Logging the Switch

Posts

  • Jun 11, 2006

    MacBook experiences

    After two weeks and two days with my MacBook, I think I can come to some conclusion about it.

    Firstly, I called it Idéfix, after Obelix’ dog since it is also white and black (the screen is really black compared to the white of the enclosure) and it goes with his master on all of his adventures, like how mine is going with me to Iceland.

    Heat problems

    None. Really, I don’t know what the others are doing to it, but mine isn’t getting hotter than any laptop I’ve had my hands on. Unlike my old Fujitsu-Siemens, the keyboard hardly gets hot. The area around the tab-key is the hottest, while the right side actually remains quite cool.

    In the past week, temperatures steadily rose to around 30 degrees and it was noticable on Idéfix. The little fellow can’t really get rid of its own heat, so it now gets hotter than normal.

    Speed

    It is fast, really fast: Converting a DVD to MPEG-4 is twice as fast as on Hoefnix, my Power Mac G5 2 x 2.5 GHz. It manages to get 60 fps while Hoefnix only gets 30. That isn’t a daily task of course (well, for some it might be), but overall, it feels snappier than the Power Mac.


    Handbrake converting Forrest Gump DVD into an MPEG-4

    Battery life

    Better than my Fujitsu, but that goes without saying since that battery is broken :-) But okay, I already got four hours, with Bluetooth and AirPort turned off.

    Critics

    Yes, tiny thing, namely that it could be finished better! The keyboard leaves a grease mark on the screen, not very nice and something the Fujitsu didn’t have (one of the few good things about that one).

    The polycarbonate case is a bit wobbly at some places, nothing terrible, but I think the finishing on that could be a bit better. One screw isn’t fastened deep enough, I tried to give it an extra turn but it won’t go in further.

    Further stuff

    The first days I took it with me in its protective cover (see picture).


    Idéfix nicely packed in its box

    The second day it teared open and it was also raining, so I added a plastic bag of the Media Markt. The reason I didn’t have a proper bag for it is that they simply don’t exist yet. The form factor isn’t new, but apparently if a notebook isn’t an Apple, it isn’t worth making a sleeve for according to the manufacturers… Because I cannot do without, I decided to get me a not-so-expensive one which doesn’t fit exactly and look for a good one at a later point.


    Tucano Second Skin 14

    Yes, it says iBook. Yes, it is for a 14 inch model. Yes, a MacBook fits in it, if you add a piece of isolation tube :-)


    Isolation tube

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  • May 26, 2006

    Switch back

    I’m switching away1 from PowerPC… Yesterday I already installed Linux on my SGI O2+ (MIPS R5000 architecture), today my all new and shiny white MacBook (Intel x86) arrived!

    You know how hard it is to to shut up to anyone about it for a whole week just to make this surprise post? Especially when you’re going to the Apple Centre with the whole bunch ;-)

    First impression: Nice thing! Also ordered the mini-DVI-to-DVI cable, so I can hook it up my Dell 2405FPW and enjoy the full 1920×1200! Apple removed the stupid restriction that the consumer level notebooks could only mirror the screen on the external screen, you can now also expand your desktop.

    1 Well of course I’m only joking about switching away from my PowerMac, but it sounded cool ;-)

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  • May 23, 2006

    GPS Walk

    Took the GPS receiver with me on a walk over the TU campus, storing my location every second on my laptop, meanwhile taking pictures.

    Then, imported the track list and photos into GPSPhotoLinker and applied the locations to the EXIF tags of the photos.

    After that, I uploaded the photos to p.hot.os where I added a little bit of JavaScript magic and using the Google Maps API I can now draw a nice map with the exact location where the photo was taken.

    Kickass!

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  • May 22, 2006

    Uurtje IJsland #03: Christian cast voor de laatste keer podmuziek

    En dan nu voorlopig de laatste podcast van mij die alleen maar bestaat uit muziek. Nog éénmaal een tracklist en dan ligt de podcast voorlopig even stil.

    1. Sigur Rós – Hoppípolla
    2. Sigur Rós – Með Bloðnasir
    3. m̼m РGreen Grass of Tunnel (linkerkanaal) / Grasi Vaxin G̦ng (rechterkanaal)
    4. Björk – Jóga (Howie B Main Mix)
    5. Trabant – Enter Spacebar
    6. Silvía Night – Congratulations (het moet dan maar)
    7. GusGus – Northern Lights
    8. Innvortis РDagurinn sem ̩g er ekki til
    9. Sigur Rós – Glósóli
    10. Björk (met Tom Yorke) – I’ve seen it all
    11. Apparat Organ Quartet – Global Capital
    12. Björk – Í dansi með þér
    13. Sigur Rós – Smáskifa

    Het eindigt met hetzelfde als wat voorafging aan de allereerste set tijdens de originele uitzending. Het was leuk, ik heb ervan genoten om het te doen, maar er moet een einde aan komen. Ik hoop dat jullie een leuke indruk hebben gekregen van de muziek uit IJsland. Natuurlijk is het bij lange na niet alles wat er geproduceerd wordt, soms lijkt het wel alsof iedereen in een bandje zit of tenminste één persoon kent die in een band speelt. De site rokk.is besteedt aandacht aan de lokale muziekscene en niet alleen aan rock zoals de naam zou doen vermoeden.

    Directe download: (offline)

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  • May 13, 2006

    Fellowship of the Ring: Complete Recordings

    Extreme bargain alert! I got this 3CD plus a DVD with the complete recordings of The Fellowship of the Ring at a ridiculous price of €5,95 at Makro… Something of a 90% discount off the Amazon-prize. Someone really must have messed things up since I’ve seen it at said Makro for something around € 40,- not too long ago.

    Contents:

    • A booklet with information on the various themes in the music, certainly an interesting read.
    • 3CDs with the complete musical sound track of the first of the Lord of the Rings movies.
    • 1DVD which contains the same music, only now in four formats: standard Dolby Digital Stereo and Surround and in 48kHz 24bit Advanced Resolution Surround and Stereo Sound. Anyone who can play DVD-Audio?

    It seems that software to play the DVD-Audio portion (it’s what goes in the AUDIO_TS directory on a DVD) simply doesn’t exist. One has to have a hardware player for it, but now the same hardware players are dropping support for it in favour of HD content.

    I really enjoy this “Extended Edition” of the soundtrack, it’s fun to picture the complete film along with the music :)

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