The art in technology (AKA: "I love Apple!")

I have been looking at replacement computers recently. And the thing that has caught my attention is the PowerMac. No, I'm not going to get one right now, since I don't have the money, and because they are about to be upgraded in August. But I have been LOOKING at them.

OK, this applies to just about all Apple-hardware, but I think PowerMac epitomes it: The art in technology. Yesterday I studied one at a local Apple-retailer. That thing in GORGEROUS. Notice the grill in front? You can just barely see (see, but not hear) the fans spinning inside. It kinda reminds me of turbines in a power-plant or something. Of course you can remove the side-door, so you can actually look inside the computer. It's like a display-window saying "just look at all this technology. All that you see is at your disposal". Yes, PC's have those side-doors as well. But the difference here is that PC's have extravagant LED's and clutter of wires. PowerMac has none of that. No wires. Seriously! I did not see any wires anywhere. And no cheap LED's. Yes, I mentioned in the past that I like LED's, and I do. But there is a time and place for them. And this is not one of them.

Besides wires, you can't really see any components on the motherboard either. All you see is the traces along the board. A work of art in itself.

Then there's the iMac and the Apple Displays. Both of those are basically quite large displays (iMac being a computer built in to the display). Now, I have handled "normal" displays before. And if I try to adjust the screen (tilt in up and down for example), I usually need two hands to do it. The hinge on the screen is usually too stiff. Compare to Apple: On their displays and on the iMac, the hinge is stiff enough to hold the screen in place, but not one bit stiffer. That way you can adjust the screen easily, light touch is all that is needed. Pure elegance. I tried that with their frigging 30" display, and I could still adjust it with just two fingers. Compare to this hp 1730 I have in front of me: I need to grap the screen with two hands. And even though the hinge is stiff, it's still "loose" (that is, the screen moves around by few centimeters without actually adjusting it position). That simply does not exist in Apple-displays.

And still, even with their superior design, Apple-hardware is not THAT expensive. Laptops for example are quite competetive pricewise, as is the iMac. Displays cost a bit extra when compared to equivalent Dell-displays, but the difference is not outrageous. PowerMacs are a bit expensive right now, but they are about to be upgraded.

So why on Earth are people buying inferior hardware? So they could save few bucks? I don't know about you, but I would much rather pay few bucks extra, if that means that I get hardware that is pure joy to use. And in case of Apple, I quite often do NOT have to pay any extra.

So it is decided: My future hardware will be Apple-hardware. I'm just sick and tired of the mediocre design that exists elsewhere.

It's alive!

I managed to resurrect my computer! Apparently the power-supply was failing, since replacing it fixed all the issues. I replaced that wussy 350w power-supply with a 500w behemoth. And after I plugged it in, I noticed that it even has blue LED's! Blue is good, LED's are good, so blue LED's must be twice as good? Damn right they are!

OK, I don't REALLY care that much for the LED's, but still.

EDIT: No, dammit! The screen is still flashing! Not as much as before, but the problem has NOT gone away!

"You will wake up DEAD!"

I'm on the verge of adding "Shaun of the Dead" to my DVD-collection. I haven't seen it, but I know that I'm going to like it. But I also know that the Mrs. is NOT going to like it. She feels that I'm already buying too many "stupid" movies as it is. She didn't like "Memento", She found "Bubba Ho-Tep" to be idiotic (as did her father. Barbarians...) and I haven't even tried to make her watch "Donnie Darko"... But, with little luck, I will be all by myself next weekend, so I will have an excellent opportunity to get some pizza and watch my "idiotic" movies.

I'm slowly working through my list of "DVD's to buy!". Items of high importance that are still left un-purchased include:

Star Trek in all forms
Futurama
Seinfeld
Red Dwarf (Haven't seen it, but I KNOW that I'm going to like it)
Wooster & Jeeves 3rd season

So many DVD's, so little money (and shelve-space!)...

Time for new computer....

Windows 2000 started acting up (those damn viruses....), so I had to re-install. Well, needless to say that something went wrong, and my computer as a whole is acting up. Before I just had to contend with virus-ridden Windows. And now EVERYTHING is acting up, including my Linux-install. So there's obviously something wrong with the hardware itself.

Note: This also explains my laziness in emailing. It's not nice to use the computer when the screen is flashing and the machine locks up on occasion.

My primary suspect is the motherboard. But replacing it is tricky. I mean, if I replace it, but the fault is somewhere else, I have just wasted money on a motherboard that is practically useless. So I might as well replace the entire machine.

Now, this was not planned or anything. My current machine is almost exactly two years old. And I was planning to use it for at least one more year, possibly two. My previous machine-purchase was not ideal. I needed a computer, and while I did plan the purchase carefully and bought quality-components, I bought it just when they were about to release some new and exciting stsuff. And it's no different today. New and exciting stuff is being released in a bit over one month. And those releases are accompanied by nice price-cuts as well. So I need to last for about one month, and then I can buy the new machine. It would be very easy for me to buy new machine right away, but I know that if I did that, I would be kicking myself one month later.

So I need to wait for over a month. A reward is a computer that is about four to ten times as fast as my current computer :). And besides being faster, it will hopefully be more quiet as well.

"Are you smiling at me?"

One of the trainees at work seems to smile at me a bit too much for comfort. Is she flirting with me? Yesterday as I was fixing her computer she became so excited that she almost choked on her gum (literally!). I have noticed that she has glanced at my engagement-ring (in Finland, men don't have separate wedding-rings, they just use the engagement-ring) on few occasions as well.

I know that I'm a dashing young man, and it's always nice to get attention from attractive women (instead of getting "attention" from a girl with a mohawk and from one woman that seemed to have spent last five years of her life drunk... I think I said too much already), it can be quite... uncomfortable. I don't really know how I should act with her (as you can see, I'm not very good at this flirting-thingy). Maybe I should just run away whenever I see her? Go sit in a corner and assume fetal-position?

Yes, I AM married, dammit! And I intend to remain so!