It's Way Past Time For This Post

Obviously we've not been keeping this blog site up to date lately. Jen had been the one keeping this fairly updated and we have both pretty much moved to posting anything we're up to on Facebook (and in my case, Twitter).

More than likely, if you'd been keeping up with us here, you already are following us on Facebook and Twitter. If not, then find us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

New Microsoft Ad

Been awhile since we posted anything here. Most of what we share now is on Twitter and Facebook. But, this format lends itself better to longer posts. Let me start this post off by saying that it is being written by someone who has always used a pc and just recently has switched to a MacBook to learn the OS and platform to better support the Mac users at the church that I work at.

Recently Microsoft came out with a new commercial. From what they have a history of putting out, commercial wise (and some will argue, product wise) this ad is one of the best ones they've done in my opinion:

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:0bb6a07c-c829-4562-8375-49e6693810c7&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Laptop Hunters $1000 – Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion">Video: Laptop Hunters $1000 – Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion</a>

In the last day or so though I've seen the Mac faithful completely pan the commercial. Paraphrasing some of the twitter posts and Facebook statuses I've seen, they are basically slamming the $700 pc she bought saying that it was garbage, who would want a AMD Turion processor, it didn't include gigabit ethernet or 802.11n support, etc.

It seems to me they completely missed the point of the commercial. To me, the point was, for the money...you can get more 'machine' buying a pc than you can a Mac. Yes, the specs on a $700 laptop don't quite stack up to the specs of the $999 MacBook. Two points on that:

1. She found the laptop with the requirements she wanted, 17" screen and under $1000. Which, she accurately pointed out, completely throws the Apple platform out as an option.
2. Spec a pc laptop at $999 and compare it to the $999 MacBook. As a matter of fact, I'll do it for you:

$999 pc laptop from HP -
SYSTEM COLOR Bronze/Chrome
PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 (2.133GHz)
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Parts and Labor
DISPLAY Glossy widescreen 17.0 inch display
MEMORY 4GB DDR2 at 1066MHz
HARD DRIVE Size: 500GB SATA Hard Drive
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB Dedicated Ram
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
WIRELESS CARDS 802.11abgn
NETWORK CARD Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45)
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
BATTERY OPTIONS Lithium Ion Battery (8 cell)
KEYBOARD Back-lit Keyboard

And now, the
$999 Apple MacBook
SYSTEM COLOR White
PROCESSOR 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 90 days complimentary support and 1 year repair
DISPLAY 13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen
MEMORY 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
HARD DRIVE 120GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
VIDEO CARD NVidia GeForce 9400M
OPTICAL DRIVE SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
WIRELESS CARD 802.11abgn
NETWORK CARD Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45)
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated iSight 1.3M Pixel webcam
BATTERY OPTIONS 55 Whr Lithium Polymer Battery
KEYBOARD Keyboard (English) / User's Guide


So, now if we want to make comparisons, it's much more "Oranges to Oranges." (To avoid the obvious pun.) The $999 HP laptop meets or beats the specs on the $999 Apple MacBook.

You may be starting to assume from this post that I really don't like Apple or the Mac, you'd assume incorrectly. I do not dislike Apple or their computers. I'm actually even typing this post while using my Mac. To me, whatever you need to do your job the best is what you should use, be that Mac or PC. What does sometimes drive me absolutely nuts though is the mentality of some Apple/Mac fans, that the hardware is some how so much better than the PC. I will give you that the design of Apple's computers is amazing. But here is where I may burst some Apple fans' bubbles...the inside of your Mac....(I'll whisper this part) is a pc! Isn't that insane!!! They did this to you when they switched the Mac over from the PowerPC platform to Intel. Don't start with the "OS X is so much better than XP, Vista, etc." I'm not talking about operating systems or software. Notice I left those out of the specs.

Going back to the $700 laptop the girl in the commercial purchased. If you look at the specs, it's actually not REALLY a bad laptop at all. The processor runs at 2.1 GHz. Yes the AMD Turion chip is still slower than either of the 2 laptops spec'd above but for her it's probably fine. Plus the Turion chip helps keep the cost of the laptop down. It's most likely going to be a home use pc so who cares that it doesn't have gigabit ethernet. Honestly, how many normal home users actually have gigabit ethernet switches/routers in their house? 802.11n...still not even a ratified standard and isn't expected to be published until at least January 2010. So again, is it really that big a deal for the average home user? For $700 the girl got a 17" widescreen laptop with a 2.1GHz processor, 4GB of ram, a hard drive that is 200 GB bigger than the one in the $999 MacBook, and a DVD Recorder. Not a bad deal at all.

Are Mac prices starting to come more in line with PCs? I'd say yes but, spec for spec they are still overpriced. It's a good ad from Microsoft.....and a valid one.


(I've turned off comments because I'm certain I'll get flamed. This blog is normally used to keep my family updated on our life and as such don't want them to have to deal with flame comments. If you want to flame me...do it on twitter. @tonymimms)

"Bad Rap"

Ok..I know we are way behind on posting here to our blog but, this past Sunday, at church, we talked about the tithe and this skit was put on. It's hilarious...check it out.

Playhouse Disney Live! On Tour

Today we took Austin to see Playhouse Disney Live! On Tour. It had a lot of the characters from shows he watches on the Disney channel. When it first started, I'm not sure he really knew what to think about all of it. He had a really sour look on his face but he started to smile a few times when Tigger and Pooh came out. By intermission and the second half he was enjoying himself. While we were walking out at the end, Jen and I were asking him if he had had a good time because during the first part he "didn't look like he was having much fun." He looked at us and said, "I had much fun!" Here is a pic I took with my phone. Jen took some better ones with her actual camera. I'm sure she'll get them up on Flickr soon.

Click it to get a bigger size.

Christmas Lights Are Up!

Today I got our Christmas lights up. I had planned on doing it yesterday and actually started to but then found out that all the light clips that I put up and used last year had dry rotted and would break each time I squeezed one to put the light back in. Didn't have anymore clips so after Jen bought some more for me I went out today and pulled down all the old clips, put the new ones up and hung the lights. There has to be some type of clip that I can leave up that won't dry rot.

Making pizza at Macaroni Grill!

After Levi's baptism we headed to Macaroni Grill for some lunch. Emily and Austin got to play with some pizza dough while waiting for our table.

Compassion in Action

In October we had fun doing a food drive in a local subdivision. Austin had a great time and loved collecting can goods.

The Computer Nerds at my house

My BoysI cant remember what they were looking at but it was soo cute

American Way

Austin and I are off to vote. Austin is eating a snack. The wait is 1 1/2 hours.

Political Dinner

This morning at church they showed a video about what it might look like if in-laws who have different political views got together for dinner. It's pretty funny. I hadn't been able to work with the film crew in a while but did get the chance to work with them on this one. Below the video I've also linked to the audio of today's sermon. It was a good sermon on "Daniel The Politician". I definitely encourage you to listen to it if you have some time.





Daniel The Politician

Bob or Bob?

Austin is going to be Bob for Halloween, but the question is which one? He tried on the Bob the Tomato costume today and decided that he didn't want to wear it anymore. So he decided to be Bob the Builder. We will see which Bob wins out in the end.... Stay tune......

ABC Song

Austin now loves to sing the ABC song before he would get embarrassed if we heard him singing. Now he says 'I sing it again' and he does. It is very cute. Enjoy!

Jennifer's In The Movies!

Ok, she's not really IN a movie but she has helped out with a couple of short films that have been shot by the film crew from our church. She made some of the costumes used in the films. I've embedded the films below. One is just over 8 minutes and the other is about 4 and a half. She actually is mentioned in the credits in the second one as a 'seamstress'. They spelled our last name wrong though... ;-P

If you'd like to see more short films that they've made, head over to www.whitestonemotionpictures.com

She made the watchmaker's (not the son) costume in this one.



She made some of the 'prisoner' costumes for this one (and got in the credits at the end!!)

Austin Is A Bus Driver Now!

One of the teachers where Austin goes to school noticed that every morning he wants to go and look at the "two little white buses" in their parking lot. It's become a routine for him and me each morning. She told me that one day she would bring him out and open one of the buses and let him check it out. So one afternoon she did and took a picture of him for us. I think he was the only one she took out there so it was a pretty neat little special trip for him.

Cool glasses

Austin always complains about it being sunny so I decided to 'invest' in sun glasses. So far they are being kept ph.d. we'll see how long they last.

Our Little Reader

Austin loves to read; We were working in the office upstairs and Austin decided to read in his window seat. He loves books! Now when he plays he even narrates for his trains! "Help! says Gordon"

DadLabs Take, pt 2

Here is DadLabs video of their take on McCain from the dad perspective:

DadLabs Take, On The Presidential Candidates

A website I checkout is doing a two day overview on Obama and McCain from a dad perspective. (for those who don't know about DadLabs this won't be a totally serious tone the whole time). Today was Obama, tomorrow will be McCain.

Now I have to share

Austin LOVES Starbucks Green Tea Lemonade!

Beautiful Saturday

We spent a wonderful Saturday morning at Tony's softball game. It's starting to feel like Fall (or atleast for the day). Playing cars will never be the same now that Austin has found dirt .