We had spectators while we unboxed….

My new MacBook Pro arrived today. It’s so adorable. I got the brand spankin’ new 13 inch MacBook Pro with the aluminum unibody.  We are now a blended family with one Mac, and about a billion PCs.  Don’t worry all you super geeks out there, I will be posting the unboxing pictures very soon.

WWWDC09 is in full effect.  Apple said they are adding battery time, slashing prices, and going even greener with their notebooks.  And that’s just the beginning.  I have been following the live blogging of Joshua Topolsky, from Engadget who is stoked about his “sweet aisle seat” at WWDC09.  I love geeks; they get excited about random stuff way too often.  “Three extra pieces of pepperoni on my slice of pizza?!?  No way!  Best Day E-V-E-R!!!”

They claim to have made Safari 4 faster, not only faster, but faster than all the  other browsers out there.  I tried Safari a few months back…on a PC and it was sooooo slooooowwwwwww.(zzzzzz…sorry, fell asleep just thinking about that giant time killer) I personally love Firefox, but it takes way to long to launch.  I also love the look, homepage thumbnails, and speed of Chrome, but it really needs some add-ins (i.e. – mouse gestures).  Can someone give me a Chrome/Firefox mash-up browser?

I know Derek is jumping in his seat at work today…they just announced that they built in Exchange support to Mail, Calendar, and the Address Book.  I know that Will, Robert, and Tim are exited because you have to be running Exchange 2007 to use the new Exchange features, and I believe someone just updated to 2007 or is about to.  You lucky boys.

And now for the reason millions of twenty to thirty something year olds are dialed in…the iPhone.

As most are, I am excited about the new features they are adding with the new iPhone OS 3.0.  The iPhone is awesome, but has been missing a few key features, or maybe just required a little fine-tuning.  They are adding cut and paste, iTunes movie purchases in-phone, a search feature, and landscape texting (MMS)…huge win for my husband.

One addition I find quite interesting and beneficial, and I know people that use their iPhone for business purposes will benefit from this, Remote Wipe.  If you loose your iPhone you can send a remote wipe command to your phone, and it will be wiped clean of any data.  So those “interesting” emails you sent your wife last week will no longer be able to haunt your dreams. Making you wake in a cold sweat wondering who is reading your love e-letters.

They also added TomTom navigation on the iPhone.  So for all you directionally challenged people out there, this may be a huge benefit to you.  We don’t even check for directions before we leave the house now.  With the Google maps and turn by turn/GPS the iPhone offers paper maps are now a waste of time and a huge headache…especially if they are not up to date.  Well, that’s the end of my lunch hour.  If you want to read play-by-play action from the Keynote check out Joshua’s coverage on Engadget.

Okay, so I am totally stoked because Derek and I are thinking about buying a MacBook.  Woo hooo!!!  Of course we are waiting until after WWDC so we don’t buy one of the last few of the current model and then @ WWDC they announce a new OS & price cut.  That would be just my luck.  Plus….oh this is wonderful….if you are a college student and buy a Mac Book through September 8th you get a free iPod Touch with the purchase.  Derek starts grad school on Monday June 8…which is the same day as WWDC09!

But here is the part where I need your help…..

I am trying to decide on a sleeve for my new adorable 13 inch MacBook.  I have 2 finalist from a mega talented designer on Etsy, named Brokesy.  Brokesy is out of LA and must have a direct portal into my mind because they know my strange taste.  So leave me a comment and tell me which one you think I should get….

Derek and I have had Comcast cable for years and a one of their HD/DVR’s for the past year, and this past weekend we made a big push to pry ourselves from the cold clammy grasp of this evil cable giant.  (I would also like to add that they have the worst commercials for their product offering…but that is another discussion)

Today, I want to show everyone the amazing set-up my dear husband created for us so that we can begin our exit strategy from Comcast Cable.  Derek with a little help from a teeny tiny company most have never heard of, Microsoft.  Simply by using Window’s Media Center (MC), that comes on most home editions of Windows & a tuner card in our home computer, Derek feeds a coax cable (your standard cable cord) to the computer, and streams cable TV to his X-Box 360 in the living room.  Media Center Extenders (MCE), like an X-Box 360, allows anyone with the right computer hardware & running Windows with Media Center to stream media to their xbox console and display it on the connected monitor or TV.

Below is a view of Comcast’s HD/DVR menu (what we previously had)

Yikes….they offered different colored themes that more so made you not want to watch TV due to the lack luster and dismal color selection.  Seriously, who wants mauve and faded gold for anything accept silk jogging suit that you borrowed from your eccentric aunt Louise?  Seriously!

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Now take a look at our menu using the MCE over the xbox!

The MCE interface is sharp, sleek, bold, and not to sissy on the colors either.

A couple years ago my dad, who is also a technology geek, bought Derek a Harmony Remote.  Derek loves this thing.  The remote lets you assign tasks to individual buttons. However, unlike most other remotes, it also lets you create new functions to specifically match your component, such as when controlling multi-angle playback or zoom on a DVD player. (This works well for our xbox MCE set-up)  So, Derek has created a lovely little set-up on the Harmony Remote so that the task of operating MC on the computer upstairs from the xbox & TV downstairs is a dream.

I almost forgot to brag about all the nifty things you can do & access with this sweet cable set-up. First up, there is the main menu that allows you to browse all types of media.  The MC menu allows you to browse cable TV listings, pictures, home movies, music, movies, and recorded TV you have stored on your network.

For the cable TV portion of our set-up we still have basic cable with Comcast, and have an HD antenna for over-the-air channels. (Yes, I know…we hope to one day cancel basic too, but internet TV like Hulu, Boxee, and Joost still need a bit more content for my viewing pleasure.)  Believe it or not, but MC shows more info on a live TV show than I could ever seem to locate on the Comcast DVR.

:: Movies ::

Or if you are tired of the ridiculous amount of reality shows on TV and you would rather watch a movie…MC will search for and display, with album art I might add, all movies currently on the channels you receive.  This feature will list movies up to two weeks into the future.  You can search by date, title, year, or rating.

* Side Note: MC will display a small PIP of the channel you are currently watching.

Once you have found a movie worth looking into you can then view info about the cast, a brief description of the plot, ratings, year released, other dates the movie airs, and set up advanced recording for future dates.

Select the Cast + More link to view cast info, a full review of the movie, or a listing (including air dates & channels) of similar movies set to air in the next few weeks.

:: Sports ::

Sports nuts, you’re going to love this feature……

If you are in a fantasy league or just like following players from college to pro, like say uhhhhh, Derrick Rose this will float your boat. You have the option to choose from NBA, MLB, & NHL players and track their stats throughout the season.  How sweet is that!?!

Watching one game, but wanna see the score to another?  What’s that…you can’t stand to miss a minute of the action on your current game?  Don’t worry MC has got you covered.  While still watching your current game, you can peruse the score ticker just by using the sports “scores” feature in MC.  And if you see a game in the ticker that you have to switch to for just a second, just hit select and the game will appear in the window just below the ticker.  This makes it really simple to jump back & forth between games on game day.

Wanna see what games come on later today, or how about this week?  The sports “on later” module gives your scheduled games set to air for up to 2 weeks.

:: Music ::

Occasionally, I get the itch to clean the house from top to bottom, and want something besides the hum of the vacuum & silence to surround me, so I crank up the radio.  Now, instead of listening to the same song 3 times in a two hour period on the local radio station, I can listen to our massive music library.  The best part is that the music library on MC gives you album art in a cover flow type interface.

You can search your music by artist, album, year, playlist (I love me some playlists), or just pick something the old fashioned way…song title.  Below I am doing a search for all music released in 2007.

On the “now playing” menu you can view your music queue, play a slide show, buy music, or just handle the basic shuffle/repeat options.

:: Pictures + Videos ::

Unfortunately we haven’t set up the picture + video portion of our MC, but judging from the seamless & like mannered flow of the other menus one can imagine this option isn’t far off.

In all…I am grinning from ear to ear over our new TV set up.

Thanks Microsoft!

BTW :: My darling husband just ran downstairs to tell me that a Hulu plug-in is in the works!  Check out a short video of it…here.

For info on how to convert your computer & xbox 360 to a media center mecca…go here.

P.S. – Thanks to my lovely assistant…