Austin speaking:

Monday was a historic day for Mill Valley journalism; we got Mac computers. Walking into the J-Room to find an array of shiny, silver desktop computers was definitely a shining moment in my life as a journalism nerd. A moment almost as shiny as the beautiful, brand spanking new Macs. The average person may not be able to understand our reasoning behind being so ecstatic, but it’s simple: it’s going to be so much easier to produce an awesome newspaper. The new computers are fast as lightning; perhaps the staff can channel them when trying to meet deadlines? Also, the programs we use won’t crash once an hour. You would be amazed at how many times someone would have to say “Save your stuff! My InDesign just crashed!” And for the cherry on top (for me, at least), the large screen sizes allow us to work on double page spreads much easier and the astounding display makes our photos and graphics appear much more clear and bright. The monitor quality of the old computers, which we had for over a decade, was so poor that certain colors appeared different than they would print. I could keep going on about why I’m so excited, but I think I’ve already out-nerded myself.

Kristina speaking:

I have to confess something. I hacked onto my older sister’s Facebook and looked at Habiger’s profile because I heard she had posted a photo and I just really, really wanted to see them. Now that I got that off my chest… Oh, the photos were breathtaking; the entire J-Room was white and fresh and I couldn’t wait to see them in person. At first, we were a little worried how the staff would take the transition from the old PCs to our new and improved Macs, but the change was surprisingly easy. Everyone quickly caught on to the  Mac shortcuts and learned how to navigate the system thanks to Habiger’s handy-dandy laminated reference sheets. I think the staff fell in love with the Macs when Photobooth was discovered. I can already tell Photobooth will be a huge distraction, but really, who doesn’t like morphing their face into an alien? But all in all, the new Macs look so great and we’re so fortunate to have them.

Hanna speaking:

Austin and Kristina pretty much said it all. But I’ll attempt to convey to you even more the excitement that we all felt when we walked into the J-Room the first morning back from break. An “emergency meeting” was called for all journalism students, and you should have seen everyone’s faces. After everyone figured out how to turn the computers on (it really is hard, I swear), within minutes each monitor displayed an original background chosen by its user. Some staffers chose attractive landscapes with fields of flowers, but most had ones that fit their personality. There was Britney Spears, Harry Potter, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a sloth in space and “cute” relationship photos (ew). But beyond the fun gadgets that come with a Mac, we now have the best equipment available to work on the paper and website. I agree with Austin; it sounds nerdy to be so excited to work on the newspaper, but it’s true. Needless to say, we have high expectations for the upcoming issues.