«Staying MINI with the MINI»

hey folks. hope this inspires you in case you had not thought of this before.

it has now been nearly two years (02-2007) since this diminutive beauty has been attached to a samsung lcd tv in the bedroom with the included dvi connector. since i already had an urban rebounder trampoline in the bedroom :o) and have enjoyed fun aerobic "bouncing" and working out on it since 2005, the idea came after many months of using the mac mini for pretty much e-mail, web surfing, online banking, and other quick application uses/etc. {i.e., no longer lugging a laptop into the bedroom area for these purposes}.

this baby is now used for FREE www.youtu___.com music and exercise video sessions. there will never again be a need to purchase those workout dvds we tend to use 3-4x [right, folks???], only for them to become expensive paperweights. i simply go to the website and watch all those wild music videos [e.g., for the last several weeks, i have been playing Beyoncé's "single ladies" vid dozens of times over 'til i nearly pass out from physical exertion...in a good way :o) ]. other times i opt for, you may or may not know, the extensive collection of ab workouts along with stretching, toning---you name it, you can probably find it---and ALL free and looking beautiful on a widescreen.

i hope if you are reading this, you are inspired in the new year to try something different with your exercise routine -- or to, @ least, begin one. this product has allowed us to take these activities to a totally new level. coupled with a wireless keyboard/mouse, this was a true no-brainer purchase in every sense.

in closing, for those of you who have both macs and pcs, SURELY you have also realized the added benefit of how quickly macs boot up and allow you to start WORKING. this mini {from turning it on to clicking on the "mentioned" website above} TAKES ABOUT 22 SECONDS, whereas my pcs {xp/vista} usually do not even allow clicking on an icon to smoothly open an app until almost TWO MINUTES. AND, unlike my pcs, the macs have NEVER crashed...EVER [(cough) can you say vertical integration???]. so, overall, even though i paid a lot more two years ago for this mac mini, it was well worth it and there is no longer an excuse to NOT work out AND stay healthy since it is attached to a BEDROOM tv.

take care, everyone, and Here's to Your Health!

[Friday, January 02, 2009]

«Awesome little pc»

I can't believe how I suffered struggling to use Vista. This machine does everything I need far easier than Vista could ever hope to. And it is whisper quiet. I had to bump the RAM to 2GB which is the only thing that stops me from giving it 5 stars. Make the switch to the Mac and OSX and you won't be sorry.

[Thursday, December 18, 2008]

«A Better System But a Bit Pricey»

I like the Mac OS. It seems to provide an answer to the security issues in Windows. I've had nothing but problems trying to make anti-Virus software work without being a major annoyance a lot of the time. Plus the updates get expensive. So Mac solves that.

The downside is that some of my software won't work. I could run Win on the Mac, but that seems idiotic if you keep some Win machines.

Overall, the machine works very smoothly. The iTunes is a lot more refined that Windows Media Player, which is overloaded with things. It seems to get the job done, organizing and playing music, creating playlists. The photo program, iPhoto, is OK. It's not enough for serious post processing, the the slideshow is nice, and the Ken Burns effect is useful. I might buy Aperture or Elements, but so far the iPhoto is OK as an organizer.

I run the new Open Office on Mac. It is fine, though somtimes the keystrokes seem to get lost in endless tiny reformattings of the text. I think for free software, Open Office is great and it goes from Mac to Ubuntu to Win.

So yes, Mac is simpler, more refined, and less of a pain. I might slowly migrate to the Mac OS, but I hope Windows solves some of the problems and I can use both. The basic Mini has tiny hard drive and not much memory. I really don't need to archive every photo and song I have on every drive. I can hook up a USB drive. I may get a 320MB self-powered drive for this machine, a USB pocket drive.

I might be able to get by with Ubuntu, but I've noticed a few glitches. It is simple and the package includes a nice music player and the Open Office stuff. Between Vista, Ubuntu and Leopard, I'll take the big cat. I hope the Mac systems remain isolated from malware and all the rubbish that infects Win, without the overhead of AV and other layers like complex firewalls. I really hope.

[Thursday, December 18, 2008]

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