28. June 2008 by Winn Schwartau.

I just sold a bunch of my old Macs. 3 years is enough abuse for them to take at my hands.

Got 35% of the price I paid for them. Now that’s what I call a great ROI for a depreciating asset. Bought a new iMac 24″ from Apple. Got the last CPU version from their on-line refurb store at www.Apple.Com, scroll down in the Store on the lower left. It’s hidden. Saved hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. Bought it with 1GB RAM and instead of paying Apple’s high-$ for 4GB ordered it from another RAM place. Saved a few hundred more. Got it all for $1450.

Two days later, it’s here.

Plugged it in. Done. The 24″ iMac machine is simply the finest computer I have ever owned, due to impeccable hardware engineering and 10.5.x, Leopard OS X. I had to move back from the screen to watch a DVD. Startling quality. It immediately networked.

I have to come to realize that Apple ships its machines with the optimum settings to work right out of the box. No tweaking necessary. I mean NONE! All I did was add Firefix 3.0 (upgrade if you haven’t) and added my legal Mac Office. DONE!

The other awesome part is how my Macs can backup, exchange and sync info seamlessly over my wireless networks. Still thinking like a cumbersome Wintel guy, I was all prepared for hours of playing: total time to make it all work - out of the box? 12 minutes for everything.

Yeah, I know a Dell is $599. But then you get Windows or worse… Vista. Then you have umpteen hours of install and reboots and…. arrggghhhh… If you at all value your time, relegate your old Dell as a backup server with a big hard drive and make the switch.

Wow. Suddenly your PC is a tool, entertainment center and whatever you want it to be, and not like a stack of bricks hung around your neck.

Try it. You can always return it (30 day rule) if it sux. But it won’t.

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6. May 2008 by Winn Schwartau.

Troubleshooting the Mac Clone Right Out of the Box

Remember, no manual. No instructions… and this is for Ma & Pa? Not a good start, gang. PsyStar… think about this please.

Power down. Power on. Push DVD button. Insert video driver CD. Guessing here.
Still nothing. Look on rear. Aha! Second VGA connector. Try that one. (No manual…) Got a screen! Disk Boot Failure. Remove VGA disk. Power down-up. Boot failure. Asking for System Disk. Put in OS X Install disk. Power up-down. The “Press Enter” instruction does not work.

System Disk failure again, with OS X install disk. This sucks so far. Especially for Ma & Pa. Try roboot with F2 for BIOS. Nothing. Boot disk failure.

Damn. Will get back to you.

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6. May 2008 by Winn Schwartau.

Pretending to be a n00b…

Hey… there is nothing wrong with n00bs. 95% of the population of computer users are n00bs and should largely remain so. Computers for most of humanity should be useful tools… appliances… and most folks want them to do one or two or three things well. I am a n00b on cars; I can fill the tank with gas. That’s it. There are three state and one federal court orders against me ever using a screwdriver or a hammer. I call 911 to change a light bulb. I am most definitely a n00b.

So, n00bs unite! This review is for you… if the Mac Clone is all it’s supposed to be, it could make a lot of folks’ lives a whole hell of a lot easier and cheaper than buying dedicated Apple hardware.

Hey Apple! No offense; I own a lot of your stuff and like it. I buy it from your refurb store and save a ton. But face it, your stuff is expensive… and when up against a $399 HP (even though it might be total crap and underpowered and using ugh Vista) a $1200 Mac doesn’t come close in the minds of consumers today. Ma & Pa live at Best Buy not Apple stores.

Ergo: if the Mac Clone Experiment is successful, OS X on commodity hardware could be a boon for everyone – and the national security of this and other countries. (We’ll get to that.)

PLUG IT TOGETHER:
I plugged in the wireless mouse & keyboard into a USB on the rear along with a standard VGA monitor. I did not use the VGA-DVI adapter as I tend to believe that Ma & Pa on a budget are going to get a cheap 15” monitor for $79 instead of the $1995 Apple monitor. But that’s just me.

Plug in power. Power on.

Blue power light on. Hum. Whirr. Nothing on monitor. No hourglass icon. Nothing telling me to wait. Now what?

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20. November 2007 by Winn Schwartau.

Regions Bank bought AmSouth Bank. AmSouth is/was… awful. Security seriously sucked and I will be posting the history of that.

This AM I received a whole slew of Phishing attacks from Regions… my new bank. Hmm… what causes that? This is a first. My correct email address from the data bases inside of Regions/AmSouth… and how did that information get out? Makes one wonder, doesn’t it, about their security, too.

Stay aware people. Stay aware.

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19. November 2007 by admin.

You’d think that they would learn. 15 years of telling them what they are doing wrong with security… and now this? Arrgghhh…

At my bank’s drive through they are security aware. Concerned for their customer’s security. So they have added an additional layer of security on some transactions. In an effort to add proof positive ID, they ask some customers (like my wife and I and the other folks in the drive through…) to shout out their social security numbers (SSNs) into the speaker box.

Wow. And I thought they didn’t get it. Oh yeah? Which bank is it? Still, voted the Least Secure Bank in America 15 years running: AmSouth, now owned and insecurity provided by Regions. So help me, this is the truth. Shouting out SSNs in public as a form of ID. Phew.

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19. November 2007 by admin.

I got sick and tired of writing what other people wanted me to write in the style they wanted with the flavor and tone they wanted. Sick and tired.

I wanted to return to the edge. Say what I wanted about anything and everything I wanted to talk about.

Welcome to my words and wrants.

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