hendrikch.com – Hendrik Christian Blog on Daily Life

As someone who constantly like to live on the bleeding edge of the best and latest technology (money permits), inspired by Paul Thurrott, I would like to share what I use everyday. If anyone think this list is useful, let me know I’ll try to keep this list as updated as possible.

Desktop PC

Bought in February 2005, this desktop PC has a 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading, 2 GB of Kingston DDR400 RAM, a BenQ DVD-RW and a LG DVD-ROM optical drives, a 250 GB Western Digital SATA hard drive, and a Western Digital MyBook Essential Edition 320 GB external hard drive. I use ATI Radeon 9600XT video card connected to Samsung SyncMaster 710v 17-inch LCD monitor. Sound are channeled out from built-in audio from motherboard to Altec Lansing ATP3 speaker. Connectivity are obtained via Ethernet, though I have one Linksys WUSB11 wireless adapter which is now collecting dust, and Jabra A320s for Bluetooth USB adapter.

Notebook

My notebook is a Macbook (white) from early 2008 model running Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard with iLife ‘09. It has Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz with 3MB L2 cache (T8100). It is the first processor from Intel that sports 45nm chip, resulting in better performance, power consumption and battery life. The rest are standard 13.3-inch LCD monitor, upgraded 4GB RAM, upgraded 320GB hard drive, X3100 video card, a slot-loading combo drive, Bluetooth 2.0, and 802.11n wireless that can connect to a/b/g networks all in a 2.27 kg package.

To accompany my Macbook, I also have Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB piano black color and Logitech V470 Bluetooth Laser Mouse.

Portable devices

One mobile phone in a shape of Nokia E90 that I brought virtually everywhere. I also have Dell Axim X51v with a wonderful 640×480 VGA resolution, the last-ever Windows Mobile device that ever came out from Dell. For music listening, I have the latest blue-color 8GB iPod Nano (4th Gen) with Sony MDR-EX32LP earphone.

My digital camera now is a Canon Digital EOS 450D with 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. The camera is great, the lens image quality is good according to me, and as a single general-purpose travel/walk around lens, it fits the bill perfectly.

Windows software

I use Windows 7 as my main operating system on desktop.

For online services, I uses Mozy for backing up important documents that are changed frequently automatically (free but limited to 2GB), Windows Live Skydrive for backing up files that don’t get changed very frequently (free, limited to 25GB), and Smugmug for online photo backup and sharing (US$40 for one year, unlimited space).

Browsing the Internet are usually with Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. Instant messaging are done with Windows Live Messenger 2009 while calling back to Indonesia are done through Skype.

I managed all my emails now in Google Apps Mail hosted in my hendrikch.com domain, complete with its Docs, Spreadsheets, and Calendars. Google Reader is the way for me to kept up-to-date with all the news and happening around the world and the blogsphere. Without Google Reader, I won’t even know half of what I know now, although if what I know now are precious is debatable, hehe…

As I’m mainly using Mac nowadays, as a result, there isn’t much in my Windows desktop.

Mac software

No doubt Mac OS X Leopard v10.5 is the OS of choice in Mac. Bundled iPhoto is pretty decent for photo viewing in Mac, but as my photo management needs increased, I had to upgrade to the professional photo management, Apple Aperture 2. Since August 2008, I have fully moved all my computing activities (except games) to Mac. Since then, I have installed (and thrashed) lots of applications. What’s left are the ever-excellent Adium for instant messaging, Skype for video and international calls, Firefox 3 for web browsing, Microsoft Office 2008, Smugmug uploader, iGetter download manager, Smultron text editor, BibleDesktop, Live Mesh, StuffIt, and VLC media player. Built-in applications that I use are iCal for calendar and task management, Mail for reading emails, iTunes for music management, listening, and connecting to iPod Nano.

Last updated: 04 Mar 2009

Change log:
15 April 2008 – Added Macbook and Mac software section.
02 May 2008 – Replaced Nokia N95 with Nokia E90, added Smugmug uploader.
15 June 2008 – Added Sony MDR-EX32LP.
22 July 2008 – Added few more applications installed in Macbook.
13 September 2008 – Added Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB and Logitech V470 Bluetooth Laser mouse.
12 December 2008 – Added iPod Nano, Canon Ixus 860IS, and Live Mesh.
17 December 2008 – Updated Macbook hard drive upgrade and Mac software used.
04 March 2009 – Added EOS 450D, updated Windows software section.