Apple

During the presentation of the new generation of iMacs in August of last year, Steve Jobs showed a slide with on the left the new iMac, and on the right a Dell workstation. The iMac looked nice and clean with only a power cable and the mouse/keyboard cable connected. A spaghetti of cables was covering the image of the Dell.

Today I came across the image attached to this post, that shows exactly the downside of a clean desk. Let's hope the iSight of my iMac doesn't stop working.

I'm posting this message from my spanking new iPod touch. Typing on the touch keyboard is a little slower then on a regular keyboard, but way faster than on any handheld device I ever owned. The glass screen seems very scratch restistant, in contrary with the back of the iPod. The back is made of the same shiny metal used on the other iPod models and is known for scratching even when just glimpsing at it. And now back to some handheld youtubing.

Yesterday Apple showed the refreshed iMac line to the world. Today I share my 3D model made in SketchUp with you.

Apple filed a patent on a way to pile icons on the desktop. This made me think of a prototype project called BumpTop. With BumpTop you're desktop behaves as a real life desktop with a lot of junk that you can throw around.

See for yourself on www.BumpTop.com.

Time to give an update about the previous months. A lot has happened since I updated the site 2 months ago.

iPod
Let's start with some commercial talk. My Samsung MP3 playered abruptly stopped working after my brother took it for a spin and therefore I was looking for a new one. The Samsung absolutely did not suit my needs. It had a lot of functions. Too many functions. It could do a lot but was very clumsy in use.

After a search on the internet I narrowed the possibilities down to two models. The Creative Zen V Plus and the iPod Nano. Both had more than enough storage room for my needs, were small and had a great interface. The in-store comparison blew the Creative away. The iPod Nano is a beauty. It has a solid aluminum body instead of the plastic used by the Zen V, the Clickwheel works better, has a lot more accessories and it had an extra 4GB of storage. I'm now saving for a Mac go with it...

Tool
Tool gave their 3rd concert in the Netherlands in a year on November 9th in Ahoy Rotterdam. Erik and I were there! We were right in front of the stage, first undergoing a vast wall of sound from support act Mastodon. My ear-plugs almost popped out of my ears.

Tool was a lot better. They played the same setlist as Pinkpop and in the Heineken Music Hall, but that is not important. I can hear these great pieces of art an unlimited number of times without getting bored. The lightshow was very impressive with lasers to complete the whole experience. Again next year please!

The way home we were able to catch the last train to Utrecht, but we had to go to Weesp! Luckily my girlfriend's father helped us out and picked us up with his car. Thanks Ger!

Muse
One month later and 70 kilometers more south it was Muse's turn to blow us away. The guys entertained us with their epic songs and overwhelming visual effects in an overcrowded concerthall

This is their biggest tour ever and it shows. The drummer appeared from a video-screen-covered dome, a huge translucent screen at the back showed visuals typical for Muse and large balloons filled with confetti bounced on the crowd. 14 songs and a very hot show later we could head home again.Thanks to some midnight traffic jams it took twice as long though.

Work
And on a final note. My contract at Albertz Hendrix Architects got renewed and is now without end date. Many more years of happy working lie ahead.