Several Updates
G-Drive
I am so far satisfied with my 500GB drive purchase. My iTunes library, weekly backups, and assorted large files (installer disk images, primarily) are safely tucked away on the corner of my desk. This has freed a sizable chunk of my laptop hard drive, improving performance (things were too tight before, and the computer would spin its wheels as it choked to swap memory for scratch files, etc.).
New Airport Extreme
My next technology purchase will most likely be the new Apple Airport Extreme base station, due out next month:
(A) My old wireless router went FUBAR several months ago, so I've been using wired Ethernet with my laptop. Not so bad for now, but I plan on adding another laptop and a desktop computer to my home network soon, which will require a new high-performance wireless router. With the new "802.11n" standard, this base station should keep our household happy bandwidth-wise for several years.
(B) The new base station can manage any attached hard drive via USB 2.0 and use it like network attached storage (NAS). This means I will be able to plug my new G-Drive into the router and access it from any computer on the network. The new base station can even auto-mount the drives in the Finder (regular NAS can't manage this). At first I was hesitant because of the "USB" connection. Some review of the stats, however, revealed that USB 2.0 is actually faster than the FireWire 400 connection I am currently using.
OS X Update
I finally bit the bullet and purchased a copy of OS X Tiger (at a steep education discount). I know, I know--Leopard is supposed to come along any day now. The problem is, Apple hasn't been releasing any details on the new operating system lately; the pundits say this means it won't be ready for its anticipated summer 2007 release. Add to this my reluctance to ever add a "new" operating system until its been tested by the masses (and appropriate patches applied), and I figure I won't be moving to OS 10.5 for at least 18 to 24 months.
So, I am now running OS 10.4.8 and loving it thus far. Spotlight and all of the associated "smart" objects alone (folders, lists, mailboxes) make it worth the purchase price. And with the convenience of Safari RSS, perhaps I can finally put away Firefox for good--I know everyone swears it's faster, but Safari has always been snappier on my laptop. Dashboard is eye candy, but I haven't found any real need for it yet; perhaps it will grow on me.
Scrivener and SOHO Notes
Be sure to check out these promising organizational apps. Scrivener is a tool for writers, a place to organize your project, including your text and all the assorted reference materials you need. SOHO Notes is a data collection utility for keeping all of your information in a single searchable database. Now that we have Spotlight, I would imagine most say "why bother?", but I am a fan of collection apps. Perhaps it's simple nostalgia, as I am often reminded of the packrat, my own app which was apparently very much ahead of its time.
