Tetsuo Time

I have been using Dish Network DVR for the past couple of months now that I've been living at home again. It works OK but I have a couple of complaints against it. First it doesn't seem to be very intelligent when it comes to automatic recording. It works best when what is playing totally jives with the TV Guide schedule but if it doesn't you end up recording shows you didn't want. This especially happens on channels like TNT that show sports programs that tend to go overtime. When you have it recording all episodes of a certain program it also can't tell if what is playing later on in the day or the next day is the same episode so it won't record it again. I've had to delete duplicate episodes of Voyager because of that.

I also have noticed lately that when idle the set top box has a light buzzing sound. It was driving me crazy last night. I noticed it stopped buzzing if I put my hand or anything on it but after a few minutes it starts buzzing again. I tried looking up on the internet to see what it could be and some said it was either heat, or a buzzing transformer or it was something you can fix by putting something under the box so it wont rattle against what's underneath it. It's strange to me that I could temporarily stop it by putting my hand on top of the box or even by nudging the box a little moving it a tad.

Someone else said it's just normal for a DVR to be making noise like that and like with refrigerators and computers a person will get used to it. It was driving me crazy though. Computers have becoming quieter and quieter all the time. My Mac Mini is whisper quiet especially when it's idle. The oldest computer we have here sounded like an old refrigerator when on and it was a huge relief when we would turn it off. Fan sounds and other hardware buzzing can be noise pollution which I have tolerated but never have got used to.

When it comes to hardware the quieter the better in my opinion.

Someone at the Mac Users LJ community was asking what people thought of the current Mac Mini with Superdrive. Some of them said things like, "My friend told me that it's only good for light web surfing and word processing and it can't even handle streaming video". That's simply untrue.... I've had the older Mac Mini since 2005 and it can do those things and more. I've even beaten what was considered the latest games of these past couple of years on it albeit on low settings thanks to its ATI Radeon GPU. The new Mac Mini with the Core 2 Duo may not be able to play the latest games but it can play all the videos including HD that you can throw at it... as well as do graphics work and all other general computing tasks that you'd want to do.

I had to say something in defense of the Mac Mini although it may also be true that if you are having to buy peripherals and a monitor with it that an iMac especially a refurbished one might be a better choice. But I get the feeling that the person doesn't care too much about games and so either computer may suit her just fine.

Here's the thing... even though the Mac Mini pretty much is just an entry level computer (especially now that it's on integrated graphics) it's still a better value than the MacBook Air which features a slower CPU, Slower smaller iPod hard drive, and less of everything else. Now, before anyone yells at me I understand there is a small market out there for "ultraportable" laptops that tend to sacrifice features and power for portability.. but I'm just thinking about the real world for those who can't afford such stuff. Also when I'm out and about I know I can live without an optical drive and the other things its missing but it still stands for me that you are paying more for less.

For example if I put 1,7000+ dollars (with accessories) into one of those that would have been money that I could have sunk into building a good gaming PC or even getting an iMac or something. Heck, someone put a list of parts from newegg that shows you can put together a pretty decent gaming PC for around 700 dollars so that would be the path that makes sense for me personally.

But for someone who needs a simple little computer that can do most tasks a regular person needs to do on a daily basis a new Core 2 Duo Mac Mini fits the bill. Heck I'm still pretty much happy with the older G4 Mac Mini for those tasks and for older games... and I'm probably going to keep it for as long as it works as a spare computer even when I get me a new one.

Someone at the Mac Users LJ community was asking what people thought of the current Mac Mini with Superdrive. Some of them said things like, "My friend told me that it's only good for light web surfing and word processing and it can't even handle streaming video". That's simply untrue.... I've had the older Mac Mini since 2005 and it can do those things and more. I've even beaten what was considered the latest games of these past couple of years on it albeit on low settings thanks to its ATI Radeon GPU. The new Mac Mini with the Core 2 Duo may not be able to play the latest games but it can play all the videos including HD that you can throw at it... as well as do graphics work and all other general computing tasks that you'd want to do.

I had to say something in defense of the Mac Mini although it may also be true that if you are having to buy peripherals and a monitor with it that an iMac especially a refurbished one might be a better choice. But I get the feeling that the person doesn't care too much about games and so either computer may suit her just fine.

Here's the thing... even though the Mac Mini pretty much is just an entry level computer (especially now that it's on integrated graphics) it's still a better value than the MacBook Air which features a slower CPU, Slower smaller iPod hard drive, and less of everything else. Now, before anyone yells at me I understand there is a small market out there for "ultraportable" laptops that tend to sacrifice features and power for portability.. but I'm just thinking about the real world for those who can't afford such stuff. Also when I'm out and about I know I can live without an optical drive and the other things its missing but it still stands for me that you are paying more for less.

For example if I put 1,7000+ dollars (with accessories) into one of those that would have been money that I could have sunk into building a good gaming PC or even getting an iMac or something. Heck, someone put a list of parts from newegg that shows you can put together a pretty decent gaming PC for around 700 dollars so that would be the path that makes sense for me personally.

But for someone who needs a simple little computer that can do most tasks a regular person needs to do on a daily basis a new Core 2 Duo Mac Mini fits the bill. Heck I'm still pretty much happy with the older G4 Mac Mini for those tasks and for older games... and I'm probably going to keep it for as long as it works as a spare computer even when I get me a new one.

There's some rumblings on the internet about a recent job posting for "Touch interface QA personnel". This has lead people to speculate that Apple is going to release the "Mac Touch" soon. On the surface it may sound good but I also am not positive about other things like the graphics card situation.

The reason I say this is because Apple has so far been very conservative in the graphics cards they have chosen to put in the Mac upgrades. For example they put the slowest of the current generation ATI cards in the new iMac and the Powerbook while it has a better GPU has what should be considered a midrange card. The Macbook has a newer intel integrated graphics chip but it's still integrated graphics and the Mac Mini hasn't been upgraded for years except for the CPU of course. On the Mac Pro side they haven't upgraded or offered upgrades for those cards since they first came out. The PC world is leaving the Mac world behind when it comes to graphics cards which goes against what they are saying in their commercials.

So I feel like Apple is mostly focusing on CPUs ever since being in bed with intel and they are going with gimmicks like touch to distract us from that. I'm starting to get fed up with Apple and it makes me want to build my own computer and turn it into a Hackintosh instead of buying the computer itself from Apple. I'd go with a Lian Li case or a custom one that is apple'ish like the G5 Cube. And make my own midrange tower that doesn't feature Xeons but has a better graphics card than in the iMac\Macbook and Mac Pro. If Apple never provides graphics card upgrades to match what is going on on the PC side a Hackintosh will sound better and better all the time.

I'd get this one... it's a GeForce 8800 GT and it's around 200-250 bucks. They say it offers a good value because it's cheaper and it's even better than some of the more expensive cards in some ways. Kind of makes me glad I wasn't able to buy an 8600 or below when they first came out. By the time I can get something they'll have something even better than this that is cheaper.

I'd get this one... it's a GeForce 8800 GT and it's around 200-250 bucks. They say it offers a good value because it's cheaper and it's even better than some of the more expensive cards in some ways. Kind of makes me glad I wasn't able to buy an 8600 or below when they first came out. By the time I can get something they'll have something even better than this that is cheaper.

I was out today with my family. We did the usual things we do when they come over. That's go out and eat and do other things like shopping. They got me the new apple keyboard for my Mac (the wired one). It took about zero minutes for me to get used to typing with it compared to the older keyboard.. I just have to get used to how they rearranged the F keys. The new Macbook type keys are real nice though how they feel.

We saw 1408 at the dollar movies today. I thought it was pretty good myself but my dad complained about how the guy was acting when he first was in the hotel room. He kept on going on and on about it when we where at the grocery store afterwards. I can tell my family was in the mood for shopping they bought quite a few things today.

The glasses center at wally world is hiring and my parents notice and gave me an application. I may apply for it... *shrug* can't hurt to try. My parents think I'd be ok in that job.

I got my hair cut they thinned it out (I have bulky hair) and made it look more like the Doctor\Harry Potter (In the new movie) or some cross in between which I'm pretty pleased with.

I guess that's all for today.

Here they talk about a new keyboard that Apple is supposed to be making for the new iMac coming soon. While the keyboard on the MacBook does look nice I wouldn't like it if they just made it like they chopped it off and put it on the iMac. The new keyboard should have all the keys that the old keyboard has and it should have less area around the outside of the typing area because it's not attached to a notebook. I wouldn't like it if it had a huge bevel around the whole keyboard like older keyboards have. I've gotten used to how the current keyboard has a slim outline. Dell has a newer one that is similar that I have used at school only it's missing the volume\eject keys.

Some people where saying they don't like the current keyboard because it's keys are "squishy" but I like them they don't seem "squishy" to me they just seem quieter than older keyboards.

I also wish they would drop the "mac mini is soon-to-be-sacrificed" thing until it's officially confirmed... so far I haven't seen anything about that other than their rumor mongering. What are they hoping for? A lie being repeated enough becomes truth for people?

Here they talk about a new keyboard that Apple is supposed to be making for the new iMac coming soon. While the keyboard on the MacBook does look nice I wouldn't like it if they just made it like they chopped it off and put it on the iMac. The new keyboard should have all the keys that the old keyboard has and it should have less area around the outside of the typing area because it's not attached to a notebook. I wouldn't like it if it had a huge bevel around the whole keyboard like older keyboards have. I've gotten used to how the current keyboard has a slim outline. Dell has a newer one that is similar that I have used at school only it's missing the volume\eject keys.

Some people where saying they don't like the current keyboard because it's keys are "squishy" but I like them they don't seem "squishy" to me they just seem quieter than older keyboards.

I also wish they would drop the "mac mini is soon-to-be-sacrificed" thing until it's officially confirmed... so far I haven't seen anything about that other than their rumor mongering. What are they hoping for? A lie being repeated enough becomes truth for people?