MacDesperate - Yes, we're thát desperate...

I quit!

Rosana — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:14:17 +0000

A few years ago a couple of Dutch Mac craving people decided to start a website to beg for money. Before we actually started the website, Tales already bought a MacBook. And after having spent a few years on this website, all the others also finally have their Macs. Wouter reached his goal earlier this year. And I actually bought my iMac last month. Cheetah was never planning to buy anything from Apple, he was just our techie guy. All four of us reaching our goal, means that the website has served its purpose. So this made me, and the other team members, think about the future. What will happen to MacDesperate? Should we keep the website open? Or would it be a better idea to close it? I discussed it with all the team members. And everyone agreed that the goals have been reached. Therefore, we aren't really MacDesperate anymore. We might have kept the website open if the news and all of that would have been active. But we have to be honest, the news has never been our focus point.

Basically, what I'm saying, we're closing MacDesperate...

Not to worry. I will move the goodies to Miss Design and my blog. The posts about bags will also be moved to my blog. And the iMac newbie series will also be moved to my blog. I also think I will continue writing about being an iMac newbie.

I'm not sure what the others will do with their posts. I guess we'll have to ask them.

The website will stay open until spring of 2012. I will continue blogging and posting goodies on Miss Design and my personal blog!

See you there!

iMac Newbie, Part 3: Software dilemmas!

Rosana — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:58:02 +0000

Another post about my life as an iMac newbie. Today's topic: software dilemmas... What if there are several decent programs available? The hours I spent reading reviews and asking for advice...

You see. I'm not a professional photographer, but I am a serious hobby photographer. I have over 90.000 photos on my PC. And so far I never really took the time to import all of them into a program for editing and viewing. I ~~organized~~ kept trying to organize the folders myself. Note the try bit here... I need a proper program for easy editing and overview.

I did try Lightroom for some editing in the past, and I've heard good thing about it too. But now I also have the choice to get Aperture for Mac. Read below the positive/negative about both and maybe you'll understand my dilemma!

Lightroom is for both Mac and Windows. I like the idea of having the choice. Aperture is just for Mac.

iMac Newbie, Part 2: Customization!

Rosana — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:41:14 +0000

Yes, of course. Macs look good on the inside and outside. There is no need to make them prettier. Or is there? Well, I just like to customize everything. Even my new iMac. So one of the first things I did when I turned on my iMac, was find out where to change the desktop wallpaper. And gawd, the resolution! I never paid that much attention when creating wallpapers in the past. The largest size wallpaper I ever created was probably 1920x1200... But now I have a 27" display with a 2560x1440 resolution. It's amazing. But it also means I need really big wallpapers now to cover the entire screen and not make it look crappy.

David Lanham has been one of my favorite illustrators for a long time now. I've always customized my Windows environment with his cool wallpapers and icons. And I wasn't planning to stop doing this now. I'm so grateful for artists like him. He makes my desktop a whole lot prettier.

iMac Newbie, Part 1: Memory!

Rosana — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:34:49 +0000

So I received my iMac last week, on Monday. I was so happy it was Seth's holiday/school break, because I wasn't sure when exactly they would deliver the iMac. And imagine me missing the UPS guy?! Hell no! Maybe you've seen my photo report by now. If not, you still can, just go here.

For the next few... days, weeks, maybe even months (?) I'd like to tell you all about the experience I gained being on an iMac so far! The good stuff, the bad stuff, the dilemmas...

Today is about adding memory modules to the iMac!

When I ordered the iMac, I also ordered extra RAM for the iMac. I ordered 2 modules of 4GB. And they arrived before the iMac did. So when the iMac arrived, the first thing I did after I had unpacked the box, was plug in the extra RAM! It was really easy, and I'd recommend this to anyone. If you buy an iMac through Apple, just keep it at 4GB and order more RAM yourself. Much cheaper. And let's not forget that we're allowed to do so. In the ~~guide~~ square booklet that looks nothing like a manual is a section about adding memory yourself.

Don't be scared, you can do it!

Rosie has an iMac!

Rosana — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:18:09 +0000

So finally, after over 15 years of wanting an iMac, I finally bought one! Yep, you read that right. I didn't buy a MacBook Pro. I bought an iMac. Reason? Simply because my PC was slowly dying. I couldn't do heavy stuff anymore and I didn't feel like spending a lot of money right now on a laptop that I'd barely use when at home. So I will continue to save for a MacBook as well. Although maybe I will start saving for a MacBook Air rather than a MacBook Pro. I'm not sure about this right now.

Usually, people who buy Apple products have these ridiculous unpacking videos. Instead of a video, I decided to capture the moment with photographs. Have fun!

What a large box!

Seth chilling with the cardboard box.

The agonising road to Macness: Mission accomplished!

Wouter — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:34:18 +0000

Yup, you read that right. I’ve reached my destination on my agonizing road! It took me three years since the launch of this website but I’m there, finally.

The agonising road to Macness - The keyboard dilemma

Wouter — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:35:20 +0000

So Rosana gained in on me again with the amount of money she’s got in her money meter right now, but percentage-wise I’m still in the lead! Anyway, we’ll see how this is going to develop during the coming weeks.

This time I’d like to talk about keyboards. Not the instrument which is used in a cheap band at cheesy weddings, but the one you need to write something on a computer. You see, with any normal PC I'd be perfectly happy with the keyboard it comes with.

Orla Kiely bags

Rosana — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 22:11:54 +0000

Although I luuuuurve those Orla Kiely patterns, I don't think I will ever buy one of these bags. Way too expensive. But just look at these beauties:

In case you would like to buy them, you can get them through the official Apple website, both bags are priced at €219,95 (which is approximately $320). Yikes!

Conan O'Brien Editors praise the new Final Cut Pro X

Tales — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:04:30 +0000

Java Update for Leopard and Snow Leopard

Tales — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:59:55 +0000

Anyone that happens to launch Software Update today will be greeted by a new Java Update. Java Update 5 for Snow Leopard and Java Update 10 for Leopard.

Java Update 5 for Snow Leopard addresses the following issues:
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 5 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_26.

Java Update 10 for Leopard adresses the following issues:
Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating J2SE 5.0 to 1.5.0_30, and updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_26 for 64-bit capable Intel-based Macs.

J2SE 1.4.2 is no longer being updated to fix bugs or security issues and remains disabled by default in this update.

Unlike other Platforms Apple releases its own runtime for Mac OSX. However Apple is calling Java deprecated and won't allow it in the Mac App Store. Besides this Apple also announced it will stop releasing its own version of the runtime on the Mac platform and will be handing those 'keys' over to Oracle.

Java on Mac has been slow with updating compared to other platforms, so this could be a good thing in the longterm. Sadly it does mean the Java runtime won't come preinstalled on OSX Lion and higher.

The agonising road to Macness: Even more progressness!

Wouter — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Well, as you might have noticed: my progress meter is now even higher, and I'm in the lead now! Booya!
It's at €550 now, and it'll probably raise by about 300 euros every month. So this shouldn't take very long now. I like the fact that the iMac in the back at the progress meter is now coloured in, and the one in the front isn't. It's rather funny. Of course, the more money I have in the meter, to more the picture will be coloured in. My goal is to have that picture complete around autumn this year. And with the current rate of money I'm making, that shouldn't be much of a problem,

A teaser...

Rosana — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 01:02:42 +0000

Coming soon...

Golla Basic Laptop Bags

Rosana — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:50:27 +0000

Mooaaarrrr Golla bags! Oh dear if I'd have more money right now I'd buy a Golla bag right away. Or rather I'd buy an older one to match my camera bag. Ah well. I'll let all of you enjoy these lovely bags instead:

Golla Slim Laptop Bags

Rosana — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:32:53 +0000

And here are 2 more bags, slightly different but also within the slim line:

Golla G-bags!

Rosana — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:15:56 +0000

I personally love Golla. My camera bag is a Golla bag and it's very decent and good looking as well. So I thought I should post some Golla laptop bags as well! These are a couple of Golla G-bags!