My trusty old white Netgear wireless-G has served me well for a few years now. It hasn’t caused me too many problems, well nothing a simple unplug/replug couldn’t fix. But I think it is time it should be replaced with the new old Airport Extreme.
A couple of days ago Apple offered a software update for their Airport Extreme that now allows time machine backups. This means you can back up your files wirelessly. This was the only reason to buy the expensive Time Capsule and now you don’t have to. Unless there is some other reason to get the Time Capsule I’m just not aware of.
I also own an Airport Express. I once used it for Airtunes only. Currently it just sits on a shelf. My Apple TV has replaced that role. But now if I get an Airport Extreme, I can bridge it with the Express to extend my wireless range!
Oh yeah, this is going to work so great with my new Blac X! FTW!
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Bent plywood chairs are cool, the Eames Low Chair Wood (LCW) especially. Not sure what it is about Mid-Century modern stuff that I love so much. Charles Eames’ philosphy, when designing this chair, was to make something affordable and accessible to everyone (like Ikea?).
Some standout points:
- It’s low.
- It’s a chair.
- It’s made from bent plywood. Originally, Charles Eames wanted to form the plywood into a shell, but was much too weak.
- There are no holes on the seat and backrest. The different parts were joined together by a series of rubber shock mounts glued to the wood and connected with bolts.
- It now costs up to $1200 new.
Thanks Wikipedia for the info!
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I made a few calculations. I hope I did this right.
I am charged about 22 1/2 cents per kWh used. The PowerMac G5 averages about 0.2 kW of power. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Ideally, I’d like the desktop to be on continuously. This is about $394 a year. The Mac Mini uses about 0.02 kW of power. This equates to about $39.42 a year. A final savings of about $355. That’s not bad. In just two years, I would have paid for my Mac Mini.
To put it another way, I was just talking to a friend who plays WoW. I’m just not really into video games. I have no idea why. Anyways, he said it costs $15 a month to play. I was shocked! That’s like getting 3 DVRs from your cable co, or getting 1/2 an unlimited text messaging for a family plan. So this is where my mindset is coming from. To run my PowerMac, it costs about $33 a month. The Mac Mini would only cost me only $3.25 a month!
I am so cheap!
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I currently own a PowerMac G5 DP 2.0ghz. It is so awesome!! That is…if this post was written sometime in 2003. Unfortunately it was written in 2008. The computer still performs great, the problem I have with it is the amount of power it uses. My handy dandy power calculator machine (Kill A Watt) shows that the PowerMac uses about 200 watts idle and about 300 watts full bore. The Mac Mini uses about 30 watts full bore! Benchmarks even show that the Mac Mini is faster. What’s especially funny is my PowerMac uses about 40 watts when it’s sleeping! I was wrong about this, it’s only about 10 watts. In comparison, my electric heater uses about 1000 watts. I wonder how much savings I could get in a year from replacing my G5 with a Mac Mini? A few bucks? I’ll feel greener at the very least.
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I’m not a jetsetter. I’m just a regular guy. I already have cable with the requisite wireless router. In my life, I’m in one of two places: home or work. I don’t even go to the local coffee shop all that often. Yet for some reason I still want to get an EVDO wireless data card.
There are three major companies that offer EVDO broadband service in the US: Verizon, Alltel, and Sprint. Their plans range from $40 to $60 a month. The cheaper plan on both are about 40mb downloads a month (not very much.) The $60 plan offers you unlimited download on Sprint and Alltel but 5gb on Verizon. Why would Verizon do that?
EVDO speed is comparable to or faster than DSL. I’ve read that some people even replace their home internet for this option. The introduction of the wireless EVDO router made this possible. Basically it’s just a router you plug your EVDO card into. Then you can connect your notebook or iPhone to the router like a normal router. There is even a highly portable battery powered EVDO router. Then I can really pretend to be a jetsetter.
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I currently own a Nikon D80 that I love. I have a bunch of lenses but really only use two of them most of the time: 18-200mm Nikkor VR and a 10-20mm Sigma. There is one big problem with both of these lenses, well two. They’re huge and heavy! I want a lens that makes my camera a little more portable. Something like a 20mm! Granted, I already own a 35mm which is actually more like a 50mm. But I’m a little more biased towards the wider end.
There are a couple issues with these older type AF lenses. They do not have silent wave motors. Meaning a motor powered by the camera is not built into the lens. Instead a turning screwdriver like thing on the camera body turns a slot on the backside of the lens which in turn turns the focusing mechanism. It makes a zzzzzk zzzzzk sound when focusing. So not only is it noisy, the focusing ring turns as it focuses, so you have to be careful where you place your hand while holding the lens. Knowing all this, I don’t think it’s a big issue. Nikon doesn’t make any wide-angle fixed focal length lenses with silent wave motors. Hopefully they will one day.
I will probably try to find something used on E-Bay or keh.com. Feels like they’ve been making them for 20 years.
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I’ve been looking for a portable camera that has the quality of a DSLR for about 25 years, I mean forever. Sure there are point and shoots that have 12 megapixels, but the quality isn’t the same. The pictures look noisy and soft. There is too much depth of field. And there just isn’t enough exposure latitude: too many blown out highlights and muddy shadows. Back in the day (I hate when people say that), when film was king you could get a point and shoot or a small rangefinder with a fantastic lens, and the images were indistinguishable from your $1500 pro-slr with equivalent focal length lens. It hasn’t gotten to that point yet with digital, I guess until now.
The Sigma DP1 is a point and shoot camera that uses the legendary (I think it’s legendary) APS-C size Foveon chip, the same one found in the Sigma SD14. What’s so great about Foveon? I’m glad I asked. It’s a type of imaging sensor that uses three layers of pixels, one for each primary color: red, green, and blue. The combination of these three primary colors then form the colors you see in the picture.This stacking results in higher resolution per pixel than a normal Bayer pattern. Ok, so what’s Bayer pattern? I’m glad I asked that too. Instead of the red, green, and blue pixels being stacked on top of each other, in a Bayer pattern they are placed beside each other and each of these subpixels count as part of the pixel count. So basically a 4 megapixel Foveon chip really is 4 megapixels. In a Bayer pattern 8 megapixel chip, it’s about 1/3 the size. Looking at an image from a Foveon chip is kind of a surreal experience. It just looks so sharp and it is just so detailed. You can literally have a strand of hair a pixel thin.
So this DSLR sized Foveon chip is built into a camera the size of a point and shoot. That is really cool! The main drawbacks that critics have pointed out is the slow non-zoomable 28mm (35mm equiv.) F4 lens and the lack of a built-in viewfinder. I don’t mind the focal length and you can use an optional auxiliary viewfinder that attaches to the hotshoe. It costs $899 retail $999 retail and $799 street which is only a couple hundred more than the Ricoh GR Digital II which uses a normal tiny sensor. The Sigma SD14 DSLR on other hand can be found for $599, but you still have to buy a lens. And of course it won’t be as pocketable.
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An Epson Stylus Pro 11880 is a super mega fantastic ultra awesome 64 inch large format inkjet printer which uses Epson’s third generation ultrachrome (pigmented) inks for the low low price of $14,995. This is a relative bargain when you compare it to other large format printers from companies you’ve never heard of like Roland, Iris, and Mimaki which can be as much as $45,000 and as little as $26,000! I just saw one thats $60,000. Anyways, outside of reach for most people unless they own a sign shop or a photo lab. Lightjet is crazier still. Come to think of it, $15k is a lot of money too. Fortunately, it doesn’t keep me from wanting it. Maybe because it seems more achievable.
I currently own a 24 inch Epson 7600 that I bought used last year. This has been the most reliable printer I’ve ever owned. I think it’s time to upgrade, and I want the 11880. 64 inch prints would be so cool. It could fill a room. Heads could be the size of full bodies. Big prints make a different impact that little 8.5 inch prints can’t even get close to. To quote Woody Allen’s Hannah and her Sisters, a quote I heard on NPR today but a movie I haven’t seen (maybe I’ll put it on Netflix), in the scene when the rockstar begins his journey into art collecting for his new house, “I need something really big.”
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What is it about this little black box that makes me want it so badly?
In a nutshell, a Drobo is a super easy proprietary redundant RAID-like hard drive enclosure that allows you to almost infinitely upgrade the drives inside. What is especially awesome other than its good looks is you don’t need to buy weird drive trays that aren’t available at a local Fry’s. All you do is just slide the bare drives into one of its four slots. There are little lights on the front that tell you when you’re running out of room or when a drive goes bad. You can mix and match drive makes and sizes. When the Drobo does runs out of room, just buy the big SATA drive you found on sale and replace the smallest drive. It then automatically prepares the drive. No down time, no fuss.
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