Summer Wish List 2010

1. Canon Rebel XSi – $600

2. American Apparel Flex Fleece Sweatshirt (Cranberry) – $42 + $5 (extra drawstrings)

3. Magic Mouse – $70

4. iPad 16GB WiFi – $499

Canon Rebel XSi: In the fall, I will be taking Photo 1 as one of my electives. This choice results in me needing a pretty solid camera, and the Rebel is perfect for me. It’s more of a beginner to intermediate photographer, and I find that I fit somewhere in the middle.

American Apparel Flex Fleece Sweatshirt: It looks comfy….why not?

Magic Mouse: I have loved my Mighty Mouse dearly for the 2 years that I’ve had it. Except, it’s starting to not do it for me anymore. It’s very dirty, my track ball decides when it wants to work and when it does not, and it doesn’t move and nice anymore.

iPad: Even though I recently got an iPod Touch for Christmas this past year, I think I would like an iPad. Even though I doubt this will happen anytime soon, this is a future goal. I have been wanting a MacBook for a really long time for the portability factor. Since the iPad came out though, I have been debating. With the wonderful Safari, iWork Suite, and more, I think this would be a great choice for me.

That’s my Wish List for Summer 2010. What are a few of the next things you want get? Why?

Step One: Open Up Pages, and select a blank canvas.

Step Two: On the top, upper right, there is a Media button. From there you can access all your movies, music, and pictures. Drag the pictures you want from there, onto the canvas, and put them where you want.

Step Three (Optional): Make a text box and you can add titles to pictures, or write your name. Then you can edit that to your liking, and put it where you like.

That’s it! Very fun, simple, and easy. Play around with it, and see what you can come up with.

Just wanted to fill you all in, because I have been getting various questions on Twitter and all about what was going on. I just started school today, so my next post will most likely come here before Monday, hopefully. Happy Wednesday to all of you!

So just today, Apple announced that they were going to release Snow Leopard on Friday, and you can now pre-order it on their site. To me, there doesn’t seem like much difference between Leopard and Snow Leopard, but then again, I most likely won’t be getting it for a while. I still have yet to get an iPhone 3G, then I will probably get Snow Leopard.

Have you pre-orderd Snow Leopard? What are you excited that is new for it?

Leave a comment below!

The BackPack by Twelve South, is purely amazing. Those of you who have External Hard Drives to use for Time Machine and such, where do you keep it? Some people keep it under their iMac’s screen, or standing up next to it, or just plain out on the desk. Now with the BackPack by Twelve South, you can keep it hidden, reachable, and in style.

The BackPack is a small adjustable shelf, that is meant for iMacs, or Apple Cinema Displays. One neat thing is that the shelf itself is held up by gravity. When I first attached it to the back of my iMac, I was a bit nervous about putting my External Hard Drive on it, because I was afraid it was going to fall. With easiness, I lightly put it on there, and then let go, and it held up! Then I put my USB hub on it too, and it worked fine, and I kept on adding more and more and it just kept holding up. The BackPack can hold up to 5 pounds and it’s amazing. It is held up not only with gravity, but with non-scratch clips, so your computer stand doesn’t get scratched.

The design of the BackPack is very unique. It’s very slim, like all of us MacGeek’s like it. It is perfect size for external hardrives, pencil holders, phones, docks, etc. Included in the box, is a cable tie, which you can easily cut into half for perfect size. Also, there is a small rubbery pad you can put on top of the BackPack, so your external hard drives don’t get scratched, and such.

Overall, the BackPack is perfect. I am in love with it! As you can see from the pictures below, it has drastically changed my set up. It keeps you clean, un-cluttered, and still rockin the, “Mac-Style” accessory. You can even get a second BackPack, which you can easily add more to, to free up more space on your desk. I am actually thinking myself about getting a second one in the near future! Thank you all for reading, and make sure you check out the BackPack by Twelve South.

Also check out my Unboxing of the BackPack here.

Thanks for reading!

Before:

After:

-Study more and actually try to understand the topic
-Pay extra good attention during class
-Try hardest in everything (homework, tests, projects, etc.)
-Do more work during the week, so more time to relax on the weekend

I do very well in school, and have many times gotten 100% during Testing Week. I just need to apply myself a bit more, and try harder. At the end of last year, everything started getting very hard all of the sudden, which made me get B’s on my report card. Not that B’s aren’t good, it’s just my Dad expects A’s and such.

Anyway, what do are some of your goals for this school year?

Currently, I only have 2 Spaces. I try to keep my iTunes, Mail, and iChat on my 1st Space, and then whatever I’m working on, on the second. Lately, I have kinda just been using the one space. It comes in handy though to have different Spaces. For instance, if I am chatting with friends and surfing Safari, and then decide to edit some photos in Aperture, I’ll switch over to Space 2 to open Aperture.

When I go to a new Space, it gets somewhat rid of your friend’s funny status, or a YouTube video, and will keep you much more concentrated, which will keep you productive.

How many Spaces do you have, and what do you use them for? Leave a comment below!

Nick Danforth

Simon Clayson

Temporary Diversion

Rodney Alan

Zach Silvey

There are a couple of sweet shots. Hope you liked them all! I do not own any of those photos and you can search the shot on Flickr by using the username provided.

A lot of people want to have every type of Mac, with 30 inch ACD’s to go with them. Really, NO ONE actually gets that setup. Seriously though, what is your dream setup? Something that you can actually see yourself eventually having in the future. For me, I am already half way there with my setup.

Firstly, I’d like to max out the RAM on my iMac, because currently I only have 1 GB, and it’s doing okay for now. Otherwise, my iMac is perfect. Then, I’d like to get either a white MacBook or a MacBook Pro. Basically all I’d be doing is writing, internet, iTunes, movies, and homework. I would really enjoy having a portable computer, because sometimes it annoys me that I can’t really move my iMac very far.

Another fun thing I like to think about sometimes, is let’s say you could get ANY type of Mac for everyone in your family. What would you get and why?

Dad – My Dad is a CFO, and he travels a lot, so he would totally get a MacBook Pro maxxed out. I would also probably like to get him a 24 inch iMac for his office in my house. In the future too, he will be most likely getting an iPhone, so I’d give him that, and maybe an iPod Classic for all of his tunes.

Mom – My Mom is a stay-at-home mother, so she doesn’t have much. All she really does is go on Facebook, Email, shop online, and do some word processing. I would either plan to get her a small iMac, or a MacBook. Most likely a MacBook, because I think she would enjoy the portability. She already currently has an iPod Shuffle (not the new one!) in red, so that would be it iPod wise.

Brother – My Brother loves to run large programs, and work on computers. No doubt, he would get a Mac Pro with two 30 inch displays. He would become so in love with it, he wouldn’t ever leave his room! I’d also like to get him a MacBook Pro, for college (one more year!). He already has an iPod Classic, but I’d like to get him an iPhone, because I know he will love the App Store and such.

I am sadly the only one in my family who has a Mac. I hope to change that eventually though. In about November me, my brother, and maybe my Dad are all getting iPhones. I think once my Dad plays around with the iPhone, he will fall in love. Also my Dad has had an IBM Thinkpad for a while now, and when it breaks, I will be forcing him to get a Mac. I know it will be the right choice and he will love it!

What would is your realistic Dream Setup? And if you could what Mac’s would you get your family? Leave a comment!

Sorry to say this, I know it’s true, but school is on it’s way. What is a better way to start the year, by making sure you are nice and organized? Then this is the program for you.

It’s called, Schoolhouse and it is by Logan Collins. This program is a must have for every student. It will definitely help you keep track of all those killer projects and homework assignments. For instance, let’s say your sitting in class with your laptop. Your teacher starts talking about a killer project. As you are writing notes, you can pop open Schoolhouse, and write down the date it is due. Schoolhouse is basically a School Version of iCal. Now let’s take a look at it, shall we?

Layout: The layout of Schoolhouse is very neat, and clean. You can easily change the view of the calender. To add an assignment, you just make sure you are selected on the day that something is due, then click the Assignment button. Then you just enter in the name of the assignment and whoolah! You can add files to it, and change the priority , and more.

Also, you can even add the emails of your partner, for easy contact through Schoolhouse. If you have an Assignment selected, you can click the Ask Instructor button, and that will open up Mail to a new email with the Subject, “Question about ______” (_____= Your Assignment Name). Easily through that, you can email your teacher with any questions you have regarding the assignment.

Another great feature about Schoolhouse is the ability to have it even keep track of your grades! Also, you can take notes in Schoolhouse and add little sticky notes with your To-Do’s.

Overall: Schoolhouse is an awesome application, made just for us students. The price is right, so you better check it out before the school year begins!