Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends
What I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving season
Since many of us at TUAW are celebrating Thanksgiving in America, I though this might be a good time to join many others in posting a few things I'm thankful for in the Mac web. Naturally, I'm thankful for the wonderful family I'm getting to spend time with, as well as an incredible wife and having a roof over my head. But in the context of TUAW, I figured I would spotlight some of the more Apple-related things for which I'm thankful. You know, the people, apps and other goodness that make my Mac experience that much more appreciable:
- The blogging team here at TUAW - No I'm not just sucking up; we have a great crew of people here that has recently expanded with the return of Laurie A. Duncan, and our newest blogger Erica Sadun. We're rocking some great content that makes me even more proud to be a TUAW blogger.
- MagSafe power adapters - kinda silly I know, but living in a house with a wife as busy as I am and a hyper-active Blue Heeler dog, this innovation has already saved my MacBook on a good number of occasions. I thank Apple's engineers for this surprise innovation on the new Intel portables.
- Daring Fireball - Yes, we pimp John Gruber's stellar musings on all things Apple, software and design quite a bit here on TUAW, but that's only because we all think he does some pretty nifty work, and his writing is a personal inspiration to me. I can't wait for Spring when I'm done with this internship and down to my final semester, with not much more than a senior thesis on my hands, which means more time to dedicate towards creating better posts and podcasts.
- Xtorrent - Aside from the mixed sentiments towards Mr. Watanabe in my last post about this rockin' BitTorrent client, I'm really digging it, and this is the first holiday trip away from home that I elected to leave the iMac running (on a battery backup, finally) with a long list of goodies to torrent for when I return.
- Keyword Manager for iPhoto - Sure, I found it just recently, but this app has quickly become a must-have for my iPhoto library. After recently acquiring a killer Canon Digital Rebel XT SLR camera, I'm getting my photography eye back and this app is proving vital for bringing some organization to my now-rapidly expanding library of 3700+ images.
- Backlit keyboards - I gave up my 1st gen MacBook Pro over the summer for a MacBook + iMac setup so I can leave the desktop machine running to render out big video and motion graphics projects. However, since my wife wants a notebook of her own soon, she promised to chip in to purchase a MacBook Pro for me in June of '07 as a graduation present, at which point she'll inherit the MacBook, and I will be reunited with one of the guiltiest of notebook luxuries that I miss so dearly: a backlit keyboard. Nevermind the recent bump to Core 2 Duo or the (finally!) re-introduction of FW800 and a DL DVD burner - I can't wait to fire up that sexy backlit keyboard.
- The Intel patch for Unreal Tournament 2004 - I spend way too much time online in this game, and I'm so thankful an Intel patch was released; so much so that it would have been at least a momentary deal-breaker if I couldn't find one when I was considering my original upgrade to Intel machines.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon said 3:45PM on 11-23-2006
I'm thankful for Macs in general. Before I used Macs, I used to think that crashes and viruses were part of the experience of using a computer and that I just had to put up with them.
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Funkmaster George said 3:56PM on 11-23-2006
I noticed you said you traded in your first gen MacBookPro for a Macbook-iMac setup. I am looking to do the same thing (for similar reasons)-what has your experience been? Are you sorry you did it (other than the backlit keyboard :) How has your experience been using the iMac for video as compared to your MacBookPro? I just sold my first gen MacBookPro and will be making a purchasing decesion soon.
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F_D said 5:50PM on 11-23-2006
I am thankful for Quicksilver. Every little task that I need to sneak in while the family is here... In one-third of the time as it would take with mouse clicks.
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popo man said 6:41PM on 11-23-2006
Who needs Xtorrent? Just use Transmission. Faster, simpler, sleeker, and the latest developer nightly is bound to have improvements that haven't made it into David Watanabe's bloated ripoff of its engine.
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Sebastian said 7:31PM on 11-23-2006
I am thankful for 2 finger scrolling. I just bought my Macbook (First Mac and I'm grateful for that as well) and while I never liked trackpads to begin with, I would have found it impossible without 2 finger scrolling as I never use the arrow keys for a scrollbar.
Now hopefully this Christmas I can be thankful for a new Mighty Mouse because even with 2 finger scrolling, I still find a Trackpad near impossible to wield. Yeah, this is also my first Laptop due to my hatred for them in years past (Laptops being underpowered arguments no longer apply anymore)
Basically I'm grateful for all the small niceties of owining a Mac, everything from Bluetooth to the Genie Animations and locating Xcode on the install discs and Camino and, well, iLife. Though I kind of wish I hadn't bought .mac when I bought my Mac..... I'll find a way to get the most out of it but I've already run into a Server side problem with trying to send something from Mail.app and my dotMac mail account to a friend.
I haven't had a chance to test out NewsFire yet but I'm rather a fan of both Google Reader, and now Vienna so I may not get to it too soon.
Happy Thanksgiving
Sebastian L.
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Macskeeball said 9:10PM on 11-23-2006
I'm thankful for podcasts, for Leopard looking more and more promising (especially with me being a 10.3.9 user), and believe or not an old Dell my neighbor gave me for free a few months ago. The hardware's not much, but with Ubuntu Server on it it makes a great server, which has the effect of freeing up the PowerMac from the burden of doing double duty.
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Tucker said 10:25PM on 11-23-2006
"backlit keyboards" - sure, it's nice, but geeze... knock it off your list, learn to type, and then choose one of the million better features available on the laptop as your "thing to be thankful for"!
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MatzeLoCal said 2:53AM on 11-24-2006
Am I the only one who has problems with magsafe? Sometimes I have to re-plug it for 3 times to get my MacBook charged and I also don't dare to not even move my MacBook with power adapter pluged in.
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Galley said 8:53AM on 11-24-2006
I'm thankful for all of the Appley goodness I have discovered since Sept. I only wish I would've made the switch sooner.
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Maurice said 10:22AM on 11-24-2006
"one of the guiltiest of notebook luxuries that I miss so dearly: a backlit keyboard" - The ONLY reason I won't trade my MBP for a MacBook.
"sure, it's nice, but geeze... knock it off your list, learn to type"
I wish I had paid more attention to typing class in High School...
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ECHO said 11:02PM on 11-25-2006
Definitely two-fingered scrolling. Since my first mac laptop I had to settle with the arrow keys and page up/down while scouring long lists, but I've found the trackpad to be extremely convenient. I'm surprised no one had thought of this simple solution before.
Right now my 12" Powerbook is still in pristine condition despite using it on a near daily basis. I dropped it once on a carpeted floor and the hard drive protection sensor did its job flawlessly. Can't wait for future safety enhancements. (Macbooks: now standard with airbags)
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