The Mac Mini....er... why?

Now since being in Second Life I seem to have met no end of Mac users. One of which being my neighbor in world. So when I heard they Mac Mini was out and about, I thought strangely, I really REALLY want one. I don't have an Ipod, and never touched a Mac before in my life, but oh my god, I REALLY want one now. What the heck is all that about?

So $500 for a new Mac Mini eh? I trotted off to see the specs at the Apple site, but then whole thing went limp.
1.25Ghz CPU
256MB RAM
32MB video card
DVD-ROM/CD-RW
40GB HD

Come on, this is the base unit?? Even the Mac people floating around in Second Life say there is not enough memory, but hey, I STILL WANT IT!!

I don't think I am going to buy one, although I am desperately straining with the merest inkling of ANY excuse that I may be able to muster. However a nice top of the range Powerbook (eeeek!) would be better value, because it costs more than God can afford but will actually do something worthwhile.

Looking at the Mac Mini specs though, it does seem you get useable software WITH it, so perhaps some might like to take that into account when writing it off...(Damn I really have to go get my credit card now)

SCREEEEECH!

No, after using my tabbed Firefox browser to get all the links while writing this, I see that a fully loaded Powerbook is ...ok ... sit down...$4,049
• 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 with 128MB Graphics Memory
• 2GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2 SO-DIMMs
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400rpm
• SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• 17-inch TFT Display

Nah fanks! I could go to AlienWare or Falcon Northwest and get a whole pants full of creamy goodness for that, AND they would have software available.

**UPDATE**
The massive Krysss.com towers computers, have been churning away over this one and concluded...

The MacMini is constantly touted as being Apples' cheapest Mac to date. I DON'T CARE how expensive everything else is that they make. Firstly, it's been the single biggest factor in why I DON'T buy Macs. Secondly, rather than making tiny under specified computers, SOOOO cheap. Why not drop the price on the rest of them? I would like to try them out, but not on a system so feeble it is not going to enlighten me with what ever the mystery of Mac happiness is all about.

I think the Mac Mini is aimed squarely at the Mac owner who wants a second machine and after shelling out for the first one, would never in a million years, be able to justify a second.



You shall be mine... oh yes, just as soon as they become cold with the Mac crowd and it is unkewl to own one. I only want to try one, not throw money away.

Microsoft Anti Spyware Beta

The Microsoft Anti Spyware beta tool apparently stops spyware getting onto your system, as well as scanning the system for anything that has already sneaked in.

For people who are not sure, but have struggled this far in understanding spyware and what it means in real terms to your computing day, click here for an explanation.

There is not much to say about this, that hasn't already been said, except for the nice part that when you use it, it nags. It tells you a lot of incomprehensible things about what could indeed become a risk to your happy safe surfing. Also it has a feature to restore the chosen configoration of your browser at the click of a button. So if you see a strange homepage you did not put there, check with this little program and it can wipe it away for you.

ANY program that tells the user what is going on, WHEN it happens, in a way they cannot ignore, is a good thing. Although I see more than my fair share of people who sit with a "Critical Updates need to be downloaded" bubble, on their task bar, FOR MONTHS! In some cases EVER SINCE THEY GOT THE MACHINE! Scary stuff.

Some people might say, oh I don't want crap popping up all the time, getting in the way of my important writing, or Tetris playing, so I will not install it. The point is chaps, that by having these announcements, and dealing with them, they will not return to interrupt you again!

This thing also warns of potentially risky things going on deep down in your computer, like unnecessary services that could put you at risk, or slow your whole day down. It allows you to do very comlex maintenance with one click. This is not going to mess up your day! I like the fact they are advising more now. The security center which arrived with Service Pack 2 was a good start, and this is continuing that trend.

This software seems to be fine, and so far so good. The notifications are good and will keep you informed of what is happening. Even if you insist on playing the (not any more) cute, 'but I don't know anything about computers..tee hee' part, this program will give you the ability to tell someone SOMETHING about what it said a little while before you clicked the 'I don't care' button and lost all your IM logs from Hot_chick23564.

I would like to see a third button added by default to dialog boxes, along with the usual YES/NO. A DON'T BOTHER ME AGAIN button, which actually tells the computer that you are a moron, and does what it needs to in the background, to keep you in touch with the latest episode of Americas Most Wanted, and Hot_chick23564.

And don't tell me Microsoft are evil. They may not move in the right direction a lot of the time, but this time they have. I go to places where you hear the same old drone about unrelated computer symptoms and supposed fixes. The only reason I am there 99% of the time is that the people already there (who are telling me this) don't seem to have computers that work. Go see my line at the top of this blog, and see if you can at least follow ONE line of instruction. This thing will keep those people who do not really need to know about computers, but DO need their computers to do something, even if it is only Hot_chick23564.



Download it, it's free.

Ipod Shuffle....er... nah

They have been out a while and in my recent Mac obsessed mindset, I have been reading all about the new Mac Ipod Shuffle to see what it is that makes it any different to the zillion other MP3 players out there.

Verdict

Nothing.



Crickets

Star Trek, but Funny

Click here for something very funny indeed. I just kept laughing after I saw it, someone help me!



What IS this?

Guild Wars Beta Weekend

Guild Wars is having a beta weekend. Lots of heroic cleaving of skulls in two etc. The leather thong, barrel smashing, verily thee oh lord, stuff is not really my thing. I was offered the chance to join so I am in there for the ride. The game looks amazing, and so far I have had one 'fight' which resulted in me not knowing how to heal other people, and skidaddling as fast as my monk like sandals would carry me. Not realising that my recently departed party could see the living, until I heard the line "Run monkey boy, run" probably with a Forest Gump style twang to it.

If you see me inside, PLEASE HELP!

Any guilds reading this... er.. I wanted to heal people in battle, and carry the stuff. So is that good enough?

Click here to see my reaction to the game.



Krysss Galatea's the name, being new is the game, along with sucking, and saying verily lots.
Oh and that on my head is a tattoo... ooooo boss de plane!