My Attempt at a De-motivational Poster

Greetings from Windows 7

So I was bored yesterday and decided to install the Windows 7 release candidate. So first I checked myself for a fever, and then proceeded to this page. The download was pretty simple, and the installation was quick and painless, something I never expected from a Microsoft release. Since I installed this on my MacBook Pro, I needed to install the Boot Camp drivers, and that went fairly well, though I did need to download an updated ATI driver since the x1600 card is apparently too old for Windows 7.

So everything was set up, and I started playing around, and…brace yourselves for this…I actually really like Windows 7. “Woah, wait a minute” you say, “who are you and what did you do with Graham?” Well it may shock you to know that I am still the same Apple fanboy you know, but I’m still quite impressed with Windows 7. Sure, it still has some of those Windows user friendliness flaws, for example it took me like 3 tries to set my desktop background, but I will admit that it’s a very good release. Still not convinced I’m me? Well I will say that Windows 7 has nothing on Mac OS X Leopard, and will probably get pummeled even more with Apple’s upcoming Snow Leopard. Despite all the amazing things Microsoft has done with Windows 7, it still feels like Windows. It’s just not very elegant, and it still feels quite clunky.

But we all know why any version of Windows is crap, so what makes Windows 7 special? Well first off, it’s fast. It boots up faster that Mac OS X does on my MacBook Pro. Secondly, they finally got the taskbar right. I always hated the Windows taskbar because it presented way too much information at once, but now it works pretty similarly to the Mac OS X dock, and actually has some features I wish the dock had. My favorite feature is when you click on an icon in the dock taskbar it shows a list of the windows you have open for that application, and you can easily switch between them.

Anyway, I think I see my fellow Mac-heads with pitchforks and torches at my front door. I gotta go make a run for it.

iPhone 3.0 Thoughts

So tomorrow is the day iPhone OS 3.0 comes out, but being a sneaky l33t haxor, I acquired the final version a week ahead of release. It’s actually running very well on my first generation iPhone. It finally adds some features that should have been on the iPhone since the beginning, such as copy and paste, tethering, and MMS (the latter two only being available on the 3G and 3GS).

There are also some neat tweaks, you can now write text messages, emails, and notes with a landscape keyboard, which is much easier to type on I have found. Another feature I like is Spotlight, another page on the home screen that lets you search your phone for contacts, apps, songs, emails, notes, and calendar events.

A lot of people have complained that it lags, but I have had no issues at all, I have found that if anything, it’s faster than any previous version of the OS. Though I have noticed that some games run at lower frame rates, Freeverse’s Moto Chaser in particular, which ran fine under 2.0.

All in all I think this is a really good update. It should be out for iPhones and iPod Touches sometime tomorrow.

This Has To Be The Greatest Wedding Invitation Ever!

Being only 19, I haven’t really thought too hard about getting married, but when I do I can only hope I have wedding invitations as awesome as this one! (You may need to scroll down past the picture with the woman flipping off the camera.)

Sims 3: My New Addiction

Well, last week I the Sims 3 came out, and since I had it pre-ordered it I was able to get it on release day. Since then I’ve been playing it quite a lot. Its the first time in a while I’ve played a game on my Mac, since I’m selling my PC for some extra cash. Anyway, it’s a really good game. It has some great features that the Sims 2 didn’t have, though it seems kind of bare coming from a game thats been jam packed with expansions, but I’m sure EA will fix that soon enough.

One thing that angers me is the Sims 3 Store, a place to buy additional content for the game with REAL MONEY. Seriously, there’s some pretty neat stuff, but I refuse to buy it because it should have been included in the game. It’s basically just hair styles, clothes, and furniture. Now I can understand if EA made the game free, and charged for “premium content”, as they call it, but this move just stinks of greed.

Anyway, it’s a fun game, and I’ll probably keep playing it, and end up buying all the expansions when they are inevitably released. Now if you’ll excuse me, Mary McGee really needs to pee.

The Art Of Digital Graphics

I am approaching the end of my freshman year of college, studying graphic design, and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve dabbled with graphic design in the past, but I think I’ve finally started to learn the principals of design.

Graphic design is a visual art form. I like to think of graphic design as being in the same business as some of the great painters from history, like Picaso and Van Gogh. While the goals and creation of digital graphics greatly differ from paintings, I think they both start from a desire to visually communicate an idea.

I’m a very visual person, which is why I think I’m so passionate about graphic design. Ever since I was a kid I was always fascinated by how much information can be visually stored in a simple picture. I first got into visual art by drawing. I used to draw cartoons a lot, especially in middle school, and I would get in trouble a lot for drawing during class.

So even though for me Photoshop replaces the canvas, and my mouse replaces a paint brush, I still think of myself as an artist. Sure I’m not the greatest, but that’s why I’m going to school.

One thing I have become very conscious of lately has been designs that we see everyday. In fact, poor design is what really gets me. I was at a Friendly’s the other day and I had a tough time picking out what I wanted to eat simply because there was this very poor design choice on their menu that was bugging me. Each item on the menu alternated between regular and bold font, which is a very big design no-no. An ideal design choice would be the category on the menu typed in bold, and the dinner choices typed in regular. Seriously, if a student who hasn’t even finished a semesters worth of design classes yet can spot something wrong with your design and explain it articulately then it’s time to hire a new designer.

FAIL!

I saw this on the way to school today, I almost died.

I can’t tell if this is a mistake, or a deliberate jab at Rhode Island accents.

Weihd.

World of Warcraft: Beating Down The Habit

Racism In Star Trek

I was watching Star Trek today, and it dawned on me how racist Star Trek is. No I don’t mean racist in terms of human racism, I mean racism among alien races.Humans seem to be the majority in Starfleet, which leads me to believe that other races don’t have equal opportunities in the Federation. Seriously, where is the United Federation of Planets Affirmative Action law?

Anyway, I’m having trouble sleeping and that sort of popped into my head.

Flowers! And other random babble.

Well I am as nervous as hell right now. I have kind of a big date tonight. Ok it’s not like huge, but I’m taking this girl out to a restaurant  of her choice tonight, and I’m gonna totally surprise her with flowers. Of course because I use public transportation, I have been carrying around flowers all day and getting funny looks. Though people always give me funny looks so maybe it’s not the flowers. Anyway, I’ve been checking them every 10-20 minutes to make sure they’re not dead. That would really suck. Don’t tell anyone, but I dragged my grandmother to the store yesterday to help me pick some out, because I don’t know anything about flowers. When I went to get flowers for this girl I took to prom, my mom dropped me off and was like “good luck”. I looked at her with a look of sheer terror, I honestly think I had a panic attack over the thought of having to pick out flowers myself. Now that’s a bit ridiculous, even accounting for the fact that I am prone to panic attacks. 

In other news, I have made it through the initial Twitter withdrawal symptoms. I haven’t had the desire to Twitter anything for a whole 48 hours!