Tag Archives: windows

Fear of change

So, iCloud, huh?

I finally applied the software update to Lion this morning, which came in as one undifferentiated package, and I found once I restarted that I had the new iCloud thing, as well as an upgraded iTunes. I didn’t expect individual software to be upgraded without being warned, but I guess that’s the Mac way, huh?

Anyway, now that’s done on the MBP (Ariadne) I should probably upgrade the iTouch (Arthur), and perhaps the iPhone 3G (Eames) to iOS5? I’m a little scared of losing apps and/or data, as some have reported losing.

I’m not scared to lose purchased data (music, video, apps) because I’ve never yet paid for anything on the iTunes Store – I’m planning to buy a couple of apps soon, but yeah, so far, nothing.

I do fear the big iTunes transfer, though. Remember how I hadn’t decided if the PC was going to remain the ‘master’ to the iDevices, and that one iTunes my main music/podcast DB? Well I’m not completely sure yet but I think I want the Mac to be the hub. Except that means moving my iTunes library across (not the files, that’s easy, they’re on en external drive) – and I am *terrified* it won’t work.

I don’t want to lose all my play counts and smart playlists and all that. Anyone knows how to move an iTunes Library wholesale from a PC to a Mac? Please, please chime in. I haven’t gotten a move on this because I’m basically paralyzed by fear. That’s not a good state to be in.

Looking forward to: TaskPaper & Scrivener

I’m having kind of a frazzled day where I know I have enough energy to get things done but I can’t settle down and focus on one thing.

Which led me to retool my todo lists and reminded me that I have yet to tell you how much I’m drooling over TaskPaper. It doesn’t do automatically-recurring tasks (and won’t, the FAQ says so), and it’s not on the web, though it does cloud-syncing to iOS devices (but nothing says I can’t make my own HTML from the txt files if I want to roll out my own web thing) – but apart from that I think it does pretty much everything I need, want and even crave from a todo application.

I know there are tons of them, and the geeky procrastinator part of me wants to check a dozen others out before settling, all while the anxious part of me is reluctant to start yet another trial with yet another tool that’s going to cost money soon – but I’m all ♥____♥ at it anyway.

Do any of you use it? I’d love to hear your comments!

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Remembering

I was expecting beach ball references/metaphors for Steve Jobs’s death and was a little surprised when I saw none yesterday in the first hours (I admit I wasn’t scouring the internet for them either) – but, lo, all is as it should, XKCD drew pretty much exactly what I had imagined.

chr0me said on twitter: “The first program I ever wrote was in BASIC on an Apple in the 80s, and I’m typing this on my Mac: Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.”

That made me think.

The first computer Dad brought home was an Apple II (maybe a IIgs?), probably in ’82, and when he started his tiny ‘computer club’ to teach his adult friends computing basics, including, well, BASIC, I was there with bells on, the youngest (10) member at the Tuesday night gatherings. I used to play games on that machine, mostly a game of snake that I remember vividly though I don’t know what it was called – maybe Serpentine? I’m sure it wasn’t Snake itself, the screenshots look nothing like my memories. For a while there I had a ritual of playing a few rounds every morning right after breakfast, before it was time for the bus to school.

There are Apple II emulators our there of course, like Sweet16 for example. I’ve half a mind to install a few and hunt down that snake game. I always sucked at it (I still suck at snake games – at very many video games, to be honest), but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun.

Anyway, I digress. There was that Apple II, first.

And then in August 2011, just now, I got this amazing, amazing birthday present of a Macbook Pro.

In between, I spent… well, thirty years using Windows, from 3.11 (I have really fond memories on Word in DOS, you guys) to Vista without, thank fuck, having to suffer through Me. I remember reinstalling 95 every three months, and 98 every year, and cursing all the bosses who didn’t allow me to keep trucking on with NT, much more stable despite its inherent steam-engine crankiness. *g*

Anyway – I’ve had iPods since the turn of the century, or what feels like it (2002 maybe?) – still have them all even the bricked ones: a 3rd gen 40gb (dead) & a 4th gen 40gb (on its death bed), before they were called ‘classic’, a button-less 4gb shuffle & a 4th gen Touch – so it’s not that Jobs’ genius didn’t impact me personally as well as, like everybody, peripherally…

But with all that PC-using history of mine, all my Windows proficiency… I was really, REALLY surprised to be able to say this:

The first program I ever wrote was in BASIC on an Apple in the 80s, and I’m typing this on my Mac: rest in peace, Steve Jobs.