Late last year I decided to either switch to a new MacBook (Pro or Air) or keep my existing one and upgrade it. As always, I punched in the pros and cons, and the latter option made its way to the top.

So, upgrading my existing MacBook it was. But, how do you uprade a 3 year old laptop? I own the MacBook 13" Unibody (Late 2008, MacBook 5,1). The truth is that I haven't really added anything to the computer ever since I got it apart from a new HDD (I threw away the 160Gb for a new 320Gb). So I did the obvious. I opted to add more RAM.

At the time I didn't know you could update the firmware and go all the way up to 8Gb, so I opted for 4Gb. I Got those from my vendor of choice, Crucial.

Now, truth be told, I did see a slight increase in performance, but I wasn't expecting anything huge. Just a nudge upwards. And that's what I got. So we're good. And now to the big upgrade.

I've been looking at SSD's for a very long time. Ever since they came out. Of course, there was no need back then to invest absurd amounts of cash for such a small capcity drive. But now, things have changed. After a bit of research, I set my eyes on the OCZ Vertex 3 120Gb. Although it's a SATA-III drive, meaning it can go all the way up to 6 Gbps, my MacBook can only support SATA-II (3Gbps) but no harm there right?

What I did find out after I purchased the SSD is that my MacBook needs some tweaking to support this specific drive or else it gets stuck at 1.5Gbps, which is not good. But the fine folks over at OCZ have issued a fix, so no harm. In fact this fix also takes care of other issues that arise form the use of SSD's, like the temperature control etc.

Now, another thing I wanted to do, is maintain maximum capacity for my laptop. Obviously 120Gb would not suffice. So, opting for a second drive on my MacBook was also a one way. I looked around for what was available, and after dismissing MCE's OptiBay because they shipped from the US, I found some really good deals on Amazon UK, and ultimately settled for a simple HDD/SSD Bay. I also purchased a toolset.

The Operation

So here is the lo-down of what I actually did to get my SSD and my old HDD into my MacBook.

1. First off, I downloaded and burned the OCZ Fix to a CD
2. I moved everything unessecary from my HDD on to an external 2Tb backup drive. Music, Photos, Projects etc. I was left with only 60Gb of system files on my HDD, well below the 120Gb capacity of my my new SSD.
3. I connected the SSD via an external USB HDD bay (I borrowed an Icy Box) and using Carbon Copy Cloner, I cloned my entire HDD onto the SSD.
4. Once complete (it takes some time via USB, about 4 hours) I removed my HDD, and replaced it with the SSD.
5. I started up my MacBook just to test if the SSD was working. All good (and quite speedier already)
6. I restarted and booted (holding down ALT) from the OCZ Fix CD and ran the fixes to get the SSD working smoothly at 3Gbps, and stabilize the temperature issues (fan worked like crazy on the first run)
7. I started up again to see if all fixes were applied. All good and even faster, plus the fan stopped running like crazy.
8. Next stop, replace the SuperDrive with my HDD. I basically followed the instructions as seen on OWC's demo videos. Although not completely the same procedure (I had less screws) the idea is the same.
9. Once complete, I started the MacBook up again, and tested to see if everything is connected and functioning. Only after I was sure everythign was ok, I formatted my HDD.
10. Done.

All in all, the procedure lasted about 1 hour (+4hours for the cloning). It all ran smooothly with no hiccups whatsoever. 

The Result

The only before/after test I performed was Photohop launching. And I'm impressed. Prior to installing the SSD, Photoshop loaded in 30 seconds flat. Using the SSD it now loads in 6.8 seconds.

Everything is faster and snappier. I couldnt be happier.

With an overall investment just over €200, I'd say it's definitely worth it. I've revived my 3 year old MacBook, for who knows how many more months (years?).

We've all heard the hype. We've all seen the demos. We've all seen the stupid questions Siri has to answer. But seriously, there's got to be an end to Siri's intelligence right? I mean, there's gotta...

I created a list of my Best Siri responses over on Listiki. Most of them are from Shit that Siri says, and some from personal experience.

I never met him, and I never expected to either. And yet, I knew him.

Not as the man behind the machines nor as the single figure behind all of my favorite gadgets. I knew him as the man who changed the way I think, work and ultimately the way I live my life.

Connected, productive and happy.

Although Apple has been in my vocabulary ever since I can remember, I only became an Apple owner somewhere in 2004, with my first iPod. Just by touching the device you could tell the love that went into it. The level of detail is extraordinary. Unique in its class.

Then came the MacBook, iMac 24", iMac 27" an iPhone 3GS and my iPhone 4.

I completely rid myself of everything else non-Apple. At work and home. I love the way everything "just works".

If anything, these products have taught me (by example, and not by force) that the best design is the design you don't see. The design that doesn't interfere between you and the task at hand.

And that is what Steve Jobs accomplished. The perfect design.

So, although I never knew him, I definitely appreciated him. The man, the ideas & the ideology. The stubborn leader. The restless persona. There's so much to be said.

This post can go on and on, but it will always close with the same line...

Thank you Steve!

I was honored to be a speaker at - IMHO - one of the best conferences in Greece, Digitized 2011. It was the first, and hopefully the birth of a series of events regarding all digital media, and it was great! 

The event was held at the new AKTO Campus, which proved to be very small (~150) in the long run. Tickets were sold out 8 days prior to the event, which says a lot.

Speaking at the event were two of my Greek colleagues, Nassos Kyratzoglou and Haris Hararis, both with extremely interesting presentations. But of course the spotlight was focused on Anton Repponen of Fantasy Interactive and Florian Schmitt of Hi-Res. Two presentations I really enjoyed.

I hope next year Digitized will prove to be as interesting and inspiring as it was this year! Special thanks go out to the organizers, Konstantinos Penlidis (niceandneat.gr) & Dimitrios Fakinos (designmag.gr)

In regard to my presentation, it was a case study about a lost pitch. A Mobile App for one of Greece's largest airlines. Unfortunately I cannot publicize the actual slide show. So whoever was there, was probably the only one that got the full story ;)

In an attempt to summarize it, I'd say that it was a positive message in these unfortunately negative (financially speaking) times. If there's a single quote you should pull from my presentation, that would be:

You never actually "lose" a pitch, because you always keep the work and knowledge you gained while working on it. 

Cheers, and see you all at next year's Digitized!

Really, after all that ruckus, where does it really stand? All I know for sure is that when I turned off Circle notifications, everything went quiet...

Apart from one (perhaps two) people I know, no one really uses it. I guess we returned to our "traditional" media channels after the original hiatus.

Note of advice to Google: I know you guys are supporting your mobile OS and leaving iOS behind. But if you want a true explosion in your active user base, try building native apps for ALL mobile OS's...

PS: I love the Posterous new iPhone app. They put a lot of work to make feel very useful. In fact this is my first post using their app. Can you hear me Google?

UPDATE: I guess this story just proves my point that users are not "using" Google+.