Strange that with all the planning that went into this trip, I find myself running around, with some last minute shopping and preparations. I realised that both pairs of shoes that I wanted to bring along are falling apart; it'll teach me to get cheap shoes from a discount outlet!! Today's to-do list includes getting new shoes, getting a haircut (already have a real job, so that part is done!), packing my bag and stopping by work to set up my list of contacts, leaving an out of office message, leaving a voicemail message and picking up a few office supplies...
A pretty full day if I say so myself, so off I go; I will add more later!
Monday, June 5, 2006
Sunday, June 4, 2006
A new toy for Mac Mini owners...
Although add-on drives have been available for the Mac Mini since almost day one, Miglia Technology has announced the availability of TVMax, an add-on drive with a twist; it has some very interesting digital video recorder functionalities while it perfectly matches Apple's Mac mini:
TVMax lets Mac users watch TV in window mode or full screen, convert VHS tapes to DVD quickly and easily and best of all, TVMax records in MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DivX formats. When bundled with EyeTV 2.0, TVMax is also ideal for iPod Video owners thanks to the exclusive One Click iPod export function.
TVMax is bundled with EyeTV 2, which lets users watch, pause, rewind and skip forward live TV, schedule recordings, access online TV guides, edit recorded TV shows and more. TVMax is also supplied with an infrared remote control. The TVMax is priced at US$249.
TVMax lets Mac users watch TV in window mode or full screen, convert VHS tapes to DVD quickly and easily and best of all, TVMax records in MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DivX formats. When bundled with EyeTV 2.0, TVMax is also ideal for iPod Video owners thanks to the exclusive One Click iPod export function.
TVMax is bundled with EyeTV 2, which lets users watch, pause, rewind and skip forward live TV, schedule recordings, access online TV guides, edit recorded TV shows and more. TVMax is also supplied with an infrared remote control. The TVMax is priced at US$249.
Some luggage details...
I found out that one of the airlines we will be flying has different limitations for luggage; Air Canada, which we take for the first leg of our journey, has a limit of 3 pieces of luggage, with a maximum weight of 70lbs. a piece, while Lufthansa, which we take for the second lef of our journey, has a limit of 2 pieces of luggage, with a maximum weight of 70lbs. I had planned on having two carry-on baggage and one piece of luggage, my big rolling duffle. But I took the precaution of packing my regular duffle bag, just in case I bring some things back from my trip (such as some of the equipment we sent ahead of us, or perhaps a boatload of knick knacks for people back home. Although I have received no special request, I know a few people that would probably enjoy a little souvenir!
While on the subject of luggage, I picked up a Fast Track Rolling Duffle from Mountain Equipment Coop; here's a picture from their site:
I have to point out that this was a gift from my dad and his girlfriend, for my birthday. This was the bag that I had selected and that fit all of my specific criteria (and being bloody difficult, my criteria can be pretty specific). I highly recommend it currently, just for the excellent quality of construction. I have yet to travel with it, but I think that my little trip will really put this bag through its paces. I picked the 120 litre size, to leave ample room for anything I might want to fit in there; trust me, there is enough space in there to fit more than I could possibly carry or drag. I am planning on packing today, and get that out of the way first and getting a feel for the weight and volume of the bag. Then I will simply have to concern myself with the last minute details of the trip. I will make sure to add some more information before I leave...
While on the subject of luggage, I picked up a Fast Track Rolling Duffle from Mountain Equipment Coop; here's a picture from their site:
I have to point out that this was a gift from my dad and his girlfriend, for my birthday. This was the bag that I had selected and that fit all of my specific criteria (and being bloody difficult, my criteria can be pretty specific). I highly recommend it currently, just for the excellent quality of construction. I have yet to travel with it, but I think that my little trip will really put this bag through its paces. I picked the 120 litre size, to leave ample room for anything I might want to fit in there; trust me, there is enough space in there to fit more than I could possibly carry or drag. I am planning on packing today, and get that out of the way first and getting a feel for the weight and volume of the bag. Then I will simply have to concern myself with the last minute details of the trip. I will make sure to add some more information before I leave...
Friday, June 2, 2006
And a few more changes, part 2...
Of course, the expected changes happened this morning; we are changing hotels. Apparently, The Royal Meridien is not all that it appears to be, so we will be relocated to the Taj Connemara, which is apparently much nicer. Here are a couple of pictures:
As soon as we arrive, I will post some larger and more detailed pictures!
As soon as we arrive, I will post some larger and more detailed pictures!
My itinerary...
So today is the last day I go to work until I leave on Tuesday; I have a fairly full schedule today, with two meetings this morning before I have to give a presentation in the afternoon. The guys from the team and I also thought that it might be nice to go for a couple drinks, and have a last minute chat... As I received my itinerary yesterday, I thought that I would also share some details about that, so here goes:
Ottawa to Toronto: Leave at 16h00 and arrive at 17h05
Toronto to Frankfurt: Leave at 18h10 and arrive the next day, 7h35
Frankfurt to Chennai: Leave at 11h30 and arrive at 23h45
Total travel time = 26 hours!!!
Should be an interesting experience, to say the least! As I had mentionned previously, I went to pick up my Visa on Wednesday afternoon; picking up the Visa took all of five minutes. Unfortunately, it was not exactly a great day, as we also found out that our preparation week had been removed from the schedule; this will make things a lot more difficult, but not necessarily impossible. Roll with the punches, as they say!
Ottawa to Toronto: Leave at 16h00 and arrive at 17h05
Toronto to Frankfurt: Leave at 18h10 and arrive the next day, 7h35
Frankfurt to Chennai: Leave at 11h30 and arrive at 23h45
Total travel time = 26 hours!!!
Should be an interesting experience, to say the least! As I had mentionned previously, I went to pick up my Visa on Wednesday afternoon; picking up the Visa took all of five minutes. Unfortunately, it was not exactly a great day, as we also found out that our preparation week had been removed from the schedule; this will make things a lot more difficult, but not necessarily impossible. Roll with the punches, as they say!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Macbook Complete Specs...
Technical Specifications for the Macbook
In the Box
MacBook
Apple Remote
60W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug and power cord
Lithium-polymer battery
Install/restore DVDs
Printed and electronic documentation
Processor and memory
1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor
2MB on-chip shared L2 cache
667MHz frontside bus
512MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) on two SO-DIMMs; supports up to 2GB
Storage
60GB or 80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard disk drive; optional 80GB, 100GB or 120GB drive2
One of the following optical drives:
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Slot-loading SuperDrive with double-layer read support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW): writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs at up to 4x speed, reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 10x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Graphics and Video Support
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory1
Extended desktop and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1920 x 1200 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colours
Built-in iSight camera with 640-by-480-pixel resolution
Mini-DVI port
DVI output using mini-DVI to DVI adapter (sold separately)
VGA output using mini-DVI to VGA adapter (sold separately)
Composite and S-video output using mini-DVI to video adapter (sold separately)
Communications
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme wireless networking (based on 802.11g standard)
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) up to 3 Mbps
Optional external Apple USB Modem
Audio
Built-in stereo speakers
Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)
Battery and power
55-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery with integrated charge indicator LEDs
60W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management system
MagSafe power adapter port
Display
13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen. TFT display with support for millions of colours
Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768, 1024 by 640, 800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio
Electrical and environmental requirements
Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
Line voltage: 100-240V AC
Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz
Operating temperature: 10° to 35° C
Storage temperature: -24° to 45° C
Relative humidity: 0% to 90% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet
Peripheral connections
One FireWire 400 port (up to 400 Mbps)
Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
Security
Kensington cable lock slot
Software
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools)
iLife ’06 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, iWork (30-day trial), Big Bang Board Games, Comic Life, Omni Outliner, and Apple Hardware Test
Front Row
Input
Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted "T" arrangement), and embedded numeric keypad
Solid-state scrolling trackpad for precise cursor control; supports two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities
Apple Remote
Size and weight
Height: 2.75 cm (1.08 inches)
Width: 32.5 cm (12.78 inches)
Depth: 22.7 cm (8.92 inches)
Weight: 2.36 kg (5.2 pounds)
In the Box
MacBook
Apple Remote
60W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug and power cord
Lithium-polymer battery
Install/restore DVDs
Printed and electronic documentation
Processor and memory
1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor
2MB on-chip shared L2 cache
667MHz frontside bus
512MB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) on two SO-DIMMs; supports up to 2GB
Storage
60GB or 80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard disk drive; optional 80GB, 100GB or 120GB drive2
One of the following optical drives:
Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Slot-loading SuperDrive with double-layer read support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW): writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 4x speed, writes DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs at up to 4x speed, reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 10x speed, reads CDs at up to 24x speed
Graphics and Video Support
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory1
Extended desktop and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1920 x 1200 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colours
Built-in iSight camera with 640-by-480-pixel resolution
Mini-DVI port
DVI output using mini-DVI to DVI adapter (sold separately)
VGA output using mini-DVI to VGA adapter (sold separately)
Composite and S-video output using mini-DVI to video adapter (sold separately)
Communications
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme wireless networking (based on 802.11g standard)
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) up to 3 Mbps
Optional external Apple USB Modem
Audio
Built-in stereo speakers
Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)
Battery and power
55-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery with integrated charge indicator LEDs
60W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management system
MagSafe power adapter port
Display
13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen. TFT display with support for millions of colours
Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768, 1024 by 640, 800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio
Electrical and environmental requirements
Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
Line voltage: 100-240V AC
Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz
Operating temperature: 10° to 35° C
Storage temperature: -24° to 45° C
Relative humidity: 0% to 90% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet
Peripheral connections
One FireWire 400 port (up to 400 Mbps)
Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
Security
Kensington cable lock slot
Software
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools)
iLife ’06 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand), Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, iWork (30-day trial), Big Bang Board Games, Comic Life, Omni Outliner, and Apple Hardware Test
Front Row
Input
Built-in full-size keyboard with 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys, including 12 function keys, 4 arrow keys (inverted "T" arrangement), and embedded numeric keypad
Solid-state scrolling trackpad for precise cursor control; supports two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap, and drag capabilities
Apple Remote
Size and weight
Height: 2.75 cm (1.08 inches)
Width: 32.5 cm (12.78 inches)
Depth: 22.7 cm (8.92 inches)
Weight: 2.36 kg (5.2 pounds)
And a few more changes....
So I finally received my itinerary and flight information; the only problems seems to be with the return date, which is about three weeks later than it should... I've brought thisup to the people organising my trip; more to come on this!
I also finally got my passport today, no problems there. I then went to the Indian High Comission for my Visa; a pretty funny experience. Nonetheless, I should be able to pick up my Visa from 16h30 today, so at least, these last details are out of the way!
I'll add a little more later!
I also finally got my passport today, no problems there. I then went to the Indian High Comission for my Visa; a pretty funny experience. Nonetheless, I should be able to pick up my Visa from 16h30 today, so at least, these last details are out of the way!
I'll add a little more later!
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