November 16, 2009 by vortmax.

It’s that time of year again.  The time of year when the airwaves bombard us with commercialized carols and red and green ad displays.  It’s also that time again for the “War on Christmas” emails to begin circulating.

I have not received any such email, but I hear the gist of one of them is this:

President Obama is going to call the National Christmas Tree the “National Holiday Tree,” and that the Obamas are going to have a “White House Holiday Tree” instead of a White House Christmas tree.

Let me say that is complete and utterly false.

First, per the National Parks Service, the nation will still have the traditional National Christmas Tree.  So consider part 1 of the above email debunked.

Second, per the Washington Post, Michelle Obama has specified the type of “Official White House Christmas tree” she wants.  Thus part 2 of the purported e-mail is also proven false.

Finally, my favorite fact-check site, Politifact, has also debunked this false claim, labeling it a “Pants on Fire” lie, complete with sources that refute the email’s claims (including a reference to a similar e-mail about President Bush doing the same thing, which is equally ridiculous).

For those of us in the Christian faith, we understand what the true meaning of Christmas is.  The blessing of the birth of Jesus Christ will never be forgotten, no matter how many jingles, ads, or hyperbolic chain e-mails we receive.

Posted in Computers, News, Politics | 1 Comment »

October 1, 2009 by vortmax.

I have an iPhone.  It’s the 3G iPhone, because I’m not one of those “first adopters.”  I used to be one of those people that thought a basic cell phone was all I would need, but now I realize I cannot live without my iPhone and it’s connectivity.

Case in point:

Today I was on my way into work.  I had to take a little side trip, and while I was there I decided to check my checking account.  Fortunately, there’s an app for that.

I use my bank’s iPhone application to log in, check my balance, review my history, then pay a few  bills.  This took all of five minutes.

Afterwards, I wiped my butt, pulled up my pants, washed my hands, and walked to my office.

Isn’t technology grand?

Posted in Computers, Home | No Comments »

March 27, 2009 by vortmax.

One of the forums I frequent is the PackPride Brickyard.   It is occupied by general chatter of politics and life by and for NC State Wolfpack fans.

Yesterday, someone posted the following:

Reasons to buy Mac vs other laptop

---

are there any?

seems like you can buy a dell, hp, toshiba etc for almost half of what a mac costs.  given the same features.

After the myth that “Macs are overpriced” was bandied about, I posted a snippet from this article stating that when compared with identically equipped laptops from PC manufacturers, Apple laptops are competitive.

Later on, the original poster asked specifically:

so essentially this http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetail s.aspx/xpsnb_m1530?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs= 19&~oid=us~en~29~xpsnb_m1530_anav3~~ vs the macbook pro 15inch.  http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB470LL/A?mco= MTkzOTI0Mg

seems like the dell machine has more for less.  but again, i really don’t know anything so educate me if you please….

So, being the perfectionist that I am, took some time and responded:

Processor:  Both have a 2.4 GhZ Core2duo.   However the Dell has an 800Mhz Front Side bus, while  the MBP has a 1066 MhZ front side bus.  This means the Mac, while having the same speed CPU, can transfer data faster.  Overall this would amount to about a 4-5% speed boost for the Mac.

Memory:
Dell - 4GB Dual Channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
MBP - 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (expandable to 4GB).
The Dell has more memory, but the MacBook Pro is over 37% faster in the memory department.  Using lower speed memory than the processor FSB is one way Dell cut corners on the price.  This would give the Mac a significant speed boost.

Video:
Dell - 256MB NVIDIA^®  GeForce^®  8600M GT,
MBP - NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor; and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM.
The MBP has better video.  Actually it has two video chips.  The 9400 is lower power while the 9600 provides more speed for intensive applications.  You can select which one to use depending on your needs.

Those are the biggest differences I can point out.  From what I can tell, the Dell uses older, slower components to wring out the lowest price it can.   If you’re not interested in raw speed, then the Dell would be fine for you.  However if you want the “best” hardware, the Mac is better.

Now Microsoft is launching a new ad campaign which parallels this discussion.  It has a girl looking for a 17″ laptop for under $1000.   She goes into the Apple store, but comes out disappointed when all she sees under $1000 is the white Macbook.  “Guess I’m not cool enough for a Mac,” she says.

Later, she finds an HP Pavilion laptop with a 17″ screen for $699.   Since I don’t know the exact model, I looked on the Best Buy site for an HP Pavilion with a 17″ screen for under $1000.  Here’s the specs for the $699 model, with the 17″ MacBook Pro specs in parentheses:

Processor:  2.1GHz AMD Turion X2 on 800 MHz front side bus (MBP: 2.66 GHz Intel Core2Duo on 1066 MHz FSB)

Video:  Radeon HD 3200 (MBP: NVidia 9600 GT and 9400 M, yes two chips.  One for performance, one for power conservation.  You choose which one to use.)

RAM:  4GB DDR2 667 SDRAM (MBP:  4GB DDR3 1066 SDRAM)

Screen Resolution:  1440×900 (MBP:  1920×1200)

Weight:  7.8 lbs (MBP:  6.6 lbs.)

Price:  $699  (MBP:  $2799)

While the Pavilion would serve the needs of most computer users, the MacBook Pro is definitely a “beefier” computer spec-wise, however it is one pound lighter.  By comparison, an equivalently equipped computer directly from HP lists at around $2000, however it is still heavier and has lower screen resolution than the MacBook Pro.

Remember to check every computer’s specs in detail before deciding to buy.  Most PC makers skimp on parts to drive down the price as low as possible, but Steve Jobs has said “”We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.”

Compare Apples to… apples.

Posted in Computers | No Comments »

February 13, 2009 by vortmax.

I have a very negative view of journalism nowadays.  However I couldn’t put my finger on why, or express my displeasure in an understandable way.  Today, another person has framed how I feel exactly.

Daniel Eran Dilger runs Roughly Drafted, where he spews his opinions both profound and silly on the world of computing (and sometimes politics).  Today, he wrote about “The iPhone Multi-Touch Patent Myth,” where bloggers and journalists are raising a fuss over what they believe is Apple stifling innovation by patenting the very idea of multi-touch on computing hardware, thus locking out anyone else from using it on their hardware.  As Mr. Dilger points out, Apple patented specific ways multi-touch can be used on a computing interface, not the very idea of multi-touch itself.  Thus he exposes these”journalists” as merely uninformed individuals spewing misinformation and half-baked opinions, just like the SNL character Emily Litella.

But the gem of the article, the part that really hit home, was his summary of journalism as it is now:

Back when we only had a few channels and news came out daily written on paper, we had editors with journalistic integrity who looked over what their writers said in order to prevent their publication from being shamed out of business. Today, with web traffic earning impressions per eyeball, there’s no shame in printing profoundly uninformed conjecture or even straight up lies, because it can supposedly be corrected at some point in the future, doubling the potential for inadvertent audience ad clicks.

Look at the Fox News website, using opinion-littered headlines like “Senators Reach Tentative Deal on More Than $800B Economic ‘Spendulus’ Bill“, or politically leaning websites like Huffington Post, Town Hall, or Reason (sorry Surly).   True journalism is dying.  This is the age of the eye-grabbing headline, the opinionated rant, the click-generating controversy.  Each article designed to be grabbed by the avid forum poster and spread through the internet forums with the proclimation “SEE! THIS IS FACT” when it obviously is not.

I used to trust one source for my information.  I used to believe that if I read something from ABC, CBS, Reuters, AP, et. al. that it was a fair and unbiased reporting of the matter.  I no longer have  that trust.  I feel obliged to read at least 3-4 takes on the matter from both obviously biased and not-so-obviously biased sources in order to hash out what I feel is the real story.

Posted in Computers, News, Blogroll | No Comments »

June 26, 2008 by vortmax.

It’s one thing for some company to say there’s no compelling reason to switch to Windows Vista, but when that company is Intel…

“This isn’t a matter of dissing Microsoft, but Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista,” the person said.

An Intel spokesman said the company was testing and deploying Vista in certain departments, but not across the company.

Ouch.

Posted in Computers | No Comments »

June 20, 2008 by vortmax.

Finally, an explanation for why Windows Vista is such a train wreck:

“The reason we come up with new versions is not to fix bugs. It’s absolutely not. It’s the stupidest reason to buy a new version I ever heard. When we do a new version we put in lots of new things that people are asking for.  And so, in no sense, is stability a reason to move to a new version.  It’s never a reason. “

- Bill Gates, in an interview with German weekly magazine FOCUS (nr.43, October 23,1995, pages 206-212)

Posted in Computers | No Comments »

June 13, 2008 by vortmax.

June 17th is the official release date for Firefox 3, and Mozilla is out to set a record for the most downloads in one day. Help set a world record by downloading Firefox and giving it a try.

While no browser is truly secure, Firefox is more stable and secure than Internet Explorer, and more compatible with websites than Safari/Webkit (at least in my experience).  I have used Firefox since it was first known as “Phoenix” years ago, and I plan to install Firefox 3 on all of my computers.

Posted in Computers, News | No Comments »

April 18, 2008 by vortmax.

A friend of mine who I’ve known for almost 13 years recently purchased a Macbook in order to compose music with Logic Pro.  Before purchasing her Macbook, she had been quite enthusiastic about getting the top of the line PC just about every 3-4 years, mainly Dells.  This morning, I see the following on my iChat:

mac is so nice
i plug stuff in and it just works
i bought a preamp and audio interface to plug in xlr microphones and guitars into my mac
and a bunch of mics and stuff
and everything just worked right away
hell i didnt even read instructions
i just plugged stuff in and started recording
Mac >>>> Windows

She’s had the Macbook for about a month.  Her transition had a few bumps, like telling her simply closing an application’s last document window won’t quit the application (you have to actually select “Appname->Quit” from the menu bar), and installing Firefox is as simple as dragging from the installer virtual drive and dropping into the Applications folder (no big, long installer, imagine that).  However, after the basics were understood, she’s taken off.

She’s even asked me about a Mac Pro.

Posted in Computers | No Comments »

April 11, 2008 by vortmax.

While reading my morning tech news, I stumbled across an article that gave me real enlightenment by providing a reason for the fanaticism I see not only among the Mac and Windows users, but among people in general.  It’s an excerpt from the book “True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society.”  Here’s a tidbit that should whet your appetite:

 On issues we’re passionate about, we all tend to think our own views are essentially reasonable, Ross explains. Thus when a reporter, editor, news network, or pundit mentions the other side’s arguments, it stings. 

“If I see the world as all black and you see the world as all white and some person comes along and says it’s partially black and partially white, we both are going to be unhappy,” Ross says. “You think there are more facts and better facts on your side than on the other side. The very act of giving them equal weight seems like bias. Like inappropriate evenhandedness.”

I highly encourage reading the whole excerpt in the article.  I plan on picking up the book. 

Posted in Computers, News, Politics, Blogroll | No Comments »

April 11, 2008 by vortmax.

Anyone who’s had to deal with the “bloatiness” of Microsoft Windows (especially Vista) knows that Windows is massive.  Now two Gartner Group analysts have pronounced the same thing, and that if Microsoft doesn’t change Windows, it will collapse under it’s own weight:

 “Apple introduced its iPhone running OS X, but Microsoft requires a different product on handhelds because Windows Vista is too large, which makes application development, support and the user experience all more difficult.  Windows as we know it must be replaced.”   

Apple completely scrapped it’s former OS, MacOS 9, in favor of a derivative of the NeXTStep OS.  This became MacOS X.  It has become a rousing success. Perhaps it’s time for Microsoft to do something similar: Scrap the bloated Win32 kernel for something smaller and more flexible. 

Posted in Computers | No Comments »