Freedom From The Mundane » PC World

Moving Ever Closer To The Mac

colingalbraith — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:00:15 +0000

Image: Macbitz

After much tinkering with the email client on my PC I can formally announce I am now 100% back in action. But I’m still not happy; not happy with the fact I have to go through this every time I have to reinstall the O/S, which quite frankly shouldn’t need done at all in order to keep the system top-top and running smoothly.

To that end I had some spare time yesterday morning so after popping into the opticians to see if my specs were ready (they weren’t, but I approached them with a deal, which you will find out about in tomorrow’s post hopefully), and after buying some fresh coffee from Tesco, I popped into PC World to see what they had in the way of Macs.

They had the usual array of laptops, which all look terrific quite frankly and I had a wee play with some of them. Not sure about the low keyboard on some of them but as I was toying around the Apple guy came back and started talking to me. “Here we go,” I thought, “more sales patter” but actually the guy was pretty cool.

He wasn’t giving me a hard sell or anything and we started talking about the differences in working with a Mac as opposed to a PC. He used to work in I.T. also, and so our discussion got down to the level you rarely get from sales folk—a good technical understanding and appreciation of how things actually work in the real world. As the conversation went on he suggested an alternative to the Macbook that might suit me more—the Mac Mini.

I admit to not having much exposure to Apple other than their Macbooks and iPods, so it may come as a surprise to read that I had never heard of the Mac Mini. It can be held in your hands and does all a Macbook would do except it’s essentially a desktop replacement. It’s a small silver box. It has sockets and jacks in the back and a front CD/DVD loader and it has a lot of power under the hood. It could be exactly what I’m looking for if I choose to leave the world of the PC behind.

When I got home I started reading up on it. It looks just the job, though I’m not going to invest just yet, it’s definitely the way I would go if/when I do move to a Mac—and on this revelation that could be sooner rather than later. I seem to get the impression that if I do move to a Mac I won’t look back and judging by what I saw/read today I am more convinced that could be just the case.

There’s not much else to write about the weekend although I had an awesome curry with my wife on Saturday night: lamb pathia with all the trimmings. Delish!

On the writing front I worked on two and a bit things. The “bit” was the submission of more poems and stories, and one of the other things was the final proof being sent to the publisher of SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2. It’s all done now and I await the free proof copy to arrive on my doorstep some time in the next week. The launch date is April 2nd so I have much to do, but I’ve already done the web page for it and started pumping out some promo ideas.

The major thing I’ve been working on is solid writing and developing ideas for BACCARA BURNING. It’s coming on very nicely and I had to make myself stop last night. One of the small bit-part characters looks as though he may have a larger bearing on the outcome of the story than I first realised.

When I left the story late last night I did have a problem though: both the main characters have gotten separated and are in dire straits. My dilemma now is—who the hell saves who?

The life of a writer—always interesting.

Peace and out!

A Day With Moi

colingalbraith — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:16:02 +0000

Image: Dennis Wong

Yesterday was the kind of Saturday I’ve needed for quite some time. If I could have wished for a better feeling come the twilight of the afternoon, then I got what I desired. It was a nice day but not all that exciting. It was low level boring stuff to most, but for me it was just good to get away from the world and spend the day with me. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed.

I was up early, and over some fresh coffee wrote and posted yesterday’s blog entry. Then, despite the howling winds and rain I boarded a bus to town. My first stop was PC World in Corstorphine. The bus journey takes around 40 minutes, but I quite enjoy the trip right through the heart of Edinburgh, and with the right music on my iPod it makes for a sometimes inspiring route. My choice of music was Ten Years of Tears by Arab Strap. If you know the album, you’ll know what I mean.

I had recently spotted a decent External Hard Drive (EHD) in PC World but wanted my salary in before I made the purchase, hence the extra trip. It’s a Seagate Expansion Drive, and at 1TB for under £90 a very good buy indeed. I also got a proper carrier bag for my Netbook; the one it came with is totally inadequate but this one is fully protective and easy to carry.

I nipped into Tesco across the road to buy my paper and as soon as I walked through the main doors the alarm bells rang out. The security guard checked me walking in and as I wandered around looking for the paper stand, I became aware of the same grim face at the end of a couple of aisles. I purchased my Guardian and on the way out set the alarms off again. This time he stopped me.

“Mind if I check your bags?” he says to me in a drawling east coast accent.

Aware the time for my return bus was approaching, I showed him my receipt and proved my purchases. It was just my magnetically sealed EHD that was setting off the alarms.

Back on the bus and into the town centre where I nipped into M&S to change some Euros I found in my office back into pounds. That’ll save me using the ATM for a few weeks. Then I decided on a new stop for my Saturday morning coffee—Starbucks on Princes Street.

After the steep climb up the stairs I was surprised how large it was inside. Quite welcoming, too, although the music was a little odd. I ordered my cappuccino and a muffin and took a seat near the back where I could see the castle out of the window but be unbothered by the coming and going of customers. There were at least three other people in my corner either with notepads or laptops being used to write into. Nice corner, I thought, and took my seat for a read of the paper.

It was while sitting there that I wrote three poems. I’d brought my new moleskin notebook with me and took the opportunity of a mediocre coffee (I much prefer independent coffee shops) and pleasant ambience to do some writing. I must say moleskin is such a pleasurable experience to write on! Then the music switched to mixed ska and Ghost Town by The Specials came on over the speakers. They were toying with me as you can tell.

I finished up and decided to head home. With a few minutes to spare I nipped into Boots and yet again the alarms sounded. The store was too busy for my liking so I decided to get my deodorant another day, preferring not to mingle with the hundreds of women shopping for make-up and accessories. Just not my cup of tea, I’m afraid.

Back home and after a cheesy lunch settled down to do some work. Email: check; install EHD: check; backup files and run weekly PC maintenance schedule: check!

I also completed the editing for the first part of my Scotland’s Treasure column for next month’s Scruffy Dog Review and got stuck into my work on volume 2 of Silly Poems for Wee People. I’m aiming to have the new chapbook out for the start of May.

Into the evening and after three games of Scrabble with my wife (I won 2-1!!) I ordered dinner—pizza all round. Daughter had a pal staying overnight and I promised them I would get them a pizza, but when it came to it I quite fancied one myself. Lovely jubbly and really my only downfall as far as my healthy eating plan has gone this week.

My wife’s pal came up and I played with her wee dog, Gracie, for a while before leaving them to it and heading to bed to watch a film—The Cleaner with Samuel L Jackson. A right good thriller it was too, though not particularly hard to work out what the twist was in advance so from the plotting angle pretty lame. As a film, though, I’d recommend it.

Saturday Morning On Sunday

Colin — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:31:28 +0000

Image: DDS

I was kind of glad the weekend finished when it did. It was all over the place and at times not in the least enjoyable. Parts of it were, though, so they are the bits I’ll talk about. Even for a Monday morning my bad mood is pretty advanced, and not even the roll with sausage and tattie scone I’ve just wolfed has helped lift my general feeling of apathy.

I skipped my usual Saturday morning due to a faulty mobile phone. I rushed up to town early and after a quick browse in HMV popped into the Vodafone shop to buy a replacement handset for my current knackered one. It was literally falling to bits and now that the battery has stopped recharging, I needed something quickly so my work could get in touch for my standby rota.

I took the cheapest effort they had going and swapped the SIM card in. £20 for a simple phone that can text and make calls; nothing else, no fancies, and it suits me fine. I was in and out in a flash, which was lucky because the town was very busy with fans arriving from Ireland and England for the Heineken Cup Final between Leinster and Leicester.

I zoomed straight back home to help Gail get the house tidied up for some potential clients coming round to discuss their wedding photography requirements. They have other photographers to see but I think she’s hopeful. If you haven’t checked out her site yet please do, and if you are local and know someone who is getting married please spread the word because her reputation is spreading fast, which means her prices won’t stay so competitive forever. Her site is at: www.gailgalbraith.co.uk

Despite getting beat at home by Falkirk, St. Mirren managed to avoid the big drop thanks to results elsewhere in the SPL. They were very, very lucky to stay up, but the fact they did made me very happy on Saturday. I celebrated with a chippy and a bottle of Irn-Bru.

I spent my Sunday morning doing what I would normally have done on the Saturday. When I arrived up town the streets were warm and quiet other than the rattling of suitcases of bleary-eyed rugby fans. I bought a couple of papers and popped into my favourite coffee shop to read them.

My Jean Michel Jarre gig review was published in Sunday’s News of the World A-Listed Scottish music supplement, which you can also read online here.

After that I headed out to PC World at Corstorphnie with the intention of purchasing the Netbook I’ve been eyeing. They had none in stock and can only buy from them online, so I popped in to check out what bunnies were up for adoption then jumped on the bus back home.

In the end I ordered my new Netbook from an online company. A white Samsung NC10 Netbook is winging its way to me as we speak – well it will be on Tuesday when the English Bank Holiday is over.

In the UK Charts announced on Sunday, the new Madness album, The Liberty of Norton Folgate, managed a top 5 placing, the first time they have done so since their 7 album of 1981. It’s a great achievement in today’s climate of manufactured guff and is a giant V-sign to those critics still waiting on them to release another Baggy Trousers. Those days are gone and Madness has evolved into something really special. Well done lads!

Less than two weeks now to the launch of Stella and I’m starting to get a bit nervous about the whole thing. I’ve been here before but it’s that same stomach churning feeling one gets if I think about it too much. It’s all the usual stuff: will it sell; will it get good reviews; will the people around me like it?

Of course, there’s nothing I can do about it now so I should just try and enjoy the experience. Easier said than done, though, but I’ll give it my best.

One thing I know I’ll enjoy is the theatre tomorrow night. I bagged 2-for-1 tickets for Quadrophenia at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh. Should be great!

Sinn Fein – Just Another Westminster Fraud Mob

Colin — Sun, 10 May 2009 09:40:56 +0000

Image: BBC Online

The good thing about writing my blogs the following morning as opposed to the night before, is that I get to react faster to anything in the news that catches my eye. Even more so when a Sunday paper has held onto a juicy story to release it at the end of the week.

It appears that even the most principled among us, those of such strength and admiration among the community, will fall eventually. Sinn Fein: the voice of IRA terrorism purporting to be a political party, Socialist stand up guys, the voice of the disenchanted people. Even they, at their contradictory best, when faced with the power and money that life in Westminster affords, couldn’t help becoming at one with the machine and the temptation to rip off the public they so vehemently claim to be the true representatives of.

In today’s Sunday Telegraph, it is revealed that Sinn Fein MPs have fleeced Britain’s parliamentary system to the tune of half a million pounds (£500,000).

Despite refusing to take up their Westminster seats, five Sinn Fein MPs have rented three London properties from the same family at rates well above the market norm. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have jointly claimed expenses of £3,600 a month to rent a shared two-bedroom flat in north London – fair monthly rent for the flat would normally be £1,400.

I am tempted to say this is what happens when one allows terrorists to take part in politics, when really we should just have banged them up in a dark cell somewhere for the rest of their life. But I won’t because it’s simpler than that. These people are murderers, support murder and atrocity, and have done for over thirty years. Now they have “turned to politics” they have also turned to petty crime, and have actively robbed British tax payers to the tune of half a mil.

I wonder what expensive label of Brandy they chink together when they celebrate their new wealth, these days? At least it’s not an innocent child’s blood they are celebrating being spilled any longer – allegedly.

I made the best of yesterday, nobody can argue with that. Up at 6am, I had blogged, written, showered, dressed, coffeed, toasted, and was on the bus out of Leith shortly after 8am. By nine o’clock I was standing in Corstorphine waiting for PC World to open.

To while away the time I tried out my new digital camera by taking a picture of the nearby Tesco supermarket (see right side of this post). Exciting eh? In doing so it reminded me I was nearly out of Italian coffee so I went in to stock up. I also got myself some limited edition Ethiopian to try out. I tasted it later in the day and it’s lovely.

Into PC World next and I wanted to check out at close quarters these nifty Netbooks that are on the go. I’m thinking of getting one for when I’m out and about, and particularly when I’m out the country or on trains etc., which I do quite a lot. I wasn’t there to buy (can’t think of any good reason to buy a PC from PC World), I just wanted to see how these wee machines fit under my hands if I was typing into them, because writing, after all, is what they will be used for mostly.

Two different members of staff came up to ask why I was typing a copy of the Netbook specifications, terms and conditions of sale into Notepad. Fascinating sales technique, I observed.

I also had a look at the Apple counter and their rather juicy Macbooks. Devon just got one of these and I can see why. I’d only seen them on the Net but up close they are very impressive. And thin! Way out of my price ranger, though; maybe one day.

Since I was in the area I popped into the pet store and checked out their wee furries. They had some right bonny wee bunnies in, very friendly this batch too, compared to others.

It was such a lovely morning I walked back into Edinburgh (yes, from Corstorphine) and when I got back to the town stopped off in my usual coffee shop for a cappuccino and warm chocolate pastry. I read the Guardian review of books and chose my horses for the day, then headed back towards Leith via the Post Office to collect a parcel – my new Specials t-shirts were in!

It started to rain on my way back down Leith Walk so I jumped a bus and headed home, knackered, but satisfied to have gotten a full Saturday morning under my belt. It may sound pretty lame, but I do a lot of thinking and stopping to write in my notebook when I’m out and about on a Saturday. Plus I enjoy these walks, and with a decent wee camera now, hopefully I can get some good shots of Edinburgh for the blog.

I decided to devote my afternoon to marketing work for Stella, developing flyers and postcards, and other promo-related work.

My mate’s horse, Moonwalking, ran in the 5.15 at Hexham. After starting the day at 3-1 it drifted to 9-4 and then into 2-1. In the end, I declined a bet and the horse won the race. Ah well.

By the time last night came round I was shattered. I watched ten minutes of a dreadful film (Eden Log) and hit the hay.

Don’t forget, in tonight’s monthly newsletter is a competition to get your hands on a copy of Stella complete with signed goodies. You can only enter if you are a newsletter subscriber so head on over and get your name down if you want to win! www.colingalbraith.co.uk/mailinglist.html.

CHEAP AND FREE E-BOOKS!!

Selektion – FREE!
Brick by Brick – FREE!
Silly Poems for Wee People Vol.1 – FREE!
Fringe Fantastic – £3 (£5 OFF!!!)
Poolside Poetry – £3 (£2 OFF!!!)