MacBook Air
• 1,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 2 GB SDRAM
• 128 GB Flash Storage
• NVIDIA GeForce 320M

I've added a new little Apple to my family, and this time it was a MacBook Air 11-inch. I didn't really need a new MacBook as my old one's still working like a charm, but I've been wanting a smaller laptop for a while now since the old one was a bit big and heavy for me to use. I spend a lot of time in front of at least one of my computers, and since I've been trying to avoid my regular one to see if that's what making me dizzy and nauseous, my only choice has been my 13-inch MacBook which is big. At least compared to this little beauty, because "little" is really the cue word here! She's a beauty. So thin, light and small - a pleasure to use. She's not a great, big monster machine, but she's perfect for my use. I need a laptop that's easy to use when I'm away from home, a laptop I can easily go online with, blog on, and do smaller photo editing jobs on - and this is certainly it, she's the perfect little companion.

Photo © Shamini Thevarajah '11

Anyway, my newest lemming is an Amazon Kindle! Yep, I admit it, I like having gadgets in my life, but the thing is that I used to love reading - whatever happened to that passion? I could sit down and finish a book in an evening, and I did. Often. Now I can't even remember the last time I finished a book, and I have lots of books I'd love to read. So what's stopping me? When one's blessed with the attention span of a toddler, like I am, I need to read when there's nothing else going on around me, preferably when in bed - but due to the lack of strength in my arms, I find it more tiring than enjoyable which is a little beside the point of reading a book in bed.

So now I want a Kindle. I want the smallest version of the Kindle, the 6" one. I think it would be just perfect for reading, and a lot lighter than any hardcover book. Yay! The price is $139 which is about 844,- NOK with today's exchange rate, plus shipping and tax.

Photo © Amazon

Yesterday I got my first (and probably only) birthday present this year! A little too early, but I still have to wait a few weeks until I can actually play with it. Øyvind had ordered the new iPhone for me, so yesterday I got a mysterious e-mail confirming the order of a black 32GB iPhone 4! Personally I'm a kind of person who like to make up my own mind about things - I never like products or items just because it's something popular - so I haven't really been awed by my iPhone 3GS even though I can't imagine being without several of the available apps I have installed. With that said I'm absolutely and immensely pleased with his choice of birthday gift - and I hope I don't have to wait too long for it to arrive!

Just a few days ago I discovered the app iBooks, and that app alone is reason enough to own an iPhone in my opinion. Now I've got a wooden bookshelf on my phone, and it's all ready to be filled with wonderful books. I've already got "Winnie the Pooh" and "Dracula" in there, and I'll be adding a few more classics shortly. Genius!

For a few years now I've been wanting my next mobile to be a BlackBerry. I don't know why, I have just fallen in love with its look and the full miniature keyboard. Unfortunately it's hellish expensive, and is considered to be a business phone. When I moved to Trondheim I bought myself one of those mini PC's with the intention of having a smaller device to blog, surf the Internet and take notes when in school on and while away from home. I didn't like it, and thought maybe a BlackBerry would fill my needs instead. The iPhone has a nice touch keyboard, but I really don't like it when I'm typing larger portions of text - I always hit wrong keys, or even several ones. So yesterday I found the perfect little addition to my new iPhone 4 adventure: a tiny wireless bluetooth keyboard - and naturally I went straight ahead and ordered it. The price? $36 (about 220,- NOK with today's exchange rate) plus $3 (19,- NOK) for shipping to Norway.

An update will naturally be added as soon as I get my shiny new gadgets, and I'll add a tiny "review" of the wireless bluetooth keyboard as well. It might just be crap, but I think it's worth a try!

Photos © Apple & usb.brando.com

So now I feel kinda important! The main reason why I chose an iPhone was that I wanted something a 100% compatible with my Mac Pro and MacBook, and I love the fact that I'm able to check my e-mail from wherever, using WiFi. Neat, and very free! I've also installed apps for using Facebook and Twitter, even though I don't really see myself using my iPhone for Facebook.

Anyway, what would life be like without any gadgets?

The Specs:
• 2,93 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Nehalem"
• 8GB (4x2GB) 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
• ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5
• 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm 32MB cache
• 18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
• Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse
• Apple LED Cinema 24" Display

More technical information can be found here.

5 days ago, on July 15th, I got an e-mail from Øyvind. He was sitting right across the table so I thought it was a little weird, but on the other hand I'm quite used to getting e-mails from him with jokes, pictures, or some geeky article to read. Then I read the heading, and it said "happy birthday!" - but my birthday is still three weeks away? When I opened the e-mail I discovered that he had ordered the best, and possibly most expensive birthday gift ever, a Mac Pro! No, I'm not talking about makeup for a change, I'm talking about the gorgeous computer from Apple Inc.! I've been lemming a "real" Mac ever since I bought my black MacBook, but as already said, they are not cheap. When I got accepted into school this summer I knew that I had to buy me a stationary Mac sooner or later, because it's impossible to work with graphics on a computer like mine. My screen is kinda funky, displaying the colors differently depending on the angle you look at it from, and the whole computer is getting more and more outdated every day. Since Mac is also known to be the tool of the trade for us graphic designers, and as I'm planning on becoming a mighty good one too, I naturally need to have my tools ready. And now I do!

Thank you so much Øyvind, for what must be the best birthday present ever. I love you very much! It means a lot to me to have your support, and to know that you have faith in me.

Den har dessuten vært gjennom den store ildprøven, nemlig semesterets første forelesning! Og jeg kan meddele at "Lille" bestod med glans. Batteritiden er ikke så mye å skryte av, og det er et kjent problem med PC900, men i og med at hovedoppgaven til "Lille" er å passe på notatene mine - og det er stikkontakter bakerst i auditoriene hvor rullestolplassene er, er det ikke noe problem å putte den lille laderen i veska. Kommer nok til å slite litt en stund fremover, siden jeg veksler så mye som jeg gjør mellom stasjonær PC, MacBook og Eee hva tastatur angår, men jeg blir vel vant etterhvert.

Konklusjon: ASUS Eee PC900 er verdt 2590,- og jeg angrer ikke på kjøpet.

Leketøyet kostet meg den nette sum av 2590,- kroner, noe mange helt sikkert vil mene er i overkant dyrt for en digital notisblokk - men jeg har lenge ønsket meg en liten datamaskin som gjør det lettere for meg å ta notater på skolen, og skrive dagbok uansett hvor jeg er hen i verden. Det var på en måte derfor jeg kjøpte MacBooken min, og den har så absolutt gjort sitt - min neste stasjonære maskin skal nemlig være en iMac og det er udiskutabelt. Selv om jeg elsker Macen min til døde, er den ganske stor og tung - selv om den så absolutt ikke er på linje med vanlige laptoper, hva størrelse angår - og jeg blir sliten av å sitte med den i fanget over lengre perioder. Eeen kommer iallfall ikke til å ligge urørt, det skal være sikkert og visst.

Studerte både ASUS Eee PC900 og Acer Aspire One før jeg bestemte meg for å gå for ASUS. Datakjeden hadde begge maskinene tilgjengelige for demonstrasjon, og jeg så raskt at det var førstnevnte som fanget interessen min. Ikke bare fordi den er penere, men også fordi den er bittelitt lettere, og har flash-lagring istedet for harddisk. Har alltid vært stor fan av Acer, men jeg syns de nye maskinene deres er noe klumpete. Acers mini-PC er dog noe sprekere, men siden litt av greia var at den ikke kostet allverden, og hovedsaklig skal brukes til tekstbehandling av ymse slag, gadd jeg ikke legge mer penger i idéen min. ASUS' er liten, søt og lett, og det gjør den midt i blinken!

Ellers har jeg sikla en stund på en "messenger bag" fra Hilfiger, i lyseblå denim, og idag ble den med meg hjem. Ikke fordi jeg trengte en veske til, sånn egentlig, en mest fordi jeg trenger noe smart å dra med meg på skolen - som har plass til PC, et par skolebøker, A-plan og det jeg ellers måtte behøve å ha tilgjengelig. OK, jeg innrømmer det, jeg har egentlig brukt unødvendige penger idag, men jeg er fornøyd - og hadde det ikke være for denne forbannede hodepinen, så hadde jeg nok ruset meg på dagens shopping også.

Forresten, "The Settlers" har beklageligvis de samme bugsene som diverse anmeldere hadde skrevet om, og også mitt henger seg etter at jeg har savet spillet mitt. Irriterende? Mighty! Jeg har dog lært noe viktig: å sjekke anmeldelser av spill på nett først istedet for å impulshandle, da kan man nemlig unngå å kjøpe "katta i sekken". Spill som dette er jo ikke akkurat billig! Ergerlig uansett.