While I could never really justify getting one, I have wanted to get an iPod. I've had my eye on them for a while now. I was going to hold out for them to reintroduce the 80gb model, but that seems like its never going to materialise. When they released the black iPod Nano I decided that when they released a black version of the regular iPod I'd get one of them.

Well, when they released the new version about a month ago, they released that and more. The new iPod comes in white and black, and also plays video. So I bought one.

They're so shiny and pretty.

I'm still transferring all my music over to it (after a few false starts, anyway), but I have played with it a bit. I downloaded the first sample video I could find, and stuf that on the iPod. The playback is surprisingly crisp and smooth. Even though the screen is a small 2.5", you definately can watch stuff on this. I don't know how long you could stand watching it for, but I think I'll figure that out through experimentation :P

The next thing will be to work out how to convert existing divx's for playback on the iPod. Then I want to grab a nice cover for it (or make one - I have a few ideas on that one), and maybe a dock. Eventually I would also like to get an iTrip for it, and maybe even a car charger.

Shiny toys! Gleeeee!

Edit: So after stuffing around for most of the day with open source options (or other free software), I ended up using Xilisoft Video Converter to do it. I still reckon mencoder might do it if it the "-of" option didn't cause it to crash under windows (I've yet to give the linux version a try - its still compiling)...

I mentioned it before, but my sister bought a 15" PowerBook. I'm still insanely jealous, but at least I got to play with it last night. I took my trusty 12" PowerBook over loaded with software and set her up with everything she needs, and took her through how to use it.

She had this huge grin on her face the entire night :)

I recently went on the MacOS 101 Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.4 training course. Then last week I got a sponsorship offer to attend the MacOS 310 Mac OS X Deployment v.10.4 training course. Unfortunately, by the time that everything was organised and approved it was too late. There is still the possibility to attend the MacOS 200 Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.4 training course. If all goes according to plan, I should be able to get into this one, which should be good although the Deployment course may have been more useful. My copy of Apple Remote Desktop finally came. It's a little buggy in places (what isn't), but it is very shiny, and very useful. It really helps with the day to day administration of the Macs in the department.

I've decided that the next computer I buy will most likely be a 15" PowerBook. I'm looking to get it around mid next year, all things going well. Perhaps by then the new Intel based PowerBooks will be out too. Either way, I'm looking forward to it.

So I just completed the MacOS 101 Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.4 training course that I mentioned earlier. It was a three day course covering basic Mac operation and troubleshooting. While a lot of the course was "Duh" material, there was still a lot of useful information in there. I also managed to pick up some hints in other areas, such as deployment, which should help make life easier.

My sister is also buying a 15" Powerbook. I am so very, very jealous. I want one. Of my own (not the crappy old slow one that I get to use at work).

Happy Easter! And all that crap.

Personally, while I can appreciate the message of Easter (and Christmas, etc), I'm not overly fond of the event itself. This is mainly due to the lip service paid to the religious history of what has become a commercialised event. I'm sure that there are some people of there of the religious persuasion out there that celebrate and respect the meaning of the holidays, but from casual observation they seem few and far between. I'm not old enough to remember, but how long ago was it when holidays like Easter and Christmas were about religion, not commercialisation?

But I'm probably just reiterating the comments echoed in thousands of other blogs worldwide, so I'll keep quiet on that.

But still, the enforced holiday does give us a chance to do something different. Instead of our usual Friday Night On The Town, The Group gathered at Jono's for a congregation. Catholic Friendly food was served (ie: fish and chips, and some salad) and we spent the nightD playing the card game Spoons, of all things. It was really quite enjoyable, and it got more than a little silly.

I'll be catching up with Family tomorrow, which will be nice. Instead of doing the standard Easter eggs thing, Michele and I are doing the Chocolate Cake Of Doom, and idea which seems to be quite well received. I like it, because I don't like Easter eggs :P Go Shay!

In other news, I got the Powerbook back. It's nice and shiny, and as we're seeing more and more of them at work, I'm getting to know them a lot better. I'm still trying to convince them to buy me a better one, but when I think about what I actually do with it, a memory upgrade on this one would probably do me just fine. Quite honestly, I wouldn't mind using it as a desktop replacement at work. I'm already using it at home exclusively.

Daniel just got himself a new camera, and I'm insanely jealous. Jealous because it's the one that I've been drooling over for ages. I wanntssss it, my preciousss. He got the body and lens separately. The lens is the US version which has a better focal range, and a metal base instead of the plastic base that the Australian model comes with. He brought it over to my place to play with it, and we took some pictures and farted around with it for a while. Hopefully he'll put up a gallery one day, so we can all take a look at his photographical genius.

Well we didn't get to make it into the pen shop when we wanted, but we made it in a week later. It's our new favourite shop. "T. Sharp & Co", located on the corner of Barrack and Hay St in Perth. A tobacconist and pen specialist, amongst other things. The people there really know their stuff. They were able to make a rough estimate of what the Mont Blanc pen is and when it was from, and gave me some leads to chase up. I also picked up a convertor for the Rotring pen, which makes that much more convenient to use.

Very friendly staff (I swear I know the husband of the owner from somewhere), who really know their stuff, and are very easy to talk to.

/me plays with pens...

So, there was going to be a post about the recent US media frenzy about video games leading to violence, but it just got too long to actually finish adequately. Maybe I'll come back some other time and finish it off. Or perhaps not. That would then make two unposted blog entries...