Saturday, December 21, 2013

New Vaio, Olla!

Hello guys, writing this using my new vaio which I got yesterday. My old vaio has served me for the past 7 years. I haven't discarded it yet. It's still working albeit slowly at most times, but you know I have a fondness towards it and it did take me some time especially in these last few days to decide if I really want to let it go. I'm not the type of person who change IT gadgets ever so easily, example: I've been using my ipod for the past 6 years. I just think it's a waste when people easily change their IT gadgets, which make me wonder what people do with their not that old things when they get new things. While people may look at me in a bit of a ridicule with things that I own, like my phone (so many people have asked me why I am still using my nokia), I actually take quite a pride that I don't submit easily to following what the mainstream mass is into (for the record, my phone is smart enough, I can make call, send text, browse the net, take picture, and that's enough for me). If any ridicule to be made, it's me looking down at how the "smart" gadget that people have does not necessarily help them to be smarter. No amount of technology can change your inherent nature of wanting to get knowledge. Anyways, I seem to have gone defensive there, so let's talk about this new vaio. Decided to get a cheaper one than the one that I set my eyes first, but I feel happy with this decision. It has bigger screen, the same as my old one so that's one big plus, though this one is smaller in size compared to the old one. The processing power seem to be slightly higher than the one that I initially wanted. The keyboard which I am using to type now is very soft and nice, but I need more time to get used to it. It's black, so yay! Been wanting to have a black one since my first vaio but there wasn't any at that time, though I have to say the silver one for this model was quite good looking too. It's in Windows 8 so that is a HUGE change and I really need to get used to how things are. My previous vaio is in XP which causes my IE to be stuck, not being able to be upgraded to view HTML 5 content and yes before you scream at me for even mentioning IE, I did end up using firefox or chrome to do my browsing, mostly firefox. The chrome seemed to get my internet connection to disconnect all the time in the previous vaio. Again with all my unexplainable fondness, I do have a fondness with IE, so I am typing this post now in IE. It gives me some error though while going to blogger :( I still need to install things, maybe I should make a list now that I think about it. Right now, I just get rather overwhelmed thinking I need this and that. Yesterday, I almost collapsed trying to figure out how to connect the Bluetooth mouse I was given. I had a bad flu yesterday or a bad allergic reaction (I'm not sure), anyway I was sneezing like crazy and the head was getting painful and I tried so many things and yet it couldn't work. The OCD me just couldn't let it go and lie down (side note: yesterday evening as well, I was driven crazy on finding the one sock that I was so certain that I saw with its pair an hour before. With the mouse not working and me getting sicker, it was really hard, but I did find it). I also did manage to make the mouse work *yay!* Thank God, I almost wanted to give up and planned to get a normal mouse with cable today. Would I though? As I said my OCD just couldn't let me just lie down and watch Agatha Christie's Poirot on TV. Thank God all is okay and I didn't faint. So what else to say about this vaio. The screen is a touch screen, I suppose because it enhances the use of Windows 8. I'm not one who like changes, so as much as I think Windows 8 is more user friendly for people who are using the computer for the first time, I am just missing the previous windows experience that I have grown up with. I just found out that my computer only has C drive, which again I think make sense for people who are using computer for the first time. I mean all those partition can be confusing right, but now for me it troubles me somewhat without it. So much things to get used to. Suddenly I am thinking about Sheldon Cooper and Abed having to deal with changes :D With that TV reference, can I just say that Hawaii Five-0 is so promoting Windows 8. Like every time I managed to catch it on TV, there will be deliberate shots where the guys are using Windows 8. Product placement which is too obvious like that just turns me off and Indonesian TV and films these days (imagine films!!!) are so guilty of that. Anyway so I guess that's about it. I'm not one who gives myself Christmas present though I do seem to be always getting myself something near Christmas time. I just want to say that this year, the Christmas present is quite expensive. I do hope it'll last as long as the previous one.

Moving on, I finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I love it. Didn't expect the story to be as warm as it is since in the back cover it's written, "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit' em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this enchanting classic - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. So I was expecting something more intense, but it was actually quite a warm story as seen from the eyes of the young daughter of the lawyer. The rape case was perhaps the highlight of that period for the kids and the town, but there are actually other things being explored. The rape case story itself only started almost halfway into the book. I love the book and I'm glad I got to experience it. It has a really meaningful message in it so I get why it's a classic. I do have difficulty imagining the period. I kept thinking it's like in Gone with the Wind period where the ladies are wearing those long gowns, but it's actually more modern since they have cars. Maybe it's before Mad Men era? So anyway that's book number 4, I am short of my 5 books a year goal, so I need to try harder next year. I did get a new book today. I ended up choosing Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. I was already kinda intrigued by it when I was choosing the 4th book this year. Today I finally settled on it because in the book cover, there's a line written by Erin Morgenstern about how she likes the book. Erin Morgenstern wrote a book that I really love, The Night Circus. So I guess if she likes it, it should be good :)

Other thing that I managed to do today is to wake up rather early and go watch 12 Years a Slave. It's a good sad movie. I think there's no word sufficient enough to describe how awful and unfair slavery is. I was thinking how lucky we are to not experience it but I know slavery is not totally gone in this world. You just need to go to CNN to read about modern slavery. 12 Years a Slave tells the story of a free black man who was conned and ended up being sold as slave. Imagine that, how horrible that must have felt. Horrible is perhaps not a good enough word to explain how it's like. In the end he got his happy ending, but it was truly heart-breaking for me seeing how he had to leave the other slaves who were still have to suffer the injustice :( There's one person free, but for the many others it's an awful existence without hope of an end. It's definitely a strong movie. The cast were great, they would definitely move you, especially Chiwetel Ejiofor who played the main character, Solomon Northup, and Lupita Nyong'o who played one of the slaves. One thing that I found interesting are the dialogues which I would describe as a bit Shakespearean though perhaps it's not the right word to describe it. I love hearing the English being used and it makes me feel how we're so not poetic in the way we speak in this modern world :P

I'm gonna stop now. A few more days to Christmas. Tomorrow is Mother's day in Indonesia which is also tangyuan day for the Chinese. Then it's a few more days to the new year which I know I will dread as the days are passing by. I wanted to do something at this end of the year, but I don't think I'll get to do it, so it's business as usual. The malls have been annoyingly crowded. "How I hate people!", lament I. I haven't been feeling much Christmas spirit, haven't been listening to many Christmas songs, but I am going to leave you with this picture. It's the Christmas decoration in Wheelock Place, one of the malls here in Singapore. For those of you who have started to enjoy the Christmas holidays and end of the year, hope you have great one :) Peace out!

PS: I gotta add, Windows 8 have some amazing themes for the desktop. I have to stop myself from browsing and downloading most of them. I know it doesn't matter for many of you, but I am a girl :P

:) eKa @ 10:52:00 PM •