I checked the trains earlier online to get to Olympia where MacExpo would take place but the tickets were way too expensive and it would take us about an hour and a half to get there. So we decided to book a parking ticket instead and drive there which took us 45 minutes. We arrived at about 10.45.
The very moment we came in we were bombed with brochures and leaflets, which was a bit annoying because we didn’t even got a chance to organise our stuff [badge etc.]. A. and I ignored the wall of people handing out the leaflets and pushed ourselves through them looking for a quiet place to get organised.
It wasn’t crowded at all, just all these annoying people trying to get rid of their commercial gear. We had a look around. Checked out Adobe’s Flash training and two Apple demonstrations, first one was basic stuff, all the ‘i’ applications [iLife, iPhoto, iMovie etc] interesting for A. to see but not really for me. The second one was about the structure of the Mac Pro with Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor.
This was more interesting to watch, especially the part about Photoshop and performance. Funny thing was that the stats showed this machine as it is now has the same performance as my G5 only the Mac Pro (Quad 3GHz Xeon) is about 8% faster. So I guess I should either wait or invest more money and get the most extended version of the Mac Pro. For now I should be patient and not complain, I could use an A3 printer [colour] instead, to print my updated portfolio for instance…
I bought a cheap 250Gig LaCie Porsche FiWi HD and had a really good deal there. I wanted to buy one anyway but didn’t feel like ordering one online and having it send through snailmail; reading reviews online I found out that the mail system over here can be pretty rough with parcels, some HD’s didn’t survive the trip… I’m very happy with the new HD, now I need an extra internal one as well, but I will buy that one later.
Another thing I’m very happy with is my subscription of Computer Arts. One of my favourite magazines but a very very expensive one. Yesterday I found a good deal so I took a one year subscription to see how it goes and if I truly like it. I got a free t-shirt but didn’t really like the shirt so I got two previous magazines, the Computer Arts September issue and the summer 2006 issue. The price tag is $19.95 each which is Eur 15,90 [or £10,-] worth of Photoshop [and other apps] tips and tricks.
We walked around for almost four hours before we got totally fed up with it. More people came in so it started to get busier and warmer. We just had enough I reckon. To be honest it wasn’t much different from the Dutch version [which is also organised by the UK people] and I was slightly disappointed in the size of the exhibition which wasn’t that big as I expected it to be. It was even smaller than the one in Amsterdam and less busy too.
I guess I expected more, although I’m not totally disappointed because I still had a very nice day! It was good to go there and see for myself. There were interesting things but most of it is just sales and slick sellers. I learned a few Flash 8 tricks which come in handy and I bought myself the Flash 8 Bible to get started with my website *finally* The book is only 1272 pages so I reckon I will finish it by the end of the day…
We had lunch in a pub opposite the MacExpo; very nice lunch and then we went off to another place nearby to check out ex lease cars. It’s a huge place with all ex lease cars for sale. We wanted to look for a VW Golf TDi or Polo. We saw a few cars but they were still pretty expensive; £8000,- for a three year old car I think is pretty expensive. Anyway A. set his mind to it so I better leave it up to him. Hopefully I won’t scratch or dent is.
It’s just that driving here in London is so hectic, streets are so narrow; two lanes but cars parked on either side and the space that’s left in the middle only is about the width of one car, can you imagine driving in these conditions? If a car approaches you, you will have to move into the empty gaps on your side of the road just to get pass each other, or he stops for you in a gap on his side. If there is none, then you will have to drive all the way back until you’ve found one…
Having to drive in a car that is still quite expensive under these circumstances is not very appealing to me I tell ya… I’d rather drive an old cheap wreck… Apple Gallery to be found here –>