Thanks to a couple gigs finally paying off, and thanks to the Refurbished section at The Apple Store, I am at long last in a position to start realizing my dreams of a personal command center. This morning my new dual-2GHz G5 with 23″ Cinema HD display showed up via the FedEx guy, and I’ve spent pretty much all day getting everything moved in. (And I gotta say, iSync with .Mac is the bee’s knees for this kind of thing.)
I’m completely thrilled about this new machine, in so many ways. A long time ago I swore I’d never buy another desktop machine, but various things have made me realize that those of us who are totally serious about media arts and sciences (and utter technoweenies) kind of need both. I need the portability of Copernicus, my laptop, in order to get out of the house every so often and present my work to clients at meetings. But I’ve also been jonesing for a central place to really sit down and focus and do more intense work than my laptop would comfortably permit. Hardcore apps like Motion and Final Cut Pro just run better on desktop machines, and Flash MX is infinitely easier to do serious work on when there’s enough room for all those bloody palettes. This new desktop, Magellan, satisfies all those requirements and more. I’m stoked. I feel like I’ve suddenly been unleashed and given room to run again after having been pent up for so long – like a genie being let out of his bottle. (And oy, what a crick in the neck…)
Actually, in all seriousness, one thing that I definitely love about this new system is that I will hopefully stop being such a bloody hunchback. I’d noticed that I’d started becoming increasingly stooped-over just when I walk, since I spend so much time hunched over my laptop. Now, if I’m going to be spending twelve hours a day in front of a computer, I can at least be sitting upright. Huge improvement.
I’m going to start working this evening on some other new ideas as well, which might have some serious ramifications on the way things work around here. With a little luck, I’ll have something new and cool ready to show off by the end of the week. As always, stay tuned!
Storyteller, scholar, consultant. Loving son, husband and father. Kindhearted mischief-maker.
I'm the Director of the Games and Simulation program at Miami University in Ohio, where I am also an Assistant Professor in the College of Creative Arts' Emerging Technology in Business and Design department. I'm also the director of Miami's Worldbuilding and Narrative Design Research Laboratory (WNDRLab). I have a Master's in Comparative Media Studies from MIT and a PhD in Media Arts and Practices from the University of Southern California.
In past lives I've been the lead Narrative Producer for Microsoft Studios and cofounder of its Narrative Design team, working on projects like Hololens, Quantum Break and new IP incubation; in a "future of media" think tank for Microsoft's CXO/CTO and its Chief Software Architect; the Creative Director for the University of Southern California's World Building Media Lab and the Technical Director, Creative Director and a Research Fellow for USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab; a Visiting Assistant Professor at Whittier College and director of its Whittier Other Worlds Laboratory (WOWLab); the Communications Director and a researcher for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab; a founding member of the Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT (now The Futures of Entertainment); a magazine editor; and a award-winning short film producer. more »
The opinions put forward in this blog are mine alone, and do not reflect the opinions of my employers.
