Heey everybodies! So continuing my exploration with my iMac, I've discovered some cool things:
> Boot Camp, which comes pre-installed on all macs, allows you to install Windows Vista and dual boot both OS's full speed with ultimate ease! Hence my PC/Mac hybrid can now do everything a PC can =D and more ^__^ in your face PC!
> Running vista on my iMac looks so uber sexy
...and cracking Vista was easy as pie with VistaLoader. Just 1 click of a button and a restart and your pirated copy of windows vista becomes complete!
> Finding a good msn client for mac took awhile (since the official mac msn is so dodge)...but after sussing around the various options, aMSN, Adium and Mercury, Adium came out on top! It's lag-free (unlike Mercury) and crash-free(unlike aMSN) and customisable to the max!! Check out the uber sexy skins I was able to download and implement in 2 clicks!
>I almost got capped trying to mass-spam-torrent all these games which I have missed over the years...but luckily I had Gears of War and Halo 2 to keep myself occupied while I wait for my new download cycle to begin!
>Also...watching movies on this baby..is like having an eye-gasm. 24 inches of screen is like vision overload!! Too bad I don't have any HD content to play on this baby!
Mid Sem Break Thus Far...
Haven't gotten up to anything at all, which is probably why I'm always blogging about my iMac because that's the only thing keeping me entertained!! I'm such a hermit...Is everyone just sitting at home doing jack squat? Or does nobody invite me anywhere anymore...=/
Need to exercise...anyone up for a jog/bike ride/swimming?
yayah! My new 24 inch iMac has arrived and this time, its in perfect condition (even though its refurbished!) So I'm a very happy customer now =]
OS X ( the operating system for all new iMac's) come pre-installed with iLife, which is a suite of handy applications such as iTunes, iMovie, and the one I was playing around with today - GarageBand!
This was one hell of a program as it was pretty much doing what Adobe Audition did for me when I used to record songs on Windows. Now everything is here for me in GarageBand, although I did have to download Audacity for noise reduction. Anyways, after playing around with it, I managed to submit my first round recording for AF Idol 2008. Check it out and comment please! =D No need to be nice...I can take criticism =]
This song was originally by Jay Chou and definitely a classic! Hope you guys enjoy my rendition ^^
From now on all my recordings will be recorded using only my iMac (with its integrated mic), GarageBand(for recording) and Audacity (for noise removal).
Hey y'all...sorry for my absence in these past few weeks but they have been jam packed with non-stop uni uni uni tests, quizzes, mid-sems and the like. The life of an engineer sure ain't easy! Well finally I've had some time to take a quick break and maybe blog about some things just to show that I'm still alive and kicking.
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away.
Over the past 2 weeks I've come to embrace this wonderful philosophy...although maybe not in its most strictest sense. Yes, I have been converted to Apple Inc's wonderful products, and not more than 2 weeks ago, I ordered a refurbished 20 inch iMac. Needless to say, it was the most pleasantly surprising experience I've had with a computer out of the box. It set up in 2 steps, connected to the internet straight away ( harking back to the days of windows 2000, XP and to a lesser extent, Vista) where setting up an internet connection required a degree in IT! Above - the sexy new Intel iMac. Check out its ultra-thin profile! Aluminium casing with a flush bezel...simply beautiful =]
Set-up Next thing I noticed was just the beautiful streamlined functionality of a Mac. It boots up in less than 30 seconds and the first of many things I thought was...damn I've gotten used to waiting so long for my comp to boot up! Now all you mac haters out there might say the iMac has beefed up specs...but no! Its just an average core 2 duo processor with 1G of ram and a 128mb ATI gfx card. Can windows boot up that fast with those specs? I think not! Unlike OSX in which the optimisation of hardware is clearly evident, Vista is such a memory hog which just slows down everything - my dinosaur of a desktop previously, simply could not handle it.
Logistics Ordering this baby was simple and smooth. It came only a day after I purchased it...which is wonderful since I'm used to slow international delivery speed from all those ebay purchases. Apple outsources their deliveries to TNT to make sure their products get to loyal customers on time! And shipping is free as well! It's also one of those rare companies where the main site you buy from (apple.com.au) is the cheapest! (for refurbs anyways). I love the fact that everything about the iMac was made by the same company, so in theory everything works with each other, right out of the box, and this was only too true! PC's are sold by different manufacturers with all these junky peripherals everywhere and its no wonder you get all these issues with PC's. Macs just work.
Internets Another surprising little detail was the fact that you didn't have to download anything to surf the web, and this alone is a tedious task for windows, since firstly you have to dl a better browser than IE7, uninstall your trial version of Norton AntiVirus (Which i might add, is quite the crap!) find a better AV program, install it, and THEN you're safe and ready to go. None of this drama with a mac! Mac's dont have viruses =] Another thing is all those java, flash player and shockwave player and all those little plug-ings you have to dl before you can start playing flash games or watch some youtube. You can do all of that straight out the box with a Mac. Oh right!
Interface Getting used to the Mac's OS X operating system was pretty fun and very simple since everything is labelled as it should be. For example, in Windows, if you wanted to change your desktop background, you would have to go to control panel and realise that it was a "Customization". With mac's, everything is labelled as it is. Also, I know you're all used to this, but Windows always asks you for your confirmation of an action, like an annoying little child (especially if you have UAC enabled...urgh). With Mac's, once you change a setting, its done, like a loyal butler waiting for his command.
All-In-One Overall...the iMac is simply just a beautiful product. Smooth, intuitive, and very easy to use with everything out of the box ready to use. Even though my iMac screwed up 4 days after i bought it...I was so impressed that I'm going to buy another one as soon as my refund arrives. =] It definitely deserves a second chance, and other mac users who I've told my story to were surprised at how easily my mac failed, which only means that I was probably unlucky.
Even right now as I type, I'm downloading the windows version of Mac OSX in a hope to dual boot both Vista and Mac on my laptop. I'll post up my results when I give it a shot!
In the space of this time I've just splurged on a copy of Star Wars - The Force Unleased for my ps3. Star Wars games just have that extra something about em that makes you just wanna rip a stormtrooper to bits with crazy light saber action and insanely powerful force moves! Hot damn!
mmm...this should keep me busy during mid-sem break ^__^
O...M...G....wait wait...that's not it. What I meant to say was...
D B Z!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dragonball is being made into a live action movie....that has been my dream since I was a little boy....check it out after the jump! Chow Yun Fat stars as Master Roshi, and Bulma looks like a Tomb Raider wannabe =O and wat the heck? Goku is played by Justin Chatwin. . . *cricket noises* Well...at any rate, I'll watch it no matter how much they butcher or westernise it, just because it is dragonball =D I'm such a sucker for superhero movies...and this is by no means any exception ^__^ I pray they make it as awesome as the anime !!!
Haha...looks like my blog's been kinda neglected, but for good reason! 2 reasons actually...a hectic week of uni, and my sexy new apple iPod touch 16GB!
(I don't know why Macy Gray continues to be a poster girl for iPod even though I haven't heard a single song from her since the popular singstar hit "I Try"...but anyways)
Why not an iPhone you say? Well...I asked myself this question when I first heard about ipod touches as well...but turns out I fell into a niche where I couldn't afford to get stuck into another 2 year contract with optus or vodafone, and wasn't willing to pay $900 for an unlocked one on ebay. So the $398 for a refurbished 16GB ipod touch sounded pretty good to me (sneaky apple hides their refurbished section on the bottom left corner of the apple website, see here)
Refurbished means that someone had a problem with an ipod, sent it in, apple fixed it up, and put it up for refurbished sale at 20% off RRP($500). So it's practically new and I'm very happy with the refurbished standard. The picture above doesn't do its beauty justice. It is really, really, sleek and simply beautiful - an astounding piece of engineering.
Anyways, suffice to say, for those who know of my passion for all things electronic, I had a new toy to play with, and that meant endless hours of tweaking, hacking, upgrading. I didn't really buy my ipod touch to listen to music...I can now also (apart from standard and quite awesome web browsing, email, weather, maps) play a whole plethora of games utilising its touch screen, graphics and accelerometers, watch movies on the go, play gba roms, and many other cool things. It was a pity to see my friend's ipod touch which had nothing on its springboard( the main menu thing) and to see an ipod touch be underutilised.
The only complaint I have is it's epic battery drain when wifi is on. The screen is crystal clear and stunning. With a device that can do so many things, the only thing I use my phone for now is to make calls! It's quite a nifty device if you have gadget craze like me =]
An interesting side effect to owning an iPod touch is one's tendency to search for every single album art for every single song so that your cover flow is complete in its entirety and beauty. After 2 nights and probably 5 hours of searching and adding, I'm almost done and won't rest until it is =D.
The back is super prone to scratching, so it's never touched a solid surface (only paper or the screen wiper or something soft) until my invisible shield screen protector arrives!
If the difference between an iPod touch and an iPhone is $500 and an iPhone is simply an iPod Touch with a phone and a camera, then I think in that regard, the iPod Touch is definitely a good deal.
Overall, apart from its battery life, this little beauty was worth every cent, but only if you know what to do with it =]
Haha I pretty much just gave a review of the damn thing. Oh wells, at least I've blogged =P
Above - the sexy new Intel iMac. Check out its ultra-thin profile! Aluminium casing with a flush bezel...simply beautiful =]
and to cap it off...a teaser from youtube!!!
(I don't know why Macy Gray continues to be a poster girl for iPod even though I haven't heard a single song from her since the popular singstar hit "I Try"...but anyways)