CampTune: Resize Bootcamp partitions
I recently had a coworker who wanted to install Adobe CS4 on his Bootcamp partition. The problem was after uninstalling the old suite he still did not have enough space left for the new version. I looked around a little bit and most recommended simply destroying the partition and starting over again to make a larger one. The only drawback to doing it this way is then you have to reinstall Windows and all programs. I did a little more digging around and found this program called CampTune CampTune allows you to resize your boot camp partition without losing any data.
I went to their website and registered for their beta to give it a shot. Before doing anything I did backup my coworkers files as a precaution which is always a good idea when messing around with partitions. The program consists of a bootable CD which loads a graphical interface. It is literally just a matter of moving a slider to the new size that you want. It reminds me a lot of Partition Magic that I have used a few times when dealing strictly with Windows partitions. The whole process took about an hour and a half, but worked perfectly without losing any data. I am going to hang onto this piece of software for future use.
New Unibody Macbook Pro
A couple of weeks ago a coworker decided they wanted to upgrade their Macbook to a Macbook Pro. We started talking about it and the wheels started turning that it would be a good opportunity for me to try out the new model and he could buy my old one. Last Friday my new one arrived and I thought I would give a little review on what I thought about the new model.
The first thing that I noticed when taking the computer out of the box was how curvy everything is now. The corners on the previous model were rounded, but the new model they are even more rounded than before. The other thing I noticed is this model is slightly wider than the old model. Luckily it still fits in my backpack as before, but it is a tight fit.
Upon opening up the lid the first thing that really sticks out are the black keys on the keyboard. The previous model had silver keys that matched the aluminum body. This keyboard now more closely resembles the Macbook and Macbook Air.
10 Years Ago
I can not believe it has now been a decade since 1999. That was a big year for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest for me was the first new Star Wars movie in 16 years. It was close to this time that the first teaser trailer for The Phantom Menace was released. I was in England at the time and I remember that the trailer showed up with The Prince of Egypt. I went to that movie just so I could see the trailer.
The teaser poster was cool in that it showed Anakin with his shadow being Darth Vader. Here is that poster
Also, Hasbro released a couple of sneak preview figures early on. I missed out on most of the Episode 1 marketing blitz, but Paul was nice enough to pick up one of these for me.
Marketers went overdrive with the Episode 1 merchandise, so even by the time I got back home a lot of it was on clearance. I picked up the main characters and the Naboo Starfighter, but other than that I didn’t go too crazy.
Is 3D the next big thing?
3D seems to be making a huge comeback lately. Last year I saw the Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D and was amazed at how well the quality was and the 3D effects. Instead of using the typical red and blue glasses you use glasses with a tinted lens. Last Month Sarah and I saw My Bloody Valentine 3D and again it was just as good. The movie itself was better than I thought it would be and the 3D effects were a lot of fun. One part you have this old man looking for the killer on his front porch with a shotgun pointed right at you.
The other day we were at Target and because of the release of the new Friday the 13th movie Paramount re-released some of the original movies. One of these releases was the 3rd movie which was released in 3D in the theaters. This new DVD release also included the 3D version of the film and came with 2 sets of 3D glasses. Because of home 3D technology right now you still have to use the red and blue glasses. It does kind of mess around with the colors of the movie, but the 3D effects were still pretty good. One part which particularly stood out was when Jason shoots a harpoon at someone and the harpoon goes straight toward the camera.
It would be great to get the same quality at home as the theatre. I have done a little research on the subject and it looks like soon we’ll start seeing 3D compatible HD TVs. Some of these TVs were shown off at this years CES. The question about it though is will people want to invest in it? I think if the trend continues it will probably be a yes. A few years ago George Lucas also said he wanted to release Star Wars in 3D. I honestly hope he still plans to do this now that I have seen how the technology works.
Here is an article about the new HD TVs on CNET.com I hope the trend continues, so we see releases of some of these classic 3D movies. I remember one of the Jaws movies being in 3D and one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies also having some 3D scenes.
New Year Coin Additions
This year has been off to a good start coin collecting wise. So far I have picked up 3 new coins. Today I got 2 of them from an ex Kenner employee that I have bought some coins from before. The coins that I buy from him are always extra nice since they were never circulated. I now have 15 coins left to fill up my frame. but I am now getting to some of the more expensive ones. I imagine it will still be a couple years before it is complete. That’s okay though because trying to track them down and saving up for them is part of the fun in collecting.
You can read a little more about these great pieces of aluminum on one of my old posts.
Here are scans of the 3 new coins
