Adam-Jackson

I rarely post rants nor do I post blog entries that are this short but I had to quickly say that I’m happy with my Canon G11 down to that one thing that counts the most, video. Maybe I was just spoiled by the G9 & G10 but let me start by going through the things I don’t like about the G11 aside from Video.

• Flimsy rotating LCD. Rotation is nice but not in a plastic flimsy enclosure
• Cheap Plastic feel. Most of the metal in the body is gone and replaced with plastic
• Small dials. Big thumbs beware
• Slow interface. The interface is hella slow, changing settings in manual mode means you can only expect to take a picture every 3 seconds even if you know everything about the camera (The G10 was less than a second)

The G10 was fast, rugged, well built and had larger dials. I loved that camera. The only reason I love the G11…when I want to get a shot, it may take a while but I can get it even without a tripod. The low light performance is incredible and that makes it a great camera for everyday use.

I deal with these problems only because of the fact that my photos are very much improved over the G10 but that’s it. I think daily about going back to the G10 for so many reasons.

I don’t shoot video very often as most of you know. But, when I’m at concerts or music festivals and an artist is performing that I love, it’s nice to shoot video of my favorite songs and this is especially true with DJs. They will have a hit song and then 10 years later, put out a new mix one time, live for a few hundred people that you’ve never heard and will never hear again. BT does this A LOT. I know all of his songs, every bit, every word by heart and when he changes it up, I want to capture that.

I’ve recorded video from 6 BT shows since 2005. It wasn’t until the G9 / G10 videos that I was happy with the sound. I’ve received tons of YouTube compliments for the sound quality of my videos because it’s excellent. I’ve included a few examples below of videos shot with my G9 OR G10.

Deadmau5 at Love Fest:

BT Performs “A Million Stars” at iPhoneDevCamp

As you can see. Two ridiculously loud videos w/ bass and right by the stage and things come out great! I got the Canon G11 in December but I don’t shoot videos much and I hadn’t gone to a concert in a while. Well, I’m in Miami for WMC / UMF and BT performed last night w/ the amazingly talented Jes. This was special because she sings on many of his tracks (such as the one you heard above) and having them on stage together was incredible.

I recorded every single song. Going through all 12 tracks and I’m highly disappointing. The video was equal to video I’ve shot in the past. It might even be better quality video than the G10 but the audio was distorted, crappy and simply bad. I can by a hot shoe enabled microphone for the G11 but I never had to. It was a great pocket camera and even video camera. Now, it’s the worst and I have to start carrying a Flip with me alongside the G11 which adds more weight.

I wish I would have known this is how bad the audio is because I would have borrowed a friend’s camera instead of rely on this $499 piece of crap.

Here is the Jes performance from last night. One of 12 videos that I shot. All of them are crap.

Hey, I know it’s a point and shoot but it’s a point and shoot that had two previous generations that could capture this kind of stuff flawlessly. Now it can’t do that. Wasn’t this supposed to be an upgrade from the G10? Canon?

This blog post probably has too many photos. I like taking photos and they help illustrate the story a bit. Thanks for reading.

My house. Just below the Sutro Tower to the left

Today marks the start of my third week at Brightkite and my third week in the new apartment. It’s the best decision I have ever made both the job and place I moved. Today, I’m stuck in my place working at home because I have a pretty bad cold but I’m more productive than ever. Being sick in my old apartment was never fun with the noise, sirens and the place was the size of a very small motel room. It was a pretty bad apartment but I remain thankful that I was able to move.

On Caltrain. Working and sipping coffee

Yesterday, I woke up to birds chirping and the sun rising over the trees just beyond my deck. I left the sliding glass door open last night because it was pretty warm and left the radio on streaming Pandora. My bed is comfortable, my neighborhood is quiet and relaxing and my overall mood is relaxed and focused. After getting out of bed, I walked into the kitchen that I customized decorated, surrounded by photos that I took of my family in frames and hanging on the wall. I broke some eggs and made an egg sandwich and used my espresso machine to make a soy latte. Then I caught up on email while overlooking the city of San Francisco. Finally, I strapped on my shoes and went for a run and I didn’t se another human being until a car finally passed by me on the hill I was running up. This is my routine every morning. This is how I should have been living all along.

My awesome kitchen. Everything I need

I never wanted to live the life wondering what could have been. No regrets, only experiences. I still want to, one day live in New York City for one year and see what it’s like. The same goes for Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Denver and Seattle. Also London, Tokyo and Amsterdam are on my list of places I want to live for at least a month. I’m not a free spirit that spends all of his money traveling but it’s something I love because of the experience and because of how it opens my eyes to new things.

The train at dusk

Living downtown was awesome. I walked a block to everywhere. Work, Barber, Grocery Store, Mall, Theater and all of my favorite bars were right across the street. I haven’t stepped foot anywhere on San Francisco’s Market Street or anywhere downtown since I left my old apartment 2 weeks ago. In fact, this is the 3rd day that I haven’t left the house. Why would I? I have food, my computers, my nature and the hills I need to climb and work on my fitness.

My Home Office

On Saturday and Sunday, I had friends come by to my new place for dinner. Saturday’s menu consisted of Swordfish, Bay Scallops and Roasted Red Peppers w/ a 2003 Pinot Noir wine and I cheated by just doing ice cream for dessert. Sunday, I cooked Tri-Tip Steak marinated in a carne asada sauce for 8 hours and served with asparagus, roasted garlic and a bottle of bold Cabernet Sauvignon. I cooked for 4 friends and they loved it! They loved my cooking. I spent hours preparing these meals, cleaning house and on Saturday, I spent all afternoon gardening my back yard, pulling weeds and cleaning up. It was a dream and just awesome!

My Evening Run. Up the hill and over the next.

I get home every night and lay down on my couch and look out over the city. It’s the best place I’ve ever lived. There’s a catch though.

My Deck overlooking San Francisco - Before my massive gardening project. Still more work to do.

Only one bus line runs through my neighborhood. Getting to more buses is a .9 mile walk / run. The only bus that’s closer comes ever 30 minutes. Taking public transit means my commute to work is 1.5 hours each way and there is no bus running through my neighborhood past 11PM. Yes, it’s pretty crappy but I don’t feel stranted. For the reasons I mentioned above, I don’t have to leave my place. Friends come to me and I love it. I’d take the ability to not be able to go bar hopping every Friday night (something I wasn’t doing anyway) in exchange for waking up to crisp mountain air and the ability to sleep with my door wide open nearly every night. You can’t put a value on that.

On the bus. Heading home.

Although, I will be getting a vehicle. A car is important now. Nothing too expensive, but I’ll be getting a car that can get me around to and from work and those rare occurrences when I have to hit Walgreens or Safeway after 10-11pm or when a friend does invite me out drinking and I have to say, “sorry it’s past 10 I can’t go.” A car is my next big purchase.

The road I run on every day.

Work? It’s going great! It’s hard to tell how things are really going to go or be once I’m settled in because the first few weeks are really an effort to catch up on a lot of backlogged “pain tasks” (support, emails, organization) and there’s the added pain of learning every internal system. This is true with every new job. What matters is the people I’m working with are phenomenal. I feel right at home and so comfortable working with this team. I know Brightkite will succeed because the team is so well-rounded and things just get done. It’s an absolute joy.

Contrails...

You may see me bitching sometimes about the commute but it’s not so bad. On the muni subway, I read books on my iPhone (soon iPad) and listen to music. Once I’m above ground then on Caltrain, it’s 40 minutes of work. I get emails and support completely caught up by the time I get in the office. This makes it easier to concentrate on the more challenging tasks before 10AM rolls around. Being up at 7AM and asleep by 11:30 has been a hard shift from my 10AM-3AM schedule before. Honestly, my new place is so fresh that i love being up that early to hear the birds chirping and get ready my espresso and mountain air.

My Street. Sutro Tower in the distance.

What’s more….I’m only 7 days away from my week trip in Florida. One week in Florida and I’m so freaking stoked about that! It’s going to be an amazing trip and my first vacation in a very long time. You can read more about that here. http://blog.adam-jackson.net/2010/03/02/new-beginnings-part-3-my-first-vacation/

You won’t find Apple and Cheap in the same sentence anywhere on the web and that’s why I wanted to write about it. I’ve been buying and selling computers online for years and have learned a few things to make things much easier. I’ll try to keep this brief and break it down.

Assess your needs. Do you “need” the fastest, latest and thinnest computer? If not, buying a computer last-gen is a great way to save up to 40% on your Mac purchase. Anything above 3 gigabytes of ram and a 2.1Ghz Core2Duo is enough for most tasks and over 80% of Apple’s current computers meet these requirements (Mac Mini and MacBook Air excluded) but even then, the MacBook air at 2.13Ghz w/ 2gbs of ram worked great as a mobile machine and I try to push the envelope on performance.

If you have a Mac now: download MacTracker (link). It’s a great way to compare machines side by side, see their benchmarks and if they are still supported by Apple. I love the application.

Narrow it down to Two Machines: After much consideration, I’ve decided that I need a 15″ bottom of the line MacBook Pro or 13″ top of the line. (link) and these range from $1499-$1699 new from Apple. I’d also consider getting a white MacBook if cost really becomes an issue (link).

Should you buy now? Good question. My first stop is the Macrumors Buyer’s Guide (link). This guide shows you the current lineup of machines Apple sells and when they were last upgraded or revised and historical data that shows when that machine sees updates (every 6 months, 12 months, etc). Then, the professionals at Macrumors give ratings of Buy or Don’t buy. This is an excellent way to make sure you’re not buying at a bad time.

Next Steps: If you want to buy a new machine, don’t buy from Apple.com unless the machine just came out two weeks ago and you’re dying to have it right now. The other reason you’d buy from Apple.com’s online store is if you wanted a CTO model which means you’re going to add ram, update the hard drive and ask that Apple install some software at the factory. This makes the delay in receiving your machine longer and also means you will have a hell of a time returning it to Apple. CTO models are custom and Apple will raise a fit about you trying to return it.

Where to buy? Well, since you don’t need the iMac that literally just came out and isn’t available anywhere else and since you aren’t going to be configuring the machine special w/ extras, it’s safe to buy from these four places (in this order).

• Apple Refurbished site
• Amazon.com
• MacMall
• eBay

Let’s break these down. The Apple refurbished section is a collection of Macs updated daily that are unfit to sell as new. Apple NEVER sells scratch / dent computers but the mix of computers here is about 80% open box returns where the user used it for no more than 14 days, returned it, Apple did a complete edge to edge inspection on it and re-certified it as “new”. What do you get? Well, you get a Mac w/ up to $300 in savings and no shipping delays because it’s already sitting there waiting to be purchased. You have the same one year warranty as people that buy the Macs brand new and you can buy the AppleCare three year plan on that machine w/o issue. I also hear refurb buyers get some more love when you call Apple because they want the refurb buyers to remain happy. the last thing Apple needs is people not trusting refurbished machines. I’ve bought nearly half of my computers from Apple’s refurb store and swear by it and have never received a bad Apple (literally).

Amazon.com is a tax-free and often good deal way to buy a Mac. There’s an ongoing $100-$150 off on nearly every Mac they stock and you get it tax-free which, in California saves you roughly $200-$300 on a Mac (our tax is 9.5%). So if you’re buying that stock, no custom configured brand new Mac, buy from Amazon because you’ll save up to $500 more than you have by buying directly from Apple. If the Mac just came out, Amazon will ship it later than Apple would because Apple sends Amazon products AFTER the people that bought the product direct from Apple.

MacMall is the same as Amazon except you have to pay that pesky tax but the coupons, deals and such are really good on MacMall and they do bundles where you get a free printer, bag, ram upgrade and copy of Microsoft Office for like $29 w/ the purchase of a new Mac. Sometimes it can be a good deal but remember Amazon and MacMall will never ship as fast as Apple will so if you can wait an extra 10 days and save the money, I’d go for that.

eBay..this deserves its own section (more on that later).

Why buy the latest and greatest Mac over last-generation models? It’s not an issue of speed anymore. Any Mac manufacturered since 2008 has the performance for most families to do what they need to do w/o pulling their hair out. Computers are fast at any price range these days. Everything I’ve listed above is only “new” or current-gen models. It’s rare that you’ll find a last-generation mac on the Apple Refurb Store. MacMall will do a closeout deal on last generation models if Apple releases something new so check for that. The only real benefit if you’re a casual user of getting the latest Mac is the resale value and longevity of the machine. You get that brand new Apple warranty (that can be extended to 3 years), if you put it up on eBay in 2 years, you’ll get a better resale value and you get new components that technically are more reliable since they’re new. Buying last-gen machines can save you some serious dough but you lose those benefits I mentioned. Either way, it’s up to you.

eBay, oh eBay: I love eBay. I’ve been a member since 2002 (8 years which means I was only 14 when I joined the service and sold my first piece of tech). In fact, I used to budget everything up until I was 18 like paying for my car, gas, school lunch and even homecoming dance using money I made through buying and selling on eBay and getting a paypal Debit Card before I was legally allowed to own a checking account.

Anyway, most of my computer purchases have been on eBay. There were two instances I bought directly from Apple.com’s store. My latest iMac (brand new, only available on Apple and I lacked patience) and my 15″ 2.93Ghz MacBook Pro (I wanted a solid state drive, which was a custom addon directly from Apple). Aside from those machines, it was a mix of eBay & Apple’s refurb store.

eBay can be risky. I’ve had problems with it but if you’re smart and follow tips like these, you’ll be fine. Here are my tips to buying on eBay.

Use Mactracker to search for model numbers of machines and not “macbook pro” Apple model numbers look like this MC234LL/A. Here’s a sample eBay search of that model number (link). I already noticed three machines listed incorrectly. Basically they’re listed as Revision B 1.8 Ghz Macbook Air when that model number means it’s a 2.13Ghz MacBook Air Rev C w/ SSD. How does this benefit you? Well, message the seller, ask them to get the box out or flip the computer over and verify that model number is correct…Then make them an offer.You just won a great deal because people bidding on that computer read “this is a 2 year old 1.8Ghz machine” and they bid appropriately when the seller just didn’t know what they had and you just got the latest and greatest Macbook Air for $700 less than retail.

Yes, this is how I’ve bought every single Apple computer online. This is the ultimate eBay tip. Find what you want, copy the model number and search for it then find listings in that result where the seller typed the wrong details. You have to message them to confirm that model number and then you’re golden.

On eBay, only use Buy it Now. When I search eBay, I immediately ask eBay to only show buy it now. w/ auctions, it’s time consuming, you get in a bidding war with someone and you end up making mistakes or winning two computers on the same day and stuck having to pay for them. Buy it now is a great way to find a kick ass deal and you walk away in under 60 seconds. If, at your current job, you make $35 an hour, then add up the amount of time you took to read this blog post, do your research then bid back and forth on the computer you want only to not get it and have to do it all over again when you could have just clicked “buy it now” and saved yourself valuable time. Trust me. Don’t bid on computers.

Organize by “one day remaining” Find computers that are worth $2400, currently at $800 usually because the seller sucks at listing computers or put in the wrong info and message them making an offer for $1800. They’ll be amazed and go for it. You just saved $700.

A story on how this worked for me once. I bought a 17″ MacBook Pro last year, maxed out with all of the bells and whistles. I used the tips that I listed above, saw an auction with 48 hours left on a $3400 machine from a brand new eBay user. I emailed the person asking to confirm the serial number. Tip. never give out your computer’s serial number and they gave it to me. I confirmed the machine was purchased from Apple.com 5 weeks ago and had the 3 year warranty so they spent a pretty penny for this machine. Because I was skeptical I asked them to call me and said I’d make an offer once we chatted. I got a phone call from a man in his late 70s claiming he bought it for his wife for Christmas but she wanted a PC instead and it was wrapped and under the tree so they missed the 14 day return policy and then he said, “I know computers lose 50% of their value once you leave the store so I’m just trying to recoup the time it took to set it up for her and her subsequently realize she hates Macs.”

I offered him $2100 ($1300 short of retail not even considering the 9.5% tax from Apple) and he accepted. I bought that computer, sold it 6 months later for $2900. I got a compute for 6 months, made $800 at the end and bought an iMac AND a Macbook Air with the money I made.

This system works. You can make thousands, and I haven’t spent ANY money on my computers in years because I buy low and sell high because that’s the nature of things in the Apple resale value. I hope this was helpful.

Selling your Mac: Briefly, these tips for selling your Mac

• Always get the warranty. It boosts the resale value. You can buy AppleCare warranties on eBay for 50% off Apple’s price
• Always keep the box and software
• Always include a new power adapter w/ the sale ($79 purchase from Apple)
• Include any extra software for free that you don’t use or want anymore w/ the serial keys
• Be honest in your sale and claim why you’re selling the Mac
• Sell before the next model comes out. Once your computer is two generations old, the resale value really drops.

Good luck and don’t forget, my MacBook Air is on eBay right now and you can bid here.

Here’s the eBay link to my MacBook Air sale.

In September of 2009, I wrote a review of the latest Apple MacBook Air after using it for over a month. In that review I said:

Apple’s MacBook Air is the best $1900 Netbook I’ve ever owned. Apple has managed to create a notebook that can go anywhere, do anything and satisfy 90% of my needs in such a small package that it makes me wonder what took me so long to get one. Yes, there are caveats but I’m the happiest Mac user ever with The MacBook Air.

My opinion of the MacBook Air hasn’t changed. It’s still the best notebook I’ve owned. It’s simply stunning and I can’t imagine living without it. Why am I selling it?

This rumor got me thinking. The current shipping Apple notebooks were all updated before mid-June 2009. I fully anticipate a MacBook update soon w/ new 32 nanometer processors and switching away from Core2 to Core i5/i7. Will the MacBook Air get these updates? I’m not sure and I can’t really imagine going back to a full size notebook after carrying the air around for 6+ months.

My new job at Brightkite provides a MacBook for me and it’s fast enough for all of my work tasks. It’s heavy compared to the MBA but I certainly can deal with the weight for the time being. This also means, for the past 10 days, my MacBook Air has been sitting at my desk at home gathering dust because I’m not about to carry two notebooks to work with me.

My philosophy of only owning things I use once a week applies to this. If I don’t use something at least once a week, I don’t need it in my life. That includes books, CDs, kitchen supplies and even electronics. It’s been one week and I haven’t used the MacBook Air once simply cause it’s not convenient.

Another factor is that, in less than a month, Apple’s iPad will be shipping and I was hoping that it would replace my MacBook Air for 80% of the time which means 6 out 7 days a week I grabbed my iPad instead of my MacBook Air.

So, in summary:

• New iPad ships in less than 30 days
• New Core i5/i7 Apple notebooks shipping within 60 days (based on rumor and past Apple product timelines)
• Work provides me with a MacBook that is better in performance than the MacBook Air but slightly heavier.

All of those factors lead me to the only solution which is to sell my MacBook Air. If everything aligns, I’ll enter the month of April with an iPad and Core i5 MacBook Air in my bag. The MBA for work (faster than the MacBook work provides for me) and the iPad for personal things, email on the train and books.

Right now, I have to whip out the full size MacBook on the train, plug in a 3G card (that I pay $65 a month for) and make sure I have battery life left when I arrive at the office 2 hours later. The iPad will serve book-reading, email and RSS while I make my way to the office w/ its included $30 a month 3G connection. I’m pretty stoked about the iPad and the MacBook Air w/ a new Core i5 would be terrific. I’m only hoping Apple can up the MBA memory from 2gbs to 4gbs of ram and I’ll be sold.

So, in anticipation of a new MBA and new iPad and with the fact I have a laptop right now that’s pretty darn fast, I’m selling the MacBook Air.

You can bid on it here. (eBay)

The past week has pretty much rocked. Four awesome things happened this month but one I’m just gonna keep to myself cause it’s pretty personal. I did want to share details of my first vacation. As you know, I started a new job yesterday and moved into a new apartment on Sunday so what’s up with this vacation?

Me at Ultra Music Festival in 2006

For years, I’ve traveled quite a bit to tech conferences, meetups, events, parties and even for job interviews. Yeah, my United miles are really racking up. The thing is, I’ve never taken a true vacation. Sure I went to a wedding or two overnight and I did take two roadtrips last year (both sponsored and paid for by Ford Motor Company) but they weren’t vacations in the simplest means of the word.

South Beach - Credit dc32

After living in San Francisco for two years this June, it’s time to take a week off.

Photo Credit: Unknown

Each year, starting in 2004 I drove down to Miami for Ultra Music Festival. Living in Jacksonville, it was a 5 hour drive and, then it was only a one day festival. Last year, being in SF I couldn’t afford the flight but vowed I wouldn’t miss UMF 2010. In October, as soon as tickets went on sale at the kick ass pre-sale price of $99, I bought them. Near the event, tickets are $299 so it was a great price. I bought myself tickets for both days (Friday & Saturday).

UMF 2009 - Photo Credit: theambientsun

What’s UMF? Well, it’s a 2-day music festival that follows WMC (Winter Music Conference) in Miami. UMF is a 10+ year festival that features the best musical acts in the world (about 95% of it is electronica / techno) and there are 12 stages and it goes from noon to midnight (12 hours). On Saturday, when the festival ends at midnight, there’s an after-party from midnight to 5AM in the basketball stadium across the street where the Miami Heat plays also known as the American Airlines Arena. The Winter Music Conference is a SXSW style conference with panels from DJs, producers, record labels and more but it’s mostly an industry event that I don’t care to attend.

American Airlines Stadium (Location of the UMF After-Party)

My original plan was to spend the two days at UMF but I had this Virgin America credit for $150 and it had some restrictions so I had to fly in on Tuesday night for a festival that starts on Friday. What to do? Well, I rolled with it and in January, bought the ticket at a great price and will be staying in a hostel on south beach from Tuesday – Sunday. All of the years that I went to UMF in Miami and that one year I attended Photoshop World, I never once saw Miami Beach, laid out in the sun or spent a few hours at the clubs. This time is different.

UMF 2009 - Photo Credit: theambientsun

Wednesday the 25th, I’ll be grabbing my swim shorts and lying out on the beach and partying that night, the next day I’ll be doing the same. Then, on Friday and Saturday I’ll be dancing my butt off for straight 12 hours or until I literally pass out which I actually did pass out in 2006 and was revived with a Red Bull and Bottle of Water around 8PM. An hour later, I was back in the Trance tent dancing again!

Photo Credit: Unkonwn

On Sunday, my friend Victor is driving back to Jacksonville and taking me with him, I’ll spend 3 days at home with family and flying out of Jacksonville on the 31st back to SFO.

This will be my first ever vacation where I’m going somewhere that requires extended travel and a hotel room that has nothing to do with work, business or technology. I’ve never been so freaking excited in my life. Techno, South Beach, Family, Friends and Dancing. This comes at the end of the month after I’m settled in to my new job and new apartment. I can’t fully describe the feeling I have writing this / saying this out loud and all of my friends in real life are tired of hearing about it I’m sure.

I know a few of my followers will be at UMF, of course they will. Nearly 100 thousand people invade Miami for one week as the best DJs in the world ascend on this lively beach town for the largest electronic gathering in the world. I’m gonna have a blast but as it’s my first real vacation, I couldn’t be more excited.