iCrap

Final Cut Express got me to buy a mac.
At the time it was pretty beefy, especially considering the bottom of the barrel I usually go for. 2GB of RAM dual processers and 230GB drive - I felt pretty good back in 2002 or whenever I picked it up.

It was OS 10.4.something, it had a shell and ran FCE.... oh and burned DVDs

Integrated, aesthetically pleasing unix-like platform - good enough for me.

Until my other machines either died off or otherwise stopped performing as well.
Well hell, I've got a shell, I've even got java....

Sort of, some old version of java that hurts my brain to code to.

I know, I'll just download a more recent version.

whot! you mean, I have to "upgrade my operating system" in order to advance versions.


There there, you see, it was macs or no sun's or , you konw what, just don't be mad.. Just feel *lucky* that someone somewhere was nice enough to implement a 1.5.something jdk for your mac. Really, why would you want do code in java anyway.

So, I shell out the dough for 10.5.5 aka OSX. To my fears - "dont worry, the upgrade works just great".

And really, I guess it wasn't so bad - java 1.5.x.
cool.

Somehwere in here, I started using a shell at work, on a more frequent basis. So instead of opening up pine and maybe kicking around some html in emacs, I'm hacking the shell scripts that keep "the builds" going. So, I dust off my copy of "UNIX for the Impatient" by Paul W. Abrahams and Bruce R. Larson. And realize, maybe my arbitrary choice of tcsh is better supplanted by a more ubiquitous shell. And one with much better doc, at least in that book. I was sold enough.

Log into mac
edit /etc/passwd
Close and Open "Terminal"

What the.... wait... So, look. I got "Mac OS X For Unix Geeks" by Ernest Rothman, Brian Jepson, and Rich Rosen, for Christmas. So fine, /etc/passwd is not the way to go. OK, I'll do it the Mac way..

I don't remember Nexts being this picky.

But wait, I upgraded for java, but does the reason I bought a mac - Final Cut Express - still work. Yes, oh yes thank goodness.

So, I've done some crappy home video. And now I want to burn it to DVD so I can show it off - right. Click on iDVD, a piece of software that worked when I bought this machine. I get:

"You cannot use this version of the application iDVD.app with this version of Mac OS X."

The solution: buy iLife.

Are you kidding me? again. You want "more" of my money. Only now for software that was stock on the original operating system I paid for.

Crap
Crap
Crap.

So. I have to upgrade the _operating system_ to get the latest java. I get no guarantees that any of the software I've already paid for will work in any future versions. I have to stare at the logo of a piece of fruit that someone else already started chomping into any time I'm using the box.

But it's integrated - yes - 'm glad the folks at the apple store can tell me what, now unavailable through big brother apple, RAM I can buy just by the serial number. But, to find that out about my old Cyrix box, I just opened the motherboard manual. Advantages? But it works well with an iPod - sure, but I can also plug my Nokia Cell phone into Windows and have it work as an Mp3 player. Well, you don't have to use a whole bunch of different proprietary software for each digital camera. Fair enough, except, I don't have a bunch of different digital cameras.

Stable, I only crash apps every other week instead of the every week at work on XP. Except for my IDE - eclipse - that thing crashes within 1/2 an hour. I'll bet it would be better if I just started from a clean slate.... see FCE. Maybe I should give netbeans another go.

It does graphics well, ok maybe FCE does what I want WRT graphics well. But GIMP does way more than I'll ever need, and that's pretty damn free.

Cool, umm, what? Using a computer will make me cool? I guess in that superficial, flashing-wealth-because-I-can-afford-over-priced-hardware kind of way, maybe.


What about the great and wonderful features of Mac OSX that have just been there for years.

MacPorts - get out of here - apt, yum.

iChat - Give me pidgin any day.

iTunes - so, now instead of just playing my multimedia, I get a million daemon processes taking up CPU in the background. crap. rss integrated with music files was a good idea, but worthy of the constricting my larynx to a near falsetto say "iPod" I think not.

Terminal Tabs - so you're cool enough to use a shell, but for some reason want more shit taking real estate and don't know about screen. Oh and Linux has had that for a while.

Virtual Desktops - I about lost it when someone was feeding me the mantra on this one. Solaris had this as far back as the last millennium, or at least 1998.

Next?
Actualy NeXt's were nice, real nice. Pizza boxes and cubes. I know someone who has a few hoarded away and is waiting for the revolution. Now I need to go ask them if they have mac.


The lustre was fading and now it is totally gone.
I feel stuck because of one application.


I bought one, and I'm even using it, but I'm just not buying it.


iQuit

Flying Helicoptor Car

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7826142.stm

2 man enter, one man leave.

wishing I didn't drive the big loop to work every day.

National Dump the Pump - June 19th - Metro Support

Metro is giving out free metro passes in support of the third annual National Dump the Pump Day. They'll be handing them out at Metro Ride locations (see link), at the Galleria on Saturday afternoon of June 14th. Alternatively, they will even mail them to you - all you need to do for that to happen is send your Name/Full address via email, with a subject of "Free Pass".

need money, will travel

So, more Americans are taking public transit, the longstanding romance with cars is waning, even the king of conspicuous consumption is not immune. I thinks it's great that some politicians are supporting transportation, but it's sad to hear that at the same time metro is having some major money woes, especially since ridership has been rising for years. I wouldn't spite metro some more $$ (taxes, fares) - even with the spotty business surrounding the Cross County Extension. I guess we'll see what comes as a result of the June 17-25 Public Hearings on fare changes

Sport? That sounds tough. How about riding as a past-time?

The local news reported on Bike to Work Week and interviewed a couple local bike-commuters as well as giving some tips to those contemplating driving their bike in. Video on CW11 page. It's great that bike to work week has gotten some publicity.
Tnx to MoBikeFed for blogging on it.

hell yes

The light rail system is on the way at the end of the month.
fain-*-tastic.



I'm so ready to leave the car parked.

Light rail, light rain.

So, I finally tried out the metro transit system. A combination of driving, riding metrolink and metrobus got me to work and back home. I only drove for ~30 minutes, and made just two transfers (car->train->bus). It was really nice to not deal with the worst of the traffic. To quote a banner I saw on a picture of an early 1900's rail car:

"You're working over-time when you drive."

The trip does add about an hour over my best-case round-trip scenario, so it's not all daisies. When the cross county extension opens up, it'll be a no-brainer - I'll take the 'link without a blink.

crawl, walk, run, cycle, bus, rail

My recent move and job change changed my daily commute from 6 miles to one of about 40 miles. I'm five days into this new way - and about two-thirds of the way through "Divorce Your Car!" by Katie Alvord.

Coincidence? Well actually, yes - but having recently crossed over from a sleepy back-street jaunt into the tense wilderness of the rush-hour highway scramble - I am finding myself quite receptive to Alvord's message and advice.

Locally, all the buzz, in the transportation scheme of things, is the reconstruction of one of the central highway arteries in the area - turning Route 40 into The New I-64. I had been starting to feel some disdain towards this collective funnelling of even more resources into the car, you know, things like taxes, fuel, and dodging little old ladies escorted by boy scouts. A couple of things make me feel there is an "upside" to the expansion of the highway.

Firstly, the project has an Interactive Study Map and claims that a lot of local streets will have pedestrian and bicycle friendly bridges spanning the highway. As a former and hopefully future, bicycle commuter, I recognize how much easier this will make biking around town. Currently, almost all my biking routes end up using the same couple crossing points - sometimes taking me farther out of the way than if the highway weren't "right in the way".

Secondly, it dawned on me that maybe the mass hysteria about the highway being unavailable could be channelled positively into a better appreciation for the mass transit available to this growing city. The light rail system is already underway and scheduled to be completed by the end of the year (fingers crossed) - I can only hope that one of the central roads being closed will get more people to consider and actually use this mode of transport.

Ultimately, I don't feel that getting deeper into bed with the car is going to help us in the long run. Perhaps, instead of two new lanes to the highway, the community would be better served by two new sets of rails. I've dropped a line to one of the local promoters of mass transit but it does seem this particular idea has already been brought up and shut down. However, times and circumstances change - maybe it is time to revisit this.

So, what am I actually *doing*? I have been getting back on the bike. I had a short lay-off from riding and need to get my mileage back up. I'm also planning for my next step, which is to get on the bus for some short trips.

over and out.