I was going to blog a summary of my 2010 but I think everyone else is doing it, so I won't. ^_^ Besides, no point looking back... I got the entire 2011 to look forward to!

Not to sound totally ungrateful but okay, I'm glad to have been given another chance to live and try to make a difference. I'm glad to have ever supportive parents (in spite of the occasional bickering that comes with living with them). I'm glad to have the best boyfriend in the whole world... and having had one too many, I have every right to claim that Noodle Boy is THE BEST and I have no intention of leaving him, entertaining other guys, or continue dreaming of Ryan Reynolds. I'm glad I still have my sanity intact so I can plan for the future (which is about time!) and I got my iPhone and apps to help me get by.






First blog entry of 2011 and my favorite iPhone apps in here »
http://www.bastaigatsikat.com/2011/01/new-year-great-love-bright-future-and.html

As you all probably know... Noodle Boy is back... in the flesh! Say goodbye to sleepless Skype nights! (Thank you so much, Skype, for everything. We love you!)

First question, how is he? He says he's happy to be back home and now, he is in good hands. ;) It sure seems so because he is looking as great as ever and of course, he's with me all the time. LOL!

So what did this dashing young man get me for Christmas? Memories. Literally. And then some...

READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY AND ALL ABOUT IT IN MY BLOG!!

GO GO GO!

http://bastaigatsikat.blogspot.com/2009/12/memories-for-holidays.html

Only 75K. (Negotiable!)

More on the mac in here:

http://bastaigatsikat.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-about-mac.html

The recent news of Microsoft (MS) wanting to rebrand netbooks as "low-cost small PCs" got me thinking... WHY? Don't you think it's pretty long to keep saying the multi-syllable "low-cost small notebook PC" instead of just a two-syllable "netbook"? I don't know about you but I am so sticking to just "netbook". Here's a funny chart I found on what can be classified as a netbook:


I never intended to buy one... at least for myself, because a netbook is just a lightweight and small version of the traditional laptop aimed at Internet usage and emailing. Hey, I can do that with my phone and my Ipod Touch! But when my mom was constantly complaining at how my old laptop just dies on her when she's trying to type with it, I knew I had to do something, or in this case, buy a netbook. So when Mother's Day came, I told her I was getting her one, on the condition that it'd also double/triple as her birthday gift as well as for their [my parents'] 40th wedding anniversary gift. LOL!

Now, the big question. WHICH NETBOOK TO GET??? There's Lenovo, Asus, Acer, Benq, MSI, HP Mini, you name it... there are too many choices out there and with the same specs and prices!!! Accordingly, each model has its own strengths and weaknesses, but I can't really tell the difference myself. Netbooks though are not designed for heavy programs such as Photoshop or large image processing; they can, however, deal with most Office applications such as Excel and Word very easily.

The first thing I considered was the price. (Of course, who doesn't?) Good thing Thinking Tools, Inc. was having a Midsummer Madness Promo so I headed there to check out what they had... and my choices were trimmed down to the following:



Apparently, the new Asus EEE PC had the Mac-inspired chiclet keys! And it also had the new Atom N280 (1.66 Ghz) processor with 9.5 hours of battery life!!! Plus Wireless N!!! Sweet specs for a pretty sweet price tag! I knew I made the right choice as we've had it for almost a month now and I'm really impressed with the battery life! And it comes with Star Office so you don't have to install MS Office on this baby. Okay, so the netbook is slightly heavier and bigger than the others but you can't go wrong with its performance. My mom actually watched the entire 25 episodes of Boys Over Flowers on this little thing!

And so since it had the Macbook feel with it, I decided to tweak it a wee bit and now it looks like a Macbook wannabe!!! ^_^ Well, not even half the speed of Mac OS X but for a fraction of the price... I couldn't be happier!

Check out the pics below:





See? What did I tell ya? It's actually running on WinXP, by the way.

Now here's a stolen shot I took while my mom had her hair styled while using the computer. Shhh! I hope she doesn't read this blog. ^_^ Hehe! *Peace, Ma!



And here are more shots of her while she was happily playing with her new toy. Oh and do you guys know that last year, I got her a PSP because she was asking for one? HAHAHA! My mom is quite a techy senior citizen! My, my... I wonder who I got my gadget girl impulses from? Hmmm...





Bookworm (as well as other Popcap games) runs pretty smooth on the netbook. I think because I upgraded the RAM to 2 GB. Tee hee.



Alright, Ma!!! Are You Happy??? ^_^



Yup, I think she really is. :) I love you, Ma! ^^,

And thanks for letting me borrow it from time to time especially when I'm out...
Yet I won't even dare compare it, but really, this is the next best thing to a Macbook White. LOL!


⋆✌㋡ღ⋆ ia\m/^_^\m/ai 陳美西

For so many times it has been proven how good things do come to those wait... in life, in love, and everything under the sun... and computers are no exception.

Last year, I blogged (see http://chenmeixi.multiply.com/journal/item/1) that I wanted a Mac. Or that I needed a real serious upgrade to my almost obsolete single-core PC rig. Being the Windows power user that I've become for a decade or more (since 5th grade, that was in 1993? Yikes!), the Mac dream remained a dream... It was another dimension really. But a year and 3 days later, the dream did come true. Although not in a sci-fi alien abduction kinda thing I anticipated.

A blast from the past...



They say "once you go Mac, you never go back" and I can't believe I'm really saying this, although it's cliché to say, "What took me so long to switch!?" Well, I do actually know why! DUH! Because I was financially-challenged and in fact, I still am now especially after I bought the iMac. But I have my ways. I'm a workaholic, you know! Of note, I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth and FYI, there isn't any family wealth to be inherited. But I do manage to live a comfortable life. Quite content with just this really, but I wouldn't mind if money would grow on trees. Then again, if we were to dream... we ought to dream BIG! After all, dreams can come true. Meet my 24" Maki.








I'd like to think of Charlie as a genie for granting me this wish. You gotta love Digital Walker! And shoutouts to the wonderful people at PhilMug for putting up with me and being there to answer my questions when I made the switch! ^_^

So labor of love, hopes, and dreams -- this only brings to mind, Sailor Moon!


This is my current desktop. ^^,

Why Mac? I can state a thousand reasons, no, a million reasons even! It will probably take a year or more to blog it all out. Bottomline: It's a Mac. Self-explanatory! Okay, let me try again. Why should you ditch your PC and switch to a Mac? This subject is one of those subjects in the IT world that can raise strong passions. And according to Apple, if you spend more time trying to get your computer to work and less time doing what you want, it’s time to get a Mac. Because Apple makes both the software and the hardware, everything works together, just as it should. That’s why people who get a Mac love a Mac. And why you will, too. Is that enough to convince you? No? Hmmm... Maybe it's time you check out the PC vs. Mac videos? They load fast! GO! What are you waiting for? There's a whole bunch of them that might just convince you! http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

+

PC and Mac.. and ME! HAHAHAHA!



On second thought, to make this blog worth the read, maybe I should just give you my first impressions when I got Maki. This isn't a paid ad, okay!? And pardon me if I don't get to list down other amazingly cool features of a Mac. So forgive me, fanboys. I'm just enumerating the things I have observed and realized and finally believe in now that I have switched! Tee hee!

• No viruses. No spywares. No malwares. How's that for security? I read that Mac OS X is built on UNIX, which is synonymous with stability.  Windows, on the other hand is synonymous with the blue screen of death.
  
• Alas, I got Windows. Yup! I have Windows installed INSIDE my Mac! Take that PC! Tee hee. What do I need Windows for? Work, unfortunately. Some really old voice file format (.dss) don't seem to work with Mac. If anyone out there could give me a codec that actually runs with Express Scribe for Mac, I will love you forever. Hehe.

• Start up and shutdown times are lighting fast. You know how it works with the iPod Touch. It's the same thing. No more waiting time. Unbelievable! Until now... ^_^
  
• Browsing is super fast with Safari and even with Firefox. 100 notifications in Facebook? Absolutely no worries... open them all in the tabs and it won't even crash! :D How's that for stability?
  
• Amazing speed and even installing programs/applications is a breeze... Just drag and drop. That's it! It's installed! Actually, everything is like DRAG N DROP with Mac.. even my Lola can use my Maki! And my mom was greatly impressed by the speed it took to switch programs, open them, and close them. She was like, "Mao na'y computer!" (Now that's a computer!)
  
• Watching movies on a widescreen? You must be insane not to enjoy that!
• Beautiful, beautiful apps available. The iLife '09 is a wonder! Even Photoshop, MS Word, and all the messengers look so pretty inside the Mac. There's really a difference. Now this is the part where Windows should have wooed me with. When I use the PC in our dining room, I hate to admit it, but I just have to roll my eyes and say, "Gawd, it's ugly." (Even though I had FlyakiteOSX installed in it.) Bleh =P
• I get to finish work fast, meaning cut the time in half to increase productivity and output, because of its ease of use and blazing quick turbo speed computing! Okay, I still procrastinate from time to time... ^_^ Tao, lang po... I still get distracted, you know.
  
• How about looks? Track back 2 bullets. Of course, Mac is a thing of beauty. If you like minimalistic and simple designs, it's gonna be love at first sight! But I gotta be conscious with my hands now, I don't wanna get all the white keys smudged.
  
• Plug N Play anything. That's right. No drivers needed. It just works.
  
• Wireless N. 'Nuff said.
• Spotlight is new Search! I'm amazed at how easy it is to find anything. I have a tendency to be a scatterbrain and forget what folders I save files to. So enter Spotlight... just type in a keyword and EVERYTHING, as in ANYTHING, that relates to it shows up! And it doesn't even take a blink to show you results! I am sooo happy with this feature. Saves me so much time when looking for files.
• Then there's the dashboard, the Exposé, the list goes on...
  

Those are just the highlights on what made me switch. If you care, you might wanna READ THIS for even more OS X goodness! The FAQ is in here.

To tell you the truth, it took me a week to get familiar and deal with the learning curve. It's been a month now since I got Maki, and I think I know by now how the Terminal works. Hey, I'm a fast learner when I'm genuinely interested in something.

Okay, this is a certified convert blogging. I was dead, now I'm reborn. Mac is LIFE! Learn it. Live it. Love it. 

⋆✌㋡ღ⋆ ia\m/^_^\m/ai 陳美西

My eventual switch from PC to Mac is about to happen anytime soon. Once again, it’s time to broaden my perspective and learn new things again as the new year comes. I’m just patiently waiting for Macworld 2009 (on January 5-9) for Apple just might release a refresh of their iMacs. Initially, I only wanted a Macbook… for quite a while actually (diba, Dap?), but I just don’t have that extra “oomph” yet.

But 2009 is going to be different. Steve Jobs and the amazing people at Apple said it’s going to be the last Macworld and the big kahuna himself won’t even be delivering his usual keynote speech. But as Apple says, THINK DIFFERENT. Things change. Really! So here I am, going to make that switch, but only as soon as I reach that Apple orgasm I’ve so long waited. Haha! Patience is after all still a virtue.

Do you know that I am still on a single core CPU at 2.4GHz? Yep, I am. And I still manage to run 15 different applications at the same time! All thanks to the big memory I got though. Now, imagine what I could do with a Core 2 Duo or better yet, a QUAD CORE! Hmmm… Dreams… Dreams…

I own 3 PCs (2 desktops and a laptop), all of which are pretty obsolete. I haven’t upgraded my computers in like 2.5 years now, so I think it is high time I should really get myself a new one. This time it will be different. It will be a Mac. Hee hee.

Take a look at these wonderful images of iMac setups I found at Flickr. Don't you just want one?


by Fox O'Rian


by adamfishercox


by Paul Barrick


by nkm82


by QuattroVageena


by dziner


by Falling Sky

But with all that minimalist look, I think I know what I should do first and foremost...

So for my New Year's resolution, I should clean my room first.
Now, that would be totally DIFFERENT!
LOL! =^_^=

⋆✌㋡ღ⋆ 陳美西