I had a nice long chat this morning with my friend Hoey, who’s thinking about switching to a Mac. As you might expect, I gave him my usual gushing recommendation. I’ve got yet another reason for him now though: iPhoto. I was finally able to use this nifty bit of software (which is free!) today. See, my digital camera is slightly older and doesn’t work well with OS X. To import my pictures, I used to have to connect the camera, boot into OS9, and use the horrible clunky software that came with it to grab them one-at-a-time. It sucked and it discouraged me from using the camera as much as I might. A few months ago I decided what I needed was a Compact Flash Card reader (i.e. a little thingy that you stick the camera’s flash card into and it pops up on your desktop like a regular drive). The only problem was getting a compatible one in Australia without paying an ungodly amount for it. I mean, these things are fifteen bucks in an American shop, yet somehow cost $115 here. Ridiculous. The Snook somehow managed to find a shop that had some for $70, which was slightly more reasonable, so today I shlepped the laptop across town so we could try them out in the store. And guess what? We found one that works! * So now I just plug the thing in and I can transfer over all my photos with one click. I can edit them and organize them into albums, and even arrange them into a book and have it printed! I am loving this.

* Since it’s not documented anywhere that I can see, I’m posting this in the hopes other OS X users might find it. The CR-V7-UC CompactFlash Card Reader works great with Mac OS X. No drivers or software are needed. You just plug the thing in and it works! Plus it’s a lot cheaper than the “name brand” ones Apple have listed at their site. Just a tip!