A Pizza-Box-Sized Mac For Under $500?

From Think Secret:

Code-named Q88, [the new Mac with] a 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 processor is said to be incredibly small and will be housed in a flat enclosure with a height similar to the 1.73 inches of Apple’s Xserve … size benefits will include the ability to stand the Mac on its side or put it below a display or monitor. The so-called “headless” iMac will allow Apple’s target audience — Windows users looking for a cheap, second PC — to keep their current peripherals or decide on their own what to pair with the system, be it a high-priced LCD display or an inexpensive display.

Initial reaction: I am “LIKE OMG SO TOTALLY SO” getting one of these.

Then, suspicion creeps in. What’s the catch?

December 30, 2004 | science & technology | Comments Closed

International Disaster Relief / Matching Funds

Hope all of you are enjoying your holidays so far. The Southeast Asian Quake and Tsunami reminds us that “civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.” This incident hurts even more as a lot of the poor and uneducated who perished did so not knowing what a tsunami is. They, mostly youngsters, thought it was something cool to witness and actually walked towards the ocean to get a better glimpse.

Just wanted to let you know that if you are planning on giving to the Red Cross or an equivalent disaster relief fund, please find out whether your employer will offer matching funds. If not, please think about giving your money to someone who can acquire matching funds before sending the money over. Lots of companies will give up to $500 in matching funds for this sort of effort. With today’s exchange rates, your donation is worth a lot to the average Asian.

Some of us have ties to southeast Asia by being, you know, southeast Asian. My grandma (father’s mother) was evacuated out of her beachfront home, and my parents, who currently reside two blocks from the Bay of Bengal in Chennai (SE India) are busy feeding and clothing the homeless who have set up makeshift homes right outside my parents’ house. While only 300 or so people died in Chennai (3000 total in the state of Tamil Nadu), beachfront homes up and down the coast have been damaged or washed away and the imminence of disease epidemics reigns supreme. Add to that being unable to leave their home due to the threat of looting, and you can understand the collective dilemma that a lot of Asians face even if not directly hit by the tsunami.

2004 was a tough year in terms of climatological disasters. Here’s hoping that the new year brings with it natural and manmade peace.

ReliefWeb – South Asia: Earthquake and Tsunami Updates

December 29, 2004 | culture-society-history, desi / india, science & technology | 5 Comments »

Christmas Spirit

To hell, Alice, to hell!

December 20, 2004 | culture-society-history, funny | Comments Closed

Query Letters

Query Letters To A Hollywood Producer

My favorite is Hoop Dreams Meets Shawshank: “A black guard coaches a prison basketball team and finds the strength and motivation he needs in a crippled, white inmate who shoots three-point baskets better than anyone he’s ever seen.”

That and Midnight Runs Meets Spaceballs

December 16, 2004 | funny, movies/tv | Comments Closed

Hyping Terror For Fun — And Profit

From CommonDreams.org:

What if, similarly, the War On Terror was largely a scam, and the administration was hyping it to seem larger-than-life? What if our “enemy” represented a real but relatively small threat posed by rogue and criminal groups well outside the mainstream of Islam? What if that hype was done largely to enhance the power, electability, and stature of George W. Bush and Tony Blair?

On reading this article, my statement from last week has been altered to the following: “In the day and age when Rumsfeld and Cheney are still running this country, those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.”

The only problem I have with Hartmann’s analysis is that it makes the connection between today and what was going on in the 70s seem like an expose of sorts, to the point where the average person meets it with realization, disbelief or angry denial. (Some replies received include “The stuff of novels – it would be a best selling political-spy thriller and you wouldn’t have to make up anything sensational!” and “This is too scandalous to be true! I am continuously flabbergasted by the ‘ignorance is bliss’ attitude of Americans.” The political beliefs and modus operandi of chickenhawks like Rumsfeld and Cheney haven’t changed since they appeared on the political scene. So, why should they stop trying to do now what garnered them so much success in the past? Kissinger didn’t go quietly into the night; did we expect these people to? Are we so W-crazed that we don’t pay heed to the puppetmasters of old? (Well, yes, but how can one not want to indict so imbecilic a puppet?)

“Chuckie!!! %@#*@ Chuckie and Mr. Burns is who you elected!”

December 15, 2004 | culture-society-history, government | Comments Closed

Two Unforgettable Women: M.S. Subbulakshmi and Sharon Meinholz

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, better known to her fans as M.S. Subbulakshmi or simply MS, passed away on the night of December 11th in Chennai, India. The Maria Callas of India, MS added a new dimension to music and devotion through the instrument that was her voice. The woman whose Hindu devotional songs which I awoke to during my childhood weekends is gone. She was 88 years old and had led more than a full life, but how do you replace someone with the vocal capacity and intensity of MS? Echoing the feelings of an admirer, “no one else can create this feeling which takes us straight to heaven.”

an article on MS’s life and work will soon be posted to VatulArticles. For more information on M.S. Subbulakshmi, please check out the following links:

A well-written and comprehensive article – MS Subbulakshmi: Genius Of Song
M.S. Subbulakshmi: Nightingale of Carnatic music
M.S. Subbulakshmi: Portraits of a diva

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More sad news followed when I discovered yesterday that University of Wisconsin Geology’s graduate secretary, Sharon Meinholz, passed away from a heart attack. This comes as a complete shock because she was only 51 and a non-smoker and non-drinker with a healthy lifestyle. Refreshingly liberated and progressive for a woman who hadn’t traveled much outside of Wisconsin, Sharon and I were unlikely friends. Again, this is not completely surprising given that our connection was founded on and strengthened by our dual gifts of curiosity and gab (truly, no one could walk by Sharon’s office and not get sucked into what I jokingly referred to as her vortex). She always had a word of encouragement, kept me on track and made me laugh during episodes of Frustrated Grad Student Syndrome. What a great woman.

In honor of all the work she did for our graduates, all of whom she knew on a first-name basis and never forgot, the department has set up a Sharon Meinholz Graduate Student Fund. If you are an alum or just have some extra cash lying around, please feel free to donate.

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While creating this post, an email arrived that Bob C’s cat, Mr. Rik, had to be put down because of kidney and eyesight failure. 15 years old, “Rik was a champion mouser and a very lovely little fellah who liked nothing better than to curl up on a warm lap or some place soft and warm and loud meow for a bit of attention. Born in Melbourne in 1989, Rik moved to Brisbane where he lost partial sight in one eye after being locked in a neighbor’s garage for a week while they were on holidays. Then, on to Perth and to our farm in WA before eventually traveling to New Orleans without complaint. He will be sorrily missed by his two teary eyed parents and bewildered, if not slightly crazed, half brother Bluey, sister Josie and good ole Huck.”

Note to everyone: Stay put! Don’t go anywhere!

December 14, 2004 | desi / india, music, wisconsin | Comments Closed
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