Today was a surprise for me. Apple has just released updates to practically all their desktop Macs. First one I noticed was the iMac. Not only are the CPUs bumped up but they now have the nvidia chipsets so the low end has a GeForce 9400M and the high end has a GeForce GT130. The Mac Pro has new graphics cards starting with the GT120 on the "low end" multiple GT120s or a ATI Radeon HD 4870.

For the Mac Mini they've bumped the CPU and slapped in the nvidia chipset so it too now has a GeForce 9400M. But to be honest the most attractive bang for the buck seems to go to the iMac. Especially the one with the GT130... for a couple of hundred less than the "low end" Mac Pro you can get a computer with a better graphics card than it. But I'm poor so the only one I may be able to afford is the new Mac Mini.... unless I continue to save and wait which may take many many years. Can I hang on with ye olde powerpc mac mini until then? =P

iPod Touch\iPhone: I've really been lusting after these lately. The iPod Touch in particular. AT&T is having a sale on the iPhone until the end of the year. You can get a 8GB one for $99 and $200 for a 16GB one (with contract of course).... it's kind of tempting but I realize that I probably wouldn't be able to afford the monthly charges which I hear are up in the $75 price range. The iPod Touch is what I'm pining for but it starts at $230 for an 8GB one I think. I wouldn't want to get a Nano, Classic and least of all a shuffle. Why? Because I want to be able to take advantage of all the great applications and games being made for the iPhone\iPod Touch. I have 14GB of music so in order to be able to carry it all and have room for applications, etc. I'd want to get a 32GB iPod Touch but those are $400.... which is a little tough to swallow especially since I still need a new computer as well.

New iMacs and Mac Minis: I love my Mac Mini although it has gotten long in the tooth. For many years the current intel mac minis have languished with intel integrated graphics but Wired is saying they are due for an upgrade this Macworld to have the same nvidia graphics that the new Macbooks have. However for me personally that may be too little too late. I'm leaning more towards the iMac which is also rumored to be updated at Macworld. I'll especially want one if they put the quad core chips that are reported to be possible upgrades to it as I read on TUAW. I think they should also go with a higher end GPU than what is in the Macbook for the top of the line iMac just like they did with the previous generation.

iPod Touch\iPhone: I've really been lusting after these lately. The iPod Touch in particular. AT&T is having a sale on the iPhone until the end of the year. You can get a 8GB one for $99 and $200 for a 16GB one (with contract of course).... it's kind of tempting but I realize that I probably wouldn't be able to afford the monthly charges which I hear are up in the $75 price range. The iPod Touch is what I'm pining for but it starts at $230 for an 8GB one I think. I wouldn't want to get a Nano, Classic and least of all a shuffle. Why? Because I want to be able to take advantage of all the great applications and games being made for the iPhone\iPod Touch. I have 14GB of music so in order to be able to carry it all and have room for applications, etc. I'd want to get a 32GB iPod Touch but those are $400.... which is a little tough to swallow especially since I still need a new computer as well.

New iMacs and Mac Minis: I love my Mac Mini although it has gotten long in the tooth. For many years the current intel mac minis have languished with intel integrated graphics but Wired is saying they are due for an upgrade this Macworld to have the same nvidia graphics that the new Macbooks have. However for me personally that may be too little too late. I'm leaning more towards the iMac which is also rumored to be updated at Macworld. I'll especially want one if they put the quad core chips that are reported to be possible upgrades to it as I read on TUAW. I think they should also go with a higher end GPU than what is in the Macbook for the top of the line iMac just like they did with the previous generation.

Just a semi-quick one for tonight. Nothing too special here one might say but I like it.

The wall is just something simple I put together recently as part of my final project for school. I was making a prototype of site I'd host my desktop customizations on. That wall would come in several color combinations.

The wall is just something simple I put together recently as part of my final project for school. I was making a prototype of site I'd host my desktop customizations on. That wall would come in several color combinations.

I haven't done one of these in a while so...



As always click on the preview to view the screenshot.

This time my screenshot is a two parter because I wanted to show the work I did on a new-ish GTK theme made to blend in The GIMP in with my desktop environment a bit more. It's still not as good as how the native quartz theme will be. But it's better than the X11 version running a clashing theme like clearlooks like most GIMP users on OS X tend to use. Some of the toolbar icons need to be replaced as they are made for use ona toolbar that goes above the window rather than in a toolbox as they are there. Perhaps I could make some Leopard style glyphs for all the toolbox icons and change the button style to be that Leopard style. That is if I can keep those buttons separate from regular push buttons in the gtkrc. But all the important parts are done. The theme I edited was called "Leopardish" and it had an interesting implementation of the OS X scrollbar scrolling animation in the slider.

The wallpaper is get lifted by symphonic7. You can find a wallpaper version here but I am not using that one. I edited the original image into a wallpaper myself and desaturated it some to go better with my overall look. I also have a non-desaturated version of course.

This time my screenshot is a two parter because I wanted to show the work I did on a new-ish GTK theme made to blend in The GIMP in with my desktop environment a bit more. It's still not as good as how the native quartz theme will be. But it's better than the X11 version running a clashing theme like clearlooks like most GIMP users on OS X tend to use. Some of the toolbar icons need to be replaced as they are made for use ona toolbar that goes above the window rather than in a toolbox as they are there. Perhaps I could make some Leopard style glyphs for all the toolbox icons and change the button style to be that Leopard style. That is if I can keep those buttons separate from regular push buttons in the gtkrc. But all the important parts are done. The theme I edited was called "Leopardish" and it had an interesting implementation of the OS X scrollbar scrolling animation in the slider.

The wallpaper is get lifted by symphonic7. You can find a wallpaper version here but I am not using that one. I edited the original image into a wallpaper myself and desaturated it some to go better with my overall look. I also have a non-desaturated version of course.

I did something special with my desk tonight. So I felt like snapping a picture of it especially since I don't have access to the camera I used to take the picture very often. Click on the picture to see the flickr page I have it uploaded at. Next I'd like to get this mousepad and a wireless mighty mouse.