nerd stuff
being on my own has really given me the time to create my own environment. I knew that my productivity had been affected by the constant presence of others but I'm realizing it also had to do with having responsibility for only myself.
The first thing I focused on was my tech stuff
here's what im working with
19 ws lcd monitor
macbook
ipod 3g
apple airport extreme
msi hackintosh
cable internet
apple makes their products to play nice with one another, so setup was nothing. My main end goal was to be able to sit on my couch with the macbook next to the tv plugged in to the monitor plugged into the speakers and enjoy a movie or show sans cable tv or a player of anything digital.
that part was simple. i've been hooking computers up to tv's and such for awhile now, it's nice seeing how flawless it is these days. There's always been the issue however of controlling the computer. Before i had a macbook, i hooked up via a clunky desktop via an s-video cord to the tv. To change anything or to search, I had to get up off the couch which sort of defeats the purpose.
I had the same issue with the macbook until today. if i needed to change the video i had to get up, leave full screen (using mirrowing) and change whatever.
I discovered last night a program called Remote which allows you to change itunes songs through your ipod over wireless. that's probably the main reason i went with the airport extreme as my wireless router was to see how smoothly the ipod would interact with the base station for wireless, wasn't really even thinking about the connection to the macbook
i thought it was cool to be able to walk around the house and switch a song with something in my back pocket, so i wondered if i could do this with vlc (my video viewer)
it was a paid app at 2.99 but i can now sit on my couch, go through my files and pick whatever, pause whatever, just like you would with a real remote.
the amazing thing is how many different uses these tiny little machines achieve. it depends on the user entirely, and most of the apps are free if you look around.
The first thing I focused on was my tech stuff
here's what im working with
19 ws lcd monitor
macbook
ipod 3g
apple airport extreme
msi hackintosh
cable internet
apple makes their products to play nice with one another, so setup was nothing. My main end goal was to be able to sit on my couch with the macbook next to the tv plugged in to the monitor plugged into the speakers and enjoy a movie or show sans cable tv or a player of anything digital.
that part was simple. i've been hooking computers up to tv's and such for awhile now, it's nice seeing how flawless it is these days. There's always been the issue however of controlling the computer. Before i had a macbook, i hooked up via a clunky desktop via an s-video cord to the tv. To change anything or to search, I had to get up off the couch which sort of defeats the purpose.
I had the same issue with the macbook until today. if i needed to change the video i had to get up, leave full screen (using mirrowing) and change whatever.
I discovered last night a program called Remote which allows you to change itunes songs through your ipod over wireless. that's probably the main reason i went with the airport extreme as my wireless router was to see how smoothly the ipod would interact with the base station for wireless, wasn't really even thinking about the connection to the macbook
i thought it was cool to be able to walk around the house and switch a song with something in my back pocket, so i wondered if i could do this with vlc (my video viewer)
it was a paid app at 2.99 but i can now sit on my couch, go through my files and pick whatever, pause whatever, just like you would with a real remote.
the amazing thing is how many different uses these tiny little machines achieve. it depends on the user entirely, and most of the apps are free if you look around.