Again, more good points arise...

For one, I never realized that Vista was such a RAM hog. 1GB for premium?! Jeebus H. Christ, that's alot of RAM.

I just hate that PCs have 800 different things going on behind the scenes at once, and it slows the shit out of your system. A friend of mine was telling me that for him, the main problem with Vista was the sidebar, which he disabled along with several other options (basically his attempt to "unVista" Vista). He said this helped alot.

Anyone have any idea when the macbook line revision is due? I'll look into this more on my own as well. I find it unusual that they'd do this again, as I could swear that apple just released a revision a few months ago (which included the white macbook I'm currently considering [2.4GHz, 160 GB HDD, 2GB RAM]). Interesting if the new revision is true... but sucky because that means I'll be waiting even longer, and I am super antsy to start creating stuff again!

Thanks for all the advice so far though!

You've made some good points as well. Thanks!

I'm still making up my mind. It's alot to think about.

Wow...

I really appreciate all the different advice here. Thanks.

From what I've read, there's a few things I could elaborate on in more detail...

At 9/26/08 04:26 AM, Toast wrote: is that an intel or AMD processor?

--- its an Intel. I don't know that Macs actually even come with AMDs standard, do they?

At 9/26/08 06:16 AM, Pasty-Flawss wrote: Well in my opinion mac is honestly not really good for anything, windows is a lot more stable and better.

--- I agree with Moo12321, I'd like to hear more of an explanation here. Pretty much every piece of literature out there contests that the Mac OS is far more stable and crash-resistant/bug-free than any Windows OS currently in use. What makes you say this?

At 9/26/08 09:07 AM, zedd56 wrote: Anyways, i've always heard macs are used more than pc's for photoshop. But don't get a mac unless that's all you're gonna do with it. Pc's work just as good, and chances are it'll be nearly half the price for the pc laptop.

---- The price point is definitely true, as I've seen from researching this. That's one of the major sticking points for me. However, I plan to use more than photoshop, as I said above. Flash is the major program I'd be running, along with alot of photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver (essentially the most popular programs in the adobe suite). not to mention several music & audio editing programs, the screen capturing stuff I mentioned... that's about all really.

At 9/26/08 07:07 PM, jmtb02 wrote: The Macbook you listed is the same exact Macbook I have.

I do Flash on it and have done projects on it for a while. It's been very good to me, and the power is right-on for normal Flash projects. By normal Flash projects, I mean anything where you aren't using huge 500+ symbol projects or bloated FLA's.

It has some problems with larger files, and yes, because it's a Mac the Flash Player will run slower (but your files will run faster typically on a PC with IE/FF).

---- Interesting... I'd never heard that flash player runs slower on Macs generally. As far as flash projects, the bulkiest FLA files are probably anywhere from 90 - 120 MB. This is a high estimate. The more realistic upper range is more like 80-85 MB. I can't estimate the size of my libraries accurately, but I don't think it approaches 500+ symbols. Maybe like 300-ish.

At 9/26/08 07:55 PM, Patcoola wrote: well a better computer wont make you better at flash, thats up to you.

--- My primary concern here is not AT ALL gaining some spontaneous boost in skill by switching to a Mac. In fact I suspect that I'd face technical challenges in the first couple of weeks of working in the new environment.
Instead, my primary concern is having the ability to work free of hindrances with my files, within the given setup. When I work on files now, the PC is frustratingly slow. Every tiny command will make the PC load for seconds on end (this sounds like I'm complaining over a small thing, but it's VERY annoying when you click the "undo" button in flash, and have to wait 30 seconds for the damn hourglass to go away). It's very difficult dealing with those little inconveniences when they occur every other second, and add up to a big ball of "FUCK THIS COMPUTER."
If switching to the Mac OS instead of upgrading to Vista or working in XP would get me closer to being able to work without the sluggishness and the dumb ass freezing problems, then I'd really consider it and probably go ahead and get one that's suitable.

That sounds ideal....

what about performance though? I just worry about encountering difficulties with working with large files. Not a MAJOR worry mind you. With specs like those above, I don't think it'd be a huge problem. Still i wonder. It's just that macbooks are a recognizable brand and therefore cost so much more... you start to question if its REALLY worth the investment.

Any other thoughts on this?

well, I can work with both the old Flash MX 2004 Professional and CS3. Alot of my stuff that spans a longer time frame is still based in MX on my old system.

I also do alot of work in photoshop and some work in dreamweaver, and im planning to do alot ofwork in Illustrator in the near future (which can definitely be a RAM hog. additionally, i use simple audio editing software to play around with sound effects and some music. i also use some cakewalk programs for music and audio, as well as an old version of fruity loops from like years ago.

i sometimes use screencasting software like camstudio to blogcast.

and several other randomprograms. im more concerned about my ability to work with those bigger design programs i mentioned first.

would a macbook hold its weight with that kind of workload?

So, I'm looking for a decent PORTABLE option for working on my flash content...

I've heard time and time again that macs are great for multimedia work. My old PC, which I used in working on my most recent work for the past 2 years, was super slow afterwhile and it got ridiculously frustrating to work on flash cartoons. My current laptop is a loaner, and i wouldn't even dare install Flash on here, lest this thing literally explode neath my fingertips.

So I'm SERIOUSLY considering buying a macbook. NOT a Macbook PRO, because I live in the real world and I have bills to pay and don't have $2,000 to blow on a computer. My main worry has been compatibility issues with running the various programs that I use to get my work done.

Ideally, I'd be able to buy a new PC laptop, and get a really nice system for the same price as the Macbook I'm aiming to get, and not have any worries about compatibility. But to be honest the only thing stopping me from doing this - Windows effing Vista. I continue to hear nothing but bad things about it, and I don't wanna go near it with a ten foot pole.

So what I want to know is - would investing in a Macbook REALLY improve my ability to work on my flash projects? Is it REALLY worth the investment in the supposed superiority in multimedia (not to mention avoiding Vista like the plague)?

I'd love some real opinions and advice here, because I;m going crazy not being able to work on any of my stuff. Thanks in advance.

BTW the Macbook im aiming for:

2.4 GHz core 2 duo processor
160 GB Hard Drive
2GB RAM (should I go for 4GB if doing heavy flash work?)
13 inch screen.
8X "Superdrive"
and all the other random crap that comes with the white Macbook... and NO this is not a cosmetic choice. personally I don't much care for the look of macbooks. I just wanna create shit.

At 4/14/08 06:03 PM, DP36 wrote: Its just some stupid idea. I don't think they will let it pass.

Thats the same thing alot of people said about the Patriot Act and about us going to Iraq to "find WMD's."

But I certainly hope you're right about that, and that everyone else is right about it being doubtful. It would suck big time if it actually happened.

At 4/14/08 05:28 PM, All-Hallows wrote: There is no fucking bill you moron.

Geez, no need for such attitude. Like i said, a friend of mine just told me about it today and it sounded like something other artists might find important. So i shared it.

I'm glad some people have the ability to simply provide additional information to clarify the issue without being jerks about it. Calm down a bit.

I don't know if anyone else is aware of this or not, but a friend of mine put me on to this issue today, and all I can say is... wow.

The US government is once again thinking of new ways to ruin the lives of American citizens. This time its targeted at us creative folk.

The artists, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, animators, writers, etc... all of us who make this world more enjoyable everyday by putting our hearts and souls into creating shit for everyone to enjoy...

The government is about to take away our right to legally claim ownership of our own shit... it's called Orphan Works.

and this doesnt just affect professionals or amateur artists either. it will even affect simple things like even you folk who do stuff like shooting simple pictures to put on your myspace and facebook profiles. they can be taken and used for smoking ads or promotional material for anything else that you have no control over. its a really effed up situation. they could end up being used for magazine ads by big companies, and there's NOTHING you could do about it.

yes, that's right - that nice photo you have in your myspace album... the one with you and your boyfriend or girlfriend... that could end up being used as an advertisement for herpes medication. and you cant claim ownership of the picture and fight at least for royalties or some kind of payment for its use... not if the government gets away with what it's trying to do to us citizens.

Do not let Orphan Works become an everyday thing.

The US government is attempting to strip artists of their creative rights of ownership. If this new legislation passes, artists of all genres will have to pay mandatory fees to register their artworks with private copyright companies, or else any and all of your work can be taken by anyone and used for anything... and there is NOTHING you will be able to do about it. in fact, it goes so far that someone else could even steal your work, and register it as their own, and then sue YOU for copyright infringement for your OWN WORK. Orphan Works legislation is on the table at Congress.

This is all about profit, and it will potentially cripple many sectors of the art world.

If you are an artist you must read this!
If you know an artist, you must read this!
If you give a damn about the right to legally own what you create, you must read this!

It's really important to spread the word about what's happening. it's from Animation World Magazine.

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageo ne&article_no=3605&page=1

Please share this with all the artists you know, and any others who give a damn about people's right to legally own what is theirs.

Tell the government to go fuck itself by writing to your local office in protest. Fight back and spread the word. This shit is serious.

and if this post is in the wrong forum, then I apologize. the mods are free to move it to the correct area where people can hopefully still access this information.

been awhile since i've posted here.

iceking55
Faust-87, Lancy, Anti-Clock
wannabe101

more later. maybe...

At 11/25/07 03:25 PM, jokerscard wrote: Everysingle one. And this douchebag spammed our userpages too.

a dubious case of spamming.... not alt spamming, but its the kind that is so obvious that it might result in a whistle demotion if you flag it.

i dunno... with everything that's been happening lately, i think i'll pass on that one, but hey good luck if anyone has the balls to go for it.

btw that big post i just put up above, was to warn people how to spot alt accounts so they DONT FLAG THE REVIEWS IN THEM!!

i repeat, if you see this kind of stuff in a person's account,

DO NOT FLAG THEIR REVIEWS!! YOU WILL LOSE WHISTLE POINTS.

flag legit abusive reviews and clean up NG the old fashioned way.

At 11/23/07 06:25 PM, phantomlassuk wrote: At 11/23/07 06:17 PM, ZeroNuclear wrote Thank you for you really helpful responce ,i did not know that many accounts had been made. I`am glad the mods are doing something about it, but i not lost any whistle points yet. I want to know how would you know for sure its a alt account?,if its a a series of the same spam on every review .

Glad to help.

I'm no expert on review flagging or anything, so don't quote me on this, but here's a few basic "red flags" you should look out for if you don't know whether the goldmine you just stumbled upon is really an alt account.

Also, any more experienced whistlers, feel free to correct or amend/add to what I'm saying here. this is just the set of guidelines i personally use.

----------------------------------------
1. The account was created very recently.

- This is probably the biggest tip off. If someone has like 50+ reviews and they've only been on NG since this morning, chances are they created the account just to post mass reviews. Most people will only review submissions that they actually have a real opinion about, and that doesn't happen 50 times in one day. I've been visiting NG since like 1998, and signed up on NG since 2002, and I don't even have 30 reviews yet (but then again, I'm not that opinionated when it comes to submissions). But lots of reviews in a short time span = big red flag. Which leads me to the next one...

2. Lots of similar reviews.

- This one again will stand out clearly. If every review on an entire page of the persons reviews says the same exact thing, its probably an alt account. this can even include positive reviews like "LOL all my 5 are bLong 2 u!!!!!" If there's lots of duplicates, it's probably an alt. not to mention it's just annoying to look at.

3. New reviews keep streaming in as you periodically refresh their reviews page.

- This one was seen by many users in the infamous "youihate39" case. As we were tracking the account, the review count kept going up every minute or two. This means the user is online and posting pointless review after review and is usually a red flag. Your average user won't be going around posting review after review at such a high rate (like 3-4 reviews per minute.) If the reviews were legitimate, it would take far longer than that to post reviews, simply because it would take time to actually watch each movie or play each game you were reviewing. If the count is rising rapidly, its probably an alt.
-----------------------------------
That's about all that I go by personally. Again, anyone with other helpful advice, feel free to add to this or offer different advice if you think i'm wrong. Like i said, im not an expert, this is just how I personally handle these things.

At 11/23/07 05:37 PM, phantomlassuk wrote: Why i though that was doing newgrounds a flavour, why should you not flag alt accounts reviews. I dont understand help please, i dont want to get garbabe whistle.

well if you asked this about a week or 2 ago, i'd say you should absolutely flag alt account reviews. but there have been maybe 5-10 alt accounts in the past 5 days, and it really brought attention to the issue. mods are seeing that these alts are just a cheap easy way to get mass whistle points in a short amount of time, and that act in and of itself is abusive, i guess. the problem arises when people are PUNISHED for flagging these accounts. it's one thing to just not award points because youre flagging something that shouldn't count. that's totally fine. but people are actually having their points REDUCED because of this.

now that the issue is in the spotlight and there are penalties for it, just steer clear of alts completely, and boost your whistle the old fashioned way. good luck.

wow.

i've just been reading back a few pages about this catastrophe that's happened here. I've been noticing that these alt accounts have been popping up like crazy lately, and had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before mods started to implement some kind of backfire for them.

i'm thankful that i missed it. but i totally agree that it's really messed up that people actually lost points over this. the best solution would definitely have been to simply delete the entire alt account and nobody wins or loses as a result. i'm sure there were alot of people who were new to the whole flagging system, and for them to get crushed like that as a result of some jerk who decided to do some alt spamming, is not only unfair, it's downright mean.

i hope the issue is corrected, but i'd say until then, keep working on flagging legitimate abuse, and for the love of all that's decent in this world...

IF YOU SEE OR SUSPECT AN ALT SPAM ACCOUNT, DONT START FLAGGING THE REVIEWS IN IT!

if you feel inclined, report it personally to a review mod, and leave the actual reviews alone. don't let this keep happening to yourself or other people in the future.

quickie.

sirkiller475, Gothic3Freak, AnimeFreak222, bloodangel123

At 11/20/07 02:23 PM, jokerscard wrote:

At 11/20/07 02:21 PM, ZeroNuclear wrote: oh also, one of those dudes i just listed has another review with the same text copy & paste style

counter-stick episode 1

Also Stick Deaths2

wow i'm blind, how did i miss that LOL. thx.

oh also, one of those dudes i just listed has another review with the same text copy & paste style

counter-stick episode 1

ok here's more... this flash obviously pissed alot of people off. tsk tsk. so much anger on this here internet, i swear.

leotheo, padddyD, inknown81, hungry-pizza
namagem, Dude5082, EntropicOrdersEnemy, deadmanwalking2, smorez
richie127, Urien, lego-clock, swordsmanhellblade, killa4life701
serpant, TheSandwichMan, rubber-ninja, captionnemo, KLove
oldryan, skatalite. -- NOTE: Vamp001 is a maybe. use discretion there.
rmspaz17005, cesarin, lxMDMAxl

maybe more but im sick of looking at them. have fun.

someone else posted reviews from this flash, but there's a few more here

DUDECOW, TerrorOfLife, DeathsRevenge

i must say i am a little pissed now. after enjoying the great "youihate39" debacle early, i went out and i get back home to find that there has been ANOTHER ultra gold/platinum/diamond mine. and i got back here just after the account was deleted.

son. of. a . bitch!

ah well. still im sure everyone had a ball with that one too.

remember remember, the 19th of November!

hahaha yesss Goldmine Day has been a lovely one i think.

i wasnt gonna bitch before because my silver whistle still hadn't changed yet after the legend of "youihate". i guess it took some time to update, but now i have that sweet shiny golden whistle!

BULLY!!!

now im off to get drunk. have fun people. ^__^

By my count, youihate39 hit a maximum of 109 Flash and 14 Audio Reviews, all abusive. If you were here for these festivities, I say to you...

HAPPY GOLDMINE DAY!!

At 11/19/07 06:24 PM, LongliveACDC wrote: I just hope that the moderators stop counting as points just because they are coming from one source... One source or not, we are still policing

nah i dont think that'll happen. last time i leveled up my whistle it was thanks another guy just like this one. each flag should count.

if this dude hits the 100 mark, i'm unofficially declaring Nov. 19th "Goldmine Day"

i think im actually gonna miss him when he gets the boot. here's to youihate39.

BULLY!!

At 11/19/07 06:17 PM, ManOManiaMan wrote: do you guys think that this guy could bring my whistle from garbage back to normal?

hell, he might bring you from garbage to bronze at this rate. he's a fuckin MACHINE!

At 11/19/07 05:49 PM, ManOManiaMan wrote:

At 11/19/07 05:33 PM, bobbycat77 wrote: all 3

goldmine :)

you can say that again. 41 flash, 5 audio and counting. so while we wait... whats the magic number where it's unofficially considered a "goldmine" anyway?

At 11/19/07 05:40 PM, Bstuk2 wrote:

At 11/19/07 05:36 PM, ZeroNuclear wrote:

At 11/19/07 05:33 PM, bobbycat77 wrote: all 3

more like ALL OF THEM. someone made that account today just to post abusives. flag away.

hes writing a new reveiw every second. Check back often.

probably 4 new ones already.

oh shit youre right. i wonder how long before its deleted. still, its kinda funny to watch new abusives streaming in like luggage at the airport lol.

At 11/19/07 05:33 PM, bobbycat77 wrote: all 3

more like ALL OF THEM. someone made that account today just to post abusives. flag away.

lalalala.. go get 'em.

PrinsNL, videogamer0810
bunkster66
kattation
meatwad2222, theotherhand
ownage143

no probs. glad 2 help.