Let the Stories Begin

I knew I would have good college stories, but I didn't know they would start right away. Anyway, after moving in last Sunday I am starting to feel more at home and I am ready to begin classes. Before all of that however we have "Welcome Week" which is just to help us get to know Cal with tons of activities and such. Well last night was my first fraternity party. A bunch of people from my floor decided to go "frat hopping" and go to the parties.

There was of course the stereotypical drinking and loud music, but I only participated in dancing to the latter. Since I had a job interview this morning with the campus computer store, myself and a few other people decided to leave early and get to bed (no later than midnight). The rest of the 20 or so people stayed behind to keep dancing and such.

Now, i haven't had the best time trying to sleep in these new conditions, the new environment is causing some sleep anxiety. Anyway, at around 7:00, just before I decide to finally get up for the day, my roommate walks in and the first thing I say to him is "dude, re you serious?". My roommate, Guy, was out all night until 7:00 in the morning and he didn't come in to go to bed, he had to leave because he had his own thing to do in the morning. I proceeded to tell him he better tell me whatever story this involves later, "alright dude."

Anyway, after my job interview (I got the job) I went to Caltopia which is this huge fair/trade show event for the students at Berkeley. They have everything there, from banks, to energy drinks, to rock climbing gear. I used to think getting the SWAG (souvenirs, wearables and gifts) from robotics was a lot, but they had so much there.


Photo Credit: iSight camera in MacBook Pro

From the top right: A beer pong poster from winning at the game, water bottle, various pamphlets, toiletries, stickers, tattoos, measuring tape, white boards, Blue & Gold beads, magnets, tons of food (Full Throttle energy drink, mac & cheese, popcorn, fun sized candy bars, gum, trail mix, yogurt, cookies, and vegetable booty), Starbucks gift card, iTunes gift card, pens, pencils, lubricant, and my personal favorite from the sperm bank of California, condoms! This doesn't include all the drinks handed out at the event, including Odwalla juice, Naked Juice, Starbucks, Honest Tea and tons of others.

This is not high school anymore.

I also need help naming my MacBook Pro, I have narrowed it down to BearMac or CalMac, if you have a preference of any other ideas let me know.

Welcome to Cal

Well I am here, in my dorm room, with my roommates, in my new city. I am in Berkeley. I guess I knew someday this had to come, just didn't realize it would happen this quickly. It was actually kind of anticlimatic, of all the movies you see of a kid going off to college they never really show what happens right after the parents drop them off. I wonder why.

This is Welcome Week where we pretty much just take a week doing fun activities and get fre food often. I went to the campus computer store to return my DOA computer to get it replaced. I am now writing this on a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro. I couldn't really be happier about it.

There are a few things I forgot however, I forgot to bring colorful decorations for my room. The walls are a nasty gray and with two other guys, we don't really know how to make it lovlier. i have decided to take that tast upon myself. I will bring a few posters and buy a plant or something. I am also in need of some of the essentials such as detergent, water, and food for the room. I also need a digital camera to take these awesome pictures of the view I have from my room. If you look straight out you can see the Bay and it is beautiful. Ok maybe a digital camera isn't a necessity, but I do need it.

I miss you all very much and I will keep you updated on my new life here in Berkeley.

(One complaint though, this humidity doesn't help my hair too much, the gel can't hold it.)

The Home Stretch

Tonight is my last official night in Lancaster before I move up to Berkeley. It is very bitter sweet, I hate the AV, but I love it because it is my home and I was born here. I am going to embrace the new culture of the bay area with open arms and represent the AV in a positive light (hopefully).

I will miss all of you as well. You have all helped to shape who I am today and would not be as successful without your support. Even if you aren't up there with me, you own a little stock in Benji. Don't cash in though, save your shares.

PS: One of the fortunate things about leaving is these blogs will get better by a factor of infinity.

Breaking News!!!

This just in... Today, August 15th 2006, a Mac was announced dead on arrival. Benji Coleman-Levy, 18, received a shipment containing an Apple MacBook Pro. When turned on it started up as it should, except for one small detail, the backlight did not work. Nothing could be seen on the LCD screen except for the outline of a few key elements during startup. Immediately, Benji tried to bring the computer back to proper health, but it was too late, the Mac was dead (at least in a deep coma).

Plans are for Benji to take the Mac to Berkeley on Monday and exchange it for a properly working one, however, this one should not have died in vein. The memorial service is scheduled on Monday at the University of California, Berkeley, but the family wished it to remain private.

The MacBook Pro is survived by its saddened father Benji, a brother iBook, and two iPod companions.

A New Generation

My summer is coming to a close. I leave for Berkeley in less than a week, 5 days to be exact. I have so much left to do before I leave, I have to finish the alcohol education lesson the school makes me take, I have to buy certain dorm related items, and I have to say good-bye to you, the heroes. I don't know quite where the summer went, but what I remember was good. Late nights with Rene and Janet's and Will's. Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Target, Valencia and the aqueduct with Kasey. Vacation up to Washington with my family and the continuous string of parties after graduation.

Today, high school started again officially replacing my class with the next generation of high strung, highly stresses, open-eyed college hopefuls. Also, the elementary schools around here started again as well. The kindergartners entering today are in the high school class of 2019. They are the ones officially replacing me in the mandatory public education system as I was the replacement for the high school class of 1993. Those guys are about 31 now by the way.

I still have a good 5 days left of my summer, before I make the plunge into the truly independent life. I will definitely miss the innocence. As of right now I am introducing the "Benji Transition Program". Kind of like what what we're doing in Iraq with their government, but with less blood and it actually has a time table (and probably more than a 34% approval rating). It's 5 days long and it involves packing and purchasing what I need as well as transitioning how I say I live in Lancaster to I live in Berkeley. Well if you'll excuse me I have some packing to do, I suppose I have to start eventually.

The Results

Well the Reality Distortion Field ™ is starting to wear off as the Steve Jobs keynote becomes part of recent history. Fortunately there are still 4 more days of the conference to go. Yesterday I made predictions on what was to be announced today, let me recap and tell you how I did.

I knew Mac OS X Leopard was going to be demoed, as did the rest of anyone who has ever read anything related to this conference so you can't really give me that one, but I would like to tell you how I feel about the features. First off, I really like the sound of Time Machine. I mean we all need to make back-ups but it is rare any of us do, so Time Machine will take care of us. I am also really happy for PhotoBooth being built into the operating system. iChat and Mail also look amazing. Also, it looks like Apple kept some of the new stuff "top secret" so the folks up at Redmond don't start their photocopiers too early. Apple was poking fun at them earlier with a banner that read "Redmond has a cat too, a copy cat". I thought that statement was pretty funny myself.

I would also like to say I called it with the Mac Pro, not only did I know that it was going to use Woodcrest (Dual Core Xeon), but I even knew there was no standard configuration, it is all build to order. The form factor changed too, well the inside did and they added one more optical drive, but still the one more optical drive is enough to change the form enough for me, although next time I would like to see it sport a smaller footprint.

Also the Xserve did get updated and the transition is now complete. No more PowerPC, it was good for 10 years and I will have very fond memories of the AIM alliance.

Well to my disappointment no new MacBook Pros, but that's ok, now I don't have to worry about if it will ship by the time I need it for school. So I guess I have to buy sometime this week. With 4 days left, I am looking forward to other announcements this week as well. Check out the latest at Apple

Predictions

Well as an Apple fan boy I am going to give my official predictions for the World Wide Developers Conference to kick off tomorrow with a traditional trademark Steve Jobs keynote. I am looking forward to being caught in his reality distortion field as it has been since January since we last heard him speak publicly. Anyway, my predictions.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
I'll start with the obvious here. Apple is going to preview the next generation of its operating system code named "Leopard". It will most likely take advantage of the new Intel processors in the current Macintosh computers. It might have Windows virtualization software built in, which can be very exciting for people who are interested in switching or are bounded by one Windows-only program. Also, Apple is already poking fun at Micro$oft. With banners that say "Mac OS X Leopard, Introducing Vista 2.0" and "Mac OS X Leopard, Hasta la Vista, Vista"

PowerMac (Mac Pro)
My next prediction will be that Apple will complete their transition to Intel by introducing the professional end Macintosh (currently the PowerMac G5) with a new Intel chip, either a Core 2 Duo, Merom, or Woodcrest. I don't exactly know what the specs will be, but I hope for a new form factor as it has been 3 years since an update.

Xserve
Apple's server product also long since been updated and still sporting a PowerPC chip. This will hopefully see an update tomorrow. Not that it matters to me, but I think tomorrow will see the completion of the transition.

MacBook Pro
I have been putting off the purchase of a new laptop for school because of this event. The MacBook Pro was introduced in January as one of the first computers sporting an Intel chip. I can see this getting updated to a Core 2 Duo processor at a faster system bus and speed. At least that's what I hope. Probably not a new form factor as it has ben very successful as aluminum.

Other Hardware Updates
I can see the iMac being the only other update to the hardware line because, again, it has been since January. It will most liley have similar specs to the MacBook Pro and offer the same chip, the Core 2 Duo. I think the Mac mini and MacBook will be untouched tomorrow.

iTunes/iPod
Sorry to you music lovers out there (Rene), I doubt these will see an update until the October quarter, especially since the WWDC is for professionals around the Macintosh platform. Steve will give a numbers update as in how many songs/iPods sold, but nothing new.

Well that about wraps up my predictions. Let's see how I do tomorrow. Steve Jobs takes the stage at 10:00 AM PDT at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

New Look, Same Attitude

After getting bored of over a month of the same plain white look, I decided to do a little upgrade to the blog and make it a bit more colorful and fun. I hope everyone (all 2 of you) enjoy it.

Yesterday I went shopping to get a new bottle of shampoo and I decided to get Paul Mitchell with Tea Tree Oil, it gives me a kind of tingly feeling when I put it on my scalp. While I was in the shower, with nothing better to do than brush my teeth, I decided to read the newly placed shampoo bottle. No surprises, just the regular "lather, rinse, and repeat as necessary" and as I was finished reading the label I came across the line we have all come to know and love, "Paul Mitchell does not conduct nor endorse the testing of its products on animals."

I couldn't help but think of how I would feel if they did. I am all for animal rights, but I couldn't help to bring out the Jew in me. I thought to myself, "thank goodness they don't test the newest and best stuff from Paul Mitchell on animals while I would still have to pay $10 a bottle, someone gets to use the newest stuff for free and that someone just happens to be an animal" If someone gets to use the newest products, let's make sure they are humans. At least then we know someone will appreciate how shiny their hair is. Or they'll appreciate not having to worry about how it looks anymore because it all fell out. One of the two.