Sizing Up Small Computers

Sizing Up Small Computers

Portable computers are big in the market. Here’s what you get

Seems like everybody’s going mobile. According to PC Magazine, over a quarter of 1994’s overall PC sales were notebooks, and you can expect that number to expand at Malthusian rates from now on. With more and more people working away from the office – at home, on the road, in planes and trains, and other far-flung locations – portable computers are compact, convenient, and are getting so powerful that many people are beginning to use them as their primary computers. But other than the size difference, what’s to know about portable computers? We asked some of the editors of PC Magazine to give us the low-down on the downsized machines.

What’s the difference between portable and desktop computers? – Portables are smaller. It sounds like a ridiculously obvious point, but if you are talking components, that’s about the only difference between desktops and portables. You will, however, have to pay more for these components in miniature. While prices of portables are falling steadily, you’ll still pay about a third more for a portable (specifically, a notebook) than you would for a desktop. Why? It’s the price of design ingenuity. It takes some pretty fancy engineering to cram all those goodies into a compact package. The other difference is power. By and large turbo-powered computing always has the desktop market before it shrinks to portable sizes. In other words, don’t expect the same kinds of bells and whistles that you see on desktops now (CD-ROM drives or 1GB hard drives) to be standard fare on a portable until at least next year.

Old macs. The typical notebook serves up only about one-third the computing performance of a comparably priced desktop computer (The editors of PC Magazine, 1994). Source of the photo : CC-BY-SA-2.5-IT

What’s the difference between the PowerBook, laptop, notebook, or subnotebook?

Actually, it’s pretty straightforward. PowerBooks are made by MacIntosh; this is the company’s registered trademark for its line of portable computers which, different from PCs, are not based on Intel chips. Everything else is a PC of varying shape and weight. Laptops are the heaviest (7 pounds or more) and, while they enjoyed a period of popularity in the late 1980s, they’re outdated at this point; if you’re in the market for a laptop, your best bet is to check the classified section for second-hand sales.

The PC version of the PowerBook is generically known as the note-book, and it’s currently the most popular, practical class of portable. They’re slim, weigh less than seven pounds, and many have processing capabilities on a par with powerful desktop PCs. Subnotebooks are smaller versions of notebooks, about half their weight – great for assiduous notetakers and e-mail communicators, but because subnotebooks have such cramped keyboards and tiny screens, they’re not appropriate for people who write all the time. Any subs are definitely not right for budget-buyers, who will find better bargains in laptop and notebook computers.

Going Through the Grief Process

Going Through the Grief Process

We feel frustrated when everyone seem to suggest answers - how to deal with the death of the loved ones. Actually, only we can know what is right for ourselves. Others may help us find our way, ultimately, however, it is our grief process and we must work it through in a manner appropriate for us.

The grief process is a time to heal. Be patient with yourself. Coming to terms with your loss and adjusting to a new life does not happen overnight. Grief usually takes more time than most of us expect.

The poet John Donne writes: "He who has no time to mourn has no time to mend."

Every experience of grief is unique. Some people take longer than others to work through their emotions. Some experience certain emotions, while other people experience different ones. Also, our particular emotions may differ in intensity. We are unique people and how we will experience the loss of a special relationship will be unique to us.

Do not let anyone squeeze you into a box. By that we mean, some people feel the grief process should be predictable. After one week, this... After two months, that... Some define grief in terms of stages and phases and want to try to fit you into their scheme of things. A few people expect you to experience grief in exactly the same way and at the same pace they did. 

Throw away any notion of "fixed periods of mourning" or "predictable passages., for these are largely fiction. Do not compare yourself to anyone else or allow anyone to compare you to another situation.

You must overcome your pain your way. Try to keep decisions to a minimum. Because your judgement is uncertain now, do not take on new or added responsibilities right away. Delay making decisions about moving or buying and selling property, or getting into another relationship, for as long as possible.

Do not rush yourself, for your body, mind and heart require all your energy just to mend.

Be patient with yourself. Just because someone else did it differently or recovered more quickly than you have is a meaningless comparison. You are a unique person. You had a unique relationship. And you are having a unique grieving process because of these factors.

Accept your feelings. In fact, you cannot choose your feelings. They choose you. Se feel what you are feeling. Don't suppress or deny your feelings.

Feel what you are feeling. Your emotions may be very raw. You have been wounded and you need to mend. Crying is healthy and can make you feel better. You will experience anger, panic, depression, and many of other responses. You may think you are falling to pieces at the very time people are telling you to get it together.

You are normal. You may be frightened that you are going crazy, but you are not losing your mind. Your are going through one of the most difficult and unpleasant experiences of life. It is painful and it hurts.

Do not be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Because we don't want to bother anyone else with our problems, much of our pain goes unheeded. But you need not suffer alone.

Admittedly, we shouldn't have to ask. But we live in the real world. Our friends, family and even professionals cannot read minds. Sometimes help is not offered because people do not know what we need. And often even we aren't sure what we need.

Maybe what we need most is someone to listen. Not everyone will be willing. Some people may not be able to handle your tears. Some will want to give you all the answers. rather than just listening.

Find someone who cares, someone with whom you feel comfortable talking, and to whom you can trust your vulnerability/ With these three attributes, you will undoubtedly have someone who can offer encouragement and help.

The Shaft

The Shaft

By Marianne Strong, excerpt

The swing swayed again, back toward the house and forward toward the garden. My eyes and flashlight followed the forward arc back to the garden until two white statues swam into my vision. The statues drew me like ghostly figures summoning me to some solemn ceremony.

I walked up to the garden. Pots or chrysanthemums, all purple, sloped down to the center of the sunken ground circling one of the statues.

Again I had the feeling that something was not quite right. O couldn’t figure it. The statue was lovely enough. A smiling angel, its hands together and just touching the chin, the head bowed down toward the earth, the wings folded slightly in toward each other as if the seraph, come to perform some heavenly task, had just lighted upon this ground.

My memory kicked into service again. I’d seen this statue befor. In fact, several such statues. Up at St. Casimir’s cemetery in Bloomsville Heights. One of the local morticians stocked them. They were popular with Bloomsville’s widows.

I looked up at the other statue standing about six feet away, up against some dark cypress. This statue I had seen in Helen’s yard before. For years, during my childhood visits to Aunt Chesla, this pure white Virgin Mary had kept an eye on Helen’s backyard, and on everyone who sat on the bench that Helen used to have where the angel lstood now. I frowned. The Virgin must have gotten a little tired of her vigil. She seemed to list to the left.

The letter P, photo by Elena

From behind me came a shuffle and a cough. I swung around, expecting to see Helen descending on me with whateveer axe or bludgeon she had used to kill Walter.

Two boys, one about six and the other about nine, stared with wide eyes as if I were the axe murderer.

“Hey,” I said, lowering my flashlight. “What are you doing here?”

The six-year-old tried to bolt and run, but tripped over his own feet.

“Geez, Jimmie,” the other boy said, and hauled the six-year-old to his feet. “We just came up to see.”

“To see what?” I said. “I don’t see anything.”

The boys eyes darted behind me in the garden. “We have to go now,” the older boy said. “C’mon, Jimmie.”

But Jimmie had apparently decided that I was harmless. And also that I was a typical lying adult. “Can I see them?” He opened his brown eyes wider and peeked round me.

“See what, Jimmie?”

“The monster potatoes.”

My eyes got wider.

“Ah, c’mon, Jimmie,” the older boy said. “There ain’t no monster potatoes. We gotta go before Mom calls.”

“You said there was.”

I could see that life with Jimmie would not be easyé He’d hold you to your word.

“Monster potatos?” I said. “Realy?”

Jimmie’s brother decided to come clean. “Yeah, some of the other kids said Mrs. Shiminski was growing monster potatoes. That’s why she started yelling when we came near the garden.”

“When did she start yelling?”

“When we came near the garden.”

“Uh, no,” I said, “I mean how long ago did she start yelling?”

Jimmie’s brother shrugged. “I don’t know. A while ago.” He raised his shoulders again, rather philosophically. “I don’t think there’s monster potatoes.” He looked expectantly at me.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think there’s people buried there.”

“What makes you thing that?”

The shrug again. “I don’t know. It just looks like there’s people buried there. Lots of people. Dead people.”

Jimmie let out a howl.

(From Ellery Queen, Mystery Magazine, September 1993)

Continuation of the Parks

Continuation of the Parks

By Julio Cortazar

He had begun reading the novel a few days before. He set it aside because of pressing business demands, and took it up again on the train ride back to his country estate; slowly he let himself become interested in the plot and characters. That afternoon, writing a letter to his attorney and discussing with his ranch foreman a matter related to legacies, he returned to the book in the tranquility of his study, which faced on the oak park. Settled comfortably into his favorite chair, his back to the door that would have distracted him as the potential source of intrusion, he gave his left hand up to idle stroking of the green velvet as he started in on the final chapters. His mind effortlessly retained the names and the physical appearance of the protagonists : the novelistic illusion conquered hi almost immediately. He relished the almost perverse pleasure of releasing himself. Line by line, from his surroundings and sensing at the same time that his head was resting comfortably against the velvet of the chair’s high back, that the cigarettes were within easy reach, that beyond the broad windows the air of the gathering dusk danced beneath the oaks. Word by word, absorbed by the sordid dilemma of the characters, allowing himself to approach the images that began to harmonize and acquire color and movement, he became witness to the last encounter at the mountain lodge. First the woman entered, fearfully; now the lover arrived, his face scratched by the lash of a branch. Admirably, she stanched the blood with her kisses, but he rejected her caresses; he had not come to repeat the rituals of a secret passion that was sheltered by countless dried leaves and furtive paths. The dagger grew warm at his breast, and beneath it thrbbed his crouching freedom. A gasping dialogue coursed over the pages like a stream of serpents, and the reader sensed that everything had been decided from the outset. Even those caresses that entagled the body of the lover, as if to retain him and dissuade him, abominably traced the form of another body that had to be destroyed, Nothing had been overlooked: alibis, hazards, possible mischances. From that moment on, each instant had its meticulously designated use. Their merciless review was scarcely interrupted bu a hand stroking a cheek. It was growing dark.

A wall. Photo by Elena

Now, without looking at each other, rigidly bound to the task that awaited them, they separated at the door of the lodge. She was to follow the path that led to the north. From the opposite trail he turned back to see her runing off, heer hair loosened and flowing. Then he too ran, taking cover behind trees and hedges, until he distinguished through the gentle mist of dusk the tree-lined walk that led to the house. The dogs were not supposed to bark ad they did not bark. The foreman would not be about at that hour and he was not. He went up the three steps to the porch and then entered the house. Over the sound of blood pounding in his ears there came the words of the woman: first a blue room, then a hallway, a carpeted stairway. Upstairs, two doors. No one beyond the first one, nor the second. The door of the drawing room, and then the dagger in his hand, the light of the two large windows, the tall back of a green velvet-covered chair, the head of the man seated in the chair reading a novel.

(Translated by Donald A. Yates).

Deutsch Rap

Deutsch Rap

Rap and hip hop music have from their inception been full of controversy. Nonetheless, the present short article is intended as informative only, without presenting for and against arguments associated with the genre.

As expected, the style has been adopted, and adapted, by different cultures across the world. Thus, today one can easily listen to someone rapping in almost any language, since even ancient languages, no longer used, have at times been transformed into lyrics.

Obviously, Germany has its own artists. So, Deutsch, Deutsche or Deutscher Rap und Hip Hop refer to such music produced in German.

The Website www.16bars.de is an excellent source of information on the topic. Aggro Berlin is a famous label, taking its name in reference to local slang. Slang is popular in the milieu, with rappers such as Fler (also known as Patrick Losensky and Frank White) claiming this particular form of communication, among other things, brought them success. Other notorious performers include the group Die Sekte (with Sido, Alpa Gun, Tony D, B-Tight, Mok, Fuhrmann and Bendt), Bushido, Kitty Kat (a.k.a. Kitten Ket), the duo Automatikk, Keskin, Silla (formerly Godsilla), Reason, Mo Trip and Dj Pfund (list non-exhaustive).

Copyright © 2011 Megan Jorgensen. All rights reserved.

Rappers. Photo by Elena.