It was as though it was Christmas. I couldn’t sleep much last night and woke up early this morning. Why? Because Today I was getting my Mac Mini. What? A Mac Mini? Why??

Well, it all started when I was doing a future scenario planning exercise on what the future of operating systems held. Researching the various operating systems, their features and strengths led me to believe the Mac OS X is truly a contender to Microsoft Windows. So why would I leave Windows? Well, the more accurate question is “why would I stay?”

Windows was becoming more and more frustrating to use and Mac OS X offered a viable alternative. I could run Office (which is the next on my list to try and ditch) which is the main Windows application that I would use on a regular basis. And guess what, Entourage (Mac Office’s Outlook) actually understands how IMAP should work (And so they should, they’ve been doing Exchange servers for years). It fixed all the things I didn’t like about Outlook and has some great features, like the project manager so I can keep all my files relating to a particular project all in one place.

I have been amazed at just how little configuration you need to do with the Mac. It worked literally out of the box. Sure, I had to let it do a full software update before it would talk WPA to my wireless router, but so does Windows XP, only I didn’t even really need to try hard to set up wireless networking. It couldn’t be easier.

Java and Shockwave seem to come standard so I have only needed to install Office, VNC viewer (so I can access my old PC), MPlayer (for full screen DivX, Xvid, etc…) and Firefox. I can print to PDF as part of the operating system (the way it should be).

I haven’t even mentioned expose yet. The fantastic alternative to Alt + Tab. You can actually see what window you are switching too. Briliiant!! DVDs also worked out of the box.

I wonder what is in store for me Tomorrow. And then Mac OS X Tiger (which I have already pre-ordered on a $14.95 upgrade)

Yes, week 2 of the weekly updates. Here are the dates as they stand now: Closing of acceptance of new categories: May 15th Nominations close: May 31st Voting Starts: June 1st Voting Closes: June 26th 10am Awards Dinner to be held on: Sunday, 26th June.

The i-think awards website is ready to take your nominations (you don’t even have to log in to nominate). New categories added in the last week include:

Best Operating System Best i-think prank of all time Best Movie

Be sure to put your nominations forward. The following categories are at risk of automatic disqualification if more nominees aren’t added. (Remember, the i-think Awards don’t just give awards at by default, even if the competition has gotten really drunk of non-alcoholic wine)

Best Visual Effects Supervisor (1 nomination so far) Best Homemade Trailer (1 nomination so far) Best Quote (1 nomination so far) Best Sean Connery Appearance (1 nomination so far) Best Official Movie Trailer (1 nomination so far) Best Homemade Star Wars Trailer (No nominations so far) Best Operating System (1 nomination so far)

Remember, categories need 2 or more nominations to be legitimate.

Category Managers, be sure to watch your pending nominations closely to avoid double ups.

So, what are you waiting for, go, make some nominations: http://www.i-thinkawards.net/

This is the first of the weekly updates to keep you informed about the status of the i-think Awards. Via e-mail I will always put the basic details, such as dates, with more flushed out via the i-think Twenty-Two website.

But first, some dates… Currently the awards dinners is likely to be either on the weekend of June 26th or May 3rd. The preference is for a Saturday night. The final date will be decided when Will works out when he is going to be in Brisbane.

This means that nominations will need to close at the end of May. New categories will stop being added at about mid-May (so that nominations can take place). Voting will be available once nominations have closed up until 10am of the day of the awards.

So, just how did Paul walk away with so many awards last year. I’ve had a look at the numbers and come up with some theories. Theories that should help you win an i-think award.

But first, a graph:

The majority (~73%) of the winners shown in this graph won all the awards they were nominated for. In fact, if I showed all winners in this graph the percentage would be significantly higher.

Theory 1: You have to be in it to win it. You don’t necessarily need to swamp the nominations to walk away a winner. Even though Paul seemed to seriously rig the awards he still lost 40% of the awards he was nominated for.
Theory 2: Get your friends to vote. Now this may seem a little unethical, but getting your friends to vote is a fabulous way to increase your chances. Paul used this to his advantage last year adding 3-4 new voters within the last weeks of voting. So why not do the same. The only condition is that your friends must attend the i-think awards, as did Paul’s last minute helpers last year. This will help build the atmosphere at the dinner and will give your friends an opportunity to see the crazy antics of the i-think awards.
Theory 3: Make categories just for you Paul took advantage of the open structure of the i-think Awards by creating categories just for him, such as Best Stubble and Best Receeding Hairline. In fact Paul won two thirds of all categories that were hair related. You too can make up your own categories, just be sure to give yourself some competition. Remember, categories with only one nomination (or none) are wiped from the record come awards night, so come up with something.
Theory 4: Build categories early Historically most people have been fairly slack and get their nominations in at the very last minute. This actually reduces your chances of winning. Categories are listed in the order they were added to the system and so are nominees. If your nomination is at the top you may actually increase your chances, so make those nominations early. (This can also save you from the embarrassment of being too late to nominate). Like the ads at uni now that give you tips on avoiding library late fees, number one on the list is “return (or renew) your books on time”.
Theory 5: If all else fails, buy your i-think awards. Whilst of course I would never condone the selling of an i-think awards and tarnishing its good name and reputation this may be the only way you’ll ever win, or maybe not. I’ve been treating myself to DVDs for years and I’ve never won an i-think award.

So, what are you waiting for, make your nominations today!!!

Preparation has begun for the 2005 i-think awards to be held tentatively in late June. The site has been cleaned and prepared for this 5th year of awards. Be sure to make a nomination and let me know if you need your username/password so you can vote.

Welcome to the all new i-think Twenty-Two. There were many grand plans for the previous version of i-think Twenty-Two, but with time constraints and a lack of patience I decided to take the easy way out and installed a CMS instead. More specifically, I installed WordPress.

Considering that it served just about all the features that I was going to implement anyway, it has given me the opportunity to focus on the content of the site. In particular it will give me more time to organise this year’s i-think Awards which are pegged to be the biggest ever. (More details soon).

So, sit back and watch as I hopefully become more active on this site.