Not anymore.

Valve, the game developer/publisher behind the Half Life Series, Left 4 Dead series, and many more, announced that Steam and the Source engine will soon be available on Mac OS X.

Valve has also announced a new Steam feature called “Steam Play” which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, together with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac.

It may just be one developer, but it’s a start. Other developers will most probably follow. To all Mac haters out there, have fun using the “Macs can’t play games” argument while it lasts.

I called up Smart, my ISP and I was scheduled to get a visit from the tech at 2pm on Friday.  Surprisingly, they did come albeit being an hour late. Finally I get to have my Internet back! Not quite. They came over to my house to replace the power adapter but the thing is, they didn’t bring the goddamn part! Seriously, how the hell can you possibly forget to bring something when it’s the ONLY reason as to why you’re coming over to my house in the first place? IDIOTS!

Moving on, they took the busted adapter with them and scheduled for a second visit at 9am the next day to finally replace it with a new one. So I reluctantly gave them some consideration and agreed for a second visit. I said to myself; “After this rather embarrassing situation, I think they’d do everything to set things right. Right?” Wrong. They never came and I had to call up Smart (Which by now I strongly believe is getting a bit tad ironic) only to realize they had it scheduled to January 18^th without me knowing it. To make the long story short, I still don’t have my Internet back as I’m writing this little rant of mine and I’m also starting to get broke by being on 3G.

Fortunately, it turns out that my contract will end on February 3^rd when I asked the guy on the line. Now, I’m not going to have any second thoughts of terminating my subscription and switching to another ISP. Thanks for relieving me of that dilemma Smart Bro!

But I don’t wanna look like a snobbish selfish prick so I believe I should be careful with what I say here.
First of all, I like getting gifts. No doubt about that. And as much as I would like to give back, I don’t have the money nor the resources to do so. Neither do I have the talent/skill/inspiration to make artsy/crafty crap that people make in lieu of something with market value.

Every Christmas, I’ve been asked by people what I want. But social protocol dictates that you let the giver choose the gift, while you cross your fingers that he/she will get you something that you will really really like or really really need. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way.

So without further ado, here is my top-10 wish list for C-Mas ‘09.

1. A new pair of Sony headphones – my current one’s has been broken and patched up which i don’t think will last much longer.
2. CDs – I know most people nowadays are getting songs from iTunes and other online music stores, or erm… the dark side, I still prefer it if I had a tangible copy of every music I own which I like to collect. I’m currently eying either Daughtry’s new album (just because it was mixed by my fave mixing engineer; Chris Lord Alge), Paramore’s new album or Flyleaf’s Memento Mori (same mixer).
3. New 3G USB Modem - I know it sucks having to pay for internet on the go when I can get wifi for free, but wifi coverage around here is spotty. Plus, you can’t really automatically switch from hot spot to hot spot as you would normally do with cellular networks, so wifi ain’t an option in a speeding car.
4. 30 Rock Seasons 1 & 2 box set DVDs - I just love that show. It’s probably the best comedy show that doesn’t have a laugh track like sitcoms.
5. A Turntable – VINYL ROCKS!!! ’nuff said.
6. Vinyls – something I can use with my turntable. preferably by Coldplay or Anberlin.
7. Useless knick knacks that I can use as bedroom ornaments – or better called as Novelty items.
8. Books – Novels worth reading. like Dan Brown’s new “The Lost Symbol” or some other best sellers. I like thriller and mystery books. Don’t even dare to get me Twilight crap or I KEEL U!!
9. Cargo Shorts - gotta have the extra pockets!
10. Cash – to save you the trouble of falling in line doing christmas shopping and it’s also something I can feed my piggy bank with.

The current theme is the best one that I could find, and it will be my current theme until I find something better.

Feel free to suggest a good theme if you know of one. My definition of a good theme is:

• Black(or at least dark) and subtle tables
• White Text field background
• Abstract banner header; preferably Neon (think Las Vegas!)

[edit]

I just got a new header banner thanks to Firebucket and to iAlex for some php stuff

My archive can be found here.

VUMeter

So i looked for one on the internet and found the app called “VUMeter”. I know they’re not that creative in naming their software, but who the hell cares anyway?

VUMeter with iTunes

VUMeter is a standalone application for monitoring sound levels on the selected audio device. The app works right out of the zip file which means, there’s no need for installation and setup. It mimics the appearance of an actual VU meter, and not to mention the way how the needles deflect and retract. A right click on the app takes you to options like choosing the sound devices or choosing a VU-dBFS scale.

VUMeter with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

Usefulness varies depending on what you intend to do with it. For the average user, it can be used as an alternative over that boring old graph and visualizations Windows Media Player has, or whatever media player you use. It can also be used for recording and mixing in the box to measure master outputs. Bottomline is; you can use it for actual sound monitoring, or just for the hell of it.

If you like the app, you can download it here.

The new Macbook Pros as seen from the Apple Online Store

The WWDC opened up with a refresh of the macbooks, with the 13″ now integrated into the MacBook Pro family. And major design updates and features have been on the way starting with the longer life (up to 7 hours of wireless productivity) but non user replaceable battery that has a guaranteed 5 year lifetime, an SD card slot, perfect for photography enthusiasts like me, and backlit keyboard comes standard in all macbook models.

Another significant improvement apple has up its sleeve is that they’ve reintroduced firewire to the 13″ models with firewire 800. Apple also lowered the price points by $100 starting with the cheapest from $1,299 to $1,199, and so on. This price drop has been the most aggressive apple has ever attempted and can actually compete with PCs with more or less the same specs.

A polycarbonate macbook is still available with 2.13GHz of processor.

The Pros come in 2.26GHz and 2.53GHz for the 13″, 2.53GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.8GHz for the 15″ model, and 2.8GHz for the 17″.

The new iPhone 3Gs

This is just in; by the time i’m writing this, I’m watching the WWDC keynote and they just unveiled the new iPhone hardware dubbed the “iPhone 3Gs” Notable features over the current iPhone are, just to name a few:

1. Faster Processor and Media chip speed
2. 3.2MP camera with autofocus and auto exposure
3. Built in Digital compass
4. Voice control
5. Video
6. MMS

so the 4GB rumor wasn’t true, instead, for $99, you get a regular iPhone 3G 8GB, and unlike the rumors, it doesn’t have the front facing camera for video calls.

iPhone 3Gs is available in 16GB and 32GB capacities and will be coming out in June 19th

The banner caption indicates the focus of Apple's developer conference will be on features of the iPhone OS and third-party apps.

The Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) 2009 will take place today. The much awaited annual conference which is followed by Developers and tech geeks alike have been an opportunity for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to deliver a keynote address and would often present new apple products and/or any development to the media.

Months before any Apple event takes place, rumors would come out from tech sites like Engadget and MacRumors regarding upcoming apple products. This hype combined with with apple’s secrecy raises public expectations have been known to boost sales and garner a huge chunk of the market share.

As for my own, here is a list;

1. OSX v10.6 Snow Leopard – everybody have kept their hopes up for the final release of the next OSX update announced last year which promises better core functionalities; Grand Central - which has the ability to take full advantage of multi core CPUs, a 64-bit kernel and support of up to 16 terabytes of RAM.
2. Refresh of the MacBook line – this is more of a personal expectation for me, some guy in chat told me that they might have a refresh of the current macbook line by discontinuing the 2.0GHz, dropping the 2.4GHz to $1,299 and a new one will take its $1,499 price point. I must admit this came from an unreliable source, but since Apple is keeping quiet about things, it won’t rule out the possibility for such a refresh.
3. New iPhone – this has got to be the most discussed rumor on the intarwebz. Rumor has it that the new iPhone will come out in a wider range of models by bringing back the 4GB model for $99 with a 3-year contract, together with new 8GB, and 16GB models, and introducing a whopping 32GB version. It has also been reported that they will come with the ability to make Video Calls through iChat and that 8GB and above iPhones will have 3.2 megapixel cameras while the 4GB will get the current 2MP.
4. iPhone 3.0 software update – this anticipated update will have 100 additional features which includes; Spotlight searching, Copy & Paste(FINALLY!!!), Push Notifications, MMS, and Peer-to-Peer connectivity just to name a few.

What are your expectations for the upcoming keynote? Feel free to comment right down, there..  ^_^