It has been a wee while since I updated this blog and the fact it has been a wee while has made it even longer - you know how hard it is to do something when it has been a wee while?

One of the reasons it has been a wee while is that I got a new bit of kit - or two. I got a 24inch 2.8 iMac to replace my Powerbook which went a little pyscho on me. It went so psycho I had to claim on the insurance for it. I reserve the right to get another laptop in the future - but to be honest it isn't likely now - I am having far too much fun with the big screen now.

I have to say - in the past while I have taken a couple of big chances and this one has definitely worked well for me. The iMac has transformed my working life. So much so that I can't remember how I worked without it before and can't believe I worked with a laptop screen, predominately, until recently.

Let me put it in to perspective. I do a thing for my clients which doesn't directly make me money - it used to take me around 5 hours after a shoot to do this thing and really I didn't NEED to do it but I LIKED to do it but was getting to the stage where the 5 hour malarkey was holding me back from being more productive and prevented me taking an important step towards taking on more work.

With the new machine this whole job now takes less than an hour and a half.

Impressed?

No?

Ok - try this one - it is simpler.

One thing that used to take me 23 minutes (and froze the rest of the machine out) now takes 3 minutes (and allows me to continue to use the rest of the machine). That's worth it for me.

I paid the extra few pounds and got the wireless mouse and keyboard in the deal. For some reason the wireless keyboard boosts productivity too. I know that sounds silly but it is so damned tiny that I can twist it at Photoshop-keyboard-shortcut angles much easier than a clumpy wired one (or one attached to the screen!).

It was a kind of Buy One Get One Free deal - buy the iMac and get an iPod free. . . . I bumped my purchase up a little and got the 8gb Nano rather than the free Shuffle. Oh my - how gorgeous is the Nano? I didn't NEED it but as it had almost £100 off the normal price it was hard not to get something a little more than the free offering. (That £100 is a bit like the theory that "28 is nearly 30 and 30 is almost 40 and 40 is almost half a century" in that it was actually a lot less than £100 discount but I told my husband it was almost £100 and that is what he believes OK???)

I have to say I love the Nano. More so than the 60gb Photo iPod I had previously. It is now quite common for me to be sitting processing in work with the Nano playing away in my pocket. I even bought new ear phones for it as a kind of Welcome present. Even the ear phones are sexy - so much easier to wear than the ones I had before which always hurt.

How can I love the 8gb Nano more than the 60gb Photo? Well, it has to be admitted (despite me loving my 24 inches of iMac!) that size isn't everything. CoverFlow is to die for and the sound quality is definitely better methinks. I have shown the Nano (sorry - forgot to introduce it - it is called RED - for obvious reasons. .. ) to loads of people now - some who wouldn't necessarily be Apple people and everyone has "Oohed" over it.

As this machine had already been born before Leopard came out it was shipped with both Tiger AND Leopard install discs but it wasn't until I thought I had over-written Leopard with my FireWire Transfer from the laptop that I realised Leopard had never been installed! IT DID take a while to do the transfer from the laptop and then the Leopard update but it was worth it. It was fantastic to have every single thing I had on the laptop already sitting waiting for me on the iMac.

Yes, there have been a couple of teething problems. Skitch and Adium refused to work on the iMac when it was at home but both worked fine at the studio. . . After a while I went looking for an answer and found DNS settings that sorted the problem for me. Aren't forums great?

What else? Umm. . ..

I should be on commission - every one of my brain-washed PC lovin' photographer friends have fallen in love with the quality of the screen! Jealousy is all around :P

Good stuff? All of my procedures are so much faster. I love the whole CoverFlow thing - love Front Row and PhotoBooth for the craic. I know these were on previous Macs - but I haven't had them before. I have just found out that RapidWeaver saves faster on here too with the latest update. I love being able to open 32 big jpgs in less that 30 seconds which would have taken about 8 minutes on the Powerbook (had I been silly enough to try it) and love adding the studio 22 inch screen to it to spread the photos all over the place for faster wedding album manipulation. . . .

My only disappointment so far? Why does the Apple not glow / light up / change colour / do something? I keep rubbing it in case something happens.

I also require Numbers to do one thing that Excel can do. If I can get it to do that one thing I will happily remove Excel from the machine. Does anyone know how to paste file titles of photos in to a Numbers spreadsheet? Every time I do it, it tries to paste in the actual photos themselves.

It took me a while to blog about this as I wasn't quite sure which machine should keep the files for the blog safe and sound. Have decided on the iMac - I know I can update the Powerbook when I want to . .. this may change but in the meantime it is the iMac. I would very much like to be able to synch files easily between the two, especially the likes of iCal and NetNewsWire. If there are tutorials out there to do this I would be happy to receive them.

One great thing about having the iMac is that my work hours are far more productive than they ever were previously so when I leave work - I leave work behind and go home for some decent Down Time. Usually. Sometimes I take the iMac home for some Fun Time.

All I need now is a 20in iMac for the house. . . . hmmmmm . . .. . grin. . . . can you see the whole family gathered round one making it an integral part of our life? NO! Me neither - let them get their own - the iMacs are mine - all mine I say muahahahahahahahahahahaha

Tags: Apple, iMac, 24inch, Productivity

You know you are a geek when you mis-read this as "McGuinness hopes for PAYPAL visit"

Ooops!

Tags: Oops

I was mildly disappointed with this score. Had I sat for 36 hours for an iPhone I am sure the score would have been in the 80s!

69%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Denver Dating

Tags: Apple

I was just reminded this evening of one of my favourite ever tv moments. I watched this going out live and giggled over it for many a year.

I LOVED Gordon. He was sooo funny. Look at him shaking with fear. Awww wee man!

Tags: Television, Gordon The Gopher

The only reason I knew Practical Photography had been delivered this morning was because there was an almighty thump from the front door while I was in the shower. It was so loud I actually got out to peek down the stairs thinking someone was putting the door in! I saw about four white envelopes and one magazine lying.

Half an hour later I was surprised to see only the white envelopes on the mat when I came downstairs. Had I not heard the initial thump I wouldn't have gone looking for the missing magazine:

BAD BOY BAILEY!

Meanwhile back in the office, I am sitting typing this out and decide to multitask by eating my lunch but can't find my fork which was right beside me on my desk not more than 5 minutes ago.

Finally found it between Bailey's front paws!

BAILEY!

Tags: Bailey, Post

Following Alan's lead, I have inserted a countdown in my side bar for the big Opening Day

Wouldn't want you missing it now!

Tags: Ikea, Shopping

So, Saturday was my birthday and I got an impromptu party the night before with Lorna, texts (from 8am just to enquire if "life HAD started yet", emails, cards, presents, phone calls, an overload of flowers and a trip in a Big Wheel! What more could a girl ask for? Oh, what about a surprise meal out and surprise-ed-er party after?

Jacqui (who is over for the weekend) and I took the children to the new Big Wheel in Belfast which was good fun - to an extent. My advice would be to certainly go but don't expect to want to go more than once in your life. It is expensive enough for a family (no family discounted ticket boo!) but is marshalled very well and, during what was a busy Saturday afternoon, it was fast enough to walk through the well laid out crowd control before getting in to a pod.

The pod doesn't swing too much so long as you don't move around too much when it is at the top but the most disconcerting thing about the whole experience was the Windows Start Up noise as we got in to the pod at the beginning. Somehow or other it was less than calming to know that we were in the hands of something which is prone to The Blue Screen Of Death. . .

It is supposed to take around 15 minutes from start to finish and I suppose it did - many of them were spent sitting still waiting as people got on and off. While up high enough the views were great - we saw all the way to the mouth of the Lagan, the Cranes, The Odyssey, the Royal Mail building and although I am sure there were many lovely things to look at behind me I tried. not. to. swivel. too. much.

The kids seemed to enjoy it ok - I think Jessica thought she was going on some kind of roller-coaster but wasn't too disappointed. Jacqui and I had been on the one in Manchester so it wasn't exhilarating for us but at least the views were more familiar.

After a bite to eat we headed to work to leave the children with Iain so we could go and set up the exhibition. I had 15 frames to hang and Iain had asked us to head home before 8pm as he had booked a table for the three of us. The first thing that happened was a presentation of flowers and card from Linda, Paul and Craig which was very touching.

It took ages for us to get the photos up. Craig was there doing his too but it was a lot easier for him as they are all different sizes so no one will notice if the frames are skewed but mine had to be a lot more precise. Jacqui and I worked away together and finally finished at 7pm. Just enough time to head home, have a very quick shower and head to the restaurant after saying hello to the baby sitters!

When we entered the bar area it was obvious there had been a conspiracy going on - my friends were there waiting! Presents were a-plenty, as were questions and explanations, there was even a lovely cake and the craic was mighty.

Back at the house, I watched Jessica run quickly through the hall as I approached the front door and by the time I got to the living room door there were lots of whispers and shhhhing to be heard. I opened the door quickly as if to surprise the occupants to find ANOTHER surprise waiting - more family - and the whole room had been DUNN up in my absence! As if by magic! There were banners and balloons and more cards all round the room.

I needed another drink. And another. And perhaps one more for good measure.

Great day! It was a day I have been dreading for at least a year now. The day itself was nothing to be so scared off I suppose but . . . dude. . . not liking the f-word too much.

Thank you to everyone who made it really special - whether they were in attendance on the day or not. Some people know how to make a party

Tags: Birthday

Remember I told you King Creosote had opened for KT Tunstall the other week? Did I tell you I now love their album Bombshells?

Imagine my delight when I found that iTunes had Cowardly Custard from the album as the (free) Single of The Week. I downloaded it the other day but was reminded this morning by those helpful folk over at MacFormat that perhaps I ought to share the good news with y'all.

I don't think it would be my favourite track from the album but it would give you a taster - go and download it - it IS free - see what you think - let me know if you like it. . ..

Tags: Music, MacFormat