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27th July 2008, 08:56 PM
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Meet the MacTalkers - bennyling and Sambo
Meet the MacTalkers bennyling and Sambo  Good evening and welcome to another edition of Meet the MacTalkers, this week we have the pleasure of hearing from forum members bennyling and Sambo. One of whom is the first - and hopefully last! (bad joke) - Tasmanian MacTalker to be interviewed while the other has a bone to pick with a certain rumour website. Thanks to both members for taking the time to complete the questions and give an insight into who they are.  bennyling What does your username mean? LIke many other creative people on these forums (and they said Mac users were the creative ones - pfft ), it's simply a fusion of my first name (well, not my real first name - but I'm happy to know known round the internets as Benny) and my last name. Occupation? I'm still in Year 12 (yeah, another young 'un) and so that makes me a student, yeah? Location? I'm located in Hobart, in that ridiculous place you call Tasmania. We're right down the bottom of Australia, if you hadn't noticed, where it's cold pretty much all of the time, and the weather confuses even the weathermen/women... What's your poison? The Internet. No really, it is - it can be utterly addictive at the most annoying of times, and yet be so useful at other times... If I didn't have the internet, I don't think I'd cope... But having tried Max Brenner hot chocolate when I was in Melbourne when I met rickyd, I would have to say that that's my poison - gotta love the weird cups! Of course, I also won't say no to a Cruiser - in moderation, of course, as I'm not 18 yet  One strange fact about yourself? Apart from being the first tasmanian Mactalker to be interviewed - people have mentioned that Apple have managed to put my avatar on every single Mac - as well as the iPhone. But if you look closely, you'll notice that my icon is actually the Sys Prefs icon from OSX - the Settings icon from the iPhone OS is slightly different. Take a look at the gears and you'll know what I mean... The iPhone's Settings icon:  ...and OSX's System Preferences icon:  When, where and how did you realise Mac is the way to go? The when was probably when I first got my Macbook (in my sig) - it's just such a a great computer! Before that, my family had had predominantly Windows-based PCs (more on that later), and even though I knew (thanks to school) that Macs were far better than their Windows counterparts. Of course, this was essentially what I preached to all my friends - that Macs were far more intuitive, far easier to use, had greater security, were more efficient, and "Just Worked"[sup]tm[/sup] - again, unlike their Windows counterparts - and were generally excellent. However, that was just taken to a whole new level after I got my Macbook - because I didn't use a Mac on a regular basis at home, I didn't realise how awesome Macs were - even though I believed... Feeling, doing, touching, seeing - it's all far better than faith and faith alone... What's in your Dock? From left to right - Finder (I wonder who doesn't have Finder in their dock...), Firefox, iChat (gotta love the MSN via Jabber transport  ), Skype, iTunes, Transmit, BlueJ (simplified Java IDE), Xcode (I dabble in Cocoa), Interface Builder (is that wrong, is it bad to have IB in your dock?!), Mail, Terminal, Disk Utility, and of course, System Preferences - plus whatever app I'm using at the time...Worst OS X application you have used? I'd have to say the most INCONSISTENT application would have to be the Logitech Control Center drivers - on my first install of them when I first got my V470 bluetooth mouse, they did all sorts of funny things, like breaking Growl, which I totally didn't appreciate... However, other acquaintances have reported outstanding success with later versions of the program, while others still have said that it makes scrolling 'slooooow' with their VX Revolution mouse... As for me, I'm don't think I'll be game enough to try it again... If you ever met Steve Jobs, what is one question you'd love to ask, but wouldn't be able to bring yourself to do so? If you're Willy Wonka, does that make me Charlie Bucket? Favourite 'Steve Moment'? Steve Jobs: "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds." Sooo true! In this vid he looks a bit like Tom Cruise, but you're listening to the man preach, hot how he looks! But apart from that, I'm a huge fan of the Boom sequence: Jobs or Woz, who's your favourite? Jobs. The visionary. The most excellent. Without Jobs, Apple wouldn't be where it is today - he's the one who was basically given carte blanche to restore profitability to Apple as the Apple board of directors fired Steve's then predecessor, Gil Amelio. He basically came in, blew OS9 out of the water, and started pretty much from scratch - combining parts from Unix, OpenSTEP (NeXTSTEP's object-based OS) and even BSD, if I'm not mistaken - it clearly says "Installing BSD Subsystem" when you install OSX, as well as when you hack your iPhone Woz is just meh to me - sure, it's guys like him that make the world go round, and they're every bit as important as the Steve Jobs' of this world, but no, Woz loses to Jobs, hands down, any day of the week. Movies are worth approximately 25000 words per second, so I'll let you watch this comparison between Jobs and Woz (even in Keynote Bloopers, LOL) Who will be Steve's successor? +1 for Scott Forstall, senior Vice President of iPhone software. He is just a younger version of Steve Jobs - he's got it all! The charisma, the vibe, attitude, even the most important quality of all - the Keynote presentation technique. Even though he's not quite the Steve Jobs we all know and love, I rekon he could be even better in a couple of years... What is your dream Apple Product? LIke many, the xMac/Mac Pro Mini/Mini Mac Pro. It'll be like a Mac Pro for the average consumer - for those that don't want the iMac, and think the Mac Pro is utter, utter overkill for their needs... Please, Apple, we just want a Mac with user-upgradeable parts! Give us user-installable CPU, RAM, HDDs, PCIe cards, and we're all set! Any day, one of these babies will land at the Keynote, (and although Steve seems to have killed off the "One More Thing") we'll see it soon - or we definitely SHOULD see it soon! Why Apple haven't bothered to make one of these in the past has just been a complete mystery to me. Worst Apple product you've used? Well, I don't like the puck mouse - for the sole reason that it has managed, no idea how, to solidify in people's minds that any mice manufactured by Apple after that was doomed to only have ONE BUTTON. Honestly, where have you been living for the past couple of years? Wake up and smell the roses, people! For those of you that don't know: Apple DO make two-button mice. Your first Mac? Prior to my Macbook, and incidentally, the first computer my family owned, was a Macintosh LCII. It was donated to us by a family friend, and it had this weird issue where the screen would be black and white on some days, and colour on other days. The funny thing was, you could 'force' it to go into colour mode by starting it up until you got to the OS loading screen, and then yanking out the power. The next time you turned it on, it would *hopefully* be colour, if not, you'd just try to do the colour hack again... It was really, really strange. It also had some really cool games on it - there was this one where you dropped a man from a helicopter into some hay from different heights, and the man made a cool 'ugh' sound when he was dropped, as well as another cool game where it was pretty much Pong with different opponents which you got to choose from in a bar - and different opponents had different skills, and so on, and you could 'cheat' by setting your slider to fill up the whole width of the screen - and winning a heap. Sadly, I have no idea of the whereabouts of this particular machine, or even what became of it, as it was relocated... I suppose it has just disappeared into the ether... What Macs are you using currently? Just the one Macbook. However, I do have a G4 400 that I might be bothered with one day, but only because it has SCSI! The terminal & the Mac ideology: Yay or Nay? This question always confuses me. Are we talking about the Terminal, AND the Mac Ideology (whatever that is)? Or just how the Terminal compares to the GUI of Mac?! Anyway: Yay, yay, a hundred times yay. Before I discovered OSX (i.e before I got my Macbook) I was a Linux geek - one of those guys that would try and install Linux on anything they could get their hands on - often, this meant digging deep and configuring some arcane file in ther Terminal. Once, I even considered printing out the entire history of Unix and sticking it up around my wall - it's avaible here for all you guys with far too much paper on their hands. Now I've got a Mac, I don't need to use the Terminal that much, but I do often try and dd something once in a while, as well as wget the odd file here and there  I do have to say a massive thanks to Dave at this point, because it was he that posted the excellent guide on how to compile and install wget for OSX. Cheers!In fact, I'm writing a couple of longish articles for Mactalk at the moment that will hopefully explain some of the more subtle differences between the OSX GUI and Terminal, as well as a Terminal 101 guide to - you guessed it, the Terminal! What Mac related websites/forums/podcasts do you frequent? Mactalk, Mactalk podcast, TUAW, Daring Fireball, Infinite Loop (from Ars Technica), MacOSXhints.com, as well as the Engadget Apple-only feed. Yeah, I have a lot of time - but when you get to that amount of feeds, you start to find duplicate info - but it's always great to read it from another view/perspective. Plus, I don't use a rss reader... Never thought they were necessary... One thing you could add to OS X? Good question - I rekon a package manager (sorta like apt-get for Ubuntu, or emerge for Gentoo) as a way of installing new apps from repositories (like the iPhone) would be up there... Besides that, there's not much they COULD add to OSX that would make it much better for the user without making it far too complicated, is there? Size of your iTunes library (number of tracks)? 5022 songs, 14 days of continuous music, in 24.78GB - but only 1/4 of that has a play count of one or more... Do you own an iPhone? What are your thoughts on the device? Nope - don't have an iPhone. My thoughts on the device can be many and varied between, but I'll try and give you a quick overview here: It's great. Really, the only reason I don't have one at the moment is because I don't know which carrier to go on, as being a Taswegian, mobile phone coverage is not as common as you'd think, but you're usually fine if you live in the CBD. I don't, so I have to pick my carrier carefully - Optus for data, sheer value, and Telstra for coverage... Choices, choices... If applicable, what does your other half think of your interest in Macs? If only good looking people liked geeks - the world would be a completely different place! *sigh* Apart from Macs what are your other hobbies and interests? Well - I'm a technophile. Like others on here, I'm totally addicted to the internet, and just can't get enough of it. I also love playing online games through the Steam content delivery service - CS:Source has got to be my favourite game of all time, and you'll find my steam community page in my sig... When did you join MacTalk and why? 18th December 2007 - no idea why. It probably had something to do with me acquiring my Macbook, and me eating, living and breathing Macs from then point forwards... Best memory from the forums? Easy! Not long after I joined up, a thread popped up that informed us Mactalkers that Infinite Systems in Brisbane had been purchased by Next Byte - long story short, EL Guardo and I then had a massive flame war about how significant the Australian Apple market was, what impact the Apple "Mothership" (that's the Apple Store Sydney, guys) was going to have on the Apple industry in Australia, how Next Byte were going to cope with the added compeition, and finally, what kind of influence Mactalk had on the overall scheme of things... In the end, I'm pretty sure that El Guardo won through massively superior intellect - by then, I wasn't "new" to forums or Mac, but it was (and still is) one of THE best flame wars I've ever been a part of Finally, which one member do you want to see interviewed next week? Yet another hard decision this time - but as I said in last week's Meet the MacTalkers, I'd rather choose someone who is a complete stranger than someone who I talk to on iChat a lot... That being said: El Guardo - whatever makes you tick, I'd be interested to find out.
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Support MacTalk by shopping at the Apple Online store via this link! Contact Me: andrew.wilson[at]mactalk.com.au | iChat | Twitter 
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27th July 2008, 08:57 PM
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 Sambo What does your username mean? A self created nickname of my Surname. Yeah pretty interesting, I just picked it and have stuck with it for many sites. People tell me it is slang for Negro, but I had obviously never heard it before!  Occupation? Data Entry/Statistics (Hey I'm only 18 it's not bad!) Also studying IT Networking at TAFE.Location? Adelaide, South Australia What's your poison? None to speak of currently. Yes I'm sadly not part of the teenage binge drinking culture. Non-Alcoholic? Anything with lots of sugar or lots of sourness! One strange fact about yourself? Not that strange, but I can have some neat and clean freakiness to me. Like having certain items placed on a desk, oh I hate dust, and the fact it's all over my desk kills me! When, where and how did you realise Mac is the way to go? Around 2 and a half years ago now, I decided to go looking around the Apple website (bad idea). Add in the fact I was bored and fed up with Windows and needed a change. I decided to get a weak ass paper route and saved up for the top of the line MacBook Pro when it was released and purchased it later that year.  What's in your Dock? Mail, Safari, Firefox, Camino (gotta love those browsers), Preview, Word, Excel, iTunes, QuickTime, VLC, EyeTV, System Preferences, Time Machine (why this is here I have no idea, haven't even got it enabled  ), iChat, Adium, X-Chat Aqua, Transmission, Azureus and OSXBMC (it's really quite good). Oh and for Stacks I have one for Utilities, Documents and Downloads.Nice to have a 23 inch Cinema Display.  Worst OS X application you have used? Is Rosetta an application? At least any application that is Power PC and run on an Intel machine, Office for example is terrible. Maybe I should upgrade to Office 08 or even iWork, but yeah. I'm fairly happy with all my Applications to be honest, they all work fine. There have also been some terrible Applications found on macupdate where the interface makes some Windows apps look good. If you ever met Steve Jobs, what is one question you'd love to ask, but wouldn't be able to bring yourself to do so? Is that the new isomething in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Favourite 'Steve Moment'? Tie between WWDC '05 and Macworld '06. WWDC for the announcement of switching to Intel. Macworld for the release of the first MacBook Pro, which I was waiting for, came much earlier than expected. I just love it when after the iMac Intel was announced I got the feeling that the MacBook Pro wasn't coming but bam! there it is. (Watch out for the Pope reference!) WWDC '05 Macworld '06 Jobs or Woz, who's your favourite? Jobs for the fact he could announce a steaming pile of shit and we'd buy it. Woz is an amazing man, nobody can deny that but as many others have said, Jobs was the man to sell it. Who will be Steve's successor? Mr design (Jon Ives) or iPhone man, aka guy who likes to use latin a lot. (Scott Forstall) Please no Phil..  What is your dream Apple Product? The middle range Mac Tower!!! Just do it, ask Decryption and Brains for the specs and they just make a nice case for it. Done. Worst Apple product you've used? Mighty Mouse, granted I haven't been using Apple Products that long, but I feel this might be the second incarnation of the Puck mouse. It just doesn't feel right, Apple should stick to keyboards, their mice don't work that well. Your first Mac? Rev A. MacBook Pro What Macs are you using currently? MacBook Pro! Had a G4 Sawtooth PowerMac but sold it. The terminal & the Mac ideology: Yay or Nay? Yay, I don't really know how to use it, but when I do, it's a simple copy paste the code from a site and we're done. If it's required I'm happy to use it. What Mac related websites/forums/podcasts do you frequent? Small site called MacTalk, you should check it out. The usual news sites Appleinsider, Mac Rumours (Spell it right damn it), and the Apple section on ArsTechnica. Seem to be reading less sites these days, so I mainly stick to the quality ones *cough* MacTalk *cough* One thing you could add to OS X? An interesting idea, hell it could even exist already, but something like backing up preferences for all your applications and files. Something that would allow you to easily reinstall applications or even after a fresh install and have your Application preferences and data synced back from an Apple server. This stuff seems to exist for Apple software, at least bookmarks for Safari as an example but a service for all your Application data would be neat. Apple just need to add the simplistic touch to it. More seamless backups is what looks nice. Size of your iTunes library (number of tracks)? 4395 Songs, 12 days, 26.76GB. Do you own an iPhone? What are your thoughts on the device? Not yet, my iPod touch is doing nicely. I think I might hold off until the next version, the plans for the phone was my main problem, I can't see myself using all those calls, the data I could chew through though. They need a light call, high data option. The device is amazing though, the iPod has given me a great view into the 'touch' interface. It's just fantastic. If applicable, what does your other half think of your interest in Macs? N/A sadly. Apart from Macs what are your other hobbies and interests? I love sports, might not have the greatest ability, so I watch the pros do them! I play a little bit of Basketball and Tennis socially but not competitively. AFL and American sports would be among my favourites. Music and Movies also catch my ear and eye. When did you join MacTalk and why? 02-05-2005, I joined about the time I wanted to get a mac. I also purchased an iPod so I had something Apple to contribute. I was on here for almost a year before I actually got my mac. Best memory from the forums? More recently the Apple store thread, very funny read, great pictures too and the media coverage! Apple store down threads used to be fun but not much seems to happen these days. We need some more products, Steve! Finally, which one member do you want to see interviewed next week? I'm going to say Alessiman (he seems quite interesting)
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Support MacTalk by shopping at the Apple Online store via this link! Contact Me: andrew.wilson[at]mactalk.com.au | iChat | Twitter
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27th July 2008, 11:01 PM
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Go Benny.
Like your work. Only 18? Loads of potential IMO.
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you can always contact me at stevetreloar(at)gmail.com
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27th July 2008, 11:33 PM
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Quote:
You will find someone that likes you for your geekiness. You can help young damsels in distress with their macs
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My Hardware: iBook G4 1.2GHz | iPhone 8GB | MacBook 2.4GHz White | Twitter | last.fm|
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27th July 2008, 11:45 PM
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Cool! I love these threads!!! So fascinating.
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| MacBook Air | Mac Mini | iPhone 3GS | iPod Nano 4GB | iPod Hi-Fi | AirPort Extreme | | Successfully traded | Huy | Alessiman | DagrtheSnide | alan7948 | iCameron | chris | dsiew
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28th July 2008, 12:04 AM
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Quote:
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28th July 2008, 12:05 AM
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I love these threads. Love to see a bit more info on a few members
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Buy your stuff from Apple and help MacTalk out
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28th July 2008, 12:27 AM
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Quote:
Quote:
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Support MacTalk by shopping at the Apple Online store via this link! Trading Feedback: El Guardo;
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28th July 2008, 11:10 AM
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"The terminal & the Mac ideology: Yay or Nay?"
could someone please explain this question to me. terminal is similar to DOS right? whats the Mac ideology?
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Team Apple. Team Canon. Team Subaru.
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28th July 2008, 11:17 AM
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Quote:
At least you said something even it wasn't much Also I didn't say much in mine either, coz I'm not that totally knowing who is Woz is and other people.
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My Hardware: iBook G4 1.2GHz | iPhone 8GB | MacBook 2.4GHz White | Twitter | last.fm|
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28th July 2008, 11:22 AM
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Quote:
The Mac Ideology is that everything can be done via the mouse with a WYSIWYG interface and with icons and such.
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Anthony Can't Write for Shit
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28th July 2008, 11:27 AM
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Quote:
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Team Apple. Team Canon. Team Subaru.
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28th July 2008, 04:26 PM
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isn't WYSIWYG a Britney Spears song??
I kid! I kid!
__________________
| MacBook Air | Mac Mini | iPhone 3GS | iPod Nano 4GB | iPod Hi-Fi | AirPort Extreme | | Successfully traded | Huy | Alessiman | DagrtheSnide | alan7948 | iCameron | chris | dsiew
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28th July 2008, 10:02 PM
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Yay for Tasweigans!
As far as iPhones and carriers down here go - Optus hands down. I have better coverage at my house now than I did with Telstra! I had about three bars of GSM coverage from Deloraine all the way to Hobart, so if you are anywhere in the south, I'd say you'd be right.
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