Software update: One Month with Newborn.. Zzzzz

I'm still in awe, rushing to get home to see her, driving past my old hangouts, enjoying being lame & staying home on the weekends watching TV... this will end when she starts having attitude I'm told, heh.  In the mean time, I'm absolutely enjoying her precious moments - here are a few things I've learned since:

- Baby farts are still hilarious.  I don't understand how something the length of my arm can generate sounds that rival my own ass.  Impressive, and she makes a great scapegoat:
Me: (fart) "Naomi, that was nasty!"
Mommy: "That was you."
Me: "Busted."
Also, somehow, she STILL doesn't spit up, nor do her diapers stink - yay breast milk!  I think this is God's plan to ease parents into baby care, because I know this luxury won't last forever.

- Thank goodness for the Nexus 7.  Also thank goodness for glider rocking chairs.  I can rock her to sleep in one arm, and still keep up with technology with the other.  And thanks to Android 4.2 multi user support, I can pick up right where I left off on my phone or Mac when she suddenly started fussing because life as a newborn is so hard.

- Thank goodness for the Xbox 360 Kinect Voice controls on Netflix.  When you have child in one hand, grabbing a controller with the other can be cumbersome, to say the least.  The ability to just say "Xbox, rewind, pause, play" when the little one is demanding attention is wonderful.  Google & Apple need to step up.  Oh wait.

- She settles down almost instantly when I play music from The Legend of Zelda, specifically the Faron Woods and Zelda's Lullaby - how appropriate.  She also seems to like Metal Gear (she heard a lot of that in the womb, heh) and surprised me with... Josh Groban, whose Christmas music came on when she was tired of being in her car seat and she silenced immediately... I bought CDs the next day, heh.

- Newborns are blobs.  Sitting her up?  Plop (hilarious).  No appendage control.  Can't really see well either.  But she knows how to eat, squeeze, cough, blink, sneeze, hiccup, fart (snicker), breathe, and beat her little heart.  How? God amazes me, that's how.

- It *IS* possible to take a newborn to a movie theater - it's all about the timing.  We waited until she was about to start her evening nap #1 (she has so many), dropped her into her carrier, and flew to the movie shack seconds from our house.  We sat next to the exit in case of emergency (there are few things that annoy me more than phones & talking at a movie - crying babies are one of those), and watch Wreck-It Ralph with her strapped to mommy's chest.. with nary a peep, no issues, mommy not tired, nothing!  We even stayed until the end of the credits, lol.  Gonna try this again with 007 Skyfall, but the real challenge will be the Hobbit come December 14th, when she may not be sleeping at all hours of the day... fingers crossed.

- Zzzzzzzzz.  She's gotten pretty good at sleeping for 3 or 4 hours in the night, just waking up enough to eat, and then going right back to sleep.  Which mommy and daddy do as well.  With the occasional afternoon nap thrown in.  I've heard numerous times my wife looks amazing, and can't believe she just had a kid.  I have to agree, she looks stunning for what her body just went through, and is already within single digits of her college weight - super woman indeed.  No doubt the ability to get some rest contributes to this, heh.  And speaking of, the only thing more peaceful than taking a nap with your newborn snuggled up close is taking a nap with both mommy and daddy snuggled up close... okay, my teeth are hurting with so much sweetness, heh.

She challenges and changes how I think, what I do, how I love, and how I want to be.  The ride has already made the bond with my spouse even stronger as we wrestle to figure out how to raise this kid (we have no idea what we are doing) but with prayer, friends, family, and the conveniently located eateries in our vicinity, I think we are off to a strong start.  And I can't wait, yet, I am savoring each of these moments.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to order a Ms. Pac-Man... um changing table, yeah, that's it.

Tech Notes - Seven Days with a Newborn

Exactly 168 hours ago, I heard a small cry.  So I'm a father now - that's pretty cool.  I've been starry eyed, enough to rekindle the awe of other fathers in their "choke the child" stage of parenthood, so I thought it would be good to write down a few reminder notes when those accursed teenage years get here.  Also, while we aren't the first to bring life into this world, it does not mean our baby hasn't fascinated my engineering brain.  Here are some things I've noticed:

- You can plan a pretty picnic but you can't predict the weather.  Four years later, the only thing we checked off our natural birth plan was me cutting the cord - but I won't complain as God took care of my ladies through it all - we are truly, and undeniably blessed.
- Watching my daughter being born was the craziest, most surreal, exciting, scary, relieving, indescribable thing I've ever experienced, bar none.  I still don't have right words, or any words to effectively articulate what I felt at that moment.  Even now I'm struggling how to express the journey, and I'm generally verbose to a fault.
- I've been told I will just stare at her.  I do - she makes a million faces that I can't keep up with.  I was also told there's a lot of blood.  There's a lot of blood.  A lot.  Of blood.  Bring greens for the girl.
- My wife is simply amazing.  I can't believe how she is still able to smile & love on us almost endlessly after putting her body through so much trauma - she is indeed a super woman.  Seriously, bring her red meat & herbs, stat.
- My family and friends are awesome too - they've shown us support, loved us, prayed for us, laughed with us, cleaned for us the things we couldn't, fed us food we were too tired to make, blessed us with all kinds of goodies we didn't know we needed for baby, surprised us with kindness, chatted us with encouraging words, and made the trek out to see us and our little girl - I couldn't ask for better people to be around.  Big hugs and fist bumps all around, thank you, we appreciate it, thank you, we love you…  Don't be a stranger, the new one doesn't spew projectiles… yet!
- Last weekend I was out crazy late with good friends, eating, drinking, & having a great time.  One week later, I'm up crazy late changing diapers & helping my girl feed my little girl while the night life goes on.  And, somehow, I wouldn't want it any other way.  I loved those wild nights, but I'm ready for something new - I'll be back out later.
- I'm looking forward to spending time together again with my wife as we reconnect and figure out how to transition from 2 dinks to a family of 3, and now can actually go places and engage in activities without the pregnancy limitation - roller coasters & steak cooked medium, we've missed you.
- Speaking of, going to the hospital (in a panic I might add) with 2 people, and returning home with 3 is so weird.  That first drive with the little one I didn't touch my phone, checked the rear and side view mirrors a hundred times, yelled at kids texting, and avoided every pot hole while going the speed limit - holy cow I AM an adult.
- We've not yet turned into a "LOOK AT MY KID!" couple, but the little girl makes the momma girl use her camera a LOT more.  Gotta get around to posting some of the pics at some point… later.  We think she's pretty sweet, but we're obviously biased.
- I want to go home and see both girls as soon as possible.  I pass the gaming store, sushi joint & bourbon bar to get to them ASAP.  I guess I need to finish the basement to construct my own sushi & bourbon bar at home, and buy a cocktail Ms. Pac-Man arcade unit to be served on (or be used as a changing table).
- Babies are made of God rubber - my wife & I pass around our bundle like a tablet, yet others are so afraid, and handle her so delicately.  She's not going to break, I saw where she emerged from, she's fine, resilient even.
- I can already see mommy & daddy's personality in the little girl.  She only cries when she hungry yet eats slowly (daddy) & sleeps like a rock yet is hungry constantly (mommy).  She's also very laid back, not crying or fussing hardly ever (mom & dad).  And magically, nursing means her diapers don't stink and she doesn't spit up - God, when designing, knows what He's doing apparently.  I'm enjoying this while I can, and hope this doesn't turn into foreshadowed irony.
- The little girl, like her parents, loves Asian culture.  So much, that her sleep & awake schedule veers toward Japan Standard Time.  Great for my friends overseas!
- Long, juicy, drawn out, spiccato farts… are hilarious, especially from a person who's height is measured in inches.
- Napping with a newborn is frightening - checking on them, making sure you don't move too much, nightmares of them falling… I'm told I'll get used to it, and here's hoping.  She makes the cutest sounds in her sleep though, totally worth it.
- Don't laugh when your spouse is the victim of a diaper mishap - you're next.  Trust me.  I will mock no more.
- When I'm up every 3 or 4 hours at night, instead of staring at a screen, I'm (selflessly thank you very much) nurturing a life - probably need to start using Google Reader though, tech & TV game news will not stop on account of me.

I'm awake all throughout the night.  I'm changing diapers.  I'm not able to do the things I used to freely do.  I should be resentful. But when I look at my little girl, I just want to do anything for her - she melts any sleep deprivation or frustration I may have had, every time.  It's like my tech & gaming passion - I'm the guy who camped 24 hours at Walmart in the middle of nowhere for a PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii… for other people.  I'm the guy who stays up all hours of the night hacking Mac OS X on ThinkPads, Siri on iPads, installing leaked roms on my Android phone, or just reading & writing.  That passion is somehow now trumped by someone who little hands squeezes my finger when she sleeps, yet leaves presents for me after she eats.  Unbelievable.  I will never lose my geeky passion, but I've now something I want to invest even more into.  She has done something I've struggled doing myself - inspire me to do more, and be better.  And I will be, for her, my baby princess.  And my momma princess.

Side note: Gotta find a better charging and storage solution, open to suggestions.

Apple vs. Samsung - we lose.

...

Wow.

Apple won it all against Samsung - and will get $1.049 billion dollars.  Samsung gets $0 dollars for its 3G/UMTS, photo sharing, & background music patents.  All of the grueling details are here.  Wow:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/24/3266439/samsung-apple-verdict

In South Korea, both companies were found to infringe and both had to pay, and I expected simliar results in the US:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/23/3264434/apple-samsung-korea-lawsuit-verdict-announcement

Not so.  Yes, I'm a huge Android fanboi that pokes fun at iPhone users, but I know that the 2007 iPhone upped the ante and shaped out devices in use to this day.  Apple failing to innovate past 2007, which is why a homescreen for an iPhone 2G looks the same as the 4S & new iPad (which looks the same as my old Palm for that matter), has always been my issue, along with freedom to do what I want with my purchase.  Not so with Android:

http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/7/2585779/android-history

The fact that our patent system is so broken that rectangles with rounded corners & transparent context menus can be patented at all... and then enforced in court... is once again why innovation is so stifled (carriers don't help).  I'm very disappointed that 9 random, non-technical people, decided its okay.  Both sides are in the wrong, both sides should pony up.  I wonder what phones each jury member carried... or will soon carry...?  The Verge ran a poll, and given your average reader is pretty sharp - their results are quite telling:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/24/3265909/apple-vs-samsung-you-be-the-jury-poll

It's not all doom and gloom - just as RIM's BlackBerry 10 & Microsoft shows it can be done different (though I challenge you to name 5 people with a Windows Phone, I only know of one) and battle for third place, perhaps this will actually get Google (patent haters) involved (backfired), or force others to do things completely different, especially Samsung.  Oh wait, they already did - my Galaxy S3 design & UI is so far from my previous Epic 4G & iOS its silly, and there is no way on earth the iPhone 5 will be able to hold a candle to it, nor the HTC One X/EVO 4G LTE.  All that said, in the grand scheme of things, it's just a phone, and surely the court resources could have been dedicated to something more pressing. It's still disappointing that the one thing I was hoping would come of this did not come into fruition - software patent law reform:

http://www.theverge.com/2011/08/11/broken-patent-system/

Better luck next time.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/17/3250656/motorola-files-new-patent-case-against-apple-with-itc

PS: I don't work for the Verge, but I've been reading it a bunch recently, heh. :)  Next up is Part 2 of my thoughts on Google & Apple... a year in the making! ;-)

Thoughts on mobile devices, Part 1 - Apple & Google

I love the technology.  I love how with so much information at our fingertips and with easy access to it via a plethora of methods, we no longer can say "I don't know" so easily.  My mobile phone has everything, and does everything - its a magic wand, summoning my friends, playing all of my music, letting me watch videos, play games, find where I am and where I am going - and does so in the palm of my hand, and fits in my sexy jeans.  I love the technology, and while my favorite darling is Google with their Android phones, I want to talk aboot the key players in the mobile device race.. and set my haterade aside.

As much hate on Apple, the simple fact that we would not have the phones we have today if it weren't for Steve Jobs (pray for the man) and his "10-year ahead of our time" thinking cannot be understated.  That said, even though multi-touch & only needing one button wowed us in 2007, it took 3 iterations of software to get basic mobile phone functionality from 2005 that I had on my aging BlackBerry Pearl of the time - copy, paste, MMS, background apps, decent camera, GPS, removable battery, etc - see my previous rant from oh so long ago - unacceptable in my eyes, my phone should not be so superficial.
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8227206

It is now 2011.  The iPhone platform finally produced a (mostly) complete package with the iPhone 4.  This is the first time Apple didn't leave out anything obvious like GPS, more than 128MB of ram, flash on a good auto-focusing camera (hello BlackBerry Tour circa 2009), etc, on a hardware level.  In fact, with it's qHD screen, gyroscope, video capabilities & blazing processor, I dare say that the iPhone 4 hardware trumped most almost everything then, and continues to be mostly competitive now, even though we live in a world of 4-inch plus screens, real 4G via LTE or WiMax & dual-core SoCs (system on chip).  iPhone 4 hardware, despite being all glass (who thought this was a good idea?) & not having access to the battery (form forsaking fashion again), is daggone sexy, even in the face of many a slate.  Inside & out, the iPhone 4 package has everything where it counts.

What hasn't evolved is the aging iOS software.  Google saw what Apple was doing, and took it to the next level, while Apple seemingly rested on its laurels in the innovation department - but watched the money pile up in the process.  I believe Apple excels with its simplistic "it just works" philosophy - enough that I recommend iPhones & Macs to my non-technical friends - but those of us who "do more" with the technology should be given allowances to do so.  iOS still presents its screens has a bunch of icons, just like the Palm Pilot did (and for that matter, Apple's own Newton did) back in 1996.  No customizable information on the lock screen, no widgets anywhere.  I still can't run apps in the background.  This isn't an argument I'm just tossing out, I mean things that I do on my current device can't be done on iOS.  For example, on my Android phone I can connect via ssh tunneling to my home router & access my desktops, file, media or whatever I choose.  I can't do this on iOS, or if I can I'll need to jail break or pay again & again trying to find the right app for that.  Apple does now allow some functions to run behind the scenes like music playback, but that still doesn't help things like a real instant messaging client.  Don't give me the battery argument either, my Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G lasts through the whole day & then some.  iOS could have some really cool apps if Apple would loosen its choke hold on application distribution, but, in the name of keeping it safe & simple, we're just gonna have to wait on either the hackers via jailbreaking or Apple to bring innovation our way.

Google however hasn't stopped at the cost of a bit of polish.  The ability to side load apps or use the open Android Market means more developers doing crazy things.  I can play OG NES to Nintendo 64 games at full speed on my phone, that control wonderfully with my full keyboard, or on other Android phones I can use Bluetooth & HDMI out to play with a Wii Remote on an HDTV.  I said wow.  With Swype, I can drag my finger all over the screen to type out words quickly, accurately, and one-handed, alleviating the pain of a touch only keyboard, or I can just slide out the keyboard.  DriveSafe.ly reads my messages out loud as they come in.  And so on.  Google's built-in apps are really the shining stars however.  I always know exactly where I am, where things such as bars & restaurants are close to me, their phone numbers, business hours, menus & reviews with Google Maps, and with free turn-by-turn voice activated navigation I don't need a Garmin with I rent cars anymore.  My Chinese speaking friends can talk into my phone and Google Translate will speak back to them in English in real-time, and when I'm in Japan I can speak English and Translate will speak Japanese out loud - sugoi!  Google Shopper can scan a Blu-Ray I'm contemplating buying, and tell me its cheaper next door & even cheaper on Amazon.  With NFC technology, I can use my phone as a credit card with Google Wallet (I'll take $10 please).  Google Goggles can translate text, or tell me the artist of a painting, or do a Google search with almost any image.  Google Sky shows me where Uranus is.  I never worry aboot copying pictures from my phones awesome, 5MP, auto-focusing, flash enabled camera to my computer because Google Plus automatically puts them in the cloud.  I don't worry aboot filling up space on my phone with music thanks to Google Music, where gigabytes & gigabytes of ALL of my music is accessible, and plays back quickly or offline if I wish (Amazon Cloud Music player does the same as well).  I can tell my phone "Listen to Billie Jean", and it does, whether I own the song or not.  I can say a lot more with Google Voice Search such as "Set alarm for 2:50pm", "Set timer for 30 minutes", "call mom @ home", "navigate to McDonalds" (which brings up that free, voice activated, turn-by-turn navigation I mentioned above), "weather in Lexington", "call Best Buy" (which calls the closest one based on my location), "send text message to Fran - I'm running late" (typical), "pictures of Adriana Lima"… the list of voice actions goes on and on.  Any input box anywhere I can tap the mic icon & talk to it, across any app, be it Facebook, Talk, or whatever - this is for real hands free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbYVvU0Z5s

Apple promises to match Google with a lot of these things such as music in the cloud with iCloud, more customizations and voice actions via Assistant with iOS 5 (we'll know tomorrow, October 4th) but Google has them NOW.  And Google has HAD them for months, if not years (voice search appeared in Android in Summer 2009).  iOS shouldn't be playing catch-up, giving developers a bit more wiggle room & moving away from the yearly update model would help these matters.  The Android Marketplace is not the Wild West some have made it out to be - nasty apps have slipped into the App Store as well, and Google has pulled apps as quick as 5 minutes from appearing AND remotely nuked them from phones.  If you are nefarious & choose to download a paid app for free from a Russian website, & install by bypassing the numerous warnings & hoops Android makes you go through to do so, then you deserve what you get. :)  At any rate, competition is good for everyone, and with Google pushing the envelope with software & hardware (the Nexus Prime is rumored to be a beast with a 720p display, *covet*, no way Apple is topping that) I can't wait to see what Google is going to show off with Ice Cream Sandwich later in October after Apple finally catches up & then slightly iterates tomorrow - I'll be watching the live blog, hitting refresh, heh.

I don't see the purpose of an Apple Tablet...

I honestly should wait a few hours but it's much more fun to speculate, guess and predict :) Apple's big media event is upon us, here's what I'm hoping to see:

* Nehalem based MacBook Pro (I'm still waiting til June, heh)

* iPhone OS (iOS?) 4.0 to FINALLY allow multi-tasking. Memory was doubled in the 3GS for a reason right?

* iPhone freed from the shackles of AT&T and allowed to roam on Verizon, T-Mobile and... Sprint!

* 128 GB camera toting digital compass wielding GPS utilizing 3.5 Generation iPod touch

* Mac OS X 10.7 Developer Preview (little early for this)

* Multi-touch optimized iWork & iLife 10

What I will probably see instead:

* Apple iPad Slate Tablet Niner with 10.1 inch screen, 1280x720 resolution screen, ARM Cortex A9 processor (maybe some Tegra2 goodness), dual cameras, 3G to any US carrier, HDMI output, scaled up iPhone OS with crazy amounts of multi-touch, touch proximity tech, doing fanciness with newspapers, magazines, touchy EA games, and e-Books and media, retail for $1000, $600 subbed, out in March. Which is fine I guess.

My problem is as an owner of an iPod touch, why do I need an Apple tablet? The girl has the always connected Kindle and books on the e-ink display are breath taking - Apple won't have this technology if they want color and video (unless they've been talking to the Pixel Qi kids). An LCD screen does not make a great e-book reader, but if it does a ton of other stuff I guess Apple is forgiven. I can already surf the web on the can, what revolution is occurring here that I'm missing? Didn't Jobs himself say no one reads anymore? Maybe he got into Twilight and Naruto manga ("wouldn't it be nice to have a device that can easily consume PDFs and JPGs for reading..."). For me to even consider this thing rather than just buy a MacBook that can do a TON more (you'll never see NES emulators in the App Store) it would have to be able to play my HD movies without reconverting and output in high definition via HDMI. I want Flash in my browser so I can watch Hulu on the go (or give me a farking Hulu app). Want me to play games? Give me buttons. Want me to type? Give me a Bluetooth keyboard - I can't type on the touch, you think I can type on a much bigger device? Give me interactive content like Wired and EGM (and Maxim, heh), that would be fun to read. Utilize those 2 cameras and give me for real video conferencing with a new souped up iChat. The girl wants kitchen software - throw that in the bag. Another suggestion would be a Minority Report style iPaint program using your finger for ultra precise complex PhotoShop-esque image manipulation. Just make it do something that my touch cannot do nor can a MacBook Pro - like 3D head tracking or automagically deliver pizza when it detects I'm hungry through it's back sensors and pixel cameras. :)

I'm not being a hater. The iPhone has come a LONG way from the initial release (seriously, no copy/paste nor MMS?) so my few qualms with it are no multi-tasking, no keyboard and ahem AT&T. Tomorrow could change that and my hater flakes could dissipate. However this Apple Tablet, I just don't see the purpose of it - what in the world could it do, in multi-touch glory, that would make me drop 600 to 1000 bucks? If it was substantially cheaper I could eat some crow, but this is Apple. I don't want a fancy pants iPhone OS, I'd rather run full Mac OS X and not be tied to Apple's draconian App Store model. All haterade aside, when the iPhone debuted in 2007, I was mystified - the significance of that Apple event was tremendous and I remember thinking this could change everything - and it did. A tablet? I don't think that will change the way I do things like how Apple changed the way I use computers and my phone. Steve Jobs has been quoted at saying this tablet is the most important thing he's ever done... really? My dreams of a true convergence device have been dashed before - I just don't think battery life and form factor are there quite yet - we're close. However, if Apple is successful in herding all of the book, magazine, music, TV & movie providers to make interactive content simple, legal and cheap to acquire AND fun to consume (I would subscribe to an interactive Dragon Ball manga in a heartbeat) THAT will get me excited. New, cool, flashy, cheap, widely distributed, easy to consume CONTENT across more than just this tablet is what has me a-flutter - content is king! I'll be waiting with baited breath - hoping to be proven wrong... and I'll be waiting for the 2nd generation Tablet too so they can get the bugs out like the first generation iPhone and touch ;-)

Apple "Networking" with Linksys 101 aka stab me in the face with piece of fruit

So the girl and I have a pretty robust network in our house - I mean we're both computer science engineers, so that's to be expected. But we decided that due to one of our laptop hard drives dying, it's time we had a remote backup solution, and also something that could extend our network better than the Airport Express which streams music wonderfully but drops our WDS connections randomly. Gee thanks Apple. So we settled on... Apple's AirPort Extreme! It provides updated security, dual antennas, can be used as a Time Machine backup when a hard drive is plugged in, and should extend our network (plus I get another Apple sticker, thanks guys!). The task at hand: Extend our wireless network using an AirPort Extreme Base Station and the Linksys WAP54 wireless access point. Piece of cake right?

Wrong. My first idea was to put the APEx on the other side of the house low and extend our existing hidden, mac filtered, WEP (I know, I know, our DS's need them, shush) network. Turns out Apple HATES WEP (as they should, seriously) - the only security I could use was WPA & WPA2. Knowing Apple, I held the Option key and clicked again - well lookie there, WEP (Transitional Network) appeared! Okay, I'll enter my 26 character WEP key... doesn't work, only wants a passphrase. Holding Option and clicking any and everywhere does not reveal an entry box to put the 128-bit key. Fine, I'll figure out the passphrase that produces my specific WEP based on this piece of knowledge of how using a 13 character phrase's ascii results in a key... except I need to enter special characters like ∫ & Œ which the AirPort Extreme does not like in it's little box. Terrific. I could change the WEP key by using a passphrase, but then I'd have to change all like 50 of my devices from one dump security model to the same... if I have to change them all, I'd rather go to something more secure that just making a lateral change. So, what if I make the APEx my new base and use the old Linksys WAP54 to extend? Screw WEP, I need WPA2 anyway - let's do it!

Wrong. So I set up the APEx with this whole new network using dual banded 5 GHz a-n/ 2.4 GHz b-g (looking forward to juicing up some blazing speed) using WPA2, and then go to the Linksys WAP54 and tell it to be a wireless repeater. I push site survey, point to my new network and push connect... Nothing happens. Switch browsers, try again - error. WTH. Switch browsers again (having multiple browsers is so wonderful...) to try again - it works by adding the mac address of my APEx but it's red indicating no connection. A bit of Googling turns up that YOU CAN'T USE WPA IN BRIDGED MODE. What. The Hell. Now what?

DD-WRT (robust open firmware for Linksys and other routers) to the rescue! After navigating to the hidden firmware page and flashing the latest beta build via the router database page, I was rocking... and had no idea what to do next. After intense fighting for hours, I found this simple walkthrough of setting up a wireless repeater bridge - and I was finished in 5 minutes, with WPA2 working perfectly. SWEET.

Lastly, I grabbed a 2TB green WD My Book, deleted the default FAT32 partition and created a HFS+ with Journaling partition using GUID (by default most large hard drives are using MBR partition schemes which Time Machine can't use) and plugged in - *poof* a giant, gigabit & USB 2.0 speed data drive is out there for general and Time Machine use! DOUBLE SWEET.

So that is that - we've finally updated to real network security and have a backup plan regularly running (daily not hourly) and it only took two days to get it all working (if we had these links it would have taken 30 minutes, heh). Now let's hope I don't have to redo entering 50 mac addresses if a new APEx comes out tomorrow... ^_^

New Apple tech tomorrow before Windows 7 release? Sheeeeeeeeiiiiiiiit.

I'll make this simple. Apple is announcing it's financial results on Monday, October 19th. Windows 7 comes out Wednesday, October 21st. What to do on Tuesday, October 20th? APPLE TUESDAY THAT'S WHAT! We should see new Mac Minis and iMacs since they've been out of stock for a while, and allegedly (according to Mac Rumors) new Mac input devices such as a touch sensitive trackpad and mouse... and a new cheap white plastic MacBook. I hope this new MacBook is 700 bucks, then Microsoft's Laptop Hunter ads will have to be redone again :) Also, I hope the MacBook Pros get a slight spec bump because I'm buying (yes I've been saying that for 3 years but I'm serious this time)! I hope they do NOT release a new AirPort Extreme Base Station as um I just bought one and spent two days getting the thing to work! Luckily, the dood at the Apple Store said I can return it up to 14 days even if it's open... Whatever happens, I feel money is going to leaking out of my pocket on Tuesday... fingers crossed (I've given up on Blu-ray, heh).