overheard in english

instructor: "bundling" was the term used when two people lay down together to keep warm from the winter cold. it was only allowed for married people or fiances.

student: i believe that's called "spooning" now.

instructor: "spooning" is something else. we can talk about that later. outside of class.

guffaws and nervous giggles

my 'new' phase

the lack of actual posts lately is a result of a dearth of inspiration, a mountain of school-related work that i've been casually ignoring and because i'm in receiving mode. go to class, take in information, process, eat, poop, sleep, mix and repeat.

anyway, that's all besides the point. what i really wanted to talk about was my new phase regarding music flavour. it's pretty obvious from my list of crushes (left) and recent music-related posts what the pattern is.

music flavour shifts with my mood, with relatability and with cultural climate. if i had kept record of what i had listened to over the years, it would not be difficult to interpolate what was going on in my head and around me at those times.

a couple of years ago, my earholes really liked Pilate, Dashboard Confessional, Radiohead, etc. the pattern then was that i liked music by bands with male lead vocals that were too high to sing along to. then it shifted to Sixpence None the Richer, Sarah Maclachlan, and generally mellow mainstream ladies. it bounced from there to folk-y acoustic artists like Iron & Wine, instrumental whizzes like Sufjan Stevens, soundtrack music from Firefly, and Amelie, etc.

after a few months of silence, i've found a new, refined flavour that is clearly an evolution and merging of my previous samplings: acoustic songs sung by women with enchanting voices and unabashedly dorky personalities.

don't be too quick to judge

Bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8N8ZwOlO4U&NR=1

homagah!

MacBookAir
more thoughts on the matter after class.

[edit]
Thoughts. I has them.

prior to getting the notebook i now love and cherish, i did a hefty amount of research into what i should use my OSAP moneys on. there was news of Intel's new Core Duo chips that would revolutionize CPUs and of Apple hopping onto the Intel-wagon and popping out new notebooks. as time progressed, i made my purchase and did not regret it at all, even when new stuff came out. even new sexy, sexy, sexy stuff.

in the past 6 months, i have begun researching my next waste of money purchase for 2 or 3 years down the road, when i will likely have an income one way or another. the intertubes have been clogged with rumours since Apple made the switch to Intel for a 12" Powerbook G4 replacement, and i had mentally set my mind to put it into high consideration. i figured that by the time i cam ready to purchase again, it will have been released and fiddled with and reviewed and refreshed and upgraded.

today, at the Macworld Expo in San Fransisco, the MacBook Air was revealed.

grab a gander at the official product images.
now take a look at the real life shots.

dimensions:
Height:0.16-0.76" (0.4 - 1.94 cm)
Width:12.8" (32.5 cm)
Depth:8.94" (22.7 cm)
Weight: 3.0 lbs (1.36 kg)

base specifications:
Processor: Intel C2D 1.6 GHz 800MHz FSB 2 MB cache
RAM: 2 GB (667MHz) DDR2 (soldered onboard)
Graphics: Intel GMA x3100 integrated graphics 144 MB shared
Hard Drive: 1.8" 80 GB 4200 rpm (P-ATA)
Screen: 13.3" WXGA (1280x800) LED-backlit glossy
Audio Out: Built-in speakers (mono)
Ports: 1 Audio Out (mini), 1 USB 2.0, 1 Micro-DVI
Inputs: 1 iSight camera, 1 built-in microphone, 1 Multi-Touch Touchpad, Backlit Keyboard
Accessories: 1 micro-DVI to DVI convertor, 1 micro-DVI to VGA convertor, 45W Magsafe Power Adapter (w/ MBA connector), Install/Restore DVDs, Documentation
Battery Life: 5 hrs. (according to Apple)
Price: $1799 USD / $1899 CAD

Pros and Cons, from what i can tell from pictures.

Pros:

cosmetics; it's just a marvel of engineering and design

light

so thin it fits inside a manila envelope

multi-touch touchpad that works like iphone/ipod touch

drop-down port bay

LED backlit LCD and back-lit (full-sized) keyboard

new Magsafe connector

Cons:

too much function sacrificed for form

not enough USB ports. no FireWire or ethernet ports.

unreplaceable/unupgradable anything (battery, hard drive, RAM) at end-user level (like ipods and iMacs)

weak hard drive. solid state disk option WAY TOO EXPEN$IVE.

MacBook-sized footprint, and MacBook-sized bezel, without MacBook functionality

mono speakers

Verdict:
if we were to personify Apple's line of computers into stereotypes of people, the MBA would ring in as one of those really good-looking people without an ounce of common sense and very, very anorexic. the computing power is there, but it's all the little things around it that are lacking, like access to hard drive, RAM and battery. one would think that all the innovation that went into the MacBook's easy access hard drive, RAM and battery bay would have translated in this thinnovation. all in the name of thin. the drop-down port bay is marvelous and well implemented. for more ports, and thus greater usability, i would not mind a bit more thickness.

it's pretty hard to justify buying this notebook; i can't think of any market outside of the hardcore fanatical collector of all things Apple, or the compulsive buyers of the new and shiny for the MacBook Air. i personally would not consider this product for purchase, but i do consider it to be very promising for future revisions of the MacBook line, specifically regarding multi-touch touchpads, LED back-lit screens, back-lit keyboards with the MacBook style, more discreet power cord management. i'm excited to see where these innovations will evolve to come next year. until then, the MacBook Pro is still very svelte.
[/edit]

[edit2]
i think the MBA takes the envelope out of the box and pushes it. other manufacturers will be forced to follow suit. and that's a good thing.
[/edit2]

o hai wuts up?

• bogged down with school work
• bogged down with work related to school
• waiting for a shakeup in Leaf-land
• excited about Macworld San Fransisco 2008 tomorrow
• excited about hockey on friday
• oh so very stupidly stuck
• i know how you feel. stop it.