For your icon you should get one of the Spinning Pizza of Death. Oh hang on, that's not very superior... ;)
Good luck with it all. Me? Macs = grr meeow hiss.

Awwwww...what did Macs ever do to you, hon? It's an adjustment for certain. I just realized the last time I spent any time working with one was back in 1994. :| Oh, how time flies.

Eh, nah it's just me. Sorry to poke fun. :D They're great for media stuff, I just struggle with the one my parents have and I'm not sure why they felt they needed one since they don't make the most of it. I find them clunky, but then I've never given the time to learn...
94? Wow.

Huh, I've always found Macs to be intuitive where I had to learn Windows.

And yes, 1994. I'm older than dirt. ;) I pre-date software. I pre-date OSes. I pre-date micro computers. The first program I learned to write was in in BASIC and it randomly turned pixels on the screen on and off. Exciting, no? My family's first mini-computer cost about $10K and took up our dining room -- AND required writing any software that we wanted ourselves. No hard drive and *huge* floppy disks that were actually, you know, floppy. That was almost certainly before you were born. :) In high school, I had access to DOS machines that I programmed in exchange for access to their Word Processor (Word Star? my memory grows dim) so that I could write my school papers.

College had Macs and those were blessedly easy to use. 1994 was the last year I was actively employed in archaeology and it's when I last had regular access to a Mac. After that, I moved to office jobs and encountered the dreaded Windows machines for the first time. Fortunately, they'd done a good enough imitation of Macs by then that I could kind of figure them out.

I see no reason to switch if you're happy with what you have but each type has it advantage (seriously? NO viruses? how cool is THAT?). Since I'm doing mostly graphics these days, the Mac is a good choice for me. Plus, I get to be one of those smugly superior types and that opportunity doesn't present itself very often in life. ;)

I know a lot of Mac users feel like they don't need av protection, because there's not much out there that can affect a Mac. Windows machines get hit so much simply because there's so many of them, and virus makers want to do the most damage they can. Even if I had a Mac, I'm paranoid enough to lock down the system as much as possible.

I've been using AVG Free on my PC. I used to use NAV (Norton AntiVirus), but they kept adding more and more "flash" and not much substance, all to force you to buy the newest version. AVG is much "lighter" and works really well plus it's free, but apparently they don't make a Mac version at this time. I'm sure with a bit of googling, there's probably a free (or at least really cheap) AV programs for Macs for those who want to be extra safe.

I am astonished at the lack of viruses for the Mac. I know there aren't as many but no viruses in 7 years? Man. What a treat.

However, the whole point of hubris is that it's a fatal flaw and I'm giving those up for Lent. ;) Sounds to me as if a freeware/shareware option will be more than sufficient.

I've been using Norton's software at work since that's what our corporate masters purchased licenses for and I'm very unhappy with the way the software highjacks the system and hogs resources.

First, you should ask Megan for a Mac icon (or 30)... she's a mac user and probably as dozens ;)

Secondly, I sold a few paintings. :D

Third, HAI2U!

I want a pretty red one, kind of like the one immlass has below. They also have their old logo, which was a pretty rainbow. I always liked that one. :)

YAY!!!!!! I just knew you'd sell some. I was just there this morning and meant to ask Jerry but I was late and we were hurried and I'd run out the door before I realized I hadn't asked. Which ones did you sell? And does this mean I now need to insure my pretty piece that you made for me?

I need to get with you soon-ish. I have two things I purchased at Pride for the sooper sekrit project: a hard R-rated card and penis pasta (grows when heated!). Should at least give her a smile, I hope.

HAI2U2!

I can't put the penis pasta in the book, but you can send that directly to her (I'm sure she'll get a real charge out of it!) but the card can absolutely go into the book ;)

I can wander my way up there next weekend, if you're free, or any other time if you're not. :D Lemme know!

I need to wrap that pasta up and send it pronto. I was sort of hoping to do that last week. Now I have the parental units in town. Long, long story. the card is for the book, definitely, and I need to look for a card I bought a while back that I wanted to include in this. I actually found some art cards at one point by a local photographer and it has a gorgeous, foggy photo of South Boulevard. It isn't often that Houston is pretty but North and South Boulevards are very photogenic. :)

I have my mother in town but I might be more than ready to escape for a little while this weekend what with house guests who invited themselves, an elderly incontinent dog, and a broken dishwasher. What kind of plans are you thinking of?

Oy to unexpected guests!

I'm thinking an afternoon lunch maybe?

Especially at a time when I have an elderly dog with failing sphincters, a disastrous house, an ailing dishwasher, and new toys that I really want to play with, damn it. *wallows in self-pity*

Afternoon lunch sounds wonderful! Saturday? Where and when? I'm up for (just about) anything, though I'm obviously partial to the Montrose. :)

Lemme talk to Greg and see what he might have planned and then I'll email you tomorrow, sound good? Hang in there, sweetie!!

Okey doke. It may be by the edge of my fingernails, but I shall. *hugs* I think perhaps I'll take a cab to and from lunch so I can indulge in margaritas. ;)

I'm so sorry, I need to bail on our visit this weekend. I'm just not feeling well at all tonight. :( I tried to call earlier (your cell) but I think it must have been turned off. How's next weekend look?

Oh no! I hope you aren't too sick and that you make a speedy recovery, hon. Next weekend is not a good one for me, alas. What about the one following?

Email me next week after I'm home and I'll recommend some apps. If you've got something specific you're looking for, I'll be sure to research that.

Thank you! I have no idea what I want, honestly. I was mostly polling to see what others had and liked. I'm always the last on the block to learn about stuff so I figured I find out what the big kids were playing with. :)

I use NetBarrier from Intego (http://www.intego.com/netbarrier/). The built-in firewall should be generally sufficient, but I like Intego's information hiding options.

There is no known spyware on the Mac. That said - I use Little Snitch (http://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html) because it tells me when applications are phoning home.

There are potential rootkits that can execute on the Mac OS, but mostly those would require you to install illicit software from Bob's Photoshop Emporium and jump through a few ridiculous hoops thereafter.

There are also no known viruses on the Mac OS. While I can't say I recommend running AV-free, I do it on both of my Macs. I also understand the consequences of that risk and have scrupulous backups. For customers, I'd say go open source (http://www.clamxav.com/). Whatever you do, do not go with a Symantec product. Just bad.

*doffs MacGeek hat and returns to coveting iPhone*

Thank you! This is just the info I was looking for. I find it mind boggling that there are no viruses for OS X. I've only one had a virus - sometime around 1990 - and it was on a Mac. That was back in the days of orgiastic, unprotected computing in computer labs. ;) I lost not one but two papers to the virus before the culprit was found and exorcised so I've been overly cautious ever since. On the plus side, I've needed that paranoia to survive in the Windows world virus-free.

Thanks for the links! I was pondering ClamXav already; it looks as if it's worth the room on my hard drive.

I don't run anything on my Mac Pro (nor did I on that laptop I just sent you) other than the natural protection of the system. Now that I've got a Macbook that will boot to Windows, I will be getting one of the apps designed specifically for protecting dual-boot systems.

I would suggest, when you have some time, playing around with widgest in Dashboard. I have a feeling you'll find lots of fun things to play with. :)

I'm still getting used to the feeling of not having to fear for my computer's sanity. :) It's a lovely thing.

I am having a blast playing around with the laptop so far. Widgets, eh? Noted.

Yojimbo is a really cool little organizational app from Bare Bones Software. NeoOffice (at neooffice.org) is much better than Microsoft Office and free to boot. The best Mac games are from Ambrosia Software and Spiderweb Software. Try EV Nova; it's an incredible game.

Oh! Thank you for the advice. I haven't spent any real time with modern Macs so I've lost touch with its development. So far catching up with it has been pure joy. :) I'd heard of Open Office but NeoOffice is new to me. Thanks for the leads -- I have lots of fun ahead.