Shameless self-insertion
Jan. 13th, 2006 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dream_labyrinthI just wrote myself into the school history.
All my predecessors are in there, mentioned on the date when they started to work here or left, so I don't see why I can't do it. But it's weird.
Anyway.
My coworker who sells computers gave me three options. I have one I favor, but I'll just give you the details and see what you say. (Without prices because they're all within my range, and I don't think it makes sense to buy something cheap and realise half a year later it'd have been better to spend a bit more.)
Here goes:
1. BenQ Joybook R22E.G14: Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+ processor (1.8 GHz / 128 KB / 25 W), 512 MB DDR333 RAM, 80 GB harddrive, 15 inch XGA TFT display, graphics: VIA Unichrome pro shared VRAM, DVD+/-RW Dual Double Layer Burner, 10/100 MBit Ethernet / integrated Wirelaess LAN 802.11g / 56K V.90 onboard modem, 4x USB 2.0, VGA, TV out Software: MS Windows XP Home, MS Works Suite 2005, Q-Media Bar, Q-Music 2, Power DVD, Photo Explorer, Nero Express, Power Director, PC-Cillin Anti Virus, Acrobat Reader 6.0 batteries last up to 2.5 hours size: 326 x 22 x 277 mm, weight: 2.9kg
2. Acer Aspire 3023WLMi: Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+ (25W), 512 MB DDR333 RAM, 100GB harddrive, 15.4 inch WXGA 16:10 Crystal Brite TFT Display, ATI Mobility Radeon X600 PCIe 64 MB graphics card, DVD+/-RW Dual Double Layer burner (read: 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 2.4x DL DVD+R; write: 24x CD-R, 10x CD-RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 2.4x DL DVD+R), 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN-card (Wake-on-LAN ready) / V.90 56K Modem (Wake-on-ring ready) / integrated wireless LAN 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, 4x USB2.0, Firewire, VGA, TV-out, 6-in-1 card reader software: windows XP home edition SP2, Acer Aspire Arcade, Acer eManager (including eSettings, ePresentation and eRecovery), Acer Launch Manager, Acer GridVista, Adobe Reader, Norton Anti Virus (90 days trial version), NTI CD/DVD-Maker, Cyberlink PowerProducer batteries last up to 3.5 hours size: 363 x 33 x 278 mm, weight: 3.0 kg
3. HP Pavilion zd8305EA: Intel Pentium 4 630 HT (3.0 GHz / 2 MB / FSB800 Prescott), 512 MB DDR2-533 RAM, 80 GB harddrive, 17 inch WXGA+ high definition bright view tft display, ATI mobility radeon X600 128 MB graphics card, DVD+/-RW Dual Double Layer burner, integrated 56K modem V.90 / 10/100 MBit LAN / 54g 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster-Support / Bluetooth, 4x USB2.0, Firewire, VGA, TV-out, 1x ExpressCard-Slot, IR remote control (there are remote controls for notebooks???????), 6-in-1 card reader software: Windows XP home edition SP2, Microsoft Works 8.0, internet explorer 6.0, outlook express, adobe reader 6.0, InterVideo WinDVD 5.0, Sonic Digital Mediaplus 7.0, Sonic RecordNow, Sonic MyDVD, Sonic Easy Archive, Sonic Express Labeler, Windows media player 10, Apple iTunes, Apple QuickTimes, HP IMage Zone Plus, InterVideo Home Theater, Easy Internet Suignup for leading providers, Norton AntiVirus 2005 (60 days live-update), notebook help&support batteries last up to 2 hours size: 396 x 50 x 290 mm, weight 4.2 kg
Oh my, I can't believe I typed this all up. Anyway. So that's the choice. I know there are a million notebooks out there, but if you know and work with somebody who sells the stuff it's kind of natural to ask them and then it's only fair to buy from them, too. Especially as this is a good way to get all kinds of software, and of course good service.
I watched "Anna and the King" yesterday. *sigh* I saw it in the movie theatre before, but isn't it just lovely? And it isn't a totally unrealistic romantic movie with everything falling into little Anna Leonowens' lap and a royal marriage in the end. The girl who was given to the king as a present by her parents did get killed when she ran away to her former lover. (who got killed as well, which is kinda sad for him as he was in a cloister and she had joined him dressed as a monk, so he apparently never knew who she was so it isn't as if he had any advantage out of it.) The king saves his face, despite his personal wishes.
It was interesting to see it again, and it made me think.
Back then, the Europeans were so sure about how their way of life is right and the only one.
And the foreign customs, especially polygamy, is bad and barbaric and whatnot.
But if you are king in a country where many children die, and where you always have to beware of people trying to kill you, well, having many children is a way to ensure your line will continue. And also, in Europe as well as elsewhere marriage has been considered a good way to strenghten alliances. And if your religion allows polygamy (it's the same with muslims, Muhammed had lots of wives for the same reason), people who want to get on your good side might just have an attractive daughter to marry off to you. And if you'd say no, that'd be breaking the alliance and probably gaining an enemy.
And also, if you come from a poor family and just happen to be very attractive, maybe becoming the king's 30th wife might not be the greatest fate on earth, but it provides food on a regular basis and a pretty nice place to sleep.
And if the king is a bastard, at least you don't have his full attention. And the responsibility of producing an heir is not all on your shoulders. That's an advantage the European princesses didn't have.
Also, to be considered god-like isn't all fun. If you're god-like, then you're personally responsible for any failing crop, bad weather or evil omens. And you can't make mistakes.
It's a pity some colonial empires didn't really try to work with the cultures they found. The British weren't bad, actually. Or at least not bad everywhere and all the time. If you're expanding by ways of trade, you usually get along much better if you can work with stable local governments, and as long as their ways allow what you need, there's no reason to make them change. As far as I can see, the Spanish were quite different. But then they were much more religiously motivated (or pretended to be), and didn't have the educate-to-a-modern-society-and-let-become-independed approach the British had in many colonies. (How they felt about coming to that aim is a different matter, but the British did start with the idea that their task is to make their colonies work as modern nations in their own right.)
Anyway. I'm hungry, need to go shopping.
All my predecessors are in there, mentioned on the date when they started to work here or left, so I don't see why I can't do it. But it's weird.
Anyway.
My coworker who sells computers gave me three options. I have one I favor, but I'll just give you the details and see what you say. (Without prices because they're all within my range, and I don't think it makes sense to buy something cheap and realise half a year later it'd have been better to spend a bit more.)
Here goes:
1. BenQ Joybook R22E.G14: Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+ processor (1.8 GHz / 128 KB / 25 W), 512 MB DDR333 RAM, 80 GB harddrive, 15 inch XGA TFT display, graphics: VIA Unichrome pro shared VRAM, DVD+/-RW Dual Double Layer Burner, 10/100 MBit Ethernet / integrated Wirelaess LAN 802.11g / 56K V.90 onboard modem, 4x USB 2.0, VGA, TV out Software: MS Windows XP Home, MS Works Suite 2005, Q-Media Bar, Q-Music 2, Power DVD, Photo Explorer, Nero Express, Power Director, PC-Cillin Anti Virus, Acrobat Reader 6.0 batteries last up to 2.5 hours size: 326 x 22 x 277 mm, weight: 2.9kg
2. Acer Aspire 3023WLMi: Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+ (25W), 512 MB DDR333 RAM, 100GB harddrive, 15.4 inch WXGA 16:10 Crystal Brite TFT Display, ATI Mobility Radeon X600 PCIe 64 MB graphics card, DVD+/-RW Dual Double Layer burner (read: 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 2.4x DL DVD+R; write: 24x CD-R, 10x CD-RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 2.4x DL DVD+R), 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet LAN-card (Wake-on-LAN ready) / V.90 56K Modem (Wake-on-ring ready) / integrated wireless LAN 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, 4x USB2.0, Firewire, VGA, TV-out, 6-in-1 card reader software: windows XP home edition SP2, Acer Aspire Arcade, Acer eManager (including eSettings, ePresentation and eRecovery), Acer Launch Manager, Acer GridVista, Adobe Reader, Norton Anti Virus (90 days trial version), NTI CD/DVD-Maker, Cyberlink PowerProducer batteries last up to 3.5 hours size: 363 x 33 x 278 mm, weight: 3.0 kg
3. HP Pavilion zd8305EA: Intel Pentium 4 630 HT (3.0 GHz / 2 MB / FSB800 Prescott), 512 MB DDR2-533 RAM, 80 GB harddrive, 17 inch WXGA+ high definition bright view tft display, ATI mobility radeon X600 128 MB graphics card, DVD+/-RW Dual Double Layer burner, integrated 56K modem V.90 / 10/100 MBit LAN / 54g 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster-Support / Bluetooth, 4x USB2.0, Firewire, VGA, TV-out, 1x ExpressCard-Slot, IR remote control (there are remote controls for notebooks???????), 6-in-1 card reader software: Windows XP home edition SP2, Microsoft Works 8.0, internet explorer 6.0, outlook express, adobe reader 6.0, InterVideo WinDVD 5.0, Sonic Digital Mediaplus 7.0, Sonic RecordNow, Sonic MyDVD, Sonic Easy Archive, Sonic Express Labeler, Windows media player 10, Apple iTunes, Apple QuickTimes, HP IMage Zone Plus, InterVideo Home Theater, Easy Internet Suignup for leading providers, Norton AntiVirus 2005 (60 days live-update), notebook help&support batteries last up to 2 hours size: 396 x 50 x 290 mm, weight 4.2 kg
Oh my, I can't believe I typed this all up. Anyway. So that's the choice. I know there are a million notebooks out there, but if you know and work with somebody who sells the stuff it's kind of natural to ask them and then it's only fair to buy from them, too. Especially as this is a good way to get all kinds of software, and of course good service.
I watched "Anna and the King" yesterday. *sigh* I saw it in the movie theatre before, but isn't it just lovely? And it isn't a totally unrealistic romantic movie with everything falling into little Anna Leonowens' lap and a royal marriage in the end. The girl who was given to the king as a present by her parents did get killed when she ran away to her former lover. (who got killed as well, which is kinda sad for him as he was in a cloister and she had joined him dressed as a monk, so he apparently never knew who she was so it isn't as if he had any advantage out of it.) The king saves his face, despite his personal wishes.
It was interesting to see it again, and it made me think.
Back then, the Europeans were so sure about how their way of life is right and the only one.
And the foreign customs, especially polygamy, is bad and barbaric and whatnot.
But if you are king in a country where many children die, and where you always have to beware of people trying to kill you, well, having many children is a way to ensure your line will continue. And also, in Europe as well as elsewhere marriage has been considered a good way to strenghten alliances. And if your religion allows polygamy (it's the same with muslims, Muhammed had lots of wives for the same reason), people who want to get on your good side might just have an attractive daughter to marry off to you. And if you'd say no, that'd be breaking the alliance and probably gaining an enemy.
And also, if you come from a poor family and just happen to be very attractive, maybe becoming the king's 30th wife might not be the greatest fate on earth, but it provides food on a regular basis and a pretty nice place to sleep.
And if the king is a bastard, at least you don't have his full attention. And the responsibility of producing an heir is not all on your shoulders. That's an advantage the European princesses didn't have.
Also, to be considered god-like isn't all fun. If you're god-like, then you're personally responsible for any failing crop, bad weather or evil omens. And you can't make mistakes.
It's a pity some colonial empires didn't really try to work with the cultures they found. The British weren't bad, actually. Or at least not bad everywhere and all the time. If you're expanding by ways of trade, you usually get along much better if you can work with stable local governments, and as long as their ways allow what you need, there's no reason to make them change. As far as I can see, the Spanish were quite different. But then they were much more religiously motivated (or pretended to be), and didn't have the educate-to-a-modern-society-and-let-become-independed approach the British had in many colonies. (How they felt about coming to that aim is a different matter, but the British did start with the idea that their task is to make their colonies work as modern nations in their own right.)
Anyway. I'm hungry, need to go shopping.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 05:21 am (UTC)It seems pretty huge, though. And heavy. Though I need to figure out how much I'd actually be carrying it around to see how important that is.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 05:37 am (UTC)Incidently, we have a 12" semi-notebook. Small enough to be carried everywhere and probably the only one that does fit in those small safes in hotel rooms and holiday cottages. Very convenient.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-14 08:06 am (UTC)The only thing would be use on trains, but I have heard there are outlets on most trains, too. (Which I have never looked for, as I didn't need it before.)
Also, I don't actually travel that much by train, to be honest. I'm a car person.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-13 06:07 am (UTC)You'll be buying yourself a laptop bag/attache/briefcase anyway, which with a shoulder strap, really makes the weight manageable when you carry it long-distance. Try looking at http://www.ebags.com/ because you can type in your machine's model and ebags will tell you what bags will fit it. :-) But unless you're going to be back packing with it across Europe and an extra KG or two will be a problem, I'd vote for the HP machine. But that's because I'm biased and have never heard of the BenQ. :-)
80 gigabytes is a pretty good sized hard drive. 512 mb ram is good. The software package on the HP looks good too.
I loved Anna and the King. Sweepingly romantic. And I don't mind polygamy given:
1) it's entered into voluntarily by everyone concerned
2) it works the other way too: polyamory. If I wanted multiple husbands, for example. Which I don't, good God why would I put myself through that, but some people would like to.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-14 08:04 am (UTC)If I go backpacking, I'd likely not take my laptop anyway, because I am not that addicted to computers. (I hope...)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-17 12:37 pm (UTC)The Dutch's quite good at this. Instead of forcing Dutch language and culture on Indonesians, they adopt Indonesian culture instead (traditional costumes, cuisine, etc.)
It's also partly elitism: only the children of the royalty and/or the rich and powerful got to have Dutch education in Jakarta, the capital city.
That's why Indonesia's pretty much the only non-English speaking country, sandwiched by English-speaking Malaysia, Philippines and the like. The only ones who can speak Dutch are a select few from two generations ago.
Oh, and the majority of Indonesians are Muslim, of course. Only those with Dutch education gets exposure to the Protestant religion.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-20 04:51 am (UTC)As the Dutch, IIRC, were always more salesmen than emperors, I suppose that influenced the way they dealt with the people in Indonesia, too.