PC Office to Mac Office

Archive for the ‘Life in General’ Category

PC Office to Mac Office

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Couple of weeks ago I bought a Mac and have been gradually transferring my life from the PC to the new Mac. Tonight I felt like I had done enough and could see no reason to keep the PC active anymore. I went hell for leather when I got in from the gym tonight and dismantled the old PC arrangement and sorted the new Mac set up. Getting rid of some old junk in the process too.

So much tidier, but I think it’s went a bit too bare looking. Still some work to be done to get it looking awesome. Need to get those old posters of Carrie Fisher out the loft.

ImageShack

Tags: after, before, book, mac, office, pc, pro
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New Look!

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Mario.Blog Headquarters

Hey dudes. The last few days when I’ve had a spare minute I’ve been working on this here new look for my blog. I hope you like it. I wanted to have a more modern feel and I’d seen a few sites out there with the ‘noise texture’ look and I really think its sweet, so I built a new theme around this initial idea.

Another big motivation behind the update (and this is sure to attract the ladies in droves) was that the old theme was a total mess behind the scenes. The code was a mish-mash of me just adjusting things when I noticed something. I went back to the basics here and built from scratch. Looking at the difference from the old theme and this one it is almost 30% smaller (and 100% more awesome), so you should expect a faster load time (Calm down ladies!).

Incase you didn’t know, this site is built on top of WordPress. It really is an amazing thing. If any of you dudes out there are looking to start a blog then I suggest this is the first, and last, place you go. Not just for what it is now but because it is getting better and better with every (frequent) update.

Tags: code, noise, texture, theme, wordpress
Posted in Life in General, The Web | No Comments »

The Great Book Project 15 of 20 – Austerlitz by W.G Sebald

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Oh my god. Where the hell do I start with this one? This book was almost the death of my project. I struggled with it so much. But a few days ago I had a chat with a couple of dudes in my work about how I was going to give up on the book – that I was about half way through it and in the depths of dispair. My workmates both gave me a bit of abuse and explained how guff it would be if I threw this book to the side and destroyed the integrity of what I was trying to do. So I just blitzed the final half of the book over the weekend there and today.

Austershitz

There were a few other issues at play here that have all added up to why it has taken me so long to get through it…

I was immediately demotivated my the fact that I couldn’t get this book anywhere in Kindle format. My Kindle has been a great companion to me the last six or so months, so I was gutted when I ended up having to buy this book on ebay for a couple of squid. If you looked at the title of this post you might be fooled into thinking that this is the top 4 book in the Times top 100 books from which I have based my project on, but no, I’ve been putting off leaving my Kindle to the side. Austerlitz is actually number 13. That’s 8 books I’ve read before I’ve had the guts to go back to paper.

Another reason was that I’ve been so busy with Lucid Studio and not had as much time to read as usual. You know what it’s like if you read a book little a bit at a time, sometimes days between reading session. Granted, I would have probably prioritised anything above sticking my nose in this, but I really have been dead busy. Working on my business stuff most nights.

Also, and this might be me getting a bit too personal, I haven’t been 100% the last month or two. Been a bit down so, in my experience, I need to be in the zone emotionally to enjoy relaxing to a book. If I’m feeling down I need to watch telly and veg. Stuff this concentrating palava.

MacBook Pro

Last reason for my book avoiding antics was that I finally got myself a nice shiny new MacBook Pro. You might remember it being on my bucket list. Yes. I finally did it. And as the minutes pass I can’t believe it has taken me so long. Been working on my latest stuff using it and it’s been amazing. I feel so much more productive. I donno what it is about the mac OS, but I just feel it encourages you (subliminally) to do things the right way.

So excuses out the way. What about this god-damn book?

I’m gonna keep this short because the quicker I forget about this the better. Austerlitz is a book written from the point of view of Sebald. It is written as if non-fiction (I’m not sure if it is), and details the life of an architectural historian, named Austerlitz, whom Sebald meets by chance one day in a train station. He portrays this man as an extraordinary human being. Insanely knowledgeable in so many ways. A man who never reached the heights his knowledge should have taken him.

Sadly I found absolutely nothing of interest within the pages. As much as I could recognise the colourful way that Sebald flaunts this geezers knowledge, I couldn’t get through two or three pages without dreaming about giving Angry Birds another shot. I’m not joking here. The WHOLE BOOK is one big paragraph. No chapters. Not one line break. That’s too much for a guy to deal with on the 240 bus at 7:50am.

It’s beyond my intellect to understand how this book made the top 20 of The Times Best books of the decade list.

I’m glad I listened and finished the book for the sake of face, but I’ll be gladly selling this on ebay tomorrow.

Rating:

I’m so near the end now. I’m going to read something outwith the project next. Back to my amazing Kindle. Then its onto Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood. See ya soon! (promise!)

Tags: austerlitz, book, demotivated, great, kindle, mac, project, review, sebald
Posted in Life in General, The Great Book Project | No Comments »

The Great Book Project 14 of 20 – Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

Goodreads tells me that I started reading this book on the 19th of December. Which means I flicked through the first few pages when I got a chance over the Christmas period. I didn’t really get swept away by this book until the first week in January.

It’s hard to know where to start with the latest book in my project. This really is an extraordinary story both within the pages and outwith. Suite Française was written during the second world war but was not discovered until the mid 90′s when Irène Némirovsky‘s daughter decided to open the pages of a journal that she presumed was her mothers diary. Instead it turned out to be the manuscript of this book, unfinished, but with notes on where the epic tale was intended to head. Unfortunately Jewish born Irène Némirovsky was murdered by the Nazis in an Austerlitz gas chamber in 1942.

As a result the published Suite Française is the first two novella’s of an intended five. The first tells the tales of many interconnected French civilians as they attempt to flee the invading German Army. The second is set after the invasion and centres around the small town of Bussy where the German occupiers are living alongside the French. There are some overlapping characters in each novella but both could be read independently.

The first story is all about chaos. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies: How the breakdown of society can bring out the best and worse in people. Throughout the whole novella we never encounter a German soldier, there is never a moment you would associate with a traditional war story. What we get instead is various situations where people are in disastrous circumstances not as a result of guns or bombs, but of the breakdown of traditional values and the new rules of survival.

France during occupation

The second part is, in my opinion, far superior. Némirovsky gives us a very real look into what it would be like to live in a small town by an occupying force. Instead of these Nazis being the nasty, murderous types we get used to in war stories, we get a group of men who are charming, completely considerate and determined to win over the hearts of the town and its people.

Also, unlike the previous part of the book, we are not bogged down (at least I was in the first book) with countless characters. This part of the book is predominantly about a young woman, Lucile, and her relationship with a German Officer who is living in one of the rooms of her home. It was great to see how, as their relationship develops, Lucile uses this to her advantage to become one of the more able members of the town.

It is soul destroying to see the way Némirovsky painted the German Soldiers only to be killed at the hands of them in reality.

Another great book. It took me away from the madness of my bus journeys through the east end of Glasgow. Would have been great to see where the next three books would have went.

Rating:

Next up it’s (rather ironically) Austerliz by W.G Sebald. I ended up having to buy this book on ebay as I’ve been unable to get it for my Kindle. I’ve had enough of war for the moment though so I’m going to read something outwith the project then start this one after.

Tags: austerlitz, blog, book, bus, Francaise, france, germany, glasgow, great, invasion, Irène, mario, Némirovsky, project, Suite, w2, war, world, wwii
Posted in Books, Life in General, The Great Book Project | 3 Comments »

The Great Book Project 13 of 20 – The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

Hey folks. Happy new year and all that. Sorry for being away for so long (not that you bloody-well cared anyway). Been a bit hectic over the Christmas period so haven’t had the chance to update my progress on the project.

Had a brilliant Christmas. First as a married man, which was weird, but totally awesome. Got loads of pressies and had [voice of Commandant Lassard] many, many great nights out, including a wedding down in London town.

The Tipping Point

I actually finished this book in the first week of December just before my birthday. That’s how lazy I have been lately (much to the disdain of my business’s clients!). So excuse me if I’m kinda vague when talking about The Tipping Point.

Straight off the bat I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a book of the authors theories surrounding what makes something go ‘viral’. From fashion trends to crime rates to Sesame Street, this book gives us loads of great wee anecdotes to support the rules and strategies. It’s the kind of book that you could have in the toilet and pick up any time. Each little section has enough on its own to keep you satisfied.

When I say Gladwell examines what makes something go viral, he actually investigates the people involved (some people he bloody-well meets in person). He analyses the personality of infectious people and what causes ideas to stick where other ones slide disappointingly down the wall.

Gladwell clearly knows what he is talking about and I found it hard to argue with any of the points he brings up.

It’s difficult not make the book sound like a bit of a drag, but I can assure you that the narrative jumps about enough to make the content very interesting and engaging.

Rating:

Something I’d like to point out that I’m discovering through the progress of this wee project; apart from ‘The Rapture‘ I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed all the books on the list. But I’m noticing that the further I get into the list the less I am being gripped by the books. I don’t know if this is because the books on the list are becoming more refined as we get to the top. Remember, I don’t consider myself to be a literary guru, so I could very well be missing something. I’m also thinking that it’s because I’m learning my own taste now and would rather get through my own ever growing list of books I want to read. We’ll see how I feel as I get closer to the top.

I’ve already started number 14 on my list which is Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky. See ya soon!

Tags: book, christmas, great, Malcolm Gladwell, Point, project, Tipping, viral
Posted in Books, Life in General, The Great Book Project | 3 Comments »

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