JamesMuirhead.com

• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• I have been playing way too much of this lately, but it's been good to just veg out for a day! http://t.co/ho5HcVu @GetGlue #SaintsRow #
• Time for bed… Should decide on next book, since if I can't sleep I generally read! #
• I can't sleep and all that's going through my head is the confused.com theme song! #evil #stuckinhead #killmenow #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Need a load of electronic components. Should I order from eBay or go to http://t.co/n2tW55f in Sheffield to buy in person? #
• @MaxScoville Kill it! Least then you can sing the Sig Vicious version of My Way and feel a little less like you're lying!!! #
• Finally finished making my 3D camera. #
• Someone recommend me a new & cheap PAYG phone! I'm poor and my Nokia 1101 is dying! Plus, I'd like to have portable Internet again! #
• I think my phone literally just died.Won't connect to the network at all now! #
• I'm back to Xbox Live Silver again since I can't afford to upgrade just now! Free cards for occasional 48h periods till I can afford a year. #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Figleaves wants a Studio Photographer. If I any experience I'd sooo apply. Photographing women in Lingerie, that's not work, that's a hobby! #
• Woot, I finally got Firefox closed after several attempts! #
• Got woke up at 7am by a Mosquito humming round room. Honest, a real Mosquito, in Rotherham. It's a male, I think and now rather dead! #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• I unlocked the Getting Up achievement on Saints Row! http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• Told retarded asshole father to put plates in dish washer cos they attract flies this time of year! But still refuses! #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• I unlocked 3 Xbox achievements on Saints Row! http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• Awesome… I just finished Saints Row… And in a little over a week! #
• Just saw an advert for Jonathan Ross's (@wossy) new show featuring Headingham Castle, former workplace of my Grandmother. #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/UnaGvDA #

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• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• I have been playing way too much of this lately, but it's been good to just veg out for a day! http://t.co/ho5HcVu @GetGlue #SaintsRow #
• Time for bed… Should decide on next book, since if I can't sleep I generally read! #
• I can't sleep and all that's going through my head is the confused.com theme song! #evil #stuckinhead #killmenow #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Need a load of electronic components. Should I order from eBay or go to http://t.co/n2tW55f in Sheffield to buy in person? #
• @MaxScoville Kill it! Least then you can sing the Sig Vicious version of My Way and feel a little less like you're lying!!! #
• Finally finished making my 3D camera. #
• Someone recommend me a new & cheap PAYG phone! I'm poor and my Nokia 1101 is dying! Plus, I'd like to have portable Internet again! #
• I think my phone literally just died.Won't connect to the network at all now! #
• I'm back to Xbox Live Silver again since I can't afford to upgrade just now! Free cards for occasional 48h periods till I can afford a year. #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Figleaves wants a Studio Photographer. If I any experience I'd sooo apply. Photographing women in Lingerie, that's not work, that's a hobby! #
• Woot, I finally got Firefox closed after several attempts! #
• Got woke up at 7am by a Mosquito humming round room. Honest, a real Mosquito, in Rotherham. It's a male, I think and now rather dead! #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• I unlocked the Getting Up achievement on Saints Row! http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• Told retarded asshole father to put plates in dish washer cos they attract flies this time of year! But still refuses! #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• I unlocked 3 Xbox achievements on Saints Row! http://t.co/UnaGvDA #
• Awesome… I just finished Saints Row… And in a little over a week! #
• Just saw an advert for Jonathan Ross's (@wossy) new show featuring Headingham Castle, former workplace of my Grandmother. #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/UnaGvDA #

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• Had a dream that I was a pro golfer and only played mini golf. #
• Playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Just bought a USB Freeview card for £5.45 on eBay! Prob cheap and nasty, but awesome price. Complements £7.20 USB video capture card. #
• Photoshop claims my hdd is full… But I have 17gb free! #
• Just finished my current book (Mister Monday, Garyh Nix). What shall I read next? #
• Just finished my current book (Mister Monday, Garth Nix). What shall I read next? #spelling #typo #
• Playing Saints Row for the first time. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• I unlocked 2 Xbox achievements on Saints Row! http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• I actually managed to watch an episode of the Destructoid Show Live… Missed every one till now. But they are on at 11:30pm here! @dtoid #
• @Veronica Need to get you a Voodoo Doll for moments like this! Stabbing yet none of the Gaol time. #
• W00t! http://t.co/cQN4iI0 @GetGlue #Torchwood #
• I unlocked the Night Owl sticker on @GetGlue! http://t.co/5d1wdiq #
• Have made a transport frame for my kite photography rig. Needs a few parts (used subs.) on order from eBay, but chuffed with it. #
• Is everyone at Ayacon but me? #
• I am so poor! #
• At least I can play Saints Row and watch TV (Bourne Identity) at same time, since I got my £5.46 USB Freeview dongle. #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #
• Better go to bed… tired! #
• Playing Saints Row. http://t.co/buArDeq #

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• My PS/2 powered laptop cooler was a success… No using my 1 USB port for it on my old Linux Lappy (900MHz, 512MB RAM, Xubuntu). #
• @patricknorton @prestonism As wooded to pressing right buttons with a cat, which is just DAMN WRONG! #beastiality #
• It's been such a quiet day today… I've had about 2 e-mails and no Facebook messages! #
• I think I'm just gonna have to delete some podcasts since I'm so far behind in my watching! #
• What to do before bed… Book? Video Game? Family Guy? Mix of all 3? #
• @Monty0hm Oh dear, hope it picks up… I've had a completely uneventful day TBH. #
• Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. http://raptr.com/A1B0HPH0B1A #
• What actually ignited the #LondonRiots I don't remember hearing of anything in particular. #
• @Kheltdire yeh, I saw on news. I just think they're using it as an excuse. App guy had a gun and fired on police. #
• "@jollyroger: London Rioter Posts his Stolen Loot Haul on Facebook. http://t.co/GWfBJBE #londonriot #dumbarse #dumbass quot; !What a prick! #
• Yay, my 5m HDMI cable actually works! £3.19 from eBay and it works great! #
• Playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the first time. http://raptr.com/A1B0HPH0B1A #
• Playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. http://raptr.com/A1B0HPH0B1A #
• Why do some people get up at 6:30am for a 9am start? You don't need 2 hours to get ready for work! 30 minutes is enough. #
• w00t http://bit.ly/pDiafa @GetGlue #Destructoid #
• Playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. http://raptr.com/A1B0HPH0B1A #
• I am playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition http://bit.ly/oSuD0Q @GetGlue #ElderScrollsIV #
• Downloaded the first 2 Elder Scrolls games out of curiosity (now they're free) from http://t.co/OJsvadQ. #
• The installer for #ElderScrolls 1 (Arena) is a #Windows program but game is #DOS So I can't install under #DOSbox on #Mac OS-X. #FAIL #
• It's 3am, I'm knackered, and off to bed! Need to really loose these late nights. #
• I unlocked the Check-in Pro sticker on @GetGlue! http://t.co/1WS254Z #
• Watching episode 5 in HD thanks to BBC iPlayer. http://t.co/cQN4iI0 @GetGlue #Torchwood #
• I know I have a short attention span… But, does anyone else find that the new Torchwood (Miracle Day) is kinda dragging? #
• Humn, well that was just damn depressing. If not completely predictable. #Torchwood #BBCiPlayer #
• Am giving great thought to the expression, cut and run! #
• Belly ache is slowly subsiding… I've had heartburn all day & it's really been pissing me off! Think it's time for book & bed, up at 6am. #
• Wish my Mac would stop freezing on certain programs… Must order HDD to backup and do fresh install of Snow Leopard (can't use Lion, yet)! #
• Finally fixed my TV… No more messed up BBC channels… And all with some creative wiring! #
• Am still feeling rather ill today… But I think I'm slowly improving. #
• Am defragging my laptop HDD. It's taking forever! #
• Woe, I haven't played Oblivion in 2 days, I must be ill… Oh yeh, I kinda am! #
• Oddworld games on #Sale on #Steam Oddysee for 99p. All the good ones for £1.99 or all of them for £6.49. #
• Just bought all the Oddworld games sine they were cheap! #
• @jaimepaglia Shame, I was just getting back into #Eureka too. Been watching new (S04E12) ones on #Syfy UK. #
• You know, some days I do truly tire of social networking! #
• It's 3:20 and I'm suddenly feeling depressed. Mainly about my business for some reason! #
• @JasonBradbury Not really cross-platform till Valve support Linux! Just Windows & Mac really! #

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I was musing on concept of the Macbook Air the other day following a heated discussion on Facebook regarding the merits of the Mac as a platform.

I use an aging Apple iMac 17″ Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz which has served me well and has had some upgrades over the years since I recieved it as part of my Disabled Student Allowance. I was studying Photography at the time and it was considered a logical choice. This iMac is now about 4 years old and has had a RAM upgrade to the maximum of 3GB and a hard drive upgrade following the death of the original 160GB raising the capacity to 1TB. As well as this I have upgraded to Snow Leopard.

Following the aforementioned discussion on Facebook, I decided to price up a non-Apple Macbook Air. This would basically be the closest thing I could get to a Macbook Air using more commonly available parts.

I started with a Asus Eee PC with an Intel Atom N570. This was the closest thing I could locate to the Macbook Air’s CPU without straying into a full sized laptop. Then I added a 64GB SSD and 2GB of RAM to bring it up to the specification of the Macbook Air. This collection of assembled parts cost a measly £343.24 as compared to the Macbook’s £849.00. A total of £505.76 in difference.

Now while the Macbook is so colossally  thin, it does present Apple with opportunity to make some money. I would need a VGA socket (or DVI, VGA used as example) and Ethernet socket both missing on the Air and both requiring the payment of £21 and £25 respectively for necessary adapters while both these connections are present on the Eee PC and not requiring extra payment.

The presence of the Intel Atom N570 processor in the netbook may dismay some of you but it does have the same clock speed and number of cores of the Macbook but at a lower purchase cost and lower power consumption. Apple claim that the Macbook Air setup in question will provide you with 5 hours of “Wireless Web” while the Eee PC claims a battery life of 11 hours before the installation of the SSD drive (SSD requires less power than a spinning HDD).

If money were no object, yes, I could see the draw of the Macbook Air. But largely in this case I believe that you are paying unnecessarily for something which says Apple on the side.  Unless you were going for a Macbook Air above the base model I see no reason to buy one at such an expense.

Buy the parts, get tinkering, make a device which is largely better than that provided by Apple. Make yourself a netbook which kicks butt, pay a little extra for a larger SSD, buy yourself a touch-screen kit from eBay! But don’t buy the bottom end Macbook Air!

• Am tired and my knees hurt… And I barely went to town for long! #
• Too hot in my room so I'm in living room watching #eureka #
• Too hot in bedroom so watching season 4 of Eureka (A Town Called Eureka in UK). http://bit.ly/naItid @GetGlue #Eureka #
• I've done everything I need to do before morning and it's about time I got some sleep! #
• The air being sucked into my room smells like Pakoras! #
• So in #FamilyGuy (just on #BBCthree @JimmyFallon commits Consensual Rape on Live TV! Is that not deformation of character? #
• Am feeling somewhat terrible today! #
• After days of hot weather, the wind finally returns to cool us off! #
• Weird… Blade is on 2 channels at same time, channel 5 & TCM. #
• I'm in bed and it isn't even 1am! #
• Little weird, woke up with a 3kg dumbbell in my hand! #
• Watching TV live is so inconvenient… I have to watch the adverts! Sky+ FTW. #
• Season 4 episode 7… Concrete people! http://bit.ly/naItid @GetGlue #Eureka #
• Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. http://raptr.com/A1B0HPH0B1A #
• What should I have for lunch? http://bit.ly/oFekyU @GetGlue #Lunch #
• I made the most awesome veggie burger for lunch with Facon, Cheese, BBQ sauce and gerkin relish! #
• Season 4 episode 8. http://bit.ly/naItid @GetGlue #Eureka #
• @lifehacker recommend #tunnelbear for VPN to US. but it is completely crap! Doesn't work on Mac or Windows, plus it froze my mac! #
• Typical, after I slag off #tunnelbear it suddenly starts working! Got Hulu running perfectly. #
• Am watching Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhod on Hulu… Yay for working VPN. #
• Yay for Hulu. http://bit.ly/nEFNsZ @GetGlue #FullmetalAlchemist #
• Missed Torchwood on TV… So should I hook up my laptop so I can watch in HD? #
• Well, it took me over an hour to fix my TV, so I treated myself to a cider. Now my signal is way better and I can watch BBC again! #
• Watching a film and there is yet again someone using a Pentax K1000. #
• @billottifofbp0 fuck off #
• @LarryNeesmith38 fuck off! #
• Trollied on Sky1 is just terrible… It's so completely un-funny! #
• Team America, Fuck yeh! #
• The Maw is on #Steam for £3.06 (66% off) until about 6pm tomorrow. #
• "There's three kinds of people: dicks, pussies, and assholes. Pussies think everyone can get along, and dicks just w… http://bit.ly/q12gsL #
• I unlocked the Lone Wolf sticker on @GetGlue! http://bit.ly/oNELsM #
• Why is it that in Team America: World Police, Actor = Jedi? #
• Looks like my iMac has fallen over again! Desperately need a wipe and re-install! #
• Just updating my Linux box since I've not done it in months! Plus, I've tested my ps2 – USB adapter for powering fan cooling base. #
• How does @TaraLongest do it? She always looks completely gorgeous in her profile pic! She should go into self portraits! #
• Am lying in bed and my legs are fecking killing me… Roll on morning! #

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• Ah, and the rain has returned… Least it didn't rain during #Tramlines #
• I keep seeing Jo Nesbo books around… Has anybody read any? #
• @Number10gov Support #Palestine as an independent state. #StateOfPalestine #
• Humn, Jersey Shore… A show which must be simply terrible since even Americans think it's bad!!! #
• .@steam_support, please reduce Back to the Future from @telltalegames as it's half-price on #PSN but I don't want to give #Sony my details! #
• I'm running out of ideas in the attic… I think at some point we just need to throw stuff out! #
• @JasonBradbury I take old school 3D Anaglyph (red / cyan glasses) photos, but 3D TV still needs a bit of work before I will buy. #
• .@reallytvchannel comes to Freeview… Yet another channel I won't watch! #
• LOL… American Dad's 1000th Vagina Joke!!!! #
• "Some people think I'm bonkers, but I just think I'm…" …Well, "bonkers" is pretty accurate actually!!!!! #
• .@CaliLewis Instead of Fluid, I use Prism. Cross-platform (Win/Mac/Nix), more customizable, Mozilla Universe and FREE! #
• Ok, so I made some websites load as actual applications on my iMac using #Prism .. #Facebook #GooglePlus #Twitter & #GoogleCalender #
• I just rated 10 Action Things using @GetGlue. How many can you rate? http://bit.ly/rs2ihY #
• Right, I've watched the episode of #Castle which my #SkyPlus box missed out. #
• Catching up on my games news. http://bit.ly/nzXSu2 @GetGlue #IGNDailyFix #
• I am watching Hak5 http://bit.ly/qiK6ZF @GetGlue #Hak5 #
• .@DJYamada Ok, apparently Mac OS-X Lion will work on my iMac since I have a 2GHz Core 2 Duo. #
• @DJYamada Trying to figure out if I can upgrade the RAM to 4GB. Claims only 3 in manual. #
• @DJYamada Apparently an iMac 5.1 can only address 3GB of RAM, so it's pretty pointless upgrading RAM. Wondering at Lion though. #
• @DJYamada Is yours running in 2GB? Is it running well? #
• @DJYamada Well then, It'll probably be ok. One of these days though, new gaming PC and new workhorse! #
• @DJYamada Mine only has crap graphics, so will likely become, one day, my Photoshop / work machine. #
• @DJYamada Plus, I will likely build a machine new gaming machine for demanding stuff and an Atom box for browser & stuff. #
• @DJYamada Unfortunately, we all need money.Especially me right now. #
• @DJYamada I'll need a job before this is realistically possible. Or at least a business that works. #
• I am listening to Allison Weiss http://bit.ly/nzaf1M @GetGlue #AllisonWeiss #
• @DJYamada The definative answer… Can't run Lion till we get new printer and new scanner drivers. Damn Epson and needing Rosetta! #
• Alive Behind the Green Door http://bit.ly/nhbV7l @GetGlue #FloggingMolly #
• "Cos every dog has his day, like every woman, she get's her own way…!" #
• I so need to create a cosplay of The Dude from Big Labowski. So simple, and yet cool. #
• Just watched the latest episode. http://bit.ly/r88V1y @GetGlue #Torchwood #
• I unlocked the Magellan(10) sticker on @GetGlue! http://bit.ly/qEoUPu #
• "Woe! You're telling us this book is filthy, inappropriate and made a guy shoot the king of hippies! Can we please read this RIGHT NOW?" #
• Right, it's midnight on a Friday and I'm bored!!! Sleep? Book? Video games? TV? #
• I unlocked the Check-in Rookie sticker on @GetGlue! http://bit.ly/rcVWbr #
• Babies' mental assistant! http://bit.ly/qq0sg6 @GetGlue @ncis_CBS #
• Watching Under Siege & realised that the rial system goes through Watertight Doors. This means if 1 compartment floods the whole ship does! #
• Realised a particularly stupid thing in this film… The rail system through the ship which they're taking apart, go… http://bit.ly/qojb04 #
• Yum… Cookie, cookie, cookie! #
• Tomorrow I must buy the girkfriend's birthday pressie & card. Tidy more of the attic. But right now, I really need to sleep! #
• Working way to sleep! http://bit.ly/ngK7iT @GetGlue #StandUpForTheWeek #
• Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! http://bit.ly/nEfSyD @GetGlue #Sleep #

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