BDK’s Random Thoughts » 2008 » October
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Oct 28

I’m scared.

With all of the problems we’re facing with our economy these days, coupled with our extended military commitments, the United States needs strong leadership. And we aren’t getting it anytime soon.

The polls all show that our next President will be Senator Obama - and that’s the scary part.  He seems to be a likable guy - he has found several friends, in fact:  Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and a few select others.  But with all of his talk about wealth redistribution and a need for higher taxes, well, I’m just not sure how things are going to go in the short term.

Hopefully the American people can hold Obama at bay so that we don’t end up with more socialism than our current REPUBLICAN president has given us with the bail-out plans.

Even if there is some miracle for Senator McCain, I’m not too thrilled about that prospect either.  He was right there voting for the bail-outs and he doesn’t seem to want the job enough to even point out the facts about his opponent.  Quite frankly, I’m shocked that he isn’t bold enough to do so given his courageous background.

We have a week to go until this all-too-important election comes to a head.  Unfortunately, the handwriting has already appeared on the wall and there is no eraser in sight.  Let’s just pray that God will guide us through these difficult times and hope that I am proven wrong.

Oct 17

I decided to play around with iWeb, the basic web design app included in iLife 08.  The best way to do so, I figured, was to create yet another web site.

The new site is called Closet Mac Fan and will center on my new-found obsession with Apple products.  I’m going to discuss my thoughts on a variety of topics - tips and tricks, opinions on products, cool web sites, handy utilities, etc.

So, check out my new site, Closet Mac Fan!

Oct 14

One of the bigger challenges I faced when switching to my Mac was the fact that my FANTASTIC deal on Microsoft software did me little good.  I’m a subscriber of the Action Pack which allows me access to tons of Microsoft titles including Vista, Server 2008, and Office for a flat annual (and very affordable) fee.  Unfortunately - but perhaps understandably - the software is all based on Windows operating systems.

Interestingly, this has presented a fairly ironic solution:  open source.  Ironic because my switch to Mac - a traditionally closed world - has “opened” my eyes to all of the great free software available today.  I have found a great wealth of apps to solve nearly every problem I’ve run across with my Mac.

Who needs to spend hundreds to write a few letters?  Instead of shelling out a bunch of bucks on Microsoft Office for the Mac, I found NeoOffice.  It’s basically a front-end for OpenOffice, the free office suite champ.  It worked okay, but was a bit rough around the edges.

Well, OpenOffice itself has been upgraded to version 3.0 and now is native to OS X.  I tried it out for about eight minutes this afternoon and immediately threw out NeoOffice.  OpenOffice is faster, has more features (and programs), and just plain-out looks nicer.

If you’re a NeoOffice user, I strongly encourage you to download OpenOffice today.  It’s well worth the price!  =)

Oct 14

First off, I have to say that I’m fairly happy, as a recent buyer of a MacBook Pro, to see that little changed with the premium notebook.  Sure the new one is sturdier, has better graphics, and a cool new button-less glass trackpad.  But the REAL stats didn’t change - same processor, same memory, a slight bump in the standard hard drive size…  Kind of boring, really.

I would have liked to have seen a bump in processor speed and maybe 4GB standard.  The quad-core Penryn would have been extra sweet.  The memory thing is just a rip-off:  I bought 4GB of memory for my MBP last month for $80.  Yes, $80!  Apple wanted to charge me $180 to go from 2GB to 4GB.  And they charge $400 for that same 4GB kit!

I guess I think that the “Pro” line should push things a bit more.  Get a super-fast CPU and tons of memory to pair up with the admittedly ingenius video subsystem.  Charge a butt-load because you’re Apple.  But make it COOL!

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not complaining!  The value of my month-old laptop is still very high and it makes the sweet price I got all that much better.

Oct 14

Don’t you absolutely HATE waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to sleep?

I just woke up about an hour ago and had to use the bathroom.  That was ten after two.  Everything was fine - I was sufficiently groggy when I stumbled back to bed.  But as soon as I realized that it was hot in our bedroom (and I don’t mean in a good way!), I could not get back to sleep for the life of me.

Now, I’ve spent hours lying in bed trying to find sleep many times in the past.  As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to not waste time doing that.  Instead, I get up and try to do something with that time.  I’m not much of a television-watcher so I usually end up on my computer.

I’m hoping that this morning I’m put gently back to sleep by the tip-tapping of the keyboard as I write this post.  But I’ll probably end up on YouTube until 5:30!

‘Night!

Oct 12

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Heather and Logan sharing a laugh
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