divine angst

Another practice LSAT Games section tonight. Finished with 1:45 to spare, and I answered everything right.

The law school gods are telling me this means I need to write my personal statement.

My best friend, who just started culinary school in south Louisiana, is evacuating.

She just moved into her new apartment this past weekend—her landlord needed an extra week or so to get it ready for her. She called bright and early yesterday morning to set up her renter’s insurance and was told, “No. It’s too late for you to get insurance.”

Honestly, this sucks for her. I have no doubt that there are unscrupulous people who would forgo insurance until a natural disaster was impending. L., however, is legitimately in need of renter’s insurance for the next two years. And she can’t get it right now because of that damn hurricane.

So, think many happy thoughts for my friend L. and all of her furniture and clothing. She and her computer will be weathering in Baton Rouge.

Over at Blawg Wisdom the request of the day was for laptop recommendations. And Nuts and Boalts had this response. I threw in a comment, wondering why people always advise other people against getting Macs.

Nuts responded:

Mac’s have the windows platform available to them, so compatibility with respect to exams is not that much of an issue (especially since now you don’t turn exams in on floppy’s). Compatibility with the network is. I know of only one Ibook user and he’s had a bit of trouble using the wireless connection. So far as I understand it, using the windows platform on Mac slows the computer down, which defeats the purpose of having a Mac in the first place. Factoring in cost, the lack of heavy graphics use during law school, I see no reason to purchase a mac given the PC alternative, unless as I said before you’re just too accustomed to the Mac OS.

My first response to this response is: “IGNORANCE!!”

See, people who don’t know anything about Macs assume that it must be the OS itself that causes problems when, in fact, it’s usually user error—as in 99% of all other computer problems. But Mac OS X is supposed to be so simple to use, I think many people assume that when problems do occur, it must be that the operating system can’t handle sophisticated usage.

So here’s my slightly longer, more in-depth response:

First, about this mythical student who can’t get on the wireless network because Virtual PC is too slow…well, the wireless network, for internet connectivity, should never require Windows. So if he’s using Virtual PC to connect to the network, well, there’s the major problem. A wireless network is a wireless network, and the operating system doesn’t matter as long as you have a wireless card.

But perhaps the real issue is that this fellow can’t print to network printers—that could, indeed, be a problem, particularly if the printers use protocols that are not Mac-friendly. This doesn’t mean the Mac user can’t print to a Windows network printer. He doesn’t even need to go bother the IT department in most cases. Usually, if he downloads an open-source UNIX driver for these kinds of problems (gimp-print is one), he should be able to print to his heart’s content.

I also think it’s interesting that many people assume the only reason to get a Mac is because they’re better with graphics. Don’t forget, please, they’re also more stable, less vulnerable to viruses, and, let’s not forget, very snazzy looking.

I think the most important thing anyone looking to buy a laptop should consider is, “What are you comfortable with?” Sure, there are other, law-school-specific issues to consider. But if you’ve been using a Mac since your freshman year in college and like it, don’t run out and buy a Windows machine just because the law school says they don’t support Macs. They may not support them, but you shouldn’t need much help anyway. As for the cost difference, laptops are all pretty expensive. A low-end, new, Windows laptop from a big-name company (Dell, IBM, etc.) is going to cost you as much as the same, low-end Mac laptop (the iBook). A high-end laptop from a big-name company will cost you as much, if not more, than the same, high-end Map laptop (PowerBook). Do the cost comparison, making sure you equalize all the components (optical drive, hard drive, RAM, sound card, ethernet card, USB and FireWire ports, etc.). I think you’ll find that the Mac is competitive. (Where Macs aren’t competitive is in the desktop arena, but most people who spend lots of money on the high-end Mac desktops are in graphics, video, sound or other industries where a Mac is more appropriate than a PC, so Macs don’t have to be as competitive price-wise.)

Remember—a Mac can do anything a Windows machine can, and everything you might need in law school (except perhaps use platform-specific exam software). Buy what makes you happy and what you will be comfortable with.

I’ve made the full switch over to Haloscan comments as well as trackbacks. Old comments are still available for viewing, but new posts won’t have Blogger comments anymore.

I think making changes on my blog is a safe way to dramatically alter things about my life without actually having to change. All the impending change in my life has been making me nervous lately.

I say impending, but really, I’ve already had some big shifts this year. I got married, for one. Then my mother, who has been within an hour’s drive for the last five years, moved several hundred miles and one time zone away. My best friend, who was also within an hour’s drive, also moved several hundred miles away—in the other direction. Suddenly, my nice framework and support system got hugely shakier. I find myself calling my mom three times as often as I used to when she lived close, just because I know I can’t hop in the car and drive on down. It’s been rougher than I expected.

Along with these recent changes, we’re both planning for graduate school and a move that will take us even farther away from here. The rest of my family is all here, or near here, so I’ll be stretching that support system even thinner. We’ll have no jobs, lots of debt, little security, and absolutely no idea what we’re doing. All this change smells scary to me today. What on earth could we be thinking?

I know the answer—we’re thinking that we need to do what is right for us. And some days, I am exhilarated by the thought of stepping out into the unknown. Other days, though—days like today—I’m petrified.

So I dabble with easy change, like blog change, or hair color change, or putting on a pair of earrings I haven’t worn in two years. Because on a day like today, that’s the only change I can handle.