MacBook Air: Airy-Fairy?

Apple yesterday launched its new laptop, the MacBook Air. The thinnest, lightest laptop they say. And isn’t it beautiful? Graced in brushed aluminium, it certainly deserves the ultra-portable tag.

Personally, I’ve not touched one yet, but I did read the coverage of the laptop on various sites over the past day. Are Apple afficionados gushing? Well, lots of people love the look, particularly as Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, pulled out the laptop from an envelope in his keynote speech at Macworld in San Francisco. And from the photos, I love it.

Functionally though, I’m not sure about the MacBook Air. To help with the thought process, consider you needed to pop down to the shops to pick up your groceries. Would you take the Porsche 911 to go down to the shops, or say the family hatchback? Like the 911, the MacBook Air certainly is very sexy, but in terms of practicality, you’re not going to be able to put much shopping in the car, if you know what I mean.

Without an ethernet port (only wireless), a DVD drive (can be bought as an optional extra), having a slower processor than it’s cheaper sibling, the MacBook, and costing more than the MacBook too, it’s a big price to pay for portability. Sure, it has some funky new software like being to use the DVD drive of another computer wirelessly, but that still means you need another computer, which I think, kind of defeats the purpose of getting it. Unless you just want to look flash in that business meeting next week.

So personally, I have some mixed views on it. I love its looks, but don’t think it’s practical. But Apple has a way of shifting conventions, and whilst this is Apple’s first attempt at an ultra-portable, future models are bound to be better. And the industry will try to follow too. Therefore, it’s bound to be a success.

But really, I can’t see too many people buying it, unless they have £1200 to spare. Then you will get some nice looks going your way anyway.

 

Links:
Apple

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Published:
16 January, 2008 – 11:06 am UTC
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By lest
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Random Facts #2: Octopodes

There are 3 plurals for the word octopus, as stated in the Oxford English Dictionary, which even the 8 legged mollusc might get confused with.

The first is the natural English pluralisation, octopuses. Simple.

The second, octopi, originates from the mistaken presumption that it’s a Latin word, and every public schoolboy who did elementary Latin will know that words ending with -us is pluralised to -i. However, it isn’t a Latin word, rather the Latin word for octopus is octopes, pl. octopedes.

In fact, it’s an ancient Greek word, from octo- meaning eight, and -pous meaning legs. Pluralise it in Greek and you get octopodes, the third accepted pluralisation of octopus in English.

But ultimately, most dictionaries will only offer octopuses as the only correct plural, indeed, according to Wikipedia, Fowler’s Modern English Usage states that "the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses," and that octopi is misconceived and octopodes pedantic.

Fine, call me a pedant. But better than being wrong!

Smiley


Links:

Wikipedia: Octopus terminology

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Published:
12 January, 2008 – 7:32 am UTC
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By lest
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The Odd Spot #52: Yale’s “We suck” prank

Ah, we hear about all the rivalry and competitiveness between different colleges and universities. But credit to Yale in 2005 for their inventiveness, as Wikipedia’s entry reports.


Michael Kai and David Aulicino, two Yale students from the Class of 2005, created and coordinated the plan. Disguised as the "Harvard Pep Squad," they and twenty classmates handed white and crimson placards to fans – mostly Harvard alumni, with a few faculty, students, and others – in the central area of the Harvard side of the stadium. The group told the crowd that by lifting the placards they would spell "GO HARVARD." The placards were actually arranged to spell "WE SUCK."

We Suck, by Harvard 

[Read more]

I’d go round to the nearby football club down the road to pull that stunt, but sadly, I doubt there’d be enough spectators.

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Published:
11 January, 2008 – 11:12 pm UTC
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By lest
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Review: Lust, Caution

Yes, it’s been a while since I wrote a review, partly because I haven’t been watching so many films recently, and partly because of those I’ve seen, there haven’t been many to shout about. But last weekend, Ang Lee’s latest film, Lust, Caution, opened in the UK on general release. And this is certainly one film worth shouting about.

 

Lust, Caution (色，戒; Sè, Jiè)


Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee Hom

Dir: Ang Lee – 2006 – USA / China / Taiwan

Ang Lee is certainly one of the most versatile directors in cinema, let alone Asian cinema. From his Asian films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Wedding Banquet, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Hulk, and shepherd drama Brokeback Mountain, Lee certainly can be called a master of all trades in cinema today. Lust, Caution was certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated films in Asia, marking his first return to Chinese language cinema since Crouching Tiger, this time set in 1940s Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Based on the short story by Eileen Chang, Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei) is a student who begins her studies in Hong Kong following the Japanese invasion of China, where she meets Kuang (Wang Lee Hom), another student who is putting on a dramatic production in order to raise support for the resistance against the Japanese. Finding that they hadn’t aroused enough support, the student actors hatch a plan to go one step further and hatch a plan to assassinate a collaborator with the Japanese, Mr Yee (Tony Leung). Wong Chia Chi then assumes the role of a wealthy tai-tai (wife) who tries to get close to Yee, drawing them into an emotional affair.

Chinese filmmakers have always had a love affair with Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s, which were very much the golden age of the city. Lust, Caution, however, is set in war, and a very nasty one at that. Lee brilliantly exploits this context using it whilst playing on the emotional complexities of the characters, which are led by two brilliant actors. The hugely acclaimed Tony Leung, veteran of modern Asian film classics such as Hero, Infernal Affairs and 2046, excels himself again in the character of Yee, a somewhat vicious yet lustful and romantic character. Meanwhile, Tang Wei, said to have been chosen from over 1,000 auditionees, makes an amazing debut performance as the complicated twenty-something Wong Chia Chi, which deservedly earned Tang a place in Variety magazine’s top 10 to watch. The chemistry between the two actors is fantastic, allowing some strong emotional scenes to grip you (and I don’t just mean that in a euphemistic sense).

For me, this was one of Lee’s brilliant masterpieces and is even better than Lee’s effort for Brokeback Mountain, for which he won Best Director. Sadly, due to qualification reasons, the film isn’t up for an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film, but I sincerely do hope it makes the main nominations list and even win an award or two.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆


Lust, Caution is on general release in the UK from 4 January 2008.

 

Links:

Lust, Caution official Focus Features site

IMDb entry: Lust, Caution

Buy Lust, Caution at YesAsia.com


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Published:
7 January, 2008 – 3:23 pm UTC
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By lest
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The Odd Spot #51: Egotism

Oh, the egos that esist in the banking sector. Apparently, it was a single trader who tipped the price of crude oil to over $100 a barrel, if only for a few seconds. As BBC News reports:


Last Updated: Thursday, 3 January 2008, 13:11 GMT

Single trader behind oil record

Floor traders at the New York Mercantile Exchange


Open outcry trading is being replaced by electronic methods

 

The man behind the record rise in oil prices to $100 a barrel was a lone trader, seeking bragging rights and a minute of fame, market watchers say.

A single trader bid up the price by buying a modest lot and then sold it immediately at a loss, they said.

The New York Mercantile Exchange confirmed that US crude oil futures traded just once in triple figures.

But prices have since remained below that historic level and market analysts questioned the validity of the trade.

Vanity trade

Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter, said one floor trader bought 1,000 barrels, the smallest amount permitted, and sold it immediately for $99.40 at a $600 loss.

"They absolutely overpaid," he told Radio Four’s Today Programme.

"He paid $600 for the right to tell his grandchildren that he was the first in the world to buy $100 oil."

Most trading in energy futures has shifted away from the trading floor and takes place on electronic platforms.

The NYMEX, along with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is one of the last bastions of "open outcry", where traders use frantic hand signals to trade securities.

In London, open outcry trading still takes place on the London Metal Exchange, where aluminium, copper and zinc are traded.

The supporters of electronic trading claim that it is faster, cheaper, more efficient for users, and less prone to manipulation by market makers.

The dwindling liquidity on the NYMEX trading floor has led to considerable speculation that the exchange will soon shut down the trading floor to cut costs.

 

Permalink: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7169543.stm 

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Published:
3 January, 2008 – 4:09 pm UTC
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By lest
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