Joseph Wharton's Journal: Earthquakes and a new laptop...

So, there was an earthquake here in Northwest Georgia this morning, around 5AM. Well, it wasn't technically here, it was over in Ft. Payne, Alabama. But it was definitely felt here. I was standing in my kitchen when I felt the earth beneath me shake. I live pretty close to a set of railroad tracks, so I just thought that it was a four or five engine train coming through. It's not unusual for a train to shake the whole house. I didn't find out that it was an earthquake until I turned on the 6AM local news. I was surreal, in a way. I've lived here in Georgia all of my life and I've never felt an earthquake. It was wild.

I'm (hopefully) about to buy a Dell Inspiron 600m for when I go off to college later this year. The 600m is one of those new notebooks with Intel Centrino(TM)(R)(C) technology. It's a nice notebook, for the price. But I have to admit, I'm becoming increasingly tempted by Apple's new iBook 900. The only real problem (aside from processor speed, which doesn't really matter that much to me) is that the iBook only comes with a 32MB ATI Radeon 7500. The Inspiron 600m comes with a 64MB ATI Radeon 9000. As I have both configured, they're comparable in price. So, in all likelyhood, I'll end up with the 600m, because it seems like a much better value. It's a shame, though. I'd really love to have a MacOS X box...