I recently purchased the new MacBook… glossy screen with aluminum and glass casing. It is very thin and light, to the point where people continuously ask me if it is a MacBook Air. I think the MacBook Air is too thin and it looks you could break it easily; however, I think that my MacBook is the perfect size.

The battery seems to last for quite a long time, I think on a full charge if you’re surfing the Internet you can get 4 hours of use. It also has an exterior button on the side that if you press will show you how much battery power you have left without opening your computer. Surprisingly handy!

The screen is very bright and clear and although it does reflect a lot in direct sunlight, it is a big improvement on the older MacBooks. It feels much sturdier and looks a lot sleeker and cooler.

I love the new trackpad. It only takes a day or two to get used to it, but it is so much bigger than older models that when I go back to using an older version, it feels cramped. It is also a lot smoother and doesn’t seem to retain finger grease at all. My complaint is that it is a lot louder, but you can make up for this by turning on “tap to click” in system preferences.

My last complaint about this computer is that every time I open the lid there is visible dust or prints on the screen. Fortunately Apple includes a dust remover rag that works very well, but it is a slight nuisance to have to wipe down the screen every time I open it. I think it’s because of the glossy surface that it has this attribute. When my dust swiper accumulates a lot of dust, I run a lint roller over it and it’s back to new.

Another handy feature of this computer is that the brightness of the screen adjusts to the amount of light available, if you put your hand over the sensor (which is near the iSight) the screen will dim. I think it adjusts to better suit your eyes. You don’t want a really bright screen when you are surrounded by darkness. Apparently this also helps the computer save energy.

The major improvements though are the look and feel which are far superior to old MacBooks and the trackpad is truly a great accomplishment. I had been holding off for a long time on buying laptops because I always thought the screens were so poor and dim, but this one has a great screen. Perfect for editing photos and watching movies. Great for traveling and it only takes a few moments to start up and shut down.

Would definitely recommend getting one of these to all of my friends.

I have the 20 inch fourth generation iMac and a few weeks ago, I noticed some condensation underneath the screen. Apparently there are actually two glass panels and the condensation was between these two panels. At first I thought I had somehow spit on the screen, but when I tried to wipe it away it remained. Later more spots appeared in a different area. I turned it off for about four days, but all of the spots remained.

I called Apple and they scheduled an appointment for me at the nearest Apple store. I brought it to the store and a guy then took it into a back room where he wiped it clean for about 10 minutes. I asked him if he thought it would happen again, and he completely dodged the question. I hope it doesn’t come back, because although it is small it’s a pain to lug it through a mall. He missed a spot two, it’s very small but also kind of annoying.

I’ll update this blog is anything else happens, but apparently if this happens to you… you’ll just have to take it to a store where they’ll wipe it clean and then you just have to hope the condensation doesn’t come back. Also, I highly recommend scheduling an appointment. When I got there, there was a big sign at the Genius Bar that said the rest of the day was booked and they could see no other customers. Also, I didn’t know what to do when I got there… just go back to the Genius Bar and wait until they call out your name. They don’t wait for you to show up for very long, so make sure you’re there on time.

Today I went to eat lunch at The Grove, the classy new restaurant in Discovery Green Park. As are all of the buildings in the new park, it is eco-friendly. The building was constructed primarily from recycled materials and it has its own herb garden and compost pile. There are even solar panels on the roof and  they boast a stringent recycling policy.

The setting is unbeatable as far as Houston restaurants go, what other upscale restaurants are located in a park? Although almost all of the tables were full, it wasn’t noisy because of the high ceilings and spaciousness of the place. We loved the feel of the place and they did a great job designing the interior. It feels classy and upscale but is far from overly pretentious. One whole wall is all glass, offering a great view of the whole park. We were there in the heat of the day, but since there is a line of oak trees shading the side of the building, it wasn’t hot or overly sunny at all.

The food was really good though a little pricey, and the lunch menu isn’t any cheaper -it is simply a scaled down dinner menu. I got the salmon fillet and it was cooked perfectly and was a decent sized portion. Most main course items were at least 20 dollars though the sandwiches were around 15. If you’re not looking to spend this much money, I’d still recommend going for a starter or a drink. They have a full bar and a selection of martinis. There’s an outdoor patio under the oak trees where you could sip a martini and enjoy a warm summer night while people watching. Service was friendly and attentive. It’s a great restaurant in a great park and I think all Houstonians should visit the park to see that downtown Houston is moving in the right direction. It’s right next to the George R. Brown convention center and the impressive Hilton Hotel.

Park: www.discoverygreenpark.com

Restaurant: www.thegrovehouston.com  => reservations recommended

My first impression when I saw this camera was that it was by far the coolest camera I’d ever seen. Two years later, and this still holds true. Everyone was impressed whenever I’d take it out for pictures. This was my fourth Olympus camera and all the previous ones had been great. Beautiful pictures, ease of use, long battery life, and cool looking.

Unfortunately this camera did not meet my expectations. I loved the 7 megapixels and big screen, but the pictures were just not up to par. Whenever I took a big scenic shot with a blue sky or water, the blue was always grainy and the pixels were not fluid. Many times, my pictures would look fine on the camera’s screen, but when I got home they’d turn out to be blurry. After awhile I got into the habit of taking multiple shots of the same scene just in case one turned out blurry. The worst part of this camera is that if there is even a little sunlight, you can’t see the screen so you can’t tell exactly what you’re taking a picture of (and there’s no viewfinder so the screen is the only thing you can use). It’s really a huge problem.

In terms of taking pictures of people… in door pictures just don’t look good. I think the flash might be too severe because everyone looks paler and the pictures are usually very overexposed. My friends complained about this to me all the time, but there was nothing I could do. Tons of indoor pictures come out blurry… and I couldn’t take multiple pictures of me or my friends in the same pose all the time because that gets annoying. I used to delete all the blurry ones, but I kept having to delete ones that could have been good, so I eventually kept the blurry ones as normal pictures. I love taking pictures and I finally realized that there is no reason for me (or anyone) to settle for such a poor camera. Listen, I used to love Olympus cameras, but I hated this last camera. I’ve read tons of reviews on the newer models hoping they’d be better… but I’ve had to let Olympus go and move on to Canon. Maybe they’ll revitalize their company, but right now I’d stay away from their digital cameras.

If you’re looking for a new camera, read my review on the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS… and then go buy it, I promise you’ll be happy.

About a month ago I purchased the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS digital camera after reading favorable reviews at many different sites. I bought it just in time to take it on a 2 and a half week vacation in Eastern Europe. I was sick of my faulty old camera (the Olympus Stylus 710, which I’ll review in another entry).

I am amazed with my new camera. I have to admit that I had a bias against Canon (and towards Olympus) for many years, but my last Olympus camera was really disappointing. The SD870 IS has a beautiful screen that is clearly visible even under bright sunlight. In fact, the screen is so amazing that pictures actually look better on it then some older computer screens. Most importantly, the pictures it takes are simply stunning. Out of the 400 pictures I took, very few were overexposed (the camera seems to be able to overcome most of the bad effects of direct sunlight) and not a single one came out blurry. My dad had a 5 year old camera that he has been very satisfied, but as soon as I showed him some of my pictures he immediately decided to get a new one himself.

The camera turns on fast enough to snap spur of the moment shots, and the interface is extremely easy to use. One feature I love is that the camera can take pictures where everything is in black and white except for a color that you’ve selected, which creates very artistic looking pictures. -I’m sure you’ve seen other Canon owners do this.

My favorite feature of the camera is it’s wide-angle lens. I’ve been wanting this sort of thing in a camera for as long as I can remember because I like taking expansive shots of plazas or buildings. I figured I would have to get a massive 35mm camera, and I never expected this out of a pocket-sized digital camera. You will be amazed at how close you can stand next to a building and still fit the whole thing in one frame.

After heavily using my camera for about three weeks (50+ pictures/ day), I have no complaints and only praise for it. I’m not sure how long the battery life is, but I went days without charging it and never saw the battery icon drain. At only 300 dollars (less on Amazon), I would recommend this camera to everyone.

Last night a group of us went to La Traviata for dinner for Lysa’s birthday. None of us had been there before but the restaurant was completely full. We all felt like we were in New York because the restaurant was long and narrow, with little tables and it was pretty noisy.

The service was pretty standard; a little inattentive, but polite. It was kind of nice to be left alone to be by ourselves, but our waitress seemed to have too many tables and it was at times difficult to get her over to us.

Everyone was very impressed by the food and we all got different things. The bread is also very good and they give you a fair amount. I got the Spaghetti Carbonara and it was really tasty, although a little too creamy for me. The Blue Crab with Capellini was also extremely good and less creamy. The prices are moderately expensive, entrees are around 15-20, but the portions are bigger than most restaurants with this kind of quality food.

I’d definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone, although it’s more expensive than just a casual dinner. It’s located near 3rd on Congress, so parking may be an issue if you don’t want to pay. Also, make reservations because it’s a small and popular restaurant.

As the semester quickly progresses, it’s getting to be around the time when a lot of people start looking for a new place to live…unless you’re like me and you wait until the end of July. If you’re looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom, just know that prices will not be coming down even if you wait until the last second.

Let’s talk about the pros first. It only take me about 10 minutes to walk to Guadalupe (about 15-20 minutes to get to class) and MLK and 24th are easily accessible. Also, I love how I can park directly in front of my front door which made moving in a breeze and it takes me about 30 seconds to get my groceries in the house. Parking is never a problem and there are even 4 guest parking spots which are usually available during the day and weeknights (but not at night on the weekends). My one bedroom is pretty big and the apartment itself is relatively clean (for a West Campus apartment). Also my roof started leaking water at one point and they fixed it the same day that I reported it.

Now for the cons…and there are a lot. The outside looks pretty ghetto and I’m sometimes embarrassed walking towards it (even though I’m paying a ton for rent!). Let’s see, I have almost no counter space in my kitchen, no drawers, and no pantry. The cabinets are also so high up that I can’t use the top shelves and there are no cabinets below waist level. The walls are paper thin, I can actually hear my neighbors having conversations and I think if they were speaking English I could probably get the general gist of what they were saying. The shower-head is so low that the water hits me at about shoulder level (I’m 5′9″) which is strange seeing how the cabinets are incredibly high up. I also don’t like how the utility bills are allocated, which means that if I am really conservative in my usage…it won’t matter if everyone else in the complex is not. Also, there washer/dryer units are onsite and not in your actual unit which is kind of annoying

Would I recommend living here? It’s old, overpriced, and not well built, but my room is huge, the parking situation is ideal, and you can walk to class. Come and look to find out for yourself (22 1/2 and San Gabriel). It’s an ok place to live but I’ve gotten used to it and I’m satisfied.

Over the break I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and it’s one of those rare books that is impossible to put down but after it’s over, you feel like you learned a lot.

I’m going to give away as little as possible about the storyline because I don’t want to ruin anything, so I’ll just give you a little background information. It is about the traveling circus back in the Great Depression Era and offers you a glimpse of a fantasy life that you’d never imagine on your own. She did tons and tons of research on circuses back then so everything is extremely realistic and she covers topics that have always interested me (like prohibition, speakeasies, and the intelligence of animals). To make the book even more relevant to readers today, she weaves the past in with the present to create a masterful story that you’ll remember for years to come.

A lot of times, after I finish reading a book I’ll forget how it ended in just a few months… not in this case though, the ending gave me goosebumps and I’ll always remember it vividly.

I finished the 350 or so pages in just a few days and I read the last 60 pages in one sitting. Go and buy it! You can purchase Water for Elephants for only 8.37 on Amazon.com (because it is so popular). After you finish reading it, let me know what you thought. Just remember to read the prologue (it’ll hook you in immediately) and the discussion with the author at the end, both are important and will give you an even better appreciation for the book itself.

I’ll try to review more books on here… right now I’m reading The Pillars of the Earth, but I’m only on page 400 of 973 so it’ll be a while until I can review it.

I just purchased a new Mac and as a lot of you know, when you purchase a new Mac, you get a 100 dollar rebate towards a new printer. I didn’t think I’d be reviewing my “free” printer but I was so impressed by it that I thought I should.

I got the Canon iP3500 which is a pretty sleek looking black printer that you can close when not in use to save space and make your desk look neater. It is quiet and fast and very easy to use with no complex frills. When you load your ink cartridges, they will actually glow red once you correctly and securely set it in place -cool and useful.

I just printed out some pictures and was surprised at how fast they came out, I’d say it can spit them out in about 5-7 seconds. Even more surprisingly was how brilliant and flawless they look. I put them up next to my digital pictures that I had printed out through Walgreens and found that the only difference between them is that the ones I printed out myself don’t have any glare. Looks like I won’t have to go to Walgreens anymore for pictures.

The two printers that the Apple store guy recommended to me were this one and an HP printer/scanner combo. He said that HP and Canon printers are very similar in quality but Canon ink is cheaper and they use less ink. Another plus for this printer is that you can hook your camera directly to the printer and print that way.

Just remember, if you’re using a Mac -> you can start printing immediately just by hooking it up to your computer, but if you want to print pictures you’ll have to run the quick install that comes on the CD in the box. Also, I read some reviews about this printer saying that it didn’t work that well with Vista. Well, I have news for you: most things don’t work well with Vista third party products don’t work well with Vista!

If you’re looking for a reasonably priced printer that can print out great photos, go with this one. You’ll be surprised at how great a 100 dollar printer can be.

Tonight was the first night I was able to finally try Austin’s premier sushi restaurant: Uchi

I made reservations about two weeks ahead and the only open time they had for two people was at 6pm. Thanks to it’s outside of downtown location, Uchi actually has free parking. Although during the week they have to share their lot with a doggy daycare.

The waiting and bar areas were jam-packed and the couple in front of us was told that the wait would be an hour and a half. That’s when I love to shimmy my way around the denied couple to inform the hostess that I made a reservation. Fortunately, since our reservation was so early, there were no campers and we were seated immediately.

We ordered a pretty impressive array of dishes ranging from salmon belly to raw scallop. All of the sushi was melt-in-your-mouth amazing with the perfect amount of wasabi and good quality rice (which a lot of other fancy sushi restaurants overlook).

The atmosphere wasn’t pretentious, and despite the mob around the front door the dining area is quiet. The wait was very helpful and friendly; our waitress made a few great recommendations that I wouldn’t have ordered on my own. My dad and I also noticed that the number of employees working in the kitchen, I’d never seen so many sushi chefs and cooks in one place at one time…which meant that our dishes came out amazingly fast but still with care. Our food came out at such a rapid speed and were so small that we had to eat as slow as possible so that we’d avoid getting out of there in 10 minutes.

The restaurant looks like a cozy neighborhood house instead of a nightclub with tables in the middle where you feel like you have to dress to the nines to fit in. I felt like the owner was more focused on the quality of food than appearances… although the presentation of the food was very impressive.

Uchi is a welcome relief from the standard ostentatious American sushi restaurant that is overwhelming cities across the country and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone. Just expect small portions and high prices, and you’ll be happy with some of the freshest sushi around. Oh and for those of you who prefer the Longhorn roll at Kyoto, there are heavy Americanized rolls as well.