13.3" MacBook Air 1.86GHz, 2GB RAM, 128GB Solid State Drive - $1,299.99

When the MacBook Air (MBA) first came out, I told myself that I would never ever buy it. I mean just look at those specs: One USB port? No disc drive? Only 2GB of RAM? No way to upgrade the hard drive down the road?? All of that for $1,299.99?? Are you kidding me??

Pathetic!

But these days I travel a whole lot more than I used to. I'm constantly going to shows, taking road trips, flying, broadcasting from open mic at It's A Grind...I actually have a social life that takes me to places. And when I'm on the go, I don't need a full-on computer; I just need to be able to do some AIM, Skype, BlogTV, Tokbox, emailing and casual web browsing.

I need a mobile setup that can keep up with me.

So, my original plan was to scrap my 17" MacBook Pro (MBP) + 24" Cinema Display in favor of a 13" MBP + 30" Cinema Display, which would be an epic setup because it gives me the ability to have the power of a desktop computer with a (very) large screen plus the ability to be mobile. I even did the math to calculate the benefits and I realized that a 13" + 30" would give me more screen real estate overall than my current 17" + 24" setup. WIN.

Problem is, buying a completely new setup would cost over $3,750. FML.

Then it hit me: the MacBook Air may be a terrible primary computer...but if you understand its limitations, it can be an awesome secondary computer:

• Just one USB port? -- That's fine, this is just for doing stuff on the internet.
• No disc drive? -- I'll just use the disc drive wirelessly from my 17" MBP.
• Only 2GB of RAM? -- Web browsing and chatting doesn't take up too much memory.
• No way to upgrade the hard drive? -- No worries, my 17" is my main computer anyways.
• Isn't it expensive? -- Very. But this is the only netbook out there that will run OSX.

And to top it all off, I could still get another two solid years of mileage from my 17" MBP.

So after serious thought (and rationalization), I concluded that it'd be better for me to spend just $1,299.99 to add a complimentary computer than to drop over $3,750 for a completely new setup.

I couldn't be any happier.

Basically with Google Voice (GV), you have one new phone number that you can give out to everyone. When someone calls, it can ring all of your phones (i.e. cell, home and office). Or you can have certain phones ring depending on who's calling.

Record custom voicemail greetings depending on who's calling.

You can send, receive and search through all of your text messages online.

Probably the most fun reason for getting GV is it's an excuse to get a kick-ass new phone number. Mine is 502-PORN. =]

More features: About GV

Sweet, I got an invite! Now what?

Not gonna lie, I spent a solid two hours trying to come up with a good phone number. You can choose any number from any area code that's available. You can search by area code, words or numbers.

Last year, my Tivo got the award for my best purchase of the year. But soon, I may get rid of her for someone new.

Hulu.com is a site pioneered by NBC Studios, that offers a shitload of free, good quality streaming television shows from its own network and many, many others.

The site is in beta testing and I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an invite. And I gotta say, I'm impressed. Here's a sample of shows they have:

• 24
• 30 Rock
• Arrested Development
• Chuck
• Doogie Howser
• Family Guy
• Heroes
• Scrubs
• The Simpsons
• and a whole lot more...

Here's a couple screenshots:

Yes, all of this for free. The catch? The occassional 30 second advertisement. Still, that beats the current 2:30 minute commercial spots they show on live television. And besides, what are your alternatives?

Tivo? Works great til you find two interesting shows that are playing at the same time.

Tv-Links.com? Was awesome til the place was raided by police.

Download from torrent sites? I'm too busy downloading p... I'm too impatient for that.

Buy from iTunes? Hell no. As much as I love Apple, I'm not gonna give them my money for meh-quality, copy protected videos.

So anyways, like I said, Hulu.com is still in beta. But definitely sign up for an invite when you get the chance.

www.hulu.com

:bowdown:

My favorite features so far:

• Time Machine -- Backing up has never been so easy and so sexy. This thing has already saved my life as I accidently deleted some priceless files for the577.com.

• Spaces -- At the office I'm constantly working on as many as four projects at a time. Finally I'll have a space (virtual desktop) dedicated for each project instead of having a clusterfuck of windows.

• Screen-Sharing -- Got a problem with your Mac? Just hit me up on iChat and we'll start up a screen-sharing session so I can show you how to fix it.

Hasta la Vista!

More Info: OSX Leopard

Those infomercials say that the average person spends a third of their life in bed. So why not spend the money for a really great bed?

Well, I easily spend over 13 hours of the day at the desk...so why not spend the money for a really great chair?

$1,200 is a big chunk o' change, but with a 12 year completely-covered warranty, I think it's worth it. I mean the chair I've been sitting on is the same chair I've had since 7th grade. If that chair could last that long, I'm sure the Aeron can too.

The Aeron by Herman Miller

It's like sex. For your ass.

Once in a while I find a gadget or website or something that changes my life. This is one of 'em. With Google Reader I'm able to subscribe to News Feeds and keep up with over 130 websites.

What's a News Feed?

Websites publish feeds with the latest updates to their sites so that, instead of visiting a website over and over for the latest news, you can use a reader (such as Google Reader) to keep track of updates for you. Your reader can take multiple feeds and display all that content the way you want it.

Most websites these days have a News Feed that you can subscribe to. Typically News Feeds are indicated by the words "RSS Feed," "News Feed," "XML" or "Atom Feed." But more commonly they'll be indicated by an orange icon like these:

So here's what you do:

• Log in at http://www.google.com/reader with your Gmail account.
• Right click on these icons (or links) and copy the URL.
• Paste the link at the top of Google Reader and hit Enter.
• Subscribe to the News Feed.
• Enjoy your News Feeds listed on the left side.

Check it out!

http://www.google.com/reader