The World of Scott Mindeaux

28 hours and counting…

Good morning everyone.

Well the rain has left Southern California and the sun is shining and the sky is blue with big white puffy clouds.

I woke up a bit groggy this morning, but got myself out of bed and started to pack for my trip to San Francisco tomorrow. I’m leaving for SF to attend Macworld and get in 5 days of training. This is no vacation! I’ll be in classes from Tuesday to Saturday. Here is my tentative schedule so far:

TUESDAY, Feb 9  & WEDNESDAY, Feb 10
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
In-Depth Final Cut Studio or AppleScripting

THURSDAY, Feb 11
1:00 pm to 2:15 pm
Demystifying Digital Asset Management

2:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Adobe CS Administration

4:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Administering Macs in Exchange 2007

FRIDAY, Feb 12
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
Mastering OS X Administration

1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Scripting for Deployment and Sys Administration

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Advanced Integration with Final Cut Server or Enterprise Level Scripting

SATURDAY, Feb 13
10:00 am to 11:30 am
Installer packages for Admins

12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
System Image Creation and Deployment

2:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Advanced Apple Remote Desktop or How to survive an IT Audit
or
Deploying iPhone, iPad in an Enterprise environment

It will be a bit of a wet week up in SF. We have rain forecasted for Monday night thru most of Tuesday and then again on Thursday to Friday. Temps will hold in the mid 50’s all week with nighttime lows in the mid 40s.

I also want to get in some foodie-time while I”m here so today I need to scope out some restaurants. A dear former co-worker of mine, Kimberley Davis is back in SF so I have plans to meet up with her this week as well. Kimberley and I worked together at Sur La Table corporate. Also in town are friends Michael, Mauricio and Brett. Brent (aka Larry from the Little Fatty Cast) will also be attending Macworld and will be there for the week. He is actually there today cheering on a friend of his in the Kaiser Permanente SF Half Marathon and 5k Fun Run.

I have quite a bit of packing to do and I still need to get into the office to do a few things before I can leave.

See you guys in San Fran!

Smallville’s Absolute Justice

I couldn’t wait to get home on Friday night. It was the two hour event called Absolute Justice on Smallville. Yes, those of you who know me probably hear about my continued support for Smallville and it’s “slightly” re-imagined storyline.

I had heard about this upcoming episode a few months back and I honestly forgot all the details. When I got home and found that I had already missed the first 15 minutes I came into an already moving storyline. So I rewinded back to the beginning. I’m not going to spoil it by going into the storyline (for those that haven’t seen it yet) but I was on the edge of my seat the entire 2 hours.

There was one character that caught my eye and was taken by him the entire evening. There was a commanding, yet gentle part of him that was very attractive. The entire night I couldn’t help but be taken by this actor. Who was he? As the story progressed we come to find he is Hawk Man.

The two hour event is worth watching again and I’m going to do so tonight with a nice warm bowl of New England Clam Chowder to go with this wet, damp night.

So I”m online and decided to look up who played this character who held me hostage for two hours. I was absolutely STUNNED when I found out it was none other than my favorite, Michael Shanks of Stargate fame. Yes! It was Michael Shanks. I write this entry still not convinced it was him.

Here is a clip from Smallville: Absolute Justice

Clouds over Macworld

Well I have been tracking the weather for next week. I’ll be in San Francisco for the week and hoping I won’t have to drudge thru the conference in rain gear. Now one weather site claims for cloudy to partly-sunny conditions for the week. However another site says showers likely for most of that week.

Now I know that predicting weather is not exact, but can’t two major weather sites on the internet get it right or at least be close? The two sites I use on a regular basis are Accuweather.com and Weather.com.  I also frequent the NOAA website.

I’m staying within a few blocks of Moscone, but not having to deal with rain would be nice. We have another rain event heading for Southern California on thrusday thru Friday. I’m sure it won’t be the torrential/epic rains that were cited a few weeks back, but we’re expecting up to 1″ in the OC and up to 2″ along the Saddleback mountains.

More on the iPad…

The slinging that has been going on between Apple and Adobe has been interesting to say the least. However, not having Flash on my iPhone has not in any way made me what to get rid of my phone. The iPad and it’s lack of Flash isn’t the end of anything. It will be apps developed specifically for the iPad that will bring forth what potential this device will have.

Flash aside, the ability to watch movies, check email, browse “most” of the web already makes this something I want to use. Is this something I’m going to carry around on my body – hell no, this is a device that will reside in my bag or at my apartment. I’d much rather be holding that in my lap than my MacBook Pro for watching a movie or for just doing research on the web. The potential for such a device in the medical arena are HUGE and can’t wait to see what the developers have in store for us. We have already seen the explosion of apps on the iPhone and I suspect we will see a similar surge with iPad developed apps.??There are TONS of great apps out there that are outstanding and it is unfortunate that some of those technologies may be left out in the wind on the iPad. But I think that these rivalries that exist between Apple and Adobe will have to be broken eventually. I for one would luv to be able to have a full rich experience on the web.

Do we actually think for a second that the only reason Flash isn’t on the iPhone is because Steve simply doesn’t want it? Even I don’t think he has THAT much power. If both sides are holding back and it is possible, then just let it be and let everyone choose how they want to see their data.??Not having Flash will not kill the iPad and the iPad will NOT kill Flash. Technology is an evolution of ideas. Just as animation in flash is lightyears ahead of text based browsers, something will come along and replace Flash as the next best thing. For now, our lively hood relies on these current technologies. We will adapt as HTML5 comes to fruition…or doesn’t.

Today I was reading an article about using the iPad for remote access or as a thin-client. I think that’s brilliant! There are already several VNC clients available and I would luv to see Apple develop an iPad specific version of Apple Desktop Remote. I think using it for remote access would be awesome!

It’s funny reading the responses to all the hoopla about the iPad…boy there are alot of haters out there! Geeez…. why are all of you such negative thinkers? Lighten up. If you don’t care for a product then don’t buy it. Simple as that. I for one will be buying one.

The OyePad

Today Apple, one of my favorite tech companies out there, announced the iPad. I actually was dead asleep this morning and missed the entire announcement, but once I woke up and realized that today was the big day, I pounced on the internet. Did it have a camera, was it running a full version of OS X, more importantly, would I want one.

After reading all about it and debating…I’m still not sure.

First off, just out of the park, it’s an oversized iPod Touch right? Physically and first impression, yes. But after thinking about it I determined the following:

1. It’s $240 more than a Kindle, almost 2x the cost, but 100x better.

2. As soon as more developers come on board, there will be better more USEFUL apps out there to take advantage of.

3. It runs everything an iPhone/iPod Touch can

4. Full web-browsing (yes…I know…the Flash thing….) but essentially…

5. iBooks – i think this is much richer experience than reading a book on a Kindle, for essentially the same price per book title.

6. It has Multi-touch

7. I think it shows off the next generation Mail app from Apple as well as the next version of iPhoto

8. Same goes for Contacts and Calendar – can’t wait to see it live!

Am I going to rush out and buy one on the first day, maybe not, but will I own one soon,  you bet!

Of Note…

I was talking to a friend of mine who is also a co-worker of my ex Brian. Turns out Brian got a promotion at work and I didn’t hear of it. Apparently it had just happened. I wrote to Brian and he said that he did indeed get a promotion at work and that he went thru a series of interviews and had to wear a suit. They’re business casual for the most part at their office. Brian and I went out to buy suits for each other to celebrate New Year’s Eve in 2004 and its been his lucky suit.

Well in the email he went on to say that he had his good luck note. Good luck note? Turns out that several years ago, I had written a note to him before work one day and wrote on it “Good luck today ”. I think he had a review coming that day.

Brian has held onto that note for the last six years since I moved away and he said that it was his good luck charm for work. He pulls it out when he needs to.

When I saw that on the screen this morning I just got overwhelmed with emotion.

Congratulations Bri…I’m proud of you. You’ll do great at the new job!

I’m really touched that you’ve held onto that note all these years…