The Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable New Macbook Series
For those of you who like me, are contemplating on getting brand new Apple laptops, check out the very informative, contemplative article above. Then remember The Story of Electronics? If not, watch the video here.
The above article and the post on The Story of Electronics should serve as tools to help guide you accordingly in your laptop purchase, or your purchase of anything for that matter.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t buy Apple laptops, because I most probably will end up buying one after lusting for a new one for so long, as evidenced in all these posts. What I am saying is that we really should be more responsible, conscientious consumers because our superfluous consumption is a very real threat to the planet.
That’s it, pancit.
Peace out,
Jen
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The Nomad Manager Setup
Sort of “geeked out” this weekend. That and my previous post on my portable desktop have thus compelled me to write my own version of The Setup, just because I find it interesting to know what tools other people use, and because I’m a big advocate of some of the tools I use, so I hope sharing them with you will benefit you as well. :)
Why I Am Traveling With A Portable Desktop Computer
Several months ago, my Macbook’s battery died, as in unresuscitatable death, the second time in Wasabi’s almost 5 years of life with me.
15 Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes
Words of wisdom from a visionary entrepreneur / creative thinker.
Some much needed spirit food to remind you of recommended life do’s and do not’s.
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A bit of inspiration for the Punchdrunk Panda team, particularly for me as a write the PdP story for sharing on our new website, at Gawad Kalinga’s Center for Social Innovation on Tuesday, May 15, and Arriane Serafico’s Blogworthy Blogging Workshop also this May. :)
Will be blogging about my two-week stay in Baguio when I get back to Manila! Limited internet access has made blogging quite impossible. Loving it up north though.
Hoping to inspire too,
Jen
Money Matters (Part 1 of 2)
Yes, money makes the world go ‘round; money makes me go ‘round the world.
This is a serious consideration for people planning to go on extended/frequent travel.
I’ve been saving up since I’ve been earning for both my short term travel plans (quick trips nearby), and my longer term travel plans (long-ish Eurotrip). I promised myself I’d do the Eurotrip before I turned 30, so computing monthly savings of P5,000 for say, 5 years = P300,000 (~$7,000). When you break it down into a monthly expense, it seems more easily digestible / attainable.
Likewise, I am also saving up for a Macbook Air, and if I break the cost down to a monthly basis, I could get it by saving P4,000/month for a year.
So whether you’re saving up for travel or other things, breaking it down to a per month cost really helps.
But you can take it a step further by considering monthly expenses as well, so you can compute for the actual amount of money you’d need to make and/or save to achieve your financial goals. Tim Ferris’ Dreamline Worksheet is a particularly nifty tool for this. I was amazed with how they customized the Excel sheet. (If you don’t know who Tim Ferris is, he wrote this book.)
But more important (though best if used with the Dreamline Worksheet), is really being anal about your expenses, because you can earn so much money, but if you don’t have the discipline to save or track your spendings, than you might not be able to achieve bigger financial goals.
I find that the best tool to help me track expenses and meet my financial goals is MoneyWell.
I tried several applications, but I swear by MoneyWell alone, and advocate its use to my fellow Mac-owning friends. I have to admit, there are times I failed to note all my expenditure, but it has given me a clearer picture of which expenses I can spend less on, and helped me stick to a specific allocation per month for each expense type. Oh, how I could go on and on about MoneyWell’s awesome-ness. If you can find a free download, good for you. (If you do, don’t install updates as this will limit the number of transactions you can enter, I think.)
I kind of fell off the practice since late last year when I would frequently come back home late and be too tired to update MoneyWell. But if you have an iPhone, MoneyWell for iPhone would make it exponentially awesome. Too bad I don’t have an iPhone. (Oh, how I desire you, Apple products.)
Hope this proves useful to someone new.
As for me, it’s time to get strict about my spending once again.
I’ve strayed for too long now. :P
Also, to read on some measures I’ve taken to try to earn extra money so I’m not scrimping ALL THE TIME, read Money Matters (Part 2 of 2) here.
Paper, paper, money, money,
Jen
Why is the Macbook Air cheaper on Amazon than it is on Apple?
See above picture, then see next picture.
Both prices are based on an 11-inch Macbook Air with the following specs:
- 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
- 4GB memory
- 128GB flash storage
- Intel HD Graphics 3000
I just decided to check prices of the 11-inch Macbook Air since my Macbook has been with me for 4.5 years now, and I already bought a replacement battery, then a replacement charger, and now, it seems like my battery will be conking out on me again soon. And well, I’ve really been fancying the idea of a Macbook Air ever since I started this blog…for added mobility. :D
The Amazon price is $79 cheaper than Apple.com (~P3,400), so it is likely that I will be purchasing from Amazon, if ever. Roughly computed, it’d equal to a little less than P50,000, which is roughly P10,000 cheaper than the retail price of the same Macbook Air in Apple shops in the Philippines. Yes, I’ve done some research.
And while I acknowledge that spending on this will make a huge dent on money I’ve accumulated for travel, I feel that this is among the essentials that will allow me to function effectively as a “nomad manager”. Unless Apple comes up with a souped up iPad that can edit videos and do more than basic Photoshop…unless it can actually do that already, and I being stupid with technology, am just unaware (?). I’ll try to hold out as long as I can though. :P
Ho hum.
I say I’m a technophobe, but I find myself spending quite a bit of time looking through gadgets in Amazon these days. Still no expert though, but yeah, this gadget-shopping is a big step for the otherwise analog Jen. Hehe.
Think Different
The classic Apple ad that made it an aspirational brand.
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They are not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
To prepare my Punchdrunk Panda colleagues for our brand discussion and planning session, I had just recently shared this video with them because Apple really set the standard for creating a company that changes the world, and this really moves me (and I’d like to think the rest of the world) personally, and just inspires us to live lives of meaning.
Steve Jobs now deserves a place with the rest of these people.
The world is at a great loss with the departure of a creative visionary who chose to never settle, stay hungry, and stay foolish.
#RIPSteveJobs
(via mwkchan)
(via Arm Race: Your Wristwatch Is Your Next Web Portal | Fast Company)
“The wristwatch was nearly killed off by the cell phone revolution, but with the rise of the smartphone it’s about to evolve into something more powerful than it’s ever been.”
And I thought the newest iPod nano was super nifty already!
