Mark Dalton

Okay so one other thing I have been doing over the last couple of weeks is reviewing my computer usage and home network setup. About six month’s before I went out to India I made the move away from Microsoft Windows and over to Apple and OS X with the purchase of a 17” MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro, while I have been in India, has been a real life saver and has not failed me once while I have been away. From day one my experience of Apple and the Apple product line has been excellent, as many people have said before me everything just works, and it was because of that I purchased a Apple AirPort Extreme and and an Apple Time Capsule.

Now since I have been back in the UK I have realized that my needs have changed slightly. The main thing is I spend a lot of time commuting, about 4 hours a day, and this is time when I could actually be doing stuff that I usually end up doing in the evening when I should be relaxing. Now my iPhone (first generation) allows me to do certain things, like replying to email and basic web surfing but things like typing up this blog entry are just not practical. So after a lot of should I, shouldn’t I, I took the

plunge and payed out for a MacBook Air, and I must say I am glad I did! This with a 3G USB modem means that I can read and respond to my email, catch up on my favorite web sites, and update my blog while I am on the train, time I would normally spend ruining my brain reading the Metro. I still have my iPhone which is great for when I am down the pub or out shopping, but having something that allows me to do everything else means that I do actually get to have an evening, and more importantly an evening that doesn’t require sitting in front of a computer when I have been doing that all day. Now I haven’t got rid of the MacBook Pro as there are some tasks that are just easier on the bigger screen and need the extra power, but they are generally weekend tasks like putting together movies etc.

So then came the issue of what I was going to do with these free evenings where I could relax and chill out. I probably can count on one hand the number of hours I watch TV a week, but when I do sit down I want to watch what I want to watch and not necessarily what the schedule lists. Now I have been researching all of this for some time, so before anyone says anything it’s

not that I just went out and blew a pile of cash on a bunch of new toys (Well that is actually what I did do) but I have been planning this all for quite some time now and the last couple of weeks have been the first stage of putting it all together. So I thought what do I actually do in the evening. Well, I actually either read, listen to music, or watch TV and usually from the comfort of the couch. So I purchased a Mac Mini and have set it up as a home entertainment system. So far I have connected it up to my sky dish via a USB EyeTV Hybrid which allow’s me to record to disk the actual TV shows that I actually enjoy even while I am away for viewing when I am in the mood. I have also moved by iTunes library from my MacBook Pro to the Mac Mini together with my iPhoto library. As I said this is the first stage, and my next step is to get everything syncing so I can access all my information from the Mac Mini, the MacBook Air, or the MacBook Pro. The first thing is to get MobileMe and iDisk up and running.

That’s for another update!