Archive July 2011

jul 25

I am typing this from a... Macbook Air!

July 25, 2011

So I decided to give Apple another try. Back in 2006, I bought a white Macbook and after a few months of using it, I gave up. I just couldn't deal with the difference in keyboard shortcuts, and just mainly how everything on Mac OS X was so different than Windows. Plugging away in front of a PC for over 20 years of your life will do that to you. But after checking out Samsung's Series 9 and watching these other Macbook Air-wannabes coming out, I decided that the form factor of the Air was just unbeatable. I anxiously awaited the refresh specs and was satisfied to hear that the 11-inch model would come with an i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. Off I went to get one from Best Buy last night, taking advantage of quadruple Reward Zone points.

I read a bit on Lion and was actually a little anxious to try it out, despite its influence from iOS. I'm not a huge fan of iOS' limitations, so I was really curious to see how Apple integrated some of its functionality into a notebook operating system. Initially I was confused by Lion and within a couple of hours, I couldn't get certain things working (mostly Gallery Remote) so I opted to do a Parallels Windows installation. This was mainly so I could get blogging done on Autoguide.com efficiently since it was what I was used to. I figured sooner or later I might abandon OS X (again) and just do a clean Windows install, but I'm starting to *gasp* like it.

There's lots of neat things about Lion that actually fits the way I like to work. The whole desktop spaces is a pretty cool and actually makes doing things very efficient. I'm now lead to believe that Mac users don't have a clue what scroll bars are because it's ridiculously amazing how nice this trackpad is for scrolling. Two finger swiping to go back/forth on pages, three finger swiping to move across desktops. Everything is just remarkably snappy and quick. I haven't tested it with Photoshop yet, but since I'm mainly doing light photo editing these days I think this Air will satisfy me for quite a while.

The great thing about the desktop spaces thing is the ability to assign certain applications to certain desktops. I'm able to relieve my clutter of mess and it's almost like I have multiple monitors on a single laptop. Not in the way that I have increased functionality, but in the way that I know where everything is and it's easily organized and I can switch on a whim. No more alt-tabbing through windows until I find the one that I need (since I love working with everything maximized) - I just three finger swipe over to the desktop I know it's on, or launch Mission Control and click on the way I want. Way cool.

I'm going to guess that for my uses I'm not really missing out on the i7 and I'm perfectly content with a 128GB SSD considering my last Lenovo was 64GB. So far I'm pretty happy with my purchase, and despite it being such a weird experience in the land of the Lion, I'm finding it pleasantly nice compared to my last Apple Macbook experience.

By the way, Launchpad is horrible. The whole iOS wannabe interface to choose your applications is just... bad. I guess it makes sense for all those people that are coming from iPhones and iPads to integrate something like Launchpad to OS X, but it's just silly to me.

Anyways, sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy working and finishing up some sites. Recently launched is Track One Motorsports (which doesn't have any product yet) and a website for Stacia Deutsch, a NY Times best selling author. I've also started a project making a custom Starcraft2 map that took up most of my free time the last couple of weeks. I recently recruited some help to do the terraining of the map and once that's completed I'll be back on it creating heroes and abilities and hopefully putting the thing into some real beta testing. The concept of the map will consist of a blend of DoTA (HON, LOL, AoS, whatever the heck you want to call that genre) with Tug of War. Heroes + items + abilities + buildings to choose what units spawn in your lanes. So far initial testing was pretty fun. There's a few things I am working on implementing that will hopefully make it fun despite having bad or inexperienced players on your team... and other strategic points that will hopefully change how the game is played. I'll be posting more about it when it gets into a better beta phase, including it's name which I'm really proud of.

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jul 05

The Casey Anthony Verdict

July 5, 2011

Look, I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the Casey Anthony trial. I listened in when they found the body, and some of the story and whatever else was on the news, but I wasn't some rabid person glued to the television set while the trial was going on. Nor did I read up extensive amounts of information on the case, mostly because I didn't really care. But the last couple of days I watched the closing argument (and the debacle of the prosecuting attorney "laughing") and felt compelled to read up on some information about it because it completely blew my mind what a disaster everything was. Remove the emotional aspect out of it and the fact that a two year old was involved, and just look at the case itself. The evidence was complete and utter crap. Sorry, that's what it was. You can't convict someone on a murder case when the premise of your entire argument is that she partied, danced and got a tattoo sometime after her daughter went missing or was killed. There's no way in anyone's right mind that you could judge someone's mental state or their coping mechanisms. Sure, it's a little bit out there that if someone did lose their baby that they'd be out there partying and drinking and getting tattoos... but everyone has different ways of coping with stuff.

I'm not saying she's innocent, but I'm also not saying she's guilty. There is no way if I sat on that jury and was presented the information that was presented in the case (at least what I saw and heard) that it was beyond a reasonable doubt that she was guilty. That's what the court system is based on, and that's what it needs to abide by. The system got it right this time. The jury acquitted someone based on the factual evidence that was presented in the case and to find someone guilty of murder based on that would be absurd. Sorry, I'll be that guy that just comes out and says it - you can find her guilty because the evidence makes you emotionally think she's guilty; or you can believe everything she did was because of a guilty conscience, but there's no way of defining or explaining that legitimately unless you're her.

And seriously media, don't blame television shows like CSi affecting the outcome of the verdict. We are human beings and we know what's realistic and what not. There was no concrete evidence that pointed to Casey Anthony being guilty - everything was circumstantial. I love hearing how people are saying that CSi and what not has made it so jurors demand DNA evidence or video recording of the murder taking place before convicting someone. Well holy hell, if I'm going to be putting someone towards a death penalty, you better be damn sure I want to know that I'm making the right decision. I'm pretty sure the jurors did too. You don't condemn someone to death because it "seems" like she committed the murder.

Unfortunately at the end of the day, cases like this happen all the damn time and this one gets the spotlight way more than those other ones. You don't even hear this much press about all the people that were wrongly convicted and sentenced to a life term. Yes our system is flawed, but you have to play by the rules. The jurors played by the rules and got this one right. All those people out there saying a murderer is walking free ... how in the world are you thoroughly convinced that she murdered her child? Seriously?

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