xtine.net

today was the final straw that broke the registrar's back -- mass exodus from godaddy because of their support over the evil sopa bill. and like the other web techies out there, i decided to finally transfer all my domains because of that as well. i happened to choose namecheap, many chose the same, and others. all it mattered, was that the nerds finally had that final reason to ragetransfer to a better domain registrar. and in a week, i won't have to deal with the horrible ui/ux, constant up-selling, and the scummy feeling that comes with using godaddy's services. good riddance.

i was always enamored by the drumset in high school, but never got the chance to really play one until i bought a used yamaha dtxpress ii in college. learning basic beats, i felt a bit limited in the simulation of the drums so i upgraded to a new roland td-3sw, which features a mesh snare head instead of a rubber pad. from then on, i only just fooled around a bit and never took it quite seriously, until this year.

feeilng that i finally wanted to commit to learning the drumset the proper way, i began lessons with a jazz teacher early this year, and since then i've been keeping up with it. and now finally becoming limited with the electronic kit, i finally saved up for a rehearsal lockout space and an acoustic set. plus, it gave me no excuses to practicing, since i can easily practice my trombone at any hour of the day without disturbing anyone.

i looked at various entry/mid level shell packs and between talking to friends and trying sets out, i settled on a gretsch catalina maple in rich amber finish. this is the breakdown of what i got:

• gretsch catalina maple (snare, 8x7 tom, 10x8 tom, 12x9 tom, 16x16 floor tom, 22x18 bass) - $700
• pork pie little squealer vented 13x7 snare drum - $195
• 16 inch zildjian k custom hybrid crash, 20 inch zildjian k custom hybrid ride - $500
• 14 inch zildjian zht mastersound hi-hat pair - $160
• dw hardware (snare stand, hi-hat stand, cymbal stands) - $250
• dw dwcp2000 bass pedal - $60
• pork pie tractor drum throne - $120

so far, so good. the bass is a bit boomy but i haven't put a pillow in yet to help muffle the sound. i've also been slowly trying to get the hang of tuning the various drums, which is a bit time consuming. i haven't experimented with too many sticks yet, but so far i've been liking the solid feel of the pro-mark shira kashi oak 5b. they are a bit heavier but very smooth. the solidness is something i haven't quite felt in other sticks and it's tough enough to withstand hard hitting although i'm not that much of a hard hitter.

my teacher did notice some edge unevenness so i eventually have to take the snare and a few toms to get the edges bevelled for consistent tone. but other than that, it's been fun!

... and i can't go back. really!

my last main machine was the first generation macbook pro 15" unibody design. when it came out, it was such an upgrade from the generation before. since then, i felt that my computing needs were fairly satisfied, especially after i upgraded the ram to 4gb then.

at my last gig i was using a quad core mac pro with 10gb ram. you'd think for front-end web development that would be overkill. but i've recently started a new job, and now i'm fitted with a brand new 13" macbook air. and the air actually is *more* performant for the type of work i do. with the ssd hard drive, things are zippier, and freakin' photoshop cs5 loads loads in like 3 seconds, versus the chug i would experience even in the mac pro.

when the latest macbook airs came out i held out on jumping the gun since i would be worried that the 256gb hard drive wouldn't be enough. this is coming from me swapping out the drive on my macbook pro to 750gb. but now what i realize is that my macbook pro has effectively turned into my home machine, and the air is my portable machine. when i'm at home, i can screen share and control my macbook pro from anywhere in the apartment, and i can easily transfer files if needed. i can wirelessly control itunes on the macbook pro that's connected to the speakers. lately, it's been a computing dream for me.

the portability and quickness of the ssd is really second to none. it's so light, never too heavy to bring *anywhere*. the three finger gesturing works with lion perfectly (as well matched with the magic trackpad i use now). i really don't lament not having a cd drive at all, considering once i get a usb hub i can attach as many devices to my heart's desire (and even an ethernet connection when needed). i rarely use my optical drive anyway, and when i do, i can just use my macbook pro at home.

when i switch back to the pro, it seems big. i actually have the same resolution on both machines, since the pros actually only go higher than 1440 if you pay extra for an "hd" customization option. 13" seems to be a great size.

but really, being on the computer all the time, this has been such a grand transition, that i'm still smiling and enjoying the benefits when i do work, look at cat videos, listen to music, or read up on blogs online.