From the Inside Out

Tonight was fun.  We went to a minor league hockey game with a few friends from our young married’s group at church.  The seats were close to the glass so we had a pretty good view of the action. Unfortunately, the Texas Tornadoes didn’t win, but the action was good and the fight was entertaining.  Other highlights are the humorous commentary by Gary (who had strangers 3 rows in front of us laughing), YMCA, the 70s dance line (even though they never caught us on the big screen), Gary and Jami “monkey walking” down the stairs, and the pictures.  All in all, it was a good evening.

Oh, and for those who may be wondering how the new Dell XPS 1330 is doing….well, the battery completely died on me last night.  Let’s see, it lasted about 10 days before failing.  I hope that’s not a sign of things to come with the rest of the hardware.  Dell is sending a new battery, so hopefully the new one will last longer.  Besides that, I’m really liking the new computer.  It’s very fast, and I like the compact size.  I was able to replace most of my applications with alternatives that run on Vista.  There are still a few that I’m missing, but hopefully, they’ll have a Vista version soon.  I’m even trying a few OpenSource alternatives.  I’ll let you know how that works when I have time to play with the applications more.

It’s a brand new year and while most people begin each year making a resolution they will never keep, I prefer to kick-off the year by experiencing new things. 

So, you may be wondering what I am doing this year. *queue suspenseful music* I’m blogging…that’s right…I’m entering into the mysterious, intimidating world of bloggers.  So, please be gentle with me as I embark on this new journey.

I’m also entering 2008 with a brand “spanking” new computer (the Dell XPS) and a new operating system (MS Vista).  Currently, I’m moving my data from the Dell Inspiron 6000, which is the worst part of getting a new computer.  There should be an easier and faster way to transfer data, but I haven’t found it yet.  In fact, if it weren’t for my husband’s help (he’s an IT professional), I’m sure it would have taken me even longer.  However, even with all of the hassles getting everything transferred, I’m really excited about the change. 

The Dell XPS is a sweet computer.  It’s fast (thanks to the Core 2 Duo processor), light (about 4 lbs), and has a great compact design.   I was worried about how reflective the new screens are, but so far it doesn’t bother me.  There’s very little glare, and the resolution is amazing.  I also like the fingerprint reader which saves you from entering passwords all the time.

My husband is excited about the ability to ouput hdmi to our hi-def television.  We haven’t tried it out yet, but I do have some videos I’d like to try once I get everything set-up.  I’d also like to try the Web cam, but there’s only so much time.

Another new thing for me is the Vista OS.  I wanted to get a machine with WinXP, but the XPS only comes with Vista, so I caved in.  I was pretty skeptical at first, but it’s slowly winning me over.  I’ve had no problems with it so far, and I’m liking some of the new features, so maybe it’s the start of a good relationship.  A few of the applications on my previous computer won’t run on XP.  I’m still trying to decide what to do about that, but I’m thinking there are probably other alternatives out there that I can purchase.  Hopefully, it won’t cost too much to replace what I’ve lost in making the move from XP to Vista.

I’ve only had the new system for a few days, so I’ll let you know if I have any updates (positive and negative) after I’ve used it for a few weeks.

A few other new things I’m playing with this year are the iPod Touch and the Flip Ulta video cam.  Look for future blogs on these coming soon!

Oh, and happy 2008!