New Macintosh
Finally here!
Well I finally got the Macintosh after all the saga. I got a Macbook Pro 15", with a 7200 rpm hard drive and 2GB memory at a good price off Infinite Systems in Charlotte St Brisbane. I also got an Apple keyboard and a cheap Logitech bluetooth mouse.
There was only one glitch getting it going, that was it didn't seem to like my wireless network. There were no real options to configure the wireless apart from the network SSID and a 'password' field. I dragged out the Dell and tried six ways to Sunday to configure the wireless network to force the Mac to recognise it. No dice. I decided to haul out the long ethernet cable and didn't bother to configure a wireless network, and I set it back to the default configuration (shared key WEP 64 bit ascii passwd). The funny thing was, as soon as I connected the ethernet, and got started, I opened the OSX System Preferences and could instantly and could instantly see all the familiar wireless options and got the Mac talking on the wireless network in next to no time.
The only other glitch so far was that I went and downloaded Firefox from teh Firefox website. Safari saved some file called 'Firefox 1.5.0.6.dmg' on the desktop and I have no idea if this is an installer file or what. Double clicking on it produces no visible action from it, so I'm stuck with Safari until I figure that one out.
Now the update icon is jumping up and down at me -- I think the update download is finished. Time to check that out.
History and memory
A Quote.
History's domain was the memorable, the totality of events whose consequences would be lastingly apparent. And thus, inseparably, history was knowledge that should endure and aid in understanding, at least in part, what was to come: 'an everlasting possession', according to Thucydides. In this way history was the measure of genuine novelty. It is the interests of those who sell novelty at any price to eradicate the means of measuring it.
Guy Debord, Comments on the Society Of The Spectacle. Translated by Malcolm Imrie. Verso, London. 1990. pg 15.
Second dissappointing thing about the Apple Mac
So I'm still waiting for the replacement for the first one that came, and was dead. Should be here next week. But that's not the dissappointing thing (well, not the second dissappointing thing).
Yesterday, I committed some changes to the current development branch. A Macintosh-using developer (quite a few of our developers use Macintoshes as their personal computers, although the company-standard for a developers workstation is a 64 bit, 2GHz AMD desktop with 2Gb RAM, 2 x 17" monitors, and Ubuntu desktop Linux operating system), IM'd me and said 'YOU BASTARD'.
So I was all like, 'Say Again'?
He replies, 'You committed a file called Home and there is already a directory there called home/'
Me: 'Huhhhh? Why does this matter'
Dev: 'The Macintosh uses a case insensitive file system'
SSSSCCCCCRRRRRREEEEEE!!!! SAY WHA???
The Macintosh Uses A Case Insensitive Filesystem?! How can this be? It's a Unix, right? But no, it turns out this wonder of modern computing uses a file naming system straight out of 1979.
Yeah, OK, so you CAN get a case-sensitive filesystem ... by reformatting the disc. When I google about that I get pages returned with titles like 'The Dangers of case-sensitive HFS+'. Dangers? WTF?!
If these dangers can be overcome, reformatting will obviously be the first task I do to it if I ever, ever, receive my mythically on-order and maybe-delivered-next-week after-a-month-of-waiting new 15" Macbook Pro. But srsly? A CASE INSENSITIVE FILESYSTEM IS INSTALLED BY DEFAULT? What barrel-full of retarded monkeys decided on THAT? Its enough to make me wonder.
First dissappointing thing about Apple Mac
Delivery takes forever
OK, so nearly two weeks after I ordered it, I'm still waiting for it. It's apparently "in transit". Sorry Apple but your supply chain issues are a complete disappointment to this new customer.
Update: now the dealer has it, but the machine won't take any second stick of RAM. The machine is DOA and has to be returned before I even see it - another week's wait. I am seriously considering cancelling the order.
Various Production - 'The World Is Gone'
Album on XL records
I bought the new Various Production album (as boomkat termed them in their catalogue, the band on the album itself is actually labelled just as 'Various') 'The World Is Gone' which is out via XL. It's beautifully (read expensively) packaged 3x12" with a slightly politically dodgy but very nice drawn image on the cover.
A very weird album -- the best I can describe it as lets say dubstep or grime production with a vocal more typical of something like Portishead or other electronic music than you'd expect to find on a dubstep rekkid (eg spaceape). Interspersed with this is the occasional indie-effette track complete with acoustic guitars and wan female vocal. Very strange, but I like it very much.
About this album, Seb says;
amazing. perfect summation of what is hot right now - folk and dubstep.
interesting you say portishead . . . reminds me more of tricky at his prime. proper urban dread and rural longing.
However, I am loving the album - except for the folkie bits. I hate the folkie bits. The vocals are too wan, washed out, and nothing, and as for Folk music, it's nothing against say Woodie Guthrie. But the fucked up vocalised dubstep is very nice. Highly recommended!
Only problem; the vinyl plays are not showing up on last.fm of course.
This issue of last.fm stats and playing off vinyl is also affecting the Leo Minor 'Sudden Death City' 12" and Skream 2x12" I bought at the same time as the Various album. Actually if you like high-energy electro, I also heartily recommend the Leo Minor record. The B-side is a version of The Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down".
Come to the dark side, Luke.
Macintosh ... is mind control
I'm buying a Mac. I ordered it yesterday. It's a Macbook Pro, 15.4" display*, 2.0GHz Intel processor, with 2Gb of memory. The Mac won't be used for music production, in the main I'll probably stick with Windows XP. I will be able to convert my Windows machines to pure-music configuration though, no more dual boot. The Mac will be used primarily for Java software development, I got it for it's Unix variant.
* why is this stuff not metricised yet?