Congrats Packers!

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers in their NFC Championship victory over the Chicago Bears, which leads them to Super Bowl XLV!

iMac G4, Apple History, and Other Tech Stuff

Today, January 19, 2011, I received my iMac G4! I also received the Apple Pro Speakers that go along with the iMac. Before I talk about my G4, lets get some background info about the G4 iMac. At Macworld in 2002, Apple introduced the iMac G4 to the world. The iMac G4 was revolutionary, incorporating technologies never seen in Apple's desktop line. It featured a 15" LCD, 700 or 800Mhz G4 processor, NVIDIA GeForce 2MX 32MB graphics, a 40GB Hard Drive, all in a half-spherical shaped case. The screen with its adjustable arm was probably the most unique part of the whole computer. The screen is attached to an arm, which is attached to the base. It can be rotated 90° in either direction from the center position (180° total). The arm could also be moved up or down, while keeping the screen in the same position as it was put in. In certain positions, it would appear as if the screen were floating in midair. Through the iMac G4's 2 1/2 year run, it was upgraded with many new features and enhancements. A 20" screen model was added in 2003. USB 2.0 was introduced. Faster CPU speeds were added, while the older speeds were phased out. Speeds up to 1.25Ghz were used in the iMac G4. Higher RAM amounts were added. Overall, this was a shaky ground that Apple was treading on, but they had created a perfect computer. One that "would be the end to CRTs", as stated by Steve Jobs.

Now to my iMac G4. My iMac is in the last "set" of iMacs, from September 2003-August 2004. It has a 1.0Ghz processor, 768MB RAM (up to 1gb officially), 80GB hard drive, and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It came with an Apple Keyboard, and a white Apple Pro Mouse. I installed iLife '06 on it, and I plan on putting some more software on it in the future. I purchased the Apple Pro Speakers that go along with it, and they sound beautiful. I don't think I have ever heard sound that good coming from a 2.0 sound configuration. The 2nd place would be my Klipsch Promedia speakers. They were designed to go with a subwoofer, but that broke. The bass is really good on them, even without the sub. That's for another post though. Back to the iMac. Like I said, the speakers sound really good. The 15" LCD is really clear and bright, and it would be great for photo or video editing. I have iLife, which includes iMovie HD, iPhoto, iWeb, and iDVD on it. The iDVD won't work without a SuperDrive, or a compatible external DVD-RW drive. The mac has a combo drive in it, which will work fine. This computer is noticeably faster than my 10-year old iMac G3. I love this computer, and I will be creating a review video for it soon. There will also be more tech-related articles and videos coming soon, so stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone on the web! I plan on posting more during the 2011 year, and hope to start and work on some new projects this year also, so check back soon!

-Nate

Microsoft DreamSpark: Free Student Software

The other day I was browsing the web and I came across a Microsoft site called DreamSpark. It is a website where students and teachers can get Microsoft software for FREE. This is legal. The website belongs to Microsoft. To get some of the software you need a Windows Live account (hotmail, msn, live ID). You login on the site using it, then you have to verify that you are a student or teacher. You go through the process of doing that, and once that is completed, you are able to download software that you normally have to pay a lot for FREE! I had to contact Microsoft to get verified because my school wasn't listed, but they sent me an activation code, and I was able to verify. To download software in the future, you have to use the same Live ID that you verified with, otherwise you can't download certain software. There is a large list of stuff to choose from, and each software is easily identifiable by its logo. You just click it and then you can download.

My Laptop: Compaq Presario M2000

On Thursday, July 22 I got my new laptop, a Compaq Presario M2000. This laptop is from 2004-2005 and was made by HP (Compaq was aquired by HP). There were different models to this laptop. I know that there were Pentium/Centrino models and models with a card reader built-in. Mine doesn't have a Pentium CPU but I can add a card reader using the PC-Card Slot. Here are the Specs:
-CPU: Intel Celeron Mobile 1.4 GHz
-RAM: 1GB
-Hard Drive: 40GB
-DVD/CD-RW Drive
-15" LCD screen
-2 USB 2.0 Slots
-Mini 1394 (FireWire) Port
-VGA-Out
-PC Card/PCMCIA Slot
-Headphone/Mic ports
-JBL Pro Speakers
-No built-in Webcam or Microphone


Installed Software:
-Windows XP Professional
-McAfee Total Protection 2010
-Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise
-Microsoft Works 8
-Sonic RecordNow!
-InterVideo WinDVD 5
-CCleaner
-The Logo Creator
-ACID Xpress 7
-Paint.NET
-KRISTAL Audio Engine (Digital Audio Workstation)

                                 note: picture is stock photo, not my laptop

Farewell My Netbook

Today (July 13) I sold my ASUS Eee PC netbook. I sold it on Craigslist for $100 (a Benjamin!!!). The sale included the netbook, charger, manuals, Free netbook travel kit, and a software essentials cd. I am happy that it is going to a good home and to good people. I will miss its small size and portability but I will find a laptop (or a desktop Mac) that I will enjoy also. I have had it for about a 1/2 year and got some good use out of it. It played Hulu and YouTube well, ran Facebook, Gmail, and USTREAM.TV webcasting well. I enjoyed using the netbook but I wanted a larger screen so I am planning on buying a laptop (Mac preferably). I will consider a newer desktop PC or a Mac instead though. I have been scouring Milwaukee Craigslist and eBay for a replacement. Overall I would buy a netbook again as long as it had more hard drive space and a larger screen. I like netbooks, but you cant fully replace a laptop with a netbook.

SonFest 2010 at NWBC

Once again at Northwest Baptist Church we will be
doing SonFest 2010! SonFest at Northwest is a
huge event! There are many things to do such as: outdoor games, prize raffles, Live Music by the Northwest Baptist Worship Team, Cookout Lunch, and much more! Check out the video below from the 2005 SonFest:

SonFest 2005 Slideshow

Visit NWBC’s site at www.northwestbaptist.com.