James Lao

Contemplating Mac

I’ve been using my current laptop for a 2-3 years now. It’s an old Dell Inspiron 6000 that I got for about $1,000. It works fine for the most part, but the wireless is flaky and dies on me randomly which kills it for me. I need my wireless to be rock solid and reliable. Then there’s also the fact that it’s getting a bit hard to multi-task with some of the newer, more demanding applications. It’s only packing a 1.6 GHz Pentium M, 512 MB of RAM, and integrated Intel graphics. Not much, I know, but it’s gotten me through high school. Keyword: high school.

I’ll be off to college this fall and I figure this old clunker isn’t going to last me another four years. Originally I was planning on getting another Dell. But recently I’ve been playing with the idea of getting a Mac instead. Scandalous. Those who know me reasonably well know that I’ve been a self-proclaimed Mac hater for years. (I’d like it to be noted Mac does not equal Apple. I’m quite happy with my iPod touch actually.)

The reason I’ve been considering switching to Mac is three-fold. First, I don’t want anything to do with Vista. I personally don’t like the new Aero design and when die-hard Windows fans start complaining about problems, I get worried. Moreover, I find it interesting that the successor to XP actually has higher system requirements. Call me crazy, but aren’t revisions supposed to be leaner and faster rather than more bloated and demanding?

My second reason is just personal curiosity. I have never actually sat down and used a Mac extensively. I used them in elementary school, but those were pre-OS X days and I’ve used them infrequently in the library computer lab at my school. With that said, I’ve never really had any problems with it besides not knowing how to do something on my part.

And finally, my third reason is that some of the programs available only on Mac just look damn cool. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve wished Quicksilver, Adium, Growl, or Coda were available for Windows too. Yes, there are Windows alternatives, but none do it quite the same or as elegantly as the Mac apps appear to do. Looking at the programs I have installed on my Windows laptop, I realized that all the apps I use daily like Firefox, iTunes, Office, and the Adobe suite are on Mac as well. I’ll also admit that some of the features built into Mac OS X like Time Machine look pretty nifty.

The way I see it, I wouldn’t be losing much if I switched to Mac. If I really need something from Windows I can always Bootcamp. So I started looking at the different Mac laptops: the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro would be my first choice because the MacBook only has a 13 inch screen, which I think is too small, and the Air does not have an Ethernet port, which I think is still necessary at this point in time. BUT, the Pro has a base price of $1,800 even with an educational discount. That’s a lot for a college bound kid.

At the moment, I’m still evaluating whether I really want to make the switch. There’s nothing really compelling about Windows that I feel like I couldn’t live without, but on the other hand, are there any problems with Windows that would drive me to switch to Mac? I haven’t really decided yet. I’ve used Windows all my life, but I can’t help but be curious what Mac is all about. I still have some time to think about it and according to AppleInsider the MacBooks are slated for a design overhaul. Maybe they’ll come up with something that will make me a convert when Q3 2008 comes around.

Posted on April 17, 2008 in Technology

Two-Time State Web Design Monster

I competed in the Oregon SkillsUSA web design competition again yesterday. The rules were the same as least year. We had four hours to build a website based on a fictitious website proposal. However, I went solo this time around and competed against six other teams of two. It was interesting to say the least.

After the competition I went to Red Robin with Sadie, her dad, and Emerald for lunch. I had the most amazing burger I’ve ever had in my life there. It was heavenly, epic even. I think it was called the Whiskey River BBQ Burger. The onion straws at the bottom are magical.

After lunch we went back to the competition for the awards ceremony. It was really long like last year’s. They awarded the winners in alphabetical order by competition name so web design was near the very end. Sadie and Emerald took third and I took first again. That makes me the two-time state web design champion monster.

Here’s a link to the website I made. That’s what four hours, a computer, a Kit Kat bar, a bottle of water, and an iPod full of good music can get you.

Posted on April 13, 2008 in Code, Life, Web

Rediscovered Journal

I rediscovered my journal from fourth or fifth grade the other day. I wrote some “interesting” stuff back then. Here’s the first entry in my journal complete with mistakes.

May 20, 2001

Today I woke up at 9:30 to watch Rwall! Redwall is a T.V. show base on the book Redwall, written by Brian Jauces. When I was done watching Redwall, an hour later we went groecry shoping for Plenty Buffet. But, first we went to ABC to buy some shrimp, but then we realized we might be a couple hours till we get home and the shrimp would be dead by then. So we we to [insert Chinese characters] first. Then we went to [insert Chinese characters]. After that we went to Plenty Buffet to dropp of our grocies and went home. At home I mowed the lawn. Oh yeah, I for got that at ABC we bought some oysters. At dinner we ate some shrimp, oysters, and fish. I like the oysters the best. After dinner my mom cut my hair. Which took about 20 minutes. Now hear I am writing in my journel. oh, I for got to get my money.

This must have been a weekend because I used to go grocery shopping with my parents every Sunday. Life was simpler back then. The next entry brings back some memories.

May 21, 2001

At class today we did our morning routines as uasel. Then we read Bound for Oregon and did the questions. After that we did some math. One of the questions was so hard barely anybody could figure it out. But I managed to figure it out because one of my math books taoght me how to do that kind of proplem. By the time we were finished with math it was reccese. After reccese I got to silent read, which I enjoyed. My friend showed me the new book he got and he let me read a little bit and I enjoyed it a lot. We played kick ball at P.E. I liked to play kick ball. After reccese, the teacher said idenitie #6 (which was me and three other girls). The fate was that my wife got bit by a rattle snake. So I had to write how to treat the bite at home.

I think I was in forth grade when I wrote the journal entry above. We were learning about the Oregon Trail at the time. Mrs. Grilley, my forth grade teacher, created a game where the class was split into groups which raced to the end of an Oregon Trail game. It wasn’t The Oregon Trail computer game; it was more like Dungeons & Dragons meets Oregon Trail. My group won of course. I remember that day because my parents told me how to treat a snake bite. You have to tie off the limb just above the bite to prevent the poison from circulating, make two cuts with a knife where the bite is, and suck out the poisoned blood (and spit it out). That must be one of the few things I learned in elementary school that I still remember…

My dad bought me math workbooks when I was younger. I could do basic algebra by fifth grade. That’s part of the reason I zoomed through math in elementary, middle, and most of high school. It looks like I could have used some spelling and grammar workbooks though.

Posted on April 5, 2008 in Life