My 8 GB of Happiness!

It doesn't take much, folks.

On Sunday afternoon I ordered an 8 GB memory kit for my MacBook (unibody, 13-inch, late 2009) from Ramjet.  It arrived Tuesday afternoon. A half hour later, I had it installed.  8 GB bliss!  That's pretty quick gratification.

This upgrade doubled my MacBook memory from 4 GB to 8 GB.  It also enabled me to increase my Win7 VirtualBox VM from 1 GB to 2 GB.  And what a difference in performance this makes!  Personally, I wouldn't buy another Mac without at least 8 GB of RAM.  Of course, YMMV.

Now I've got plenty of space to run my Win7 and Ubuntu VMs alongside all my regular native Mac OS X programs, but without all that nasty paging to hard disk.  Sweet!

The price of this particular upgrade was great, too.  It was around $150 plus shipping and tax.  I don't recall the price being anywhere near this good the last time I checked.

Kudos to Apple and to iFixit for making this upgrade so painless!  In addition to the memory modules themselves, all I had to deal with were eight screws, three clips, and a battery connector.  I didn't even strip any screws in the process!

Interestingly, I experienced some difficulty on the first boot after the upgrade.  The MacBook had apparently forgotten its date and time and such.  I was surprised.  Normally, CMOS batteries maintain these settings.  Perhaps these newer MacBooks with non user replaceable batteries don't have CMOS batteries?  In any case, resetting the PRAM and NVRAM and then connecting to the network fixed this up.

I'm a happy camper right now.  *smile*

--Bri

Modeh Ani (Texas Style)!

Boker Tov, Chaverim!

My dad, z"l, used to love getting up early in the morning and getting the day off to a good start.  B"H, this is one of many wonderful things I've inherited from him.  Starting off the day well can set a positive tone for the entire rest of the day.  For years now, when I arise in the mornings, the first thing I try to think of and to say is Modeh Ani:

    מודה אני לפנך, מלך חי וקים, שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך.

    I thank You, living and eternal King, for giving me back my soul in mercy.  Great is Your faithfulness.

(This English translation is from the Koren Sacks Siddur.)

I confess that I'm not always entirely successful.  Frequently, the first thoughts in my head and the first words out of my mouth are more along the lines of, "Crap!  Again?  Why didn't I go to bed earlier so that I could get up earlier?  Now I have to rush.  Arghh..."

I'm workin' on it.  :-)

In a recent CTN Torah Minute, Rabbi Moshe Katz comments on the meaning of the last couple words of our pasuk.  What does it mean to say to Hashem, "Great is YOUR failthfulness?"  What does the Omnipresent and the Omniscient have to be faithful for?  Rabbi Katz's answer is surprising.  He answered that G-d believes in us!  Imagine that!  The Creator of the universe believes in us!

Hashem has so much confidence and belief in us that He returns to us our souls each morning.  He provids for all our needs.  Indeed, He sustains all of creation from moment to moment.  Therefore, all the more so should we have confidence in our ability to fulfill His desires for us in this world, to make a difference, to make the world a better place, and to not disappoint Him.

This appeals to me.  I try to keep it in mind now each morning as I say Modeh Ani.   

Now permit me to share with you an entertaining YouTube video that recently came across one of my social networking feeds.  It's "Modeh Ani (Texas Style)!":

Enjoy!

--Bri

A Quick Plug for the "cRc Kosher" iPhone App.

Hi,

I thought I'd put in a quick plug for an iPhone app I have from the cRc.  It's their, "cRc Kosher" app.   Currently, it's available for free on Apple Inc. iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices, as well as on HP webOS devices. (Davka develops the iPhone version.  I'm not sure who develops the webOS version, since I haven't seen it.)  It's not available at this time on Android and BlackBerry devices.

Here's a nice little YouTube video:

I like the "Agencies" section best.  It contains a list of recommended hechsherim.  There have been a few times now when I've wondered about a particular hechsher on an item at the grocery store, found it in this app, and then made an informed purchase decision.  

However, hechsherim can be rather small and difficult to read.  Scrolling through this app's list of hechsherim to find the correct one (if it's there at all) can be an exercise in vigilance.  It would be really cool if this app could scan hechsherim and locate them (if available) automatically. Maybe I'll suggest this in the App Store!

Enjoy,

--Bri

P.S. - I also have an iPhone app from RustyBrick called, "Kosher".  It provides a list of hechsherim as well as a lot of additional functionality. Currently, it's available in the App Store for $4.99.  I haven't used it much, though.  Perhaps I'll try it out some more and write it up sometime...