When it was over, my boy lost his shit and was sobbing because everyone had been so mean to Rudolph. Then it came to me… I always ALWAYS cried at Charlie Brown cartoons because everyone was such a dick to CB himself.

And now the fact that I’ve passed this stupid but somehow endearing trait on to my little buddy is also choking me up… *BAWWW*

The Merlin Mann Amazon Store Blog

I got nuthin. Just go.

I love you, Merlin Mann.

OK, so the Windows side. A couple things first. I hate anyone who writes ‘Micro$oft’. And they can make some really great software when they put their minds to it. I think Vista is quite good and doesn’t deserve nearly the volume of derision it’s received.

Advantages of Windows: You can build whatever the heck computer you want, in any flavor your want, with any other custom stuff and sexy video cards you want, and it will work. The Windows OS hardly ever crashes, and the individual apps crash/hang far less frequently than on a Mac. You can get software for ANYTHING. In ten years, a major OS revision has made some flagship Windows apps not-quite usable twice (XP, Vista), as opposed to seven times on Macs (9, 10.0, .1, .2, .3, .4, .5, and you better believe .6)

Disadvantages of Windows: Holy shit is it butt ugly. Software activation IS evil, and these jerks invented it. There’s no GarageBand equivalent. So very ugly. There’s a lot a pure shit hardware out there, too. Be careful, read up lots, or build it yourself.

The Hardware:
My prior lappy was a Dell Inspiron that is now relegated to Linux. Not bad, and way cheap. Also, a couple of wicked homebrew towers that would be even more wicked if you could run Mac OS on them in a dual boot. No? Pf. All my hardware suggestions from Part 1 apply.

The software (notice how much of it pretty much the same as the Mac version:

• Before doing anything, go to tweakhound.com and do everything he says, in that order, to set up your rig.
• Adobe Master Collection (until recently much better on Windows. Also, 64-bit Photoshop is CRAZY)
• Maya 2009
• Mudbox 2009 (SO good. I’ve heard Z-Brush may be better, but Mudbox is so cheap educationally that I don’t care)
• Motionbuilder 2009 (part of the Autodesk Consumer Whore package)
• Milkshape
• Particle Illusion (Particles, in 2D. Go figure)
• Firefox (Zotero/Foxmarks/FireFTP)
• Thunderbird w/Lightning (Outlook? no no no)
• Camtasia (HATED it. But it was the only decent screencast app.)
• Office 2007 (much better than Office 2008 for Mac)
• OneNote (DAMMIT this is a great notetaking app. No cross platform. I guess I’m out. If it doesn’t sync across platforms, then it’s not a good enough app).
• iTunes/Quicktime/Safari (ugh)
• IrfanView
• CCleaner
• DVDShrink
• Processing (same as mac)
• Evernote (same as mac)
• 7-Zip
• VLC (same as mac)
• uTorrent (same as mac)
• Notepad++
• Handbrake (same as mac)
• K-Lite Codec Pack
• ClamWin
• Audacity
• SUPER
• Alcohol 120
• DeepBurner
• KeePass (same as mac)
• TruCrypt (same as mac)
• Digsby
• Autoruns
• Filezilla (sucks on mac)
• Picasa (oh, if only on mac)
• Sketchup (same as mac)
• FoxIt Reader (no Preview.app, Adobe reader sucks)
• Windows Live Writer (best blogging client)
• Resolume (total shite VJ app. Maybe the new cross platform version is better, but I’ll never know)
• Stuff to mount homebrews on my DS
• MS Visual Studio with XNA Game Studio Express

Not sexy. Very mundane, actually. Pretty much the same stuff as a Mac, plus 16 million stupid little things you end up needing. And honestly, now that I can run it all on my macs, it like a best of both worlds situation. Now, the best of ALL worlds, would be to be able to use my SICK Frankenputers to run a triple boot. Maybe Snow Leopard will let us, but I’m not holding my breath.

Questions about these, go check filehippo.com. Next up, my train wreck of an Ubuntu Studio rig.

Anyhoo, per my students’ request, later in the week I’m doing a day on building a complete open source rig. I’ve also gotten a bunch of requests to reveal the inner workings of my own personal setups. Today, I’ll talk about my Mac setups, then Windows, then Linux.

I was a Mac fanboy for a long time, then I quit and was solely windows for years. I recently going back into using Macs because I have to teach Final Cut Studio though I don’t use it myself.

Advantages of Choosing a Mac:
Mac OS X doesn’t have activation (this is almost reason enough to choose one). Macs run Windows better than almost anything. Superbly designed hardware. Very easy to support.

Disadvantages of Choosing a Mac:
Apple is insidious at segmenting its product line to encourage people to buy a much more expensive computer than they really need. Very laborious to keep running at optimal performance.

The Hardware:
I use a MacBook Pro for most stuff, and a MacPro for production work. The MacPro is a mid-range 8-core Xeon, 8GB RAM. My biggest suggestion on a tower is to go out to Best buy and get a smaller 10,000RPM drive, and install that as your boot drive. The effect this has on the speed of the whole system is astonishing (this is a suggestion for Windows as well). Never get extra RAM from Apple, always go to dealram.com and install it yourself. MUCH cheaper, and not hard to do. My MacBook Pro is one from early 2008 (not the wacky ones with only FireWire 800). Its got a midrange Core2Duo, 320GB drive and 4GB RAM. Drives and RAM are a scam on Apple laptops, but its such an incredible pain in the ass to replace hard drives on the older ones (this is much improves with the very new ones) I usually just say bite the bullet.

The Software:
The MacPro has the same software as the lappy, but ONLY production software. None of this office and productivity stuff.

• Adobe Master Collection (Must have. Worth every dime. CS4 FTW.)
• Final Cut Studio 2 (I don’t use this myself, I just keep it to do video tutorials for students. I actually dislike it.)
• AppZapper (so. good.)
• ArCHMock
• BatChmod
• Maya 2009 (Must have. )
• Celtx (Not sure why anyone would pay to use Final Draft)
• Ecto (Using it right now to write this!)
• EndNote X2 (Ugh. Sucks, but necessary for citations.)
• Evernote (Get this now.)
• FileWrangler (excellent file renamer)
• Firefox (with Zotero, Foxmarks, and FireFTP plugins)
• GarageBand (the #1 reason to buy a Mac. So much fun, and the projects open right up in Logic)
• Goliath (WebDAV implemenation is still iffy on macs. Don’t understand why, but this helps.)
• KeePass (Almost as awesome as 1password, but this is free and open source)
• ScreenFlow (Best screencast app I’ve ever used.)
• SketchUp (Fun!)
• Split & Concat
• Handbrake (Go get it now.)
• jDownloader
• Logic (You’ll never go back to ProTools.)
• MacGourmet Deluxe (I use this almost every single day.)
• Microsoft Office 2008 (Heh. Come on.)
• Nocturne (good in the car. and in meetings.)
• iTunes
• iPhoto (Aperture is a farking DOG. And Lightroom is great, but doesn’t integrate well with the rest of the system)
• iWork 2008 (Basically, for Keynote. But I like Numbers too.)
• OmniFocus (I also bought this for my iPod. Until there’s real ToDos and Notes in OSX that actually work with the iPod and MobileMe, this is the one)
• OmniPlan
• OmniGraffle
• Onyx (Critical. This is pretty mucht he only way to keep an OS X system running in top condition)
• Parallels 4, Running Vista SP1
• Papers (Amazing. I have hundreds of PDF eBooks, and this really made them sing.)
• Processing
• Quicksilver (I never use it, but I feel like I should)
• Shimo (for using my schools draconian wireless VPN.)
• Skype (also never use it)
• Skim (awesome for taking notes on student papers)
• TextWrangler (I’d love to use TextMate, but I’m not spending money on a plaintext editor)
• TrueCrypt
• Toast 9 (shouldn’t really need this, but it ends up coming in very handy)
• Twitterriffic (best Twitter client EVAR)
• UnRarX (Meh.)
• uTorrent (it’s about damn time this came out for Mac)
• VDMX5 (Finally a VJ app that doesn’t have a fatal flaw.)
• VLC (Go get it now.)
• VisualHub (very helpful, esp when used in conjunction with Handbrake)
• VueScan (never never use the software that came with your scanner)

So. Now go out to macupdate.com and search for them. Comin up next: Windows. Actually very similar to this list.

Dear Simon Tarr, You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs. Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid. The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels. The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research: • One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers • Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk • U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion • The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives. Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the “I’m a Concerned American” link under the “Mobilize Now” section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry. Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road. Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site. Thank you for helping keep our economy viable. Sincerely, Troy Clarke

First. Ah hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. *gasp* HAAAA HA HA HA HAHAAAAAA. Assertions, assertions, assertions. I can’t possibly get it all, you folks can weigh in in the comments to help out. But a few thoughts, ignoring the amazingly weird move to send an email like this.

One. The Center for Automotive Research??!?! Unbiased study, there. These numbers are about as solid as “Business Software Alliance estimates that 80 bajillion-zillion dollars is lost due to piracy” or “Focus on the Family study reveals not enough focus, families.”

Two. It’s not a bridge loan. A bridge loan is what I get if I have to buy a house and sell a house at the same time, but there’s an overlap, so I’d need to borrow extra money for the couple weeks of owning two houses. It would already have been established that I could pay the money back. An old venture capital adage says that funding should only be used to buttress success, not prolong failure. GM and Ford have been in a slow-motion death spiral for the better part of a decade, and only the most in-the-pocket apologists can actually make a case that they represent any sort of sustainable business plan. So, people were already not buying these cars. But now because of the economy crapping the bed, people are really REALLY not buying cars. The credit crisis didn’t cause this, it merely accelerated the inevitable. Because the Big Three are going to go under anyway, it’s not a loan. They won’t repay the money, because when they go under that money will not exist.

Three. Actually three through seven. OMFG why are you assholes allowed to run companies. At your little scare website you say some misleading things. “Customers can’t get loans for new cars.” Actually, customers with weak credit can’t get loans for exorbitant amounts that they shouldn’t have been getting loans for in the first place. I bet that if you were selling the tiny, high-efficiency pieces that you sell in China in what you used to call the low-cost market (around $4k), it wouldn’t be so hard to get that loan. “Carmakers can’t get loans to restructure and to produce new advanced technology vehicles.“ Restructure? Managed bankruptcy will take care of that. Advance vehicles? You forfeit the ability to lobby for a loan to do that when you used all your lobbying chits to keep the status quo. See Who Killed the Electric Car? “Suppliers and dealers can’t get loans for routine business.” You can’t call it routine when it’s badly designed, fortified by sketchy lobbying at the state level. GM has 20% of the market, but 7000 dealerships. Toyota has 20% of the market, but has 1500 dealerships. It’s called overhead, motherfuckers. Go take a business class.

So no, you can’t have money to essentially burn. It sucks, I know. It’s going to be really REALLY ugly. But you see, this is a bed that you made that we all now have to lie in. Give the $25B loan to the folks developing the Tesla Roadster. They’ll be able to use it and change the roads forever.

I’m sitting at Saint’s Cafe on Beaver Ave. in State College, PA. It used to be Cafe Gourmet Ltd. when I was a student and later when I worked as staff and then faculty at Penn State. The cafe’s pretty much exactly the same. I was such a baby bourgeois. Discovering that coffee was *gasp* potentially exotic. I heard Miles’ Kind of Blue here for the first time. I wrote every script here. Virtually every intellectual breakthrough I had in those days happened by getting juiced, holing up in the spot by the window, and writing my ass off for hours on end. And I’m here in autumn. The leaves are turning and it’s about as perfect as Central PA gets. I got married here, bought my first house here. Wistful doesn’t begin to describe.

I left Penn State of my own accord, with no hard feelings. No doubt I was ambitious and probably a little too brash. Off I went to go and teach film at Ithaca College, my wife’s alma mater. There’s not a question in my mind that it had been the right decision at the time. I would never have known some of my most treasured friends, Patty Zimmermann, the Mechalkes and many more. There was so much money and so much freedom for a while, it was intoxicating. For a time it was like playing tennis with only masters, my game improved immeasurably, my connections multiplied.

What serendipity to find the best job I have yet to land at Carolina exactly as my relationship with Ithaca frayed so abruptly and so completely. The prospect of tenure seemed more a sentence to be passed than something to work for. So I said yes to the South, with so many friends already there down the street already, maybe it would not be such a culture shock. The move was easy for me. Jen and Caspar gave up far more than I to follow me on what may well have been a hunch. Move away from everything we know, don’t teach film anymore, identify everything I do in a totally different context. God, why? Was it getting THAT bad at Ithaca to exit so close to tenure? I won’t answer that one except to say that we left.

It was time for me to leave Penn State when I did. But there’s much that it has in common with South Carolina that I didn’t realize was important to me. The Big State University. The land grant mission. Access to world class minds in the sciences as well as the arts and humanities. I took Freshman Chemistry in the OTHER section, since Paul Weiss’ class didn’t fit in my schedule. Not that I would have known to take it with him. But now I’m here to work with him because of my connection with USC nanotechnology, the sort of connection you can really only get at a place big enough to do BOTH art and science at a high level and in enormous volume.

The students I taught back at Penn State and now at USC are wonderful, and they have access to first rate thought and curriculum precisely because they can go to the Big State School that they can afford. And the best part about these students is that they’re aware of that fact.

Penn State took a hell of a chance on me. I turned 26 a few days after I began on the tenure track. I almost fall out of my seat to read that. That’s a joke, right? 26? I think it was a good gamble on their part, I DID clean up pretty well. But the fact that it was a gamble is never lost on me. I wish I’d had the level head that I cultivated later, the ability to transform potential conflict into something useful. I could have done a lot of things more gracefully.

But I’m back. I just turned in my mid-point tenure review before I flew up, my third interim review in ten years. I started on the tenure track before all my friends, but I’m the only one left who hasn’t gotten tenure yet or given up. I really hope USC stays as great as it’s been. The economy is turning to crap, and that’s when you get to see if the administrators are still as good as they are when cash flows. But the core of it… the students, the colleagues, freedom and respect… these things are solid. And I’m glad I have grown up enough to recognize that.

Someone enlighten me.

But how can you be a big boogieman when Chris Buckley (a real conservative, thank you very much) endorses Obama and gets sacked for it? Was he always a covert leftist? Maybe his dad was too, I mean think about it, the guy was CRAZY smart, and that’s not very Joe Six Pack.

God, this is hilarious.

(The Wall Street Journal can only get morons like Karl Rove to write political columns anymore? Where are your Nobel Economics laureates? Oh. Right. Sorry. Congrats, Paul Krugman.)

Ready? You have a computer. It has RAM, which is fast, expensive, and limited. RAM is important or everything that runs in the “here-and-now” on your computer… the browser you’re reading this on, iTunes playing a song, that open Word doc that you’re not working on but is still stilling there waiting for you to focus on it. It also has a hard drive, which is is big, cheap and slow. You hard drive is long-term potential, documents you aren’t using right now, songs you aren’t listening to. High quality RAM can be as high as $50 per gig, while even the fastest hard drive will come in around $1 per gig. You need both to have a computer, and the relationship between the two is quite complicated.

Stay with me. Because RAM is so expensive, yet so critical, you can never have enough. Literally never. So, to make a computer run decently, one of the most important things that an Operating System does is manage the relationship between RAM and hard drive in a little game called Virtual Memory. You can really get a system humming along nicely this way: important and immediate things you are doing use RAM right now, but operations that aren’t immediately pressing get pushed off onto the hard drive. Then, when needed, the less pressing operations get cleared out from RAM and the stuff from the hard drive is swapped back to RAM to work on in the here-and-now.

There is a speed and space penalty for using your hard drive this way, since you have to reserve space on your drive that you can no longer use for storing files, and the hard drive is orders of magnitude slower than your RAM. 99% of the time, that penalty is worth it, you don’t really notice the speed hit, and it increases your potential to do stuff. Win-win.

Some folks are hardcore. I’ve got a machine that’s sole purpose is to be an amazing graphics/video/animation box. The RAM cost as much as the rest of the computer combined, and the system is tweaked to pretty much never use any virtual memory, ever. This would suck for lots of other uses, but for this, it’s amazing.

Now, imagine for a moment that I’m a putz. (/me puts on putz hat).

Hurr hurr, hey, if RAM’s so expensive, I’ll build a system that has as little RAM as possible.

*BONG*Windows-Respectfully-Suggests-You-Don’t-Do-That*BONG*

Hurr, hey! I can manually set how much virtual memory there is! I’ll give myself more RAM for FREE!!!

*BONG*Seriously-that-won’t-work-for-long*BONG*

HURRR. Dude, I’ll tweak it so that it only has 256MB of RAM, but uses 100GB of virtual memory! It’s like I’m printing money!!! HURRRHURRRGASM!!!

*BONGBONG*You-can’t-push-the-system-that-fa{#`%${%&`+’${`%&NO CARRIER”)***BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.***

Here’s the punchline. Go up and replace “RAM” with “cash,” replace “hard drive” with “credit,” and replace “Operating System” with “Financial System.” “Virtual Memory” is the money management that when used responsibly can make a system truly efficient, but when trifled with by someone who is only interested in the short term gain can bring the whole system down.

Carrying the analogy a bit too far. One of the things I like about Windows and Linux is that I can build a machine and take individual control of these settings and make it work exactly how I want. If I blow it, however, it’s all on me. And if I am in control of a lab or a network and I bring the whole thing down because of my lack of understanding, I should be relieved from duty.

One of the things I like about Macs is that it manages virtual memory pretty much automatically. It’s more expensive and you only have one source to buy from, but you’re paying for the safety factor. It’s hard as hell to tweak these settings, and it’s probably not worth it because even if you get more performance, you will probably screw something else up.

Windows is my analogy for the quasi-unregulated system we’ve had. Tons of potential, placed in the wrong hands, driven to a big BSoD. Macs are the coming regulation. Less freedom? Maybe. A little too much power by one central company? Maybe. Better than boiling our boots for soup and leaving the old morons in charge? Definitely.