Mac Attack

I used to think that I knew what I was doing when I turned on my MacBook Pro. I've always been the guy that my family and friends go to for tech advice and questions like "how do I...?" especially in regards to Mac computers. Since I had first become a Mac user (that sounds like I'm on drugs and in a way...) five years ago I have become very familiar with how the system works and how I can do things quickly and easily with shortcut keys. Its been years since I've drag and dropped files to the trash can, had any hard drive/disk images on my desktop for file navigation and for the most part I try to keep my desktop free of all files and folders. I had even started using new features introduced in OS X.5 Leopard like dock stacks to locate multiple programs into one small location in an attempt to keep my dock uncluttered and organized.

There was one time when a friend of mine and fellow Mac user had an issue with his MacBook that I couldn't fix for him. I tried everything I could think of to alleviate his problem aside from reinstalling the operating system. I thought that there may have been something else that could be done that I was unaware of so we took it into the local Apple store to have a "Mac Genius" diagnose the problem for us. We'd get it fixed and I thought that I might gain some new Mac knowledge. As it turned out all that could be done was to reinstall the operating system and I in fact knew more than the "Mac Genius." So I went home afterward with the impression that I was something of a "Mac Genius" myself and have been living under that assumption ever since, that is until I randomly came across a YouTube video of a fourteen year old kid.

I was so impressed with how much he knew (surprisingly more than what I knew) that I watched all of his tutorial/tip videos and followed many of the links to websites with useful free software to improve my computing experience. I also learned of some tools that would change user interface elements like program and system icons, the dock, and certain applications. So I spent a lot of free time learning new tricks and modifying my software aesthetics. Now I have a clean new interface and a pathetically empty dock, in fact the dock has become almost obsolete now.

While some of the new software I got is very useful and increases productivity quite a lot it's the shortcut/action modifier keys that I am the most pleased with learning. They are all built into the operating system and have always been there to use, so learning a new one that is extremely useful is both exciting for me (so what if that makes me a geek) and very disappointing because I should have already known it. So for those of you that use Apple computers I will be sharing some of the more useful shortcuts for the most common actions later on.


For now I'll show you a screenshot of my current system set up. You may notice that on the desktop there are icons for the hard drive titled Rose (the computer's named Rose, don't ask), a connected server titled mac, and a connected USB flash drive titled Flasher. Normally those icons are not visible on my desktop but I included them so you can see that more than the generic folders have been changed to have a wood finish. Most of the system icons have been changed to a wooden theme. You may also notice the selected program Flock which a web browser built on the same engine as Firefox and has become my new default and the Mega Man icon next to it which is the most awesome application ever. It's called MegaManEffect and if you use a Mac and have ever played a Mega Man game then google it, and download it. That's it for the moment.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Bonfire of the Insanities

It all started innocently enough. We were young and stupid. Well, more stupid than we currently are anyway and attending Allan Hancock College in an attempt to become less stupid. Brett, who welcomes everyone he meets into his fold like a blind retarded sheep invited me to join he and his friends at Oceano Beach for a little bonfire. He said it starts at 5p.m. so I arrive a little early just to be safe. Around six someone else showed up and things got going. Next thing I knew I was one of the gang and we were having bonfires as often as we could.

Then, one by one, we all (well almost all) moved away for school, work, or school and we ended up in Southern California. Since the great migration we hadn't had a true beach bonfire experience but we always talked about getting around to doing it again as soon as possible. Five years later we did.

Over the Winter break we would all be close enough to the legendary Oceano Beach. So we began to plot the flaming end of any number of wood and wood-like substances along with the consumption of carbonated yellow snow, more commonly known as Mountain Dew. We set a date for Dec. 26, the day after Christmas and a start time of 12 noon. One by one we all began to show up, maybe just a little bit late.

And so it begins. Burn baby burn!

A little 007 homage.

A little chicken dancing.

The Mike.

The Mike went for a little swim. Apparently, the ocean is a powerful force.

From light to dark.

As things cooled down we all began to curl up around the fire.