09/08/2007 by david.

I’m a skin-flint. My wife is constantly telling me this so it must be true. I don’t spend money (on myself anyway) lightly and feel guilty when I do, I have a family to keep. They on the other hand have no problem whatsoever in spending money. Mine, that is. But that’s ok, because I have a macbook and I can get loads of quality software for very little or nothing.

In a previous life as another PCuser I just could not deal with spending loads of cash on apps that did something I wanted it to do. Build a professional looking website? That will be 400 gold coins, sir. But you can bit-torrent it for nothing using your neighbours broadband if you prefer, sir. And you can spend time instead of money searching out every alternative to this app until your blue in the face without actually doing anything productive if you wish, sir.

Quality Software? Not that mac apps are any better coded (though they might be, haven’t looked, and don’t want to, and don’t care) than MSWindows offerings, and some of them are cross-platform, it just seems to me that mac platform apps have less to contend with, less conflicts with other apps and hardware, less configuration to deal with and definitely, definitely more pleasing to look at.

Windows has freeware too! You don’t have to spend a bundle getting a good app that does what you want. Yes, I know, but have you ever been to a restaurant and thought there was too much choice? Nothing wrong with having plenty of choice but for me there comes a time when I get really pee’d off hoking through tranches of freeware on the Interweb or a magazine CD giveaway, picking some that seem to ok, slapping them on the machine to try out and then instantly removing them because I really need to configure them to work properly. I spend all day configuring and re-configuring in my day job, I don’t want to do it when I get home unless it involves reconfiguring a chicken madras and a beer tin so that it has no lid. I can honestly say that I have done very little configuring of anything I have installed on the mac, it always just seems to work when installed. I remember laughing out loud when I first got the macbook home and joined the wireless network, it took seconds. Literally, seconds. I didn’t know diddly about macs (still don’t) but had joined to my wireless network armed with just a wep key, no installing drivers for a wee usb wireless thingy, and didn’t need to go hoking in any ‘advanced’ tabs to see if there was something there to configure.

There are a lot of apps out there for mac that are very expensive. As you would expect these are aimed at the professional market and are normally cross-platform. But I’m not looking for that, I just want to be a ‘user’. I don’t want to think too much about how can I do this or that, I just want to do it, and I want to get it done in as little time as possible (because that is what I have even less of than money) with as professional output as I can manage. Diminishing returns and all that. And the macbook does that for me, everywhere I look. And there a lot of free or inexpensive apps for mac too, and my next post in ’switchers’ will give you a run down of my current favourites, and why. Until then, go configure.

Posted in Switchers | Print | No Comments »

09/08/2007 by david.

Up until last year I was a fully fledged PC (Windows only) user. I worked with it all day in my job as an IT Systems Analyst/Support Engineer and still do, helping to maintain a Microsoft Windows 2003 server environment (approx 200 servers) and a couple of thousand XP desktops in a number of locations in different countries. And what a pain in the rear it is. So much so that I wouldn’t even want to see a computer when I came home at night, despite the fact I had quite a few around the house. They always seem, to me anyway, to be just too much work. I found myself spending time doing things with them that I didn’t intend to do, wasting time generally and always searching for software that would be easy to use (having spent all day trying to resolve problems for other people the last thing you want to do when you get home is find some of your own).

They always just seemed, well, bothersome. Adding CD/DVD Writers, changing hard-drives and graphics cards, working on the PC instead of actually using it. I’m gonna try hard not to make this a Microsoft Windows bashing post, that’s not the intention but I now firmly believe in different horses for different courses, and while Microsoft are great at business solutions, to be honest, It’s never really done it for me as a user.

So after many years of resisting and putting up with my brother slagging me off for using PC’s (which he called BC’s due the fact that he believed they were well out of date) and Amiga’s (or Amoeba’s as referred to them) I jumped ship.

“My name is David Irvine, and I’m a ’switcher’”. Feels good coming out about it now.

Last year I splashed out and bought myself an Apple Macbook. I didn’t feel the need to go for the big cahuna Macbook Pro, just the bog standard, white, 13″ Macbook. What a revelation. From taking it out of the lovely packaging, powering it up in the back seat of the car on the way back to work (accompanied by lots of “oohs”, “aahhs” and curses from the other occupants) to sitting here now blogging this, I can honestly say it is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I LOVE it. It has made every other computer I own redundant, including my self built music workstation. I still tinker with ‘the others’ and even built myself a Vista Media Centre recently but their numbers are reducing as I give them away.

I’m not going to say I’ve had no problems with the Macbook (wrote another post on a display problem I had, which my wife still smirks at if I mention, I just know she did something and is hiding it) and initially encountered a couple of random shutdowns. But that’s it. There will probably be more in the future, but a couple of problems in a year? I had a couple of problems every sitting with the BC, sorry, the PC. I use it for work (Music School), and play; building websites, surfing, ripping, skyping, blogging, music, writing, photos, home movies, and using one of the built in voices to tell my daughter she really needs to go to bed (and she actually talks back to it, brilliant). And initially, as expected, it took me a while getting used to the mac way of doing things (What? NO program files, system32, add/remove programs, Ctrl/Alt/Delete?). And not entirely happy with some of Apples own programs requiring a .mac account., but that’s ok because it made me look for other cool, easy to use programs. I’ll write about this in another post, but generally, the future looks bright. And fun. I’m still learning and as time goes by I’l doubtless find other things I’m not happy with but generally I am one happy camper.

So I’ve decided to add another category in the blog for those who are contemplating ’switching’, it won’t be anything technical or grande, just reports of me having fun and loving my mac. So look out for posts on my favourite software, working habits, and findings of good and bad things with my macbook in future.

Posted in Switchers | Print | No Comments »

07/08/2007 by david.

It’s been a while since I blogged anything so I thought I would come back to you with something I feel passionately about. The Music Schools I run in Belfast and Dundonald. Over the next few weeks I will be updating you on what we have done or are planning on doing so call back regularly.

So…You wanna jam in a band? Live fast, play loud? And you live in Belfast or Dundunold area? Well, if you want to learn how to play guitar, bass, drums or keyboards then our school is the place to do it. We’ll teach you how to play and the weekly sessions are fun, socially rewarding and confidence building. We’ll channel your creative energy into music, help you explore your limits, make a statement and find your voice.

In the weekly sessions in our unique Clive’s Easylearn Pop Schools, you’ll find that you don’t have to be a virtuoso to rock, write songs and be cool. You just need to find your own style.

And whether you are a total beginner or have a little experience, we can help you to get started or improve. We’re on your wavelength!

So what are our schools all about? Clive’s Easylearn Pop Music Schools were established in Southampton in 1981 by Clive Brooks BA (Hons). A respected music teacher and author, Clive began his musical career back in 1973. He went on to tour England and Europe in a variety of bands and has written a number of books and magazine articles on music. More recently, Clive has been the music-making columnist on the national computer magazine PC Home, where he wrote about emerging music technology, AND our schools have won the much coveted BFA Franchise of the Year Award for Enterprise 2007!!

Clive realised that music had traditionally been over-complicated and set out to correct this. After considerable development over a number of years, Clive introduced his unique “Easylearn” courses, which have now successfully been used to teach over 5000 people to play rock and pop music.

Our Music Schools in Belfast and Dundonald are part of a network that has become the fastest growing part-time pop music schools chain in the UK. And now you have an opportunity to be part of it!!

We ALWAYS offer FREE taster sessions where you or your child can come along and have a session in learning to play Guitar, Bass, Drums or Keyboards to decide whether it’s right for you, with NO hidden agenda or costs. If you enjoy the session, talk to us and we’ll fit you in for our weekly sessions, and schedule you with one of our hand-picked and trained tutors to ensure that you get the most from your lessons.

So what exactly is it hat we do? Well, we provide rock and pop tuition for all ages and only employ tutors who have been specifically trained in our systems to deliver the quality and brand standards that we have become famous for across the UK. Starting a course, which lasts for up to 18 months, is easy and inexpensive with no large up-front fees to pay. No previous experience is necessary, and the school is equipped with a range of instruments, so you don’t have to buy one before you start!

A one-hour weekly lesson with a tutor in your choice of guitar, drums, bass, keyboards or singing. One tutor to just two students to increase the fun and reduce the pressure! 45 minutes of gaining skills using our simple and unique EASYLEARN courses, plus 15 minutes of testing these skills out with others in an exciting jam session. 30-minute junior sessions (6-9yrs) are also available.

To find out more visit the main website at www.clivesmusic.com and click on ‘Find Nearest School’. Then click on the map of Northern Ireland and select your preferred school. On that page you will see a big yellow star. Click on that, fill in your details and I will get back to you to arrange your free taster session. And while you’re there, please check our ‘Recent News’ to see what other schools in the network have been doing.

So what are you waiting for? You have absolutely nothing to lose!! Click on www.clivesmusic.com, drop us a line, and I will get back to you. And call back here regularly to see what we’re doing at our Music Schools in Belfast and Dundonald.

Looking forward to hearing from you !!

Best Regards
David Irvine
Clive’s Easylearn Rock and Pop Schools (Belfast and Dundonald)

Posted in Music Tuition | Print | No Comments »