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Archive for November, 2006
The new Intel XServe!
Friday, November 17, 2006 / Disassemblies, Xserve / 0 Comments
We finally got our shipment of Intel XServes and we can’t wait to put them to work! But first, we thought we’d give you a look at what these guys are all about. Here’s a few photos as we get them ready for production use.
That Dreamy 30-inch Apple Cinema Display
Thursday, November 16, 2006 / Displays, Hardware / 0 Comments
I recently switched to a 30-inch Apple Cinema display, and one of the first things I encountered was how many people were curious as to “what it’s like.” I suppose that has to do with the fact that it’s about the biggest, baddest, coolest display out there, and since display real estate is such a prized commodity, people are very curious as to how it would affect their own personal computing experience.
So, I thought it might make interesting reading for some of our customers to know in advance what might be in store for you should you upgrade to a 30-inch Cinema display.
The Right Place to Write
/ Software / 0 Comments
The line between writing and publishing has become blurry over the past decade. It became that way mostly due to the widespread integration of Desktop Publishing… and that became a problem. It may be hard to imagine a tool like desktop publishing being a problem, but it this kind of ubiquitous tool puts “form” ahead of “substance.” That relationship has weakened the writing tools we have. Fonts and line spacing are products of print publishing, and not of content creation. Words create substance in writing, not formatting. This was not much of a problem when word processors and page layout programs were separate. Now we have a single bloated program that pushes features and appearance over functionality. The troubles stem from the need for profit and the desire for dominance… two qualities that often define Microsoft.
ConvertX Vs. TVMax
Thursday, November 2, 2006 / Hardware / 0 Comments
In the pursuit of the perfect Mac PVR, I have sampled many hardware solutions that work with Elgato’s EyeTV software. Miglia’s TVMax has impressed me with its ability to encode video in MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DivX. Elgato’s own EyeTV 250 device can only encode MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Both MPEG-4 and DivX are important video compression codecs for smaller file storage and multi system playback compatibility. That places the TVMax ahead of the EyeTV 250, but the TVMax is not the only device that that can encode in four codecs. Plextor makes a Mac PVR package like the TVMax, called the ConvertX 402U. In addition to the same encoding capabilities, the ConvertX has been around longer than the TVMax and has the trusted Plextor name attached to it. With all that the ConvertX has going for it, it should be a better solution than the TVMax, but that’s not necessarily the case.
