Vista Pre-RC1 Invitation!

I got an e-mail in my inbox inviting me to the Vista Pre-RC1 test. Naturally, I took Microsoft up on this offer within moments of recieving it, and I am currently in the process of downloading the offending operating system. I will be installing VPC7 on my powerbook g3 shortly, and trying this out. I wish there was some soft of "insane projects test lab" I could use on the campus to do something like, actually install Vista Pre-RC1 on real hardware. I'd love to see the results on real  hardware, not just in VPC7 emulation on my powerbook g3. Though, my results should prove to be fairly indicative of the status of Vista on "old hardware" (think of my setup as a slow Pentium II with 4meg S3 Trio graphics, and only 128 or 192 megabytes of memory.)

"Vintage Mac"

This is an interesting thing that LCGuy pointed me to - the first of the dualprocessor PowerMac G4 systems are now officially "Vintage" along with such venerable machines as the b/w g3s, the firewire powerbook g3s, and other interesting pieces of equipment.

It's interesting to see the change in attitude about any given piece of equipment, from the day that macworld prints their glowing review of the latest professional desktop or workstation, to the point at which it's considered to be "vintage." For what it's worth, I do remember reading about b/w g3s and early g4s while I was in elementary school, in macworld and macaddict. I was always super-excited to read about the latest revision, update, price-drop or speed-bump.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304210

I wonder if this could be any potential indication regaurding  the type of hardware that Leopard will easily run on, not that I'm particularly interested in that, after a) the fiascos I've had with Tiger, and b) with my slow hardware.

Interesting things to say the least.

Mac Pro, No more!

For what it is worth, I've decided to go ahead and not get a Mac Pro. I still have all of those job applications in, and I will still probably be saving for a new computer, albeit a bit slowly. Instead of a Mac Pro, I am going to see if my parents will be willing to bring me my PowerMac G3 and its monitor, and I'll be using either the Power Macintosh G3 for OSX and photoshop stuff, or the PowerBook G3 for that, and the other of those two computers for OS 9.

Loads of fun with old technology!

New Printer

I talked to dad today, and have just placed an order on a new printer. It's a Xerox Phaser 6120 from Xerox. No auto-duplexing built in, but I can do manual duplexing page-by-page when needed, and I can order the duplexer later on.


Everybody, get ready for a special 2nd run of 3am! In full glorious colour!

At NAU

I apologize sincerely for not having anything up for awhile, I seriously have several blogPosts from the past few weeks that are on my computer, and that I fully intend to put up.

 

Anyway, I'm at NAU and I've met a lot of awesome people - mostly through Glenn. I've already met several people through him, and I already have lots of ideas for photos to take here.

 

Tomorrow, I am heading to Target to see if they have a particular printer, and then to see if I can put it on layaway until Dad gets here on Saturday. That one's a network printer. However, I'm going to look at campus surplus sales too, I may be able to find an excellent old LaserJET or so in there. Glenn and I have discussed it - if I do, we will probably share it, and the printer will be our sexy printer ho, and we'll all print our long books and stuff on it - Of course, Glenn will be buying some of the toner. :)

 

Sexy printer hos aside, I am amazed with Target, their online store has laser printers, VOIP phones, among other crazy things - They don't have the brother printer I wanted, but dad and I talked about it and I may get a Lexmark E210n (I think that was the model number) It's only three digits of modelnumber powah, (vs. the HP LaserJET 1022, the Brother HL-2040, and the Xerox Phaser 6120) but it's an "n" model which means it's networkable, and it's lexmark, which in the laser arena is okay I hear, I have no personal vendetta against them.

 

As far as getting a MacPro goes, I'm still not sure, I'm fairly certain that I want it, but I'm not exactly certaon on how I'll get it, etc. The desks in Reilly hall are not as big as in Sechrist, I think, so my estimations are wrong, but a printer, and my stereo will fit on top, and there's definitely room for an LCD monitor, be it the nice 20" Cinema Display, or the cheapest dell 17" LCD (which is not that bad, actually), I don't know if I can go back to a CRT for my photos, unless it's suepr-nice and gargantuan, which won't work well with NAU.

 

Anyway... I'm rambling. :D

 

http://dana.ucc.nau.edu/~clw249/

Just a note on the Mac Pro

Yes, it looks almost exactly like the Power Mac G5
Yes, it is a Revision-A product from Apple, Computer Inc.
Of course, I don't have $2500 to drop on a new computer right now.

But I still seriously believe that this machine will be my next Mac. It will be a significant upgrade from the PowerBook G3 and PowerMac g3 I am using right now. A collective... 10.66GHz of Woodcrest (XEON 5100) awesomeness, how can you deny that? I honestly think that the Mac Pro is slated to become one of those machines that's around ten years past discontinuation, still chugging along with every imagineable upgrade, with a few software hacks, running the very latest version of Mac OS X and a variety of applications, with users still reporting that the machine is very useable.

Naturally, I hope that's how mine behaves, because I fully intend to keep it, and upgrade it a bit every few months, or year, or whenever. In ten years, my system probably will have eight monitors, 3 terabytes of hard disc space, 16 gigabytes of memory, and it may be upgraded to the 3GHz or an even faster variant of the Woodcrest. Who knows?

Anixter Warehouse

Today I am at work with dad at the Anixter warehouse. It’s fairly interesting because there are various Frontier guys running around on their side of the warehouse, and I’ve learnt various things today. For example, there’s a company called “Calix” which I need to research. Also, Siemens makes a higher-end ADSL gateway called the Speedstream 5930, it is apparently a business model. I’d love to see what it looks like, and get my hands on one. Unfortunately, I think that those are tracked a little bit more tightly than, for example, the Linksys Wireless-G notebook adaptor that dad has allowed me to try in the Pismo.

Unfortunately, the building has wireless-blocking metal walls, so I won’t be able to take advantage of the card and link right here. However, I was surprised that the computer did recognize the card, and Airport was going to let me connect with it – I think. I am unsure if I’ll be keeping it, closer to the end of the day he’ll either tell me I can pack it in my bag, or to repack it and put it back on the shelf from whence it came.

It’s just too bad that those SpeedStream 5930 ADSL things are probably tracked better than this, or those ADSL pci cards… either would be an awesome upgrade from the SpeedStream 6520 that we’ve got at home now. If it were me, I’d pop the PCI card in my g3 and redo Mac OS X 10.4 server. We’ll see though. There are also wireless-G routers (WRT54G) among other cool things. However, I doubt I’ll be able to nab anything like that. :P I do get to keep the card though, and that has a broadcom chipset, I think… either that, or whatever chip it does have is useable in the Pismo. I’ll test it out this evening.

Long Walk

Today mom came home at about 2:30 pm and told us that we’d be going to dad’s house. Unfortunately, I didn’t prepare properly and didn’t have any real decent spare clothes… I need to wash them shortly.

Anyway, we went to dad’s house, and then I went for a big walk. I did the old 1-mile around the “former forty” (we sold 20 of it a long time ago), then I walked around a different 40-acre set. Then I walked up and onto “something-Griff” road. I forgot its exact name. Then I walked down Kirkland up Patagonia then around some other road whose name I forgot. It was a very long and tiring walk, but I’m supposed to feel good because it counts as having partaken in the activity referred to as “exercise.”

so sick

Wow… It’s been a long time since I’ve been sick, but I think that there is something in the new house that I am actually allergic to, or something, because today, I was ‘sick.’ That is to say… sick in the context of actually puking. It was not that pleasant, but I felt much better after taking a shower, then being outside for awhile. Unfortunately, I’m inside now and within minutes of turning on the PowerMac G3 and being back inside, I felt sick again.

This is frustrating, to say the least. I feel as though I wasted the part of the sandwich I had eaten earlier.

In other news, I saw Roxy from Photo Class at Wal-Mart today, which was cool. It didn’t look like she really wanted to stop and chat, so I just waved hello and went on in.

Moving Help

My brother's friend came over to help, which is awesome because I don't have to unload everything at the new house. It is bad because everything left was little (a few computers were really the biggest thing left.)

Next up is my stereo, TV, the pismo will go in the next trip, my now-disassembled desk, and the chairs, dishes, and vacuum cleaner.

And then the house will be empty.

It's amazing, really.

By the way, if email posting works, I'll probably... be posting a lot more often. I just need to figure out if I want to do big posts, but less often, or small posts, but very often (like I'm doing today)

If there's any reader feedback, you can send it to corywiegersma -at- gmail -dot- com.

Stamp Story

Well, there was the one time when I was trying a mailing campaign in an attempt to rule the world, I licked stamps for like eight days straight. Unfortunately, half of the letters came back because while I was still licking stamps, the US government approved another postage rate-hike. Anybody ever think "That wouldn't happen if I were in charge" ? That was one of those moments for me.

That was, of course, just one more jab in the side, and one more failed world domination attempt. Unfortunate, but true. Didn't you get the memo?

Moving...

Oh, and by the way. We're moving... umm... today. I bet we'll be staying in the new place tonight, actually.

I just thought you should know.

The place is on the corner of Chino and Hassaympa so that it may be easy to find for an interested local party. (Umm... not that I'm throwing a party, per se.)

Using This Blog

I am officially going to use and post to this blog. Supposed advantages are e-mail posting (Have yet to make that work though) and the fact that its not hosted by me, so it is always up. Yaay.

If I linked you to here from mySpace, this is it, you're in the right spot. There will be more eventually.

Potential Revival.

Hey Everybody. I am getting this blog ready again, in the event that I need to use it, which is highly likely. I am doing this because currently, my blog is hosted on my own website, which is at http://stenoweb.selfip.org/ and I update it with iWeb.

However because I am going to be at NAU before too long, and because we are going to be moving to the house soon, where mom might not get broadband internet, I am creating a soon-to-be successor to the blog that I was running using iWeb.

At least one other perk will be the email posting to this blog, and the fact that I don't have to worry about hosting anything, anywhere.

Paid Job?

You might know that my mother is a real-estate agent for DCD Realty,
and that DCD Realty is connected in some way to a marketing firm
called TW-Ventures.

Recently (In fact, it opens tomorrow) they opened a new office in
Golden Valley, Arizona. I helped bring up this office's computers and
network equipment.

Today, I even got wireless networking (sortof) set up from their
router, which is interesting.

I was informed, by my mother, that the people in charge who saw me
helping really liked my help, and that I will be helping again in the
future...

In fact, the future is late January to early February, they are
opening an office in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and the person who is
going to be managing most of this wants me to be *the* technology
bringup helper, which means I'll get to play with a bunch of Dell
PCs, and set up the local area network there.

Also, mom wants me to hang around a bit at TW Ventures marketing firm
and help out a bit there, which may also lead to a small inflow of
United States Treasury Department notes.

2006: Back into Blogging

One of my arbitrary promises to myself for the year 2006 will be to
post to a blog more often.

Why? Well, for starters, it's terribly hard work telling everybody
everything over instant message. Additionally, what if I want to let
people who I don't know take a look into my life? not possible unless
I'm flaunting it publicly, as so.

This past week, I've been going to mom's work with her, primarily
because they have fast internet that nobody takes full advantage of,
though I feel a bit bad and wish that I could put a cap on my
tibook's usage, though I will not ever actually look into it. :P

My G3 is now running Mac OS 9.0, and is acting primarily as my
MLAgazine computer.

Today, for some reason, the thought struck me to research over the
air NTSC broadcast equipment, which I am doing this evening. I've
even gone so far on this one as to bust out the digital video camera
and start importing things from tapes to clear them for TV show
production work...

now I need to write and film and edit a television show. :D

Also... there is no good TV scheduling software for Mac OS X. I might
need to see if I can't rig something up, I think it would make an
awesome little app, provide streaming video out on firewire, or to
quicktime streaming server. ... Once I can find the blasted Mac OS X
10.4 developer tools, that is. :P

Oh, and for Christmas the highlight was being with my family, and the
excellent Nikon D50, which takes awesome photos. You can check them
out at http://cory5412.5gigs.com/d50_shots/

... Until next time.
~Cory

eMail Posting Test

This is a test of posting to this blog from my electronic mail account.

~CoryW

Maya Book

Today I bought "Introducing Maya 5: 3d for Beginners" at Hastings. It's for an old version, but just like that final cut for dummies book helped my video chopping skillz, I plan on using this to greatly assist in my quest to become good at using at least one "real" 3d program - other than Poser.

I'm still working on getting the ESI graphics for the octane - where I plan on eventually running Maya and/or lightwave. I also still need to do a bit of room-cleaning in order to make it "not terrible." I may just call it quits with retrochallange and put the 475 away... that's most of the problem, sadly.

Actually... Life on IMPACT Donkey.

IMPACT Donkey is the name of my G3, in it's new civilian role of :gasp: not an Intrikit Weaver. I might one day go back to it being an Intrikit Weaver, but certainly that won't be until school starts, or I have my TiBook back, whichever is later. It is interesting to actually be strapped to my desk (not literally) in order to use my computer. I like having the extra screen realestate, and the substantial keyboard is quite a nice change from usual TiBook life, if you know what I mean.

I do find however, that the G3 is actually substantially slower, which saddens me because I like to find myself doing alot of things at once... The other problem is that I have to shut the G3 down nights and when I'll be gone, and that my desk is too small to easily accomodate the keyboard/mouse/monitor for my G3. The iMac, back when I used that, just barely fit... but was better than fitting than this 17" Gateway EV700.

On the G3

I'm on the G3 now, and once again my main computer is something that other people consider horridly ancient. It's interesting to see how people say "Oh, you wouldn't last a moment on an old computer" and you point out "neither would you, Mr. got a G5 the moment they came out."

I think that this is a lot of the reason for the 68kMLA's Retro Computing Contest, is to prove who is the manliest and can use the oldest computer... In all reality, it was not but two years ago that my main computer was ten years old, and even now I'm sitting at a five-year-old... I guess that all of this funny business makes the SGI Indy my backup machine, and that's ten or eleven years old... Interesting how that works out in my favor when you look at it that way.

Truth be told, the newer computers just work for me, and that's why I am not participating in the retro contest this year... there's been things that I really have needed to do for the whole month of July that an older computer wouldn't have let me do. One of those things is get online... the TiBook is my only computer that has a modem... without the 'net, I may as well just get rid of all of my computers at all, right? ;) The other thing that I needed to do during July was to travel, I took my TiBook to grandma's house "and all was well in the world" because I was able to do all sorts of nifty demos for people on my "that's so tiny!" laptop computer. Even the best-equipped PowerBook 190cs or 540c wouldn't have been able to do some of the stuff that I was doing... Quadras like the 840av and the 950 would have choked, even my G3 in a lot of instances, I'm sure.

There's been two reasons that I haven't been making blog posts, which is something that you might have noticed... the first is that I was in Michigan, as mentioned above, and the next is that my blog's host has gone berserk... Luckily, I have deviantArt and blogspot to be able to publish to, so I'm not completely dry for resources. I may just keep posting blog posts to devArt, or I might start using the blogspot thing. I'm sure that people might (or might not) comment either way, just so long as it's out there is what I'm concerned of. I guess i have some signature-changing to do.

So far I like sitting at a normal desktop computer for a change, Though, I am not sure of what I am actually going to do without the TiBook for so long. I've got the FireWire cable right here too, what I really *should* do is go to see if I can find the MiniDV camera, and see if it has a firewire port, then burn the contents of my video hard disc, minus the music probably onto CDs so that I can start working with MiniDV video in iMovie or Final Cut Pro 3. I will have to get that 'Backup' App installed on this mac and see how that works out. I might also take advantage of that .MAC account trial that I signed up for on here. I'm going to see later tonight if I can get online through mom's PC on here.

Tomorrow or the next day I'll see if I can find the MiniDV cam... I think it'll be great if I can do more video making because I have a semi-decent video camera that can import into my computer that much quicker than some other things.

As I write this, I'm sitting here all day long,