Bundled Software That's Actually Useful? Where Am I, Bizarro World?

So the setting up of the new Hugin continues.
I have to say that setting up was much less of a hassle with this system than with systems I’ve owned in the past, given that this one didn’t come bogged down with a bunch of useless bundled software.
I think HP is probably the worst offender when it comes to pre-installing a bunch of crap that no one could ever possibly need/want, most of which tries to launch all at the same time as soon as you start up, though the old Munin, which is also a Dell, actually overwhelmed me with the stuff the first time I turned it on, which led me to wonder what the experience would be like for someone less experienced with computers.
However, with the new Hugin, I was able to opt out of most of the crap during the process of customizing my system when I ordered it, so I was able to say, for example, that I didn’t want any sort of ISP software pre-installed, or that I had no interest in having MS Works installed.
As far as the software that did come bundled, it’s all actually useful (and not obnoxiously intrusive), such as a copy of Power DVD which includes support for high-definition DVDs, or Roxio Creator, which has some useful CD/DVD burning features beyond those built into the OS (being able to burn a DVD from an ISO file, for example).
As a PC-based answer to the Mac’s iLife suite, the system also came with the Adobe Elements Studio, which includes the “Elements” versions of some of Adobe’s flagship applications. The “Elements” applications are stripped of some of the more advanced features of the apps they’re based on, and are designed to be accessible to non-professional consumers. The applications that make up the suite are Photoshop Elements, for photo management and editing, Premiere Elements, for video editing, and Soundbooth, an audio editing tool.
I don’t necessarily need the Elements versions, but they are at least more useful than the standard bundled apps.
In any case, here are a couple of pics of the new set up:



Here we see the sleek black and easily-smudged front of the new Hugin. Along with various CDs containing OS, application, and driver files, Dell included a cloth for wiping clean the easily-smudged façade (along with a pretty decent pair of headphones and a nice little organize for manuals and discs and some velcro cable ties – cable ties that, as you’ll see in the next picture, I haven’t really put to good use). Though you can’t see what it’s displaying (a graph of memory usage), you can see the SidesShow display on top of the tower.



Here’s the whole shooting match, complete with the insane tangle of power and USB cables in the back. Note that I have so much stuff connected to it that I need two Uninterruptible Power Supplies. Also, though winter is over, I’m still in a wintry enough mood that I decided to make my HOLY FREAKING GOD portrait of figure skater Sasha Cohen my wallpaper.



And here’s the old Hugin/not yet new Munin, shorn of its peripherals and looking forlorn. Don’t worry old Hugin/not yet new Munin! Daddy still loves you and will put you to good use. I’m thinking about hooking it up to the TV for the time being until I buy the Cintiq and free up my old 20.1” monitor. Maybe I’ll even pick up a BD ROM drive to throw into it and use it as a not fully functional or stylistically integrated Media Center.

A Christmas Miracle: Clean Clothes

First off, Happy Boxing Day to those of you who celebrate it.
I hope you all had a good Christmas and that Santa gave you everything you wanted.
As promised, I didn’t do much on Christmas beyond doing the laundry.
On Christmas Eve I had dinner with Scott and Stacy, who had also invited Jamie and Casey, presumably not simply for the sake of rhyme, and that was the extent of my holiday travels.
When I’d left for Manassas I’d forgotten to grab my cell phone, which I didn’t realize until I was well underway. When I got home I found that I had a voicemail from Kevin who, from the time stamp, had managed to call just as I was walking out the door and forgetting my cell phone on the counter.
I gave him a call back, but I’m afraid that I probably didn’t do much to help him shake his holiday blues.
I understand that people get depressed around the holidays. I know I used to. These days, though, most of the holidays are devoid of any real meaning for me beyond memories of happier holidays past, so I find that when they roll around I’m not really that bothered by them. Sure, there’s plenty that I could get depressed about should I choose to put the holidays to that use, but I don’t really see the point of bothering with all of that.
Instead I tend to treat them like just another day, while affecting a half-hearted air of mostly facetious grinchitude.
This year I did put a little more effort into the whole Christmas cheer thing, though, by actually buying presents rather than simply giving money.
For example, normally I just give my sister Kim a check for her to divide equally amongst her family, either as cash or in the form of presents. This year I decided instead to pool the money (plus a bit more) and buy a family gift. In this case, a 19” LCD monitor or their computer.
I bought an XM Satellite Radio receiver for my sister Kristy and her husband Ken, and a two month gift subscription to Netflix for my brother Brad.
My mom got a gift card simply because that’s what she said she wanted, and I sent Jourdan some cash just because I know that’s what college students need more than anything else. I also sent cash to my nephew Todd because he can use it to go shopping for himself when he’s visiting my mom this week.
As for me, I had only one present to open on Christmas morning, a massaging neck pillow from my sister Kristy and her husband.
I’d previously received a card with cash from my sister Kim, and of course my package o’ meat from my mom. My brother Brad, apparently, was indecisive about what to get me and so my present was shipped too late to arrive by Christmas.
I had gotten a card from Brian and Kathleen (with notes from Kathleen pointing out all of the things that are pink on the front of it), and later in the day yesterday I got a call from Kathleen in which she explained that the fact that she sucks is the reason why I have yet to receive a present from them.
Apart from doing laundry and calling Kim’s house to find out what kind of haul everyone got, I spent the day watching shows about UFOs on The History Channel, the movie Madagascar on HBO2 (which is supposed to be G4TV), which featured Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, as the voice of the King of the Lemurs, and back to back episodes of Mythbusters until Cartoon Network began its Venture Bros. marathon, which I stayed up watching until 2 am.
Flipping through the channels between UFOs and myths, I caught a glimpse of the non-Borat Sasha Cohen on some figure skating thing or another, though I’d tuned in too late to see her actual program and instead only got to see her sitting on the bench looking extremely cute and waiting for her scores, which were, apparently, good. I was sad to have missed a display of her flexibility, so I changed the channel as soon as they went to commercial.
It seems to be semi-traditional for non-Christians and loveless loners to eat Chinese food on Christmas, so I did do that much that was traditional, though it was actually left over from lunch on Saturday and didn’t involve actually going to a Chinese restaurant.
And that was only for lunch, as dinner was the ring bologna from my package o’ meat.
In any case, that was my Holly Jolly Christmas.
If I’d let it, it could have been a pretty depressing day, but it really wasn’t so different from most days, so there’s no point in getting maudln.
Today’s plans are about as ambitious as yesterday’s, with a quick visit to the chiropractor in a few minutes being the extent of them.
I’m sure I’ll be back later, as I have a picture that combines my recent renewed interest in line art and my developing obsession with a certain Hollywood “It” girl that’s nearly complete and ready to be viewed by the world, or at least the statistically insignificant percentage of the world that stops by this blog.