Blogs about controversy:
Contemplating the Dark Side.
I've been thinking about getting a laptop for myself. The new laptop would be my secondary machine - so portability is much more of a concern that storage or horsepower. Even my work in Photoshop just isn't taxing to any modern machine.
I've been comparing Dells, Sonys and even a Toshiba and a Panasonic. But the Macbook Air is just so sexy. Yes, there's a price premium for that fancy design and the Mac name. But I'm not laptop shopping on a shoestring budget - my recent raise at work means I can afford to splurge a bit.
Last night, I dragged the husband to the Apple Store to touch the Macbook Air. Just as expected, it was very light, and pretty sturdy with the aluminum case. The larger Macbooks, a 5 pounds, felt very heavy. Then we went to the Sony Style store at the same mall. Sony's laptops were very light, but very flimsy feeling, and really no cheaper than the Macs. Blech.
I really ought to touch some Dells before I choose. I think I'll have to call a Best Buy and ask if they've got any in stock, since Dell is closing their kiosks.
0 comment(s).
Permalink
Mas Vista y Tangento.
Penny Arcade's got a little comic about the many versions of Windows Vista out there. It's funny cuz it's true. The news also touches upon a point I'd like to expand upon: playing games on a computer is a pain in the ass.
I long ago gave up playing games on my PC. Oh, sure, I played Sam and Max and Afterlife, and I loved them. But after a while, it became just too much work. Installing drivers, making a DOS boot disk, upgrading a piece of hardware every 6 months or so? Fah, I have a life to live. Perhaps doing those things was more entertaining when they were new and interesting, but now I seem them simply as an impediment to actual fun.
Consoles (Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox) are simple to use. You just put the disc in and you're playing in under a minute. (I doubt many Vista machines out there will boot in 60 seconds.) There's no configuring, no installing, no troubleshooting and no issues. It's delightful. Also, when was the last time you curled up in a blanket on the couch in front of your computer? I thought so.
In the last bit of Penny Arcade news, if you've always wanted a Fruit Effer t-shirt, now's the time to get one. While you're shopping at ThinkGeek, consider these Super Mario Bros. Plush Keychains. I got a clutch, and they're so damn cute, they made me squeal like a little girl.
2 comment(s).
Permalink
Internet News.
Microsoft will be releasing IE7 as a high-priority update via Windows Update. This means that, theoretically, the vast majority of Windows users will be automatically upgraded from old, freaky, non-standards compliant IE6 to new & shiny IE7. [Upon hearing this news, web designers simultaneously go eeek!] As a designer, I feel I'd better keep using old freaky IE6 as a standard test until Google Analytics assures me that the majority of my viewers are upgraded. Also, the hubby's recent experiences with the new version of iTunes make me concerned about installing any new software, no matter how well vetted the manufacturer assures me that it is.
The good news, is that Microsoft offers a utility to disable this Automatic Update. You can read all about it at the link back there. I have installed this, and I'll be keeping an eye on things when the update goes out.
Also, it turned out that the conditional comments I was lauding previously are a bit controversial. Some people feel/felt that using conditional comments was going back to the bad old days of Javascript browser detection and different pages for different browsers. But I think that, at least in the way I've implemented them in my resume, it's a terribly convenient way to protect the compliant browsers from all those hacks that IE needs. So, I'm sticking with the conditional comments. Paul Boag approves, at least.