Mac heaven

Posted: March 14, 2008 in internet, Mac, movies, music, Technology
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I’m in Mac heaven this week. A new 24-inch, 2.8 Core2Duo Extreme iMacis now purring away on my desktop top and I am just smitten with my other new toy, Apple TV. 

The iMac is just fricking gorgeous. I love the big glossy screen and performance-wise, it rocks. The extra bucks I spent bringing in the 2.8 from B&H in New York was well worth it (bizarrely you can’t buy this beast outside the US) and the good guys at the iStore bumped up the memory to 4Ghz for me.

 Set-up, as always with a Mac, was an absolute breeze. Leopard seemed to present no problems and my existing files and apps transferred from myold  iMac G5 without a hitch. I was not, for example, expecting stuff like Office 2004 or older Adobe apps to work well on an Intel but so far, I’ve noticed no slow-down at all. I like what I’ve seen of Leopard – the Time Capsule backup is especially impressive, and with my varied project work, Spaces is a boon – and I quickly got used to the flat keyboard. In fact, I’d say I type much quicker with a lighter touch than the old one.

My only issue has been trying to install Windows XP via Parallels – nothing I try seems to work so far. I’d be happy to live without XP of course, but until the otherwise brilliant QuickBooks Online provides Mac support, its a necessary evil for our business. A tech friend has recommended reinstalling Parallels and optimising my hard drive, which I’ll do once my Leopard upgrade for Tech Tool Pro arrives.

The recent update to Apple TV now makes total sense. Along with the DVR, this is clearly the start of a massive revolution in how we use and watch TV and other digital media.

To be able to sit on the couch and click a remote to buy or rent movies, TV shows, not to mention surf YouTube or buy and play music, videos and podcasts from iTunes, is just wonderful. The quality is astounding – almost DVD quality video and pretty decent surround sound on my system, at least. Not only that, but it allows you to stream media from other Macs in the house, enabling me to give the family vacation slideshow the big screen treatment. 

My only gripe is the rental restriction – you have 30 days to watch them but once you start watching a movie, you have to watch it within 24 hours (although you can watch it as many times as you want in that time). Hopefully this will be changed soon – especially at $3.99 for a standard rental. Our kids sometimes watch a rental 2 or 3 times over a weekend, so something close to that option – even 36 hours – would be great. Having said that, there’s no queuing up in the video store, your movie is usually available (the library of titles is not going to make Blockbuster nervous just yet) and there’s no late fee.

Like the iPod and iPhone before it, Apple TV is another example of Apple’s remarkable ability to enter a market and revolutionise it with a well-designed innovative product and service. At US$229 for the 40GB, I reckon it’s the best value piece of technology I’ve bought in years.   

AmazonMP3 at last …

Posted: March 14, 2008 in internet, Mac, music
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one already … but Amazon’s MP3 download music service is now working from Bermuda. When I last tried this shortly after it launched, it would not let you access the service from a Bermuda-based computer. But when I was browsing for something else last night, I just thought I’d have another try … and lo and behold, it worked, even using a Bermuda credit card and despite still saying “only available to US customers”. The Downloader, which you need for seamless integration into your iTunes library, installed in seconds and now I have access to Amazon’s DRM-free music. The interface may not be as slick as the iTunes store but some of the prices are certainly better. Definitely worth a try. Now, if they can just sort out Unbox to work on the Mac, I’ll be even happier.

Freedom of stupidity

Posted: March 12, 2008 in Bermuda, bermuda politics
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You do wonder about the sanity of our politicians sometimes. Gazette sports editor Adrian Robson’s comment in last week’s paper that the Island’s under-19 cricket team performed so poorly that some members deserved to be put on the stop list may not have been the smartest thing to say but surely anyone with half a brain would not recognise the comment for what it was : a poor joke.

 However the over-reaction of Derrick Burgess and other MPs in the House was deplorable. For Mr. Burgess to say: “I just hope he doesn’t have a PRC or status because if he doesn’t then we will certainly try to rouse up my young folks to have him out of this country” was outrageous. Try to imagine an MP in any other Western democracy saying something as inciting and xenophobic as that and getting away with it.

In the last few years, the comments and action of Government politicians towards the media, expats and its own citizens has become more and more insulting and menacing.

 As the Gazette stated in an editorial today: “The question all Bermudians must ask is this: If those in authority can threaten to do this to the media, or to an individual, what’s to stop them doing it to you, simply for having a difference of opinion?”There seems to be a growing belief among politicians – especially Government ones – that they are above criticism and are entitled to unwavering respect simply for being elected, rather than earning it the old-fashioned way.  They seem to think that anyone who criticises them, however constructively, is automatically against them. Are these people really so arrogant and thin-skinned?

I was therefore glad to hear the comments of three visiting British MPs, part of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, that media criticism was part of the job. I imagine they are faintly amused by the complaints of Bermuda’s politicians about a media that seems positively benign compared to its British counterparts.

I often think Bermuda politicians doth protest too much about this. The local media, for example, often simply doesn’t have the resources to conduct the serious investigative reporting that would have politicians squealing with indignation; and nor does it pursue the tabloid-type personal stories that would have them squirming with shame and embarrassment.

Imagine the field day rabid redtops like The Sun or The Mirror would have with the peccadilloes and dubious social habits of some of our not-so-honourable members …

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