It has to be one of the most common questions I’m asked; “When is the right time to buy a Mac?”, “Is there something new coming out soon?”, “If I buy x will there be a new one next week?”. Regardless of the permeation it’s one of those eternal questions that no one bar Steve Jobs & his merry man can truly answer. I do understand why people ask me, I’ve worked with Macs for years now, hell I even sold them full time for a while but when it comes down to it I know nothing more than you do. With that in mind there are a great many resources available to you that will ensure you make an informed decision on your next Mac purchase and that’s what we’re going to look at today.

The salesman is not your friend
The Mac world has a reputation of everyone being great buddies and helping each other out regardless of which side of the sales counter you’re standing on. Truth be told you’re still dealing with a salesperson and these people live by making sales. In this world of ever shrinking profit margins in computers their main objective is to sell you what they have right there and then. Asking them about the likelihood of the current model being superseded is not a topic they will linger on long. My personal answer was always something along the lines of “I know as much as you, when something new comes out we find out when the world does.” This is a very true statement, but as a sales person they should also be aware of things like product life cycles and Apple’s stock levels but they’re never going to talk about them, well not if they’re going to earn commission that month.

Apple expos & shows
Gone are the good old days of Apple making their product announcements at one of their major Exhibitions/Conventions around the world. It used to be like clockwork, January - MacWorld San Francisco, June - World Wide Developers Conference, July - the now defunct MacWorld New York/Boston and September - Apple Expo Paris, each the perfect launching pad for Apple’s latest product be it software or hardware. Today we find Apple breaking the predictable mold somewhat; although most of these events still take place it’s more often than not they’re there to showcase previously announced items, and the actual announcement has happened weeks if not months before. It was common practice among Mac brethren to hold off buying anything Apple until after one of these events; sales crashing in the lead up. I’d imagine for that reason alone Apple has moved away from these shows being their announcement machines. I distinctly remember the quiet weeks leading up to a exhibition inside of the store I worked at; you’d spend two weeks twiddling your thumbs because everyone was too busy waiting. These days you’ll find Apple calling media events, sure they’re a little more extravagant than most, having U2’s Bono, John Mayer or some other celebrity, but the big thing is that they’re called randomly on no specific date each year and it’s because of this we can no longer rely on the big shows as reliable release/announcement dates to dictate purchasing patterns against.

The rumor mill
Apple is a strange brand in that there are so many dedicated users out there that relish in every tid-bit of information that may pertain to a new or updated product. There are literally thousands of websites out there dedicated to the Mac and a good majority of them focusing on the ever-growing Mac rumor mill. Rumor sites always need to be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of the information on them is journalistic interpretation, for want of a better description. “Market Analysts”, so called “leaked information”, disgruntled employees, and other erroneous sources provide the fuel for this fire. That’s not to say that they aren’t useful resources; it’s because of their fine-tooth approach that they often pick up on things the average consumer may miss, but be sure to not confuse solid evidence with wishful misgivings. Some of the best rumor sites with a more solid track record that I’d recommend viewing are:

• AppleInsider - http://www.appleinsider.com
• MacRumors - http://www.macrumors.com
• Think Secret - http://www.thinksecret.com

Product life-cycles
The life-cycle of a piece of Apple computing hardware is probably the best indication we have at the moment as to when a new model is to be released. The majority of products have a shelf-life between 10 - 15 months before being refreshed. This isn’t set in stone either I’m afraid but it’s a good point to start! How do you know how long a particular model has been around for? Well there’s a few great websites for this, the first “Apple History” (http://www.apple-history.com) contains a complete product history of every piece of Apple hardware released, it’s release configuration and it’s release date. The second, and one that I point any new Mac purchaser to, is “MacRumors: Buyer’s Guide” (http://buyersguide.macrumors.com). This site has been specifically crafted for what you should be looking at when purchasing a new Mac. It will tell you how long the current model has been in active sale, it’s recommendation on whether to purchase or wait and any rumour related news stories pertaining to that item that may affect your decision.

The Mac friend, or friend of a friend of a friend….
It never hurts to ask someone who has a little more experience with Macs than yourself. Chances are if they’ve been using Macs for a few years they’re going to know about everything I’ve written already and have a good understanding of the current news & rumors pertaining to Apple hardware. Another’s opinion is their own though and should always be used to compliment to your own research and buying position.

When it all comes down to it the right time to buy is when it’s the right time for you! If you need a new computer right away then waiting six months to see what might eventuate just isn’t an option. For those that can wait the key is research; ask a friend, check when the machine you want last had an update, perhaps wait until after MacWorld (if it’s close by) before laying out your hard earned cash. The only last piece of advice I can add is, you’re never going to win; just like any piece of technology its out of date the second it’s released, buying a new computer shouldn’t be a waiting game for life.

So we all spend countless hours at work home stumbling our way through the Inter-Ma-Nets while we’re waiting for that important email; granted the majority is crap but every now and then you come across a diamond in the rough…

So I thought to myself what better way for me to write quick easy blog entries perhaps some of you out there would be interested in them too.

• Animator vs Animation II (link)
  This is the second in the Animator vs Animation series. (original) The basic premise is a stick figure fighting back against the user by utilising desktop icons & toolbars as weapons. Both the original and this new one are very well done and worth a look.
   
• Cool OSX Apps (link)
  This is a fantastic site that finds and reviews a whole bunch of cool applications for Mac OS X users. I’ve pretty much re-iterated the name of the website in one sentence to describe it for you all but you get the picture. Check it out if you’re a Mac-o-phile like me!
   
• 5 Minutes to Kill (Yourself) (link)
  This one is a flash game I found by accident the other day whilst I was checking the adultswim website to see if Robot Chicken had a new season announced yet or not… Anyone got some more info on that? Anywho; this little flash game has you walking around a seemingly normal office with the morbid task of doing yourself in before the 5 minute time limit expires. It’s very funny and one that has an almost unlimited replay value, give it a whirl!
   
• Start to Finish Super Mario Bros in 5 Minutes (link)
  So this insane 17 year old has videod himself completing the original Super Mario Brothers from beginning to finish in 5 minutes flat! Watching someone play Mario for five minutes isn’t that exciting on its own but I must admit I was pretty amazed the whole way through, this kid has some serious skills!
   

Directed By: Brian Singer
Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth
Running time: 154 minutes
Links: IMDB | Trailer
Rating: 4/5

If you haven’t seen this movie stop here, the next line is about to fuck it all up, I warned yee…..

Whale oil beef hooked*, look who’s gone and got themselves a little baby boy in their absence. How the fuck did I go ten months from its theatrical release to watching this movie on DVD and not find out about this! Either everyone I know hates Superman or I’ve done a freakin’ amazing job of subconsciously steering clear of any Superman Returns related information. I must admit I’ve never really been a huge fan of the man in steel, which may perhaps account for my lack of enthusiasm in wanting to see the movie in the first place but come on… he’s got a kid for crying out loud!

Let me rewind just a little there; I’m not a comic geek, a geek yes, but a comic geek no. I’ve probably missed the comic-book-boat here and Superman’s already had twelve rug-rats, calling them “Spanky1” through “Spanky12” because of his underlying love for the Little Rascals Character. So the fact that Lois Lane has popped out little asthma-boy “Jason” in the latest film is something most of you knew about seven years ago? Who knows, who cares? I know I don’t; just don’t spam me with hate mail because I’m too lazy to research thing. One thing I do know & can be glad of is that we can finally put to rest the eternal geek debate of “Can Superman boink a normal chick?” Well hallelujah all, looks like we didn’t need Wonder Woman’s uterus to contain the Kryptonian unborn and Soup’s (yeah that’s right I’m calling Superman “Soup”, he’s my pal!) spunk isn’t going to blow right through poor Lois’s back.

Now lets get down to the nitty gritty here shall we; Soup (Bradon Routh) returns to Earth after a five year round trip to his home planet (or rather absence of a planet) Krypton to find Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) hooked up with Cyclops; shit.. I mean Richard White (James Marsden - aka Cyclops from X-Men) the nephew of the Daily Planet’s editor and touting a sickly boy Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu). Not to mention Lex Luther (Kevin Spacey), Soup’s nemesis has managed to wangle himself out of a two time life sentence to once again terrorize the world. The world seems pretty fucked up for my pal in the first twenty minutes but pretty soon he’s back in the swing of things saving people from all over the world, Lois falling back in love and Lex; well Lex decides growing a land mass off the East coast of the US out of Soup’s Dad’s crystal farm would be a good idea. Those crazy evil guys and their whacky ways I tells ya!

OK, so the story isn’t exactly something out of Jane Austin but this is Superman, what did you expect? I was a tad skeptical going into the movie if only because the only people I actually recognized in the opening credits was Spacey and Kal Penn. I had serious doubts that Kumar was going to save this film! To my pleasant surprise I found Routh pulled off Soup quite well, his interpretation of the dough eyed idiot of Clark Kent was excellent and his heroic posture & tone as Superman was well executed; sorry Dean Cain this is the guy for the job. Bosworth did well but I had a hard time thinking of her as a mother figure after remembering her in “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” and Cyclops is type cast for the rest of his days in my opinion, sorry James Marsden. Spacey as you’d expect steals the show, what more could you ask for from this man? Not quite “The Usual Suspects” but a well rounded, professional performance that does the Lex Luther character credit.

Lets look beyond the actors though; beyond the special effects; beyond the story; let’s look at the franchise, is this the Superman movie we all hoped for? Yes, I think it is. I’ve never been a Superman fan and seeing as though it took me almost a year to see it I think you’d agree but I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. Granted it’s nothing to rival the giant that’s Spiderman in the Comic/Movie ranks but this film certainly did a lot in returning the franchise to its rightful glory.

* Say it fast with an English or Irish accent….. turns into…. (well I’ll be fucked)

Can you remember a time when you thought flying was fun? I can’t. The memory of looking forward to getting inside a few hundred ton of metal and hurling myself into the gravity defying blue yonder has slowly faded into a distant one. I have no real fear of flying, it doesn’t phase me at all but like so many things in life the thought of it being fun has been lost. Think of it in the same kind of way that the memory of your first blow job tells you it was probably awesome, in fact you know it was but you just can’t remember any of the details that well anymore.

At this very moment I’m a few thousand feet above the South Australian, Victorian border on my way from Melbourne to Adelaide to visit my family. I’ve made this same trip about thirty or forty times in the past couple of years and with each flight I tend to get more and more annoyed at the whole event. For instance with my current flight there’s already been a delay on departure that no one can explain, I have a child constantly kicking the back of my seat (Can’t wait to send the parents my physio bill), a sweaty fat guy drooling asleep to my right and some moron that likes screaming at random intervals in some kind of drunken gibberish.

Its because of these wonderful experiences that I’ve come to develop some helpful guidelines I recommend all flying commuters take a quick glance over; if not in an attempt to make your flying day better but to make my entire life a little easier. That’s what’s really important here isn’t it? Hehe, so here’s a few tips to hopefully make flying fun again for everyone….

Check-in online.
Most modern airlines these days are offering you the ability of checking in online up to 24 hours before your actual departure. The fantastic thing about this is that you can choose your seating allocation and you’re not stuck with some random seat you have no control over. Also there’s a greater selection of seating options because you’ll be one of the first to choose your seat, which comes to my next point.

Choosing your seat.
If you’re lucky enough to be able to have free choice over your seat here’s a couple of points to keep in mind. The first couple of rows are allocated for people who may have difficulty getting on and off the plane. If you don’t like talking to old people steer clear of these. The last few rows are, from my experience, usually where the parents with infants get dumped. If screaming kids and chair kicking isn’t your thing stay out of the last few rows. So where else does that leave you? Well the middle but then you’ll be standing around waiting for everyone to get off for ten minutes when you hit the ground not to mention being stuck in an emergency isle which means no hand luggage under the seat in front of you. My personal favorite is an isle seat (so much easier to go to the bathroom if required) in about the 4th row from the rear. Also if you’re choosing your seat online and you can see there’s a window seat taken and you choose the isle you’ve got a good chance of that seat between the two remaining free on less busy flights which gives you some extra room!

Get to the airport early & relaxed.
There’s nothing more annoying than being borderline late for a flight and dealing with slow morons at every stage of the process from the moment you step out of your cab at the airport to getting through the four hundred security points and on to your plane. I know what you’re thinking though, why would I want to be in an airport for an hour before my flight bored shitless? Well this is what I would do, if you fly with one airline regularly they probably have a lounge of some type that you can join or a casual visit price. Try them out, get a drink and relax, read the paper or play a bit of Playstation, you’ll be surprised just how big a difference it can make. If you tend to roam between airline carriers find the airport bar and have a little something to relax the nerves there instead.

Be prepared for security.
There is nothing more annoying than people that don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to what they can & can’t take on a plane these days. If it’s sharp put it in your luggage, if you have anything in your pockets put it in your hand luggage *before* you go through the metal detectors and for the love of god have your laptops out and ready so everyone in the line doesn’t have to watch you unzip your 20 compartments to get it out. The regulations of what you can take on board with you may differ from country to country so just be aware of what you need to do and be prepared.

I’m not your friend.
Just because I’ve been placed next to you on a plane for the next (x) minutes/hours does not automatically make me your best friend. In most cases I will never, ever see you again in my life. This is not to say conversing with your fellow passenger should be forbidden but don’t keep trying if they’re obviously not interested. Having them put headphones on would be a prime example of this disinterest.

Fly with someone.
Actually let me elaborate a little; fly with someone you like! Flying is a crap load more fun when you’ve got someone to talk to, it’s even more fun if they’re a little scared of flying and then you can giggle at them every time you hit some turbulence. I’m so evil! Mwahahaha!

Your own entertainment.
Never ever rely on in-flight entertainment from your airline. Half the time it doesn’t work the other half the quality is crap, especially on domestic flights. Make sure you have your iPod or some other device handy and charged. Not only does it provide you with media you know you’ll definitely enjoy but can also serve as a great mechanism for stopping strangers from making random conversation or drowning out screaming children.

There you have it, just a few little things to keep in mind before embarking on your next airborne voyage. These are just ideas and thoughts that have helped me in the past and although I’m sure there’s a lot more to add I just didn’t want to sound like a complete prick and suggest muzzles for children or anything. Just joking…. Do you have any suggestions for fun air travel? Let me know.