Email heaven and Apple Care...

I claim to be a Googlevangelist, and in the last 24 hours I have found email heaven... I have consolidated 5 email boxes into one Gmail account, and it is working great. The key to Gmail is the "archive" feature (believe it or not I have never used that before)... It allows you to save the email without keeping it in your inbox. I am now done with Thunderbird. I have a few more email accounts to consolidate, but at this point I am extremely happy with the results...

So, today Apple released new versions of the MacBook and MacBook Pro... I called Apple this afternoon, and while they can't upgrade me to the latest version they are going to ship me a memory upgrade (which was the biggest let-down for me). I am happy with the resolution to my call, and my first Customer Care experience with Apple was very positive!

MacBook Update, VMware Fusion, IT Jobs in Michigan, New URL?, 1000+ Visitors

I know some of you don't appreciate my "technical posts", but I am due for one, and you haven't heard about the MacBook in awhile :)

As most of you know I have recently switched from PC to my MacBook... Here is a link from Chris Pirillo that discusses 50 reasons to switch. I have made the switch almost completely, however, I have a few apps that require Windows. I have decided to utilize VMWare Fusion to provide me a Windows environment to run those apps... It is quite versatile, because you can specify individual applications to run versus always running the full desktop. I am just starting with it, but I currently have my MS Money, and MS Visio available to me from the Mac. I decided not to install MS Office, and instead I am utilizing NeoOffice which is a port of the popular and free OpenOffice.

I tend to make the analogy that moving into a new computer is alot like moving into a new house. You tend to get the critical things setup first, and then work through the trivial stuff as time permits. I respect the amount of lost productivity that comes with a new computer, and in fact will put off an upgrade at work until the increased hardware justifies the amount of time it will take me to get myself back up and running again. Well, the switch from PC to Mac has created a huge learning curve, but at this point I can say that I have officially moved in. The last major thing was the MS Money, and after setting that up last night I think I am now good to go. I am sure I will learn new things, and make improvements along the way, but I am still thrilled with my decision to go to the MacBook, and really enjoy using it...

IT Jobs in Michigan...
I heard this on the news tonight, and had to research it further... Dow Chemical is creating 50 IT Jobs in Michigan that are going to be based in Saginaw, Midland, and Southfield. If you know anything about Michigan, the job market is horrible (especially in IT), so I would like to say kudos to Dow, and their continued investment in Michigan. Here is a link to the Press Release. I think the State of Michigan needs to work with the technology sector to attract additional IT Jobs to this area that has been so hardly hit by the decline of the Auto Industry.

New URL - yeah, I am contemplating setting one of my domains up to be my place on the net... I probably should have done this already, but I am slow on the uptake sometimes :) So, you may see a redirect coming soon... I just have too many domains that are idling, and as of right now I am very committed to the blog :)

1000+ Visitors - WHOO WHOO - I guess there are some people out there reading, so thanks to all of you, and I will do what I can to keep the content coming :) Here is my inspiration for saying WHOO WHOO the internet superstars Bubb Rubb and Lil' Sis

Skate - Shoot - Score Competition

I know all we talk about lately is Hockey and my MacBook (of course, because I love it!), but today Tommy competed in the Skate-Shoot-Score Hockey Skills Competition at the Dow Event Center. He qualified in the Fastest Skater event, so he is going to the finals event on February 17th, at 10 AM. He had a lap time of 21:91 seconds, and skated great. He didn't do so well in the Shooting Accuracy or Breakaway Shootout events. We may let him go Thursday night at 6 to try and qualify in those events for the finals.

I also have to give a shout out to Tony (who is in Tommy's class at school but is in the 2nd grade), because he qualified in the Shooting Accuracy and Breakaway Shootout events in his age division. Also, Shane (who is one of Dawn's students) qualified in his division for the Breakaway Shootout. Great Job Guys!!!

Well, it is going to be a busy week...

Monday - Tommy turns 7 - going to Chuck E Cheeses - Happy Birthday Tommy!
Tuesday - Fat Tuesday - Spaghetti Dinner for the School, and Cub Scout Meeting
Wednesday - Ash Wednesday, and Knights of Columbus Meeting
Thursday - Skate-Shoot-Score qualifier for Tommy
Friday - Tommy Hockey Practice at 5 PM

I am still sick, but feeling a little better today... I love the MacBook, and worked today on getting my Thunderbird email moved over, and setting up my Gallery Remote.

Have a Great Week!!!

Tommy Scores - Brought to you by the MacBook, and iMovie!!!

If you saw the clip earlier in the frame to the right, I apologize... I was trying to post right before church, and it wasn't working, so I didn't realize that it was over there... Here is the video of his goal. This was his first goal for the Mite 2007 - 2008 season! I utilized iMovie on the MacBook to import, clip, and upload the video to YouTube! I will get better at this as time goes on.



In other news - I am sick... I signed up Tommy for baseball today, and he is going to play minors. It is a step-up from T-ball/Coach-Pitch, but I think he will like it. The boys are over at Grandpa Paul's for a visit, so it is nice and quiet around here... We are going to the Dow Event Center tomorrow, so that Tommy can compete in a Shoot, Skate, and Score competition.

EDITED @ 9:16 PM EST on 2/2/08 by Netpappy - I removed the duplicate YouTube video that was posted.

WHOO WHOO - MacBook!!!

I will keep this short, but here is the first official post from the MacBook!  Dawn took lots of pictures of me opening the box etc, so I will post those when I get a chance...

BTW - Dawn not only let me get it, she insisted on purchasing, so I have to say Thanks to the Best Wife in the Whole World Wide Web :)

The past few days & MacBook

On Wednesday night, Tommy and I went to the Reese park, and shovelled some snow off the pond, so we could do some skating. We had a blast, and Tommy has named himself my coach, and is teaching me how to stop etc...



Yesterday, I took Austin to Ann Arbor for some appointments (just regular follow-ups), and everything went pretty well. I told the Physical Medicine Doctor that we are trying to get him ice skating, and she said it was ok to proceed... My Mom went with us, and we went to lunch at Bennigan's. Last night, Tommy, Austin, and I went to the pond and did some skating... Tommy got to use his new skates, and Austin actually made some progress (after whining, and whimpering a little).



So, on the way out of Ann Arbor yesterday we stopped at the Apple Store. I have been wanting a Mac for awhile, but it is official now... I looked at the MacBook Pro's, but they are just too darn expensive. So, I started looking at the MacBook's, and I think this small profile could suit me nicely. I will probably be taking this along with my work laptop, so it would be a nice complement to my computing scene. The only concern on the MacBook was the ability to play World of Warcraft (WOW). Of course a little search on Google was enough to find this blog, and ease my mind.



The only thing left is to convince my wife that I deserve it. So, I decided that this important decision should be left to you my blog readers... After all, this is the era of Reality TV, and with shows like Survivor we should let the public decide. So, please vote on the poll to the right...



--Joe

EDITED AT 9:27 PM on 1/25/08 to spell "poll" correctly. Thanks Julie :)