Apple’s next big cat, Lion (the next release of Mac OS X) is incorporating many of the features of the iOS platform (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad).  I think these iOS devices are solid devices, but I don’t want a 15″ version of them.  The motto on Apple’s site for Lion is “The power of Mac OS X. The magic of iPad.”  I feel as if it’s more like, “Let’s dumb down OS X to become a large iOS machine.  Lion includes a layout that shows all of your applications in little boxes exactly like the iOS devices.  You can make an application full screen as if it were the only thing running.  They have already implemented a Mac store to purchase applications from one single program.

I have always used Mac OS because I was born using it and have found it to be fairly simple to use.  However, it is getting too simple and that is taking away it’s appeal to me.  I own an iPhone, I know how simple it is to use.  But, it’s also locked down in too many ways.  I can see the reasoning behind this, but Apple is becoming a company that is far too locked down for it’s own good.  I’m all for ease of use, but ease of use via restrictions on what can be on the machine is too far.

What will keep me on the Mac?  The apps.  People who develop apps in Mac OS X strive to make them look good and function beautifully.  I don’t think I could move to an operating system that doesn’t have Skitch,  TextExpander, TextMate, 1Password (though already on Windows), Adium, and even Apple Mail.  There are competitors for all these applications on Windows and Linux, but they are just not the same.  It really is a case of form over function: the alternatives work, but they don’t work the same or as well as the applications listed above.

So that’s my dilemma.  Windows 7 is not as bad as many of the previous versions of Windows.  I’ve been using Boot Camp and another computer with Windows 7 and do not really have any complaints other than not having the applications listed above.  I have always been a Linux fan too, but I am not sure I could make a full transition because it is not as intuitive and can be too problematic to diagnose and resolve issues.

And what am I gonna do with all my handles that say macaddict in them?

According to Llewellyn’s website, Youtube has become a place where he posts videos a lot.  This is truley a person who has his feet in both the old media and the new media.  But what the hell does “old” and “new” media mean?  Obviously it differentiates between television, newspapers, radios, and Youtube, blogs, and podcasts.  My question is why? Why should we label the media we watch/listen to as old and new?  To me it doesn’t make any sense.  As much as I would like to see it, New media is not going to replace old media anytime soon.  There are a lot of people that trust sources that have been around for over a decade.  And yes these sources know their stuff and can write well, but how well do they know there stuff?

I believe that a blogger can do a much better job with reporting on certain things.  Take technology.  Most news shows have no idea what they’re talking about when it comes to technology.  They like to throw around terms like “hackers” just to scare people and created Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).

The problem with bloggers lies in neutrality.  Bloggers have issues staying out of the conversation because they are writing about what the love.  Take me writing about this for example.  I obviously have a bias being a blogger (though I only blog for the sake of blogging), but I support “old media.”  I listen to NPR.  I watch TV shows and sometimes even read a newspaper.

I don’t rely on these as my only sources of news.  I also have 178 RSS subscriptions in my RSS reader (creating 142 unread feeds from the past hour currently).  Some of these feeds are in fact from old media though.  Most of it is from new media.

Why do I still use the terms Old and New media even though I don’t like them?  It’s an easy way to distinguish between the online and offline news.  Though those worlds have collided in many senses, it still needs to be differentiated somehow.  I like everything equal, but this is not going to be one thing that is.

This lead me to think about what happens if we have all our assets on the internet in one form or another and this happens. I know the helpdesk and a lot of other people weren’t able to get any work done because we didn’t have the pipes for around 3 hours. Our ticketing system for requests is on an outside server, which means we couldn’t do any of those jobs. We couldn’t send email outside the college which meant if someone needed our help with an online course we could do nothing. Also, since many of our website servers are on campus or in the state, our school website and the student portal wasn’t accessible to the outside world. Sounds pretty bad for business right?

The goods news is this kind of thing could only have happened in Vermont. We have almost literally two lines in terms of internet entering and leaving the state so if they go down the whole state is pretty much doomed. As we become more wired though we expect less downtime, so any downtime at all frustrates us to the max. It really is an addiction, and we must avoid it.

What I really wanted to mention was the fact that the 8/9 edition of All Songs Considered used Skype to talk to one of their correspondents. Clearly, NPR gets mad props for using this ip telephony/voip/peer to peer technology. Of course, the broadcast had a small glitch, which they left in the podcast (I don’t know about the radio) which was amusing. It was funny cause I had realized that skype stopped working because I heard the tell-tale noises that all skype users know and love.

What I realized was that Skype is, indeed, a viable option for television and radio. Look, it has it’s issues, but so do satellite phones, and satellite video. Why are the major broadcasters still using satellite video feeds when foreign correspondents could take a laptop and a DV camera and have improved quality. I’m always surprised at the clarity of Skype when it’s configured correctly. It sounds better than a regular phone line already, and goes pretty much head to head with an ISDN line. For less money than an ISDN line.

I’m not saying that the big people should switch, but it could be used when an ISDN line isn’t possible, or if the broadcasters can’t afford ISDN, etc.

Beware kids, major broadcasting companies are starting to use off the shelf products. What’s next, everyone will realize that Mac is a much better operating system for home users?

Look, I’d be fine with doing this if it were an upgrade from, say, 5.0 to 8.0, but this is from 5.1.2 to 6.0. That’s outlandish. That’s a rip-off. There are very little updates either. This could be a .x release. It looks as if the only thing they really update from release to release is the look of the program, and that doesn’t warrant much in the way of cash.

I have an issue: I want to be running the latest and greatest at all times. This is why I’d like to have version 6.0. But it’s not worth the money. The whole idea of charging people thousands of times over is ridiculous as well, but as long as there are stupid people, I guess there will always be people ripping them off.

Screw you Missing Sync

Oh, and I’m gonna upgrade my blogging software right after posting this, so the site may completly fall apart; i’ll have it back as soon as possible.

If you wanna check out a site I’ve been working on, take a look at ocjcl.org. It’s a site for our Latin club, and we use flamingos in our adventures…(you really don’t wanna know)

What’s up all? I’m gonna try to do a train of thought type entry here. Twill be interesting. School today, boring as ever. May be building a new machine and selling current one to a teacher. OH! you guys should check this out: Skype offers free US and Canadian phone calls ’till end of year. Pretty crazy. If you have a microphone and high speed on your computer then you should definetly call someone with it. Go ahead.

The blog has risen again. Tempted to make from scratch a new template for this place. Want to find a way to change the header image for the time of day. Or just an easier way to change it to what I want. Good ol server, I like having my own. So cool.

Anyways later, wondering if anyone ya know reads this since it’s inactivity.

When i see a company do that, i just head straight for my favorite hacker site and download and crack the latest version. You moochers, you think we’re made of money? bite me. Long live Open Source!

RAWRRRRRr

I’m in a ranting type mood so i’m just gonna let it fly. Windows Windows Windows. Royal pain in the bud. OK listen: in order to use windows you must become a security expert. Sound fun? I’d hope not. The fact is the only reason Microsoft got a leg up was the price of the machines and advertising. XP Professional, the ONLY windows that you should get if you want to do anything, is $400 alone. That’s more than most people bought there precious machines for. The companies are getting discounts from MS for including it on the machine. It’s annoying, it’s pissing me off. And the question is “what operating system should i use?” Well thats where it becomes difficult, because in order to get a mac you have to buy new hardware and if you try linux you have to instantly become a complete tech geek to get it running well. So, by default, Windows wins out always. That’s one of the biggest things that pisses me off. I can only hope that Apple will release OS X for any intel machine, and that costs $129 and theres no pro people you get a full OS for that.
Suggestions for stuff to install on the crappiest OS alive:
— MS Antispyware: Microsoft bought one of the best antispywares out there, and were smart enough to make it free forever. Still in beta, but stable enough. You MUST have antispyware in this day in age, and one that’s actively searching
— AVG Antivirus: FREE Antivirus; if you think that your norton 2000 that you haven’t resubscribed to get the latest virus definitions is keeping you safe it’s not; this is free forever
— Firefox: The only internet browser you should use day to day; it’s less powerful than IE which is a good thing because then you don’t get those “cool mouse pointers” that are spyware. Plus firefox is way better than IE to begin with (like tabs!)
— A router: This is a physical thing you buy. Routers make you safe cause no one can see your machine (with a benefit of sharing your internet connection). Don’t think your safe with the cheaper option of a switch or hub, a router is the only thing that will help you
— Theres a new thing coming out called the D-Link SecurePort. it goes in between your internet and your router or computer and has antivirus, antispyware, pop up blocker, everything. The box is 100 bucks, the yearly fee is 80
The only reason to keep internet explorer (IE) is for Windows Update. Run Windows Update RELIGIOUSLY. These are the only ways to save your machine. Is all this really that hard compared to a couple days of reinstalling everything and hoping you backed everything up (you do back up don’t you?)

Now, the wonderful world of Apple.

Apple’s got intel inside now, and there 3x better than previous models. These things will also run windows, which means you can have one machine that runs mac and windows.

This honestly makes me very happy, i would be estatic if I could actually afford to buy one. These things FLY. It’s worth the money. And for the geeks among us its got dual cores. So by the end of the year all macs will be intel and we’ll have the next version of OS X.
< -- My dream

So what about MS? Where will they be? They MAY release Vista, which by the way isn’t worth the money. DON’T BUY IT. It’s worthless. It’s OS X, and sad