• 17Nov 09

  The Aftermath

  ...

  Were you expecting something really dramatic? Sorry to disappoint, it's just a blog to update on whatever's actually going on here with me. So last week was my birthday, my 21st so you know what that meant. I ended up trying a few things but no full fledged party or anything. That will wait until maybe this weekend, money permitting. I've yet to officially celebrate my birthday, because I've been mostly busy.

  Well, busy as in I went home this last weekend, and was treated to a nice present. My parents actually went with me to get me an iPhone (I'll tell you my reasons in a bit) to replace my BlackBerry Pearl that I've had for almost 2 years now. It's actually a surprise to know that I've had that phone that long, but honestly I've been wanting to upgrade for almost a year now. As for what brought me to an iPhone was the stupid data plan that now is mandatory to go on all the nicer AT&T phones. Any BlackBerry, Windows Mobile phone or essentially any smartphone now requires a 30 dollar per month internet data plan, which is bull in my opinion. Requiring to have it is an annoyance, but actually having it is remarkably nice. Together with all those apps and I just gave in to the whole iPhone thing, though I tried my hardest to convince myself to get something else. At 100 dollars, the 3G was just too good to pass up.

  So besides that, there's only one more thing to report. Today I just got a job as a university bus driver. Or rather, the university is going to make me a bus driver all assuming I pass several tests and get my Class B license (or CDL). It's going to be an interesting process because you have to remember I drive a sub-compact car. But yeah, probably within a month I'll be able to drive a bus.

  Reason I got this job is because I'm running out of money. At the rate I'm going now, I won't have enough money to pay for January's rent and car payment. With this job, I'll probably just barely have enough. I blame this on my usual spending spree at the beginning of the semester. I always have a bad habit of buying lots of things when I first get my money, thinking that I'll be fine at the end of the semester. Nope.

  Next semester I'm not buying anything big until the end. By then I should probably be able to afford what I'm really putting my eye on now. A LCD TV and possible a PS3. I've relied on other people for HD gaming and movies for years now, it's about time to get my own set. Mwahaha!! But I've got a long time until I can afford it.

  Promise me you'll tell me "NO!!" if I even mention getting an LCD TV before next April.

  • Posted Nov 17, 2009 6:56 pm PT
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• 11Nov 09

  21 - Any suggestions?

  (It always feels silly announcing this but...)

  Today's my birthday!! I turn 21 today so you know what that means

  Actually not really, it's Wednesday, though for one day I'm willing to make an exception haha. But I do have a question for you guys who are over 21 or over drinking age in your country. What drinks would you recommend? Keep in mind that I'm a somewhat poor college student that's really only looking to try stuff right now, so suggest away!!

  Oh and, you can't trick me by trying to get me wasted by chugging Everclear (or anything remotely as strong as that), so don't even try it.

  • Posted Nov 11, 2009 5:11 am PT
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• 4Nov 09

  Windows 7

  So my Windows 7 copy came in the mail last week, actually last Thursday to my surprise. They really wasted no time in sending it which made it all the sweeter deal.

  Anyways, so far I'm fairly satisfied with it. I don't really have any complaints on it, as most of the new UI changes have been for the better, and the hype surrounding it's better performance is warranted, in some respect though. I probably won't change any minds, but honestly it's a mostly painless transition from Vista to 7.

  The whole Aero Snap feature is alright, it does make it slightly easier and little more intuitive to maximize windows and such and change their size, but it's really comes in as a "Oh okay, that's kinda cool" feature. Besides that, the biggest change I noticed at first was the task bar at the bottom, which gets rid of the all the text and the long rows and rows of open programs. They're all now integrated into what used to be the quick launch area.

  Most of the changes in 7 seem to be related to window management, and tweaking it to be a little different and perhaps more "advanced." It's alright and all, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. Besides that, my favorite new feature is the fact that you can set your desktop background to switch every so often. I love it, because it freshens up my desktop every so often, so that it's not so stagnant because of how lazy I am.

  About performance, I've noticed maybe a 8% difference in memory usage, and I have 2 GB of RAM. 7 seems to run constantly at about 32% memory, while Vista stayed at around 40%. So it's not a HUGE difference, but it's something nonetheless. Even now with Firefox open, I'm at 38% so it seems it does run lighter, but I do say that overall I don't really notice a difference. I'm just going off what my memory/CPU monitor says.

  Overall, I say I'm happy with Windows 7. I would honestly say, if you can get a good discount on it, get it. It'll be well worth it, I'm just not too sure I can justify paying the full 200+ dollar upgrade on it now. In that case, if I were you I'd just get a new computer with it pre-installed.

  • Posted Nov 4, 2009 8:49 pm PT
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