Macs And Stuff

Flash drives have a large but finite number of writes that can be performed. According to GetUSB.info, SLC flash memory has about 100,000 write cycles while MLC flash memory has about 10,000 write cycles.

So, let's say you write 2000 songs to a nano or touch (or iPhone). At let's assume you rotate a combination of 50 podcasts, TV shows, and other transient media files (files that do not stay permanently on the iPod) per week. That adds up to about 2600 writes per year over and above song files that may be more-or-less permanent (except on iPod shuffles were playlists probably rotate songs and create write cycles more frequently). Even if the lower life cycle MLC type is used, the flash drive should last about 3 years. If the more durable SLC type is used, the non-replaceable battery will die long before the flash memory burns through its maximum life cycle.

Given these assumptions, I'm not going to worry too much about moving podcasts in and out of my flash based iPod.

OK, I was surprised to read this in Popular Mechanics.

Mac vs. PC: The Ultimate Lab Test for New Desktops & Laptops

What is surprising? The Macs are less expensive that comparably configured Windows PCs. I've gotten used to the idea of a "Mac Tax", so this was truly surprising to me. From the article...

Our biggest surprise, however, was that PCs were not the relative bargains we expected them to be. The Asus M51sr costs the same as a MacBook, while the Gateway One actually costs $300 more than an iMac. That means for the price of the Gateway you could buy an iMac, boost its hard drive to match the Gateway’s, purchase a copy of Vista to boot—and still save $100.

I use Pixelmator a couple times a week for editing images to post to my various blogs. As I fired it up this evening, it notified me that the 1.1.4 March 20 release was ready and gave me the option to download and install it. I've been pretty pleased with the continual work to fix issues and add features to Pixelmator so far.

I use Pixelmator a couple times a week for editing images to post to my various blogs. As I fired it up this evening, it notified me that the 1.1.4 March 20 release was ready and gave me the option to download and install it. I've been pretty pleased with the continual work to fix issues and add features to Pixelmator so far.