It took me a long time to actually start writing this review; mostly, that's because I have no idea where to start - this episode didn't stick with me mentally like an episode of Battlestar Galactica might have in the past. I find myself needing to re-watch the episode in order to get a better grasp on what's going on in this series. However, I've also decided that I'm not going to do that, because I don't really have any interest in going back and re-watching it.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Brief Thoughts: "Caprica" Pilot, Doctor Who S06E09 "Night Terrors", + Cover Me Canada
I watched a bunch of things over the weekend and got a ton accomplished at home, so I'll condense it all into a few brief thoughts. Word of warning, there are potentially some spoilers happening below. Here's a little jump in case anyone with spoilerphobia comes across this in a google search or something.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Search for Sp- I mean a New Computer
Alas, the time has come to retire my Acer Aspire Laptop (circa 2006); not that there is really anything wrong with it (it's survived being rained on - twice at least, several different liquids, up to and including milk, spilled over the keyboard, dropped, banged around...it's been abused, to put it mildly). I mean, the wi-fi adaptor doesn't work anymore for some reason (the driver is corrupted?), but I have an external adaptor for that.
It quite capably runs Windows XP, but the slower hardware is starting to show its age. I can't even watch Doctor Who over at http://www.spacecast.com/, because the video is too choppy! And then there's also the sound recording/editing that I like to do - well, unfortunately the poor bugger suffers a little there, too.
I would add more RAM, but I can't seem to find any that's compatible with my specific laptop. And I can't be bothered trying to put in a new Hard Drive - too much work! So the solution is: buy a new laptop to last me another 5 years (if not longer).
The only thing is that I have no idea where to start. All I know about what I want is this:
- Plenty of HD space - 500GB seems to be the average, but anything over 320GB for me is gravy...I have a lot less than that right now between my two computers
- Ample RAM. I don't know what qualifies as ample though - consider the most I have right now is 512MB. Is 2GB okay?
- Should run Windows 7 (though I think that is standard these days, right?)
- Graphics / screen size are not a big concern. Basically I want a screen that is fairly large but I don't need the Largest Honkin' Screen On The Market
- Oh yeah, the important one: I don't want to spend too much money.
It seems that everywhere I've looked - for laptops at least - when you start paying less money, you also get less HD space and RAM. I don't know where I can find something that sacrifices other things in place of HD space and memory.
I need help. Does anyone want to help?
It quite capably runs Windows XP, but the slower hardware is starting to show its age. I can't even watch Doctor Who over at http://www.spacecast.com/, because the video is too choppy! And then there's also the sound recording/editing that I like to do - well, unfortunately the poor bugger suffers a little there, too.
I would add more RAM, but I can't seem to find any that's compatible with my specific laptop. And I can't be bothered trying to put in a new Hard Drive - too much work! So the solution is: buy a new laptop to last me another 5 years (if not longer).
The only thing is that I have no idea where to start. All I know about what I want is this:
- Plenty of HD space - 500GB seems to be the average, but anything over 320GB for me is gravy...I have a lot less than that right now between my two computers
- Ample RAM. I don't know what qualifies as ample though - consider the most I have right now is 512MB. Is 2GB okay?
- Should run Windows 7 (though I think that is standard these days, right?)
- Graphics / screen size are not a big concern. Basically I want a screen that is fairly large but I don't need the Largest Honkin' Screen On The Market
- Oh yeah, the important one: I don't want to spend too much money.
It seems that everywhere I've looked - for laptops at least - when you start paying less money, you also get less HD space and RAM. I don't know where I can find something that sacrifices other things in place of HD space and memory.
I need help. Does anyone want to help?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Wonderful World of MP3 Players
At the risk of letting you all in on my personal life from ten years ago, I am linking to a review of an MP3 player I had a few years ago: the Creative Zen 8GB MP3 Player. I'm doing so for a small handful of reasons:
1) I thought that was a pretty darn good review of an electronic device, and I liked the way it sounded when I read it over again
2) It reminded me how much I liked the device (until it died and I switched it for an iPod Touch)
2b) It reminded me that if I knew then that I could try importing a new "OS" onto the MP3 player, I might have an extremely useful MP3 player instead of having thrown it out in Sudbury. Woops.
Anyway, that's not to say I don't love my iPod Touch (I do, by the way) - but it's just a reminder that there are a TON of MP3 players on the market that go several worlds beyond what the iPod is capable of. Well, that's if you're counting only the audio/video playback, and not including the App Store. Because in that case, Apple kind of wins quite handily.
But, it's something I should consider if/when my iPod ever dies on me and I need a new device. I plan on getting a better Blackberry, so the whole touch screen aspect of the iPod may not be necessesary. But then again, Apple does make some fine devices.
Oh, the wonderful world of MP3 Players...such a joy to navigate.
1) I thought that was a pretty darn good review of an electronic device, and I liked the way it sounded when I read it over again
2) It reminded me how much I liked the device (until it died and I switched it for an iPod Touch)
2b) It reminded me that if I knew then that I could try importing a new "OS" onto the MP3 player, I might have an extremely useful MP3 player instead of having thrown it out in Sudbury. Woops.
Anyway, that's not to say I don't love my iPod Touch (I do, by the way) - but it's just a reminder that there are a TON of MP3 players on the market that go several worlds beyond what the iPod is capable of. Well, that's if you're counting only the audio/video playback, and not including the App Store. Because in that case, Apple kind of wins quite handily.
But, it's something I should consider if/when my iPod ever dies on me and I need a new device. I plan on getting a better Blackberry, so the whole touch screen aspect of the iPod may not be necessesary. But then again, Apple does make some fine devices.
Oh, the wonderful world of MP3 Players...such a joy to navigate.
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