphics in Photoshop, I edit audio and video in Final Cut Studio from time to time, and with that comes the need to process (export/compress) large files from time to time. I also tend to do some of these things at the same time, compounding the need for a faster machine. Add to this the fact that my PowerBook is based on what is now twice-replaced technology (the G4 processor in my PowerBook was superseded by the G5 in June of 2003 and then again by the switch to Intel chips last fall), and that the 12-inch PowerBook isn’t even in production any more, and my poor PowerBook starts to sound even older than it really is.

So… I’m having some difficulty deciding between the iMac and the Mac Pro… both have their strengths and weaknesses.

The 24″ iMac

Proposed Configuration

• 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
• 3GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 1×2GB, 1×1GB
• 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 1.5 Gbit/s Hard Drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
• SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Strengths

• Has a built-in 24″ LCD display - means I would still have a dual display setup
• Easy to transport entire computer if need-be
• Has a FireWire 800 port for faster file transfers to external devices

Weaknesses

• Overall not as powerful as the Mac Pro
• Internal drive is SATA at only 1.5 Gbit/s
• Not upgradeable

The Mac Pro

Proposed Configuration

• Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processors
• 4GB 667MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory - 4×1GB
• 250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3 Gbit/s Hard Drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
• 16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Strengths

• More powerful than the iMac
• Support for 3.0 Gbit/s SATA
• Ports galore
• Many upgradeable options
• 4 drive bays means almost limitless storage, and opportunities for RAID configurations
• FireWire 800 and eSATA (with adapter) for faster file transfers to external devices
• Extra 5.25-inch drive bay means potential upgrade to Blu-Ray or HD-DVD in the future

Weaknesses

• No included display means I’ll have just one display
• Not easy to transport entire computer

So… the Mac Pro is actually about two hundred dollars cheaper, but I’d have the added cost of replacing the included 250 GB hard drive with two (or more) larger Seagates… I can get them cheaper off the net than buying them installed from Apple, but in the end the iMac and the Mac Pro would cost me about the same. The iMac gives me a second screen but no upgrade path… with the Mac Pro I have many upgrade paths, but no second screen. Also, with the iMac I get an Apple Remote and Front Row capabilities by default… with the Mac Pro, I could hack Front Row to work pretty easily, and I’d have to use my phone as the remote, but…

Any of my Mac-minded readers have any ideas/input/comments?

So, I just found this list of 25 summer blockbusters headed our way, and I had no idea there was going to be this many… of the 25, here are the ones I’d like to see:

• Spider-Man 3 (May 4)
  The previews for this look amazing…
• Shrek the Third (May 18)
  It’s YASM (Yet Another Shrek Movie)… still, it should be good.
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End (May 25)
  The second one sucked, so I really hope this does better.
• Ocean’s 13 (June 8th)
  This isn’t on my must-see list, but I enjoyed the first two… may end up seeing this on DVD.
• Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer (June 15)
  As with Spider-Man 3, the previews are great, and I have yet to be disappointed with the current trend of superhero movies.
• Evan Almighty (June 25)
  Tom Shadyac + Steve Carell = comedic genius.
• Live Free or Die Hard (June 27)
  While this franchise does seem a little old (it’s been 12 years since Die Hard: With a Vengeance), who’s not ready to see John McClane in action again?
• Transformers (July 4)
  I’m not too familiar with the Transformers franchise, but with the hype surrounding this movie,
• Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix (July 13)
  I may not be a kid anymore, but the Harry Potter movies are great, and anybody who says otherwise is probably a Death Eater.
• The Simpsons (July 27)
  This one’s a little iffy…
• The Bourne Ultimatum (August 3)
  I still need to see The Bourne Supremacy, but The Bourne Identity was awesome; hopefully this one won’t disappoint.
• Rush Hour 3 (August 10)
  I’ve been waiting to see Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan in this for a while now.

It looks like I’ll have to break my usual (though not intended) habit of not seeing any movies during the summer.

First let me say - Virginia Tech, my prayers are with you and your families. I may not be able to identify with the grief and horror you’ve experienced in the last couple days, but my heart goes out to all of you, and hopefully you can find some peace in all of the turmoil.

That said, HSU had it’s own little tragedy Friday afternoon… a 4″ water main in the ceiling of the 3rd floor of the Johnson Building busted, flooding the third, second, and first floors. While I didn’t see it, I hear there was a nice waterfall flowing from the 2nd floor balcony. What I think is remarkable is that we had class in the damaged portion of the building on the following Tuesday - the company that came to take care of the water damage actually had the building mostly dried out in about 60 hours, using fans and giant dehumidifiers that pumped out barrel after barrel of water, and the construction team re-painted and re-tiled the ceiling of most of the building in just a couple days.

Tuesday evening I attended an awards dinner for the Kelley College of Business. While I didn’t actually receive an award, I was a nominee - though I didn’t think I’d win anything this year. Several people had wondered why I went alone (no date)… but it actually ended up being a good thing - President Turner’s wife was unable to attend, so I had the honor of sitting with President Turner and Doyle Kelley - the man for which the Kelley College of Business is named - and it turned out to be a very interesting evening to say the least!

Mom bought me and Copper some squeaky tennis balls for him to play with… problem is, he doesn’t like the squeaking sound, and I - being the mean person that I am - have been scaring Copper with it the last couple days… so when I heard Copper making a lot of noise behind me just now, I turned around to see him attacking the tennis ball with paws of fury… oh Copper.

Ok, so this got a little longer than I anticipated, but I have one last thing. If you listen to internet radio (being any kind of music you listen to on the web, examples include Pandora and Last.fm, but also services provided by Yahoo, AOL, MTV, and RealNetworks) listen up. The Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC has decided to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites, and the new royalty rates are irrationally high - more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn’t pay these at all. What this means is that broadcasting online just got a whole lot more expensive - expensive enough that most if not all internet radio broadcasters will have to shut down, and what makes it worse is that the fees are retroactive back to January 1, 2006 - which will mean instant bankruptcy for many internet radio broadcasters. That being said, if you listen to and enjoy internet radio, please visit www.savenetradio.org, read the information, and show your support. They’ve made it quite easy to send an email to your local Congress officials, and there’s a petition you can sign. I listen to Pandora when I’m at work, and I know several of you use Last.fm… it would be a shame to see these great internet radio broadcasters shut down because of a misguided (by the RIAA) decision by politicians.

Say hello to Copper!

I adopted him last weekend from a friend of mine, and he’s the most wonderful dog ever. We know he’s part beagle, but we’re not sure what else he is… but he’s adapting quickly to life at Fort Awesome. He knows well enough now that when I open the gate to his fence that it’s time to go inside, and he definitely knows that when I walk in with his blue food bowls that it’s chow time.

I had more to type here… but for now it escapes me because Copper is trying to lick my face.

Links for 4/13/07Apr [my NetNewsWire tabs]

• Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive Web Worker Emergency Survival Kit «
• Daring Fireball: Some Facts About AAC
• Daring Fireball: Bottleneck
• The Macalope » Blog Archive » Don’t hate the phone
• Digg - Firefox Inside Firefox
• Digg - LBJ Ordered Assassination of JFK Says Hunt On Deathbed
• Digg - 2 New Get a Mac Ads: “Flashback” and “Computer Cart”
• Digg - John Edwards: “We Need Net Neutrality”
• Digg - Vista Makes Backups You Can’t Restore From
• Digg - This is Why You Shouldn’t Clean Your HDTV with Windex