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Pimp my netbook
Local artist Jim Dike pinged me for advice on a new computer and wound up buying a Dell netbook. He wanted good battery life and reports the new Dell can run for 8 hours on a charge.
And it will look smashing the entire time. All you need is some clear sticker paper and colored sharpies (and a pick-up truck load of talent). Not sure how I feel about putting “sticker paper” on m precious MacBook Pro, but I’m tempted.
Too much stuff
This PBS program on design has stuck with me for a couple of days. In one of the segments, a designer said something about removing everything that is not essential until all that remains is the essential. (This MacBook is a very nearly perfect example of that aesthetic.)
The same, I suppose, could be said of the theme I chose for this blog (the theme… not my execution). Thesis is the creation of Chris Pearson. More creative types have done all sorts of wonderful things with Thesis but I like the way it looks “right out of the box.”
I have gone through phases where I thought I could add a little “pizazz” to a site. If you have that designer gene, you can pull it off. If not, more is less. Knowing that –and lacking the gene– I shoot for simple. And let’s face it, nobody comes to a website twice because it looks cool.
I just finished a book by Deepak Chopra in which he says something about simplicity as an element of happiness. I’m paraphrasing here: If you acquire something, give something away. Sort of, “stuff neutral.” I’m going to give that a try because I clearly have too much stuff.
PS: So much for “less is more.” Got to playing with Thesis options and figured I’d play around with a header image for a few days.
Life should be as easy as a Mac
I long ago lost track of how many computers I have owned. During the latter Windows days, I would by a new computer rather than go through the hell of trying to upgrade the operating system. It was just easier to buy a new box with the new OS already installed. But in every instance, it was necessary to re-install all of my applications and move my data over.
Our IT guys have assorted utilities for making “ghost images” and simplifying the process, but it has always been a pain ion the ass for me. Before I switched to Mac.
My new 13″ MacBook Pro arrived yesterday. I set it next to the 15″ MBP I’ve been using for the last year… connected them with a FireWire cable… and then just followed a few simple steps on the new laptop. And then I went to lunch.
When I returned, all of my apps, all of my data, and all of my settings had been copied over to the new computer. Done. I really can’t imagine how it could have been any easier.
The 13″ is about a pound lighter and you notice the difference immediately. (I keep the thing with me at all times) The smaller form factor forced Apple to move the little speakers and –although I don’t see them– the sound is as good as the larger laptop.
I doubt I’ll see the upper-end 7 hours of battery life but hope to get four, which would be a big improvement.
Last night Barb asked, “Tell me again why you got a new computer?”
“Because I’m a good boy,” I replied.
Jing go the strings of my heart
Did you ever show someone how to do something online and then show them over and over and over again? Sure you have. A couple of years ago I started using screencast apps (like ScreenFlow) to record brief “how-to’s” that I could put online rather than do the same demo again and again.
ScreenFlow and Camtasia and similar products enable you to record your demo once, and then let folks watch it when –and as often– as they want. These apps are very good… and maybe too good. (I tend to go on and on)
Lately I’ve been using Jing, which is made by the same people that make Camtasia. The difference is Jing is free and it limits your screencast to 5 minutes. Which I consider a feature, not a limitation. It forces you to focus, to be concise. If you need more than 5 minutes, you’re probably rambling and wordy.
I’ve done a few screencasts showing our reporters how to put stories online using our new WordPress websites. Recorded on the MacBook and uploaded to Screncast.com ($15/year). I then just send the links to our folks and they can watch the short videos (without downloading files). Works on Mac and PC.
All I need is this bowling ball. And this ash tray.
Steve Rubel lists five ways in which he is simplifying his technology:
- Eliminating any bookmarks, software/webware that I haven’t used in the last seven days
- Cutting back to two devices for everything – a laptop and a cell phone. Period, end of story
- All critical data seamlessly syncs between these two devices. If a service doesn’t allow me to sync stuff via the cloud and access it both online and off, it’s toast
- He’s dumped tons of of stuff: RSS feeds and virtually every email newsletter
- Setting up lists on Friendfeed to help me find signals in the noise
That sounds really good to me. I’m feeling more cluttered every day. Too many atoms, too many bytes (bits?)
- #1 will be a snap for the bookmarks. I’ll have to nut up to kill some of the software I’m not using. Wish me luck.
- #2 is equally appealing. I could get by with my MacBook and my iPhone. But the big iMac at work belongs to the company, so… and the Mac Mini at home really gets very little use.
- #3 The whole Mac/Mobile Me experience has made me very reliant on sync’ing. I have a couple of apps that don’t but not many.
- #4 is pretty easy to do. Got my RSS subscriptions under 50. If I add one, I’ll try to find one to delete
- #5 I’ve never been able to get with the Friendfeed thing. I’ll take another look but…
21st Century Dating
My friend could hear his college-aged daughter talking in another room. He assumed she was on the phone to her boy friend who lives in another city. After she had been talking long enough to cause concern for the family’s shared mobile minutes, he went in to shut down the marathon call.
Only to discover his daughter video chatting with her beau as they both watched the same movie on TV.
I’m not a father but this would seem to be a good news/bad news situation. The good news is dad doesn’t have to worry about what’s going on in the next room. The bad news is the little punk is always virtually present.
This phenomenon has already made it into our media and advertising.
Newsroom change
I only snapped one photo of Bob Priddy in action on election night. Through studio glass (you can see my reflection in this larger image) with producer John Simms in the background. MacBook Pro and video camera are streaming live video to Ustream. Big screen TV’s on the walls, high-speed connection to the Secretary of State’s website with up-to-the-minute returns.
When I joined the company in 1984, Bob was still writing stories on this manual Royal typewriter (below). Audio was captured on reel-to-reel tape recorders and “dubbed” to analog carts. We had a UPI printer spewing out the news (on long rolls of paper), and election returns were phoned in by a reporter sitting in the Secretary of State’s office.
Can’t imagine what we’ll have in four years. Bob Priddy’s memory of those days is better than mine:
“Actually, we were using cassettes, not R2R in ’84. We relied on UPI for election returns with reporters at various gatherings of candidates. We didn’t put anybody in the SOS office until the Presidential primary of ’88, after studying what AP and UPI did in the 86 general election.”
Tulsa Bound
Off the grid for a few days starting Friday. Heading down to Tulsa for family time with Brother Blane. My nephew Ryan will be home from Union University (Jackson, TN) where he’s a freshman. Ryan and his brother and sister grew up in Indonesia and were home schooled. I’m eager to hear his thoughts on college life. If his Facebook page is any indication, he’s having a great time.
I’m not taking the MacBook on this trip so the blog will be dark for a few days (unless Ryan takes pity on me).
Tree House III
A beautiful Saturday on a perfect Ocotober day. Henry and his band of merry tree house architects and slave laborers invited me to join them to help record the event. But everywhere you looked there were MacBooks and iPhones and keeping a steady stream of images, video and blog posts flowing. The crew would stop from time to time to actaully work on the tree house.
Late in the day I found myself 30 feet up on the “bird’s nest” platform with Bernard, my hands scant inches from his roarting chainsaw. My mind constanly evaluating which parts of my clothing would make the best tournequet. And if I fell, should I try to land on my feet on one of the other team members.
It’s Sunday and work has resumed. Another perfect fall day.