More stupid Mac ads
From the Apple website:
"A PC comes stuffed with software you’d never want to use. A new Mac comes with the stuff you want."
Says the company that sells a laptop bundled with a program for organising your ideas into bullet points. Mmm, useful.
Tuesday, July 17
Saturday, July 7
Tuesday, June 26
Sigh.
Well, all the excitement is over. Mum and James went home on the 6th. CK flew back to Beijing on Saturday morning, after which, depressingly enough, I went into the office to do some work I hadn't finished on Friday. After which I went out drinking with Rudi and Richie until 5 in the morning. Less said the better.
Anyway, I'm now struggling endlessly with a series of graded reading passages for junior high school students. I have to take the reading text from each textbook chapter and produce an easier and harder version, with correspondingly difficult comprehension questions. It's not intrinsically hard to do, but it is both time-consuming and tedious. Seriously, it's taking me ages to do each one. I finished work at half past eight yesterday evening.
It's kind of a reaction to CK not being around, though. I just don't have any particular reason to hurry home. This may be a good thing. After the financial hit of the family visit, and having to buy a new laptop, I could do with saving a bit of cash. And not going out or doing anything seems an ideal method.
CK's exam on Sunday may or may not have gone well. She did best on the listening section the first time round, but this time the tape was mangled and tinny and so hard to hear. Seems a bit unfair, but then it is a mainland exam so I'm not surprised. The reason she had to take the exam twice was this - the results weren't released until after the deadline to register (and, therefore, pay) for the test date this month. Incompetence or money-grubbing malice? Answers on the back of a postcard. She passed the first time but thought she might as well have another go since she'd already paid for it.
Well, all the excitement is over. Mum and James went home on the 6th. CK flew back to Beijing on Saturday morning, after which, depressingly enough, I went into the office to do some work I hadn't finished on Friday. After which I went out drinking with Rudi and Richie until 5 in the morning. Less said the better.
Anyway, I'm now struggling endlessly with a series of graded reading passages for junior high school students. I have to take the reading text from each textbook chapter and produce an easier and harder version, with correspondingly difficult comprehension questions. It's not intrinsically hard to do, but it is both time-consuming and tedious. Seriously, it's taking me ages to do each one. I finished work at half past eight yesterday evening.
It's kind of a reaction to CK not being around, though. I just don't have any particular reason to hurry home. This may be a good thing. After the financial hit of the family visit, and having to buy a new laptop, I could do with saving a bit of cash. And not going out or doing anything seems an ideal method.
CK's exam on Sunday may or may not have gone well. She did best on the listening section the first time round, but this time the tape was mangled and tinny and so hard to hear. Seems a bit unfair, but then it is a mainland exam so I'm not surprised. The reason she had to take the exam twice was this - the results weren't released until after the deadline to register (and, therefore, pay) for the test date this month. Incompetence or money-grubbing malice? Answers on the back of a postcard. She passed the first time but thought she might as well have another go since she'd already paid for it.
Friday, June 8
Back to work
Had visiting relatives over from the 29th to the 6th, in the form of my mum and my brother. Mildly exhausting even when we didn't do much. Good news is that they get on with my fiancee, so that's all right then.
I took them to most of the usual places - the Peak, Mongkok, Ocean Park, and we spent two days in Macau. We also had an afternoon on the beach on Lamma (a late start thanks to me and the bro going drinking heavily the night before) and watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the cinema on the Tuesday. We had to get up early on Wednesday for the first ferry and the airport, after which CK and I basically just snoozed the rest of the day away.
We didn't bother with the Big Buddha, because it's expensive, boring, and there's a cable car at Ocean Park anyway. Said cable car got us to the "lowlands" area of the park just in time before closing so that me, James and CK could have a go on the go-karts. This was particularly fun, and I'm not saying that just because I overtook three people (apparently James was right behind me all the time, but you can't see behind you at all on those things) and am therefore The Winner.
The dolphin/sealion show is better when you can't hear the announcer and daft music.
The atoll reef continues to be great.
On the last day, we caught up with CK's uncle, so the two families have at least sort-of met now. The uncle seems to be sending status reports back to my future in-laws regularly. Or character assessments, something like that.
They managed to have come - and left - just at the right time. It was sunny, often a bit too hot in fact, the whole time. And yesterday it started raining, with heavy rain forecast for the next seven days. A lucky escape.
Had visiting relatives over from the 29th to the 6th, in the form of my mum and my brother. Mildly exhausting even when we didn't do much. Good news is that they get on with my fiancee, so that's all right then.
I took them to most of the usual places - the Peak, Mongkok, Ocean Park, and we spent two days in Macau. We also had an afternoon on the beach on Lamma (a late start thanks to me and the bro going drinking heavily the night before) and watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the cinema on the Tuesday. We had to get up early on Wednesday for the first ferry and the airport, after which CK and I basically just snoozed the rest of the day away.
We didn't bother with the Big Buddha, because it's expensive, boring, and there's a cable car at Ocean Park anyway. Said cable car got us to the "lowlands" area of the park just in time before closing so that me, James and CK could have a go on the go-karts. This was particularly fun, and I'm not saying that just because I overtook three people (apparently James was right behind me all the time, but you can't see behind you at all on those things) and am therefore The Winner.
The dolphin/sealion show is better when you can't hear the announcer and daft music.
The atoll reef continues to be great.
On the last day, we caught up with CK's uncle, so the two families have at least sort-of met now. The uncle seems to be sending status reports back to my future in-laws regularly. Or character assessments, something like that.
They managed to have come - and left - just at the right time. It was sunny, often a bit too hot in fact, the whole time. And yesterday it started raining, with heavy rain forecast for the next seven days. A lucky escape.
Monday, May 21
You do not know the power of the dark side
So... I got a Mac. A MacBook, to be precise (the white one). I wasn't planning on it, but when I went into the shop it was on clearance (it was the display model, in fact), making it the cheapest laptop in the place even though its specs were on a par with the higher-end jobs. So I bought it.
To be honest, most of this Apple thing seems to be marketing. It's a good laptop. It works well. It is not particularly "more intuitive" than Windows. Nor does it "just work" - well, it does if you only want to use the basic applications, which are very nice indeed, but installing anything new involves disk images and buggering around dragging icons into folders etc etc etc.
I'm picking up all the keyboard differences pretty quickly, though.
One thing did occur to me. For all that Mac evangelists crow about their computers' superiority to PCs... do they really exist any more?
I mean, what is a PC? The definition is a bit hazy nowadays, but could roughly be described as "a computer able to run Windows"... or something. What's a Mac? Er... well, it's what Apple make. But what if Apple made a PC? Would that be a Mac? No. Probably not, anyway. A Mac would be something that runs Mac OS...
Except the current Macs don't run Mac OS, they run OS X, which is Unix. So you've got an Apple computer that runs Unix or Windows. It's basically just an Apple PC with a fancy marketing campaign, only one mouse button and a class action suit over the LCD display.
GarageBand is cool, though.
So... I got a Mac. A MacBook, to be precise (the white one). I wasn't planning on it, but when I went into the shop it was on clearance (it was the display model, in fact), making it the cheapest laptop in the place even though its specs were on a par with the higher-end jobs. So I bought it.
To be honest, most of this Apple thing seems to be marketing. It's a good laptop. It works well. It is not particularly "more intuitive" than Windows. Nor does it "just work" - well, it does if you only want to use the basic applications, which are very nice indeed, but installing anything new involves disk images and buggering around dragging icons into folders etc etc etc.
I'm picking up all the keyboard differences pretty quickly, though.
One thing did occur to me. For all that Mac evangelists crow about their computers' superiority to PCs... do they really exist any more?
I mean, what is a PC? The definition is a bit hazy nowadays, but could roughly be described as "a computer able to run Windows"... or something. What's a Mac? Er... well, it's what Apple make. But what if Apple made a PC? Would that be a Mac? No. Probably not, anyway. A Mac would be something that runs Mac OS...
Except the current Macs don't run Mac OS, they run OS X, which is Unix. So you've got an Apple computer that runs Unix or Windows. It's basically just an Apple PC with a fancy marketing campaign, only one mouse button and a class action suit over the LCD display.
GarageBand is cool, though.
Friday, May 18
Was that it?
I appear to have shifted all of the books in the current range ("language arts" supplementary textbooks) that I was working on. Sort of a bit "oh, what do I do now?" Well, actually, there's already something to do.
Now I get to move onto the additional texts for the website - comprehension sheets and stuff, basically. This is actually rather good, because I no longer have to get frustrated by writers. I can now be frustrated by my own inability to write.
On the other hand, it could be fun. I have to come up with a variety of poems, songs, short stories, etc. for all the various age groups and then put comprehension questions to go with them. Creativity in the workplace. Hooray!
I appear to have shifted all of the books in the current range ("language arts" supplementary textbooks) that I was working on. Sort of a bit "oh, what do I do now?" Well, actually, there's already something to do.
Now I get to move onto the additional texts for the website - comprehension sheets and stuff, basically. This is actually rather good, because I no longer have to get frustrated by writers. I can now be frustrated by my own inability to write.
On the other hand, it could be fun. I have to come up with a variety of poems, songs, short stories, etc. for all the various age groups and then put comprehension questions to go with them. Creativity in the workplace. Hooray!
Fresh Air
I had a fairly subdued birthday this year (it was on Monday - I'm 26 now).
I didn't finish work until about half past seven and I don't know enough people in Hong Kong for a party, which I didn't really fancy anyway, so... a bottle of wine and Blackadder on DVD it was. Mum phoned, and apparently will bring presents when she and James come to HK at the end of the month.
CK sent me a parcel containing chocolate cake/biscuit things, which were very nice, and a pair of sandals. Rather nice ones, actually, the sort of sporty kind with velcro straps and all that. They're also in the sort of Roman legionary pattern, with ankle straps, which I wanted rather than flip-flop type things, so that's good.
Now, sandals are somewhat de rigeur on Lamma, so I've been outside the trend a bit, mooching around the island in shorts but with trainers on. Thing is, the last time I wore sandals must have been... I don't know, when I was ten? I didn't get round to wearing my sandals in anger until last night, when I wore them out to buy some teabags from the shop on Main Street. It felt decidely unusual having my toes exposed to the elements like that.
They just don't get much play in England. It's not weird to own them, but unless you've got disposable income you really want to throw at shoes, you're not going to wear sandals often enough to buy them.
In an interesting contrast, things are apparently the other way around in Indonesia. When CK went back there last year, she only had her trainers with her - and people stared at her in the street because of her outlandish footgear.
Also, where we Westerners deride the sarong as a skirt for blokes, CK finds the idea of a girl wearing a sarong hilarious. Different strokes etc.
Don't knock sarongs, by the way. They're very comfortable in warm weather and have the added bonus of protecting your legs from mosquitoes. Thanks to mother-in-law gifts, I have two of them.
I had a fairly subdued birthday this year (it was on Monday - I'm 26 now).
I didn't finish work until about half past seven and I don't know enough people in Hong Kong for a party, which I didn't really fancy anyway, so... a bottle of wine and Blackadder on DVD it was. Mum phoned, and apparently will bring presents when she and James come to HK at the end of the month.
CK sent me a parcel containing chocolate cake/biscuit things, which were very nice, and a pair of sandals. Rather nice ones, actually, the sort of sporty kind with velcro straps and all that. They're also in the sort of Roman legionary pattern, with ankle straps, which I wanted rather than flip-flop type things, so that's good.
Now, sandals are somewhat de rigeur on Lamma, so I've been outside the trend a bit, mooching around the island in shorts but with trainers on. Thing is, the last time I wore sandals must have been... I don't know, when I was ten? I didn't get round to wearing my sandals in anger until last night, when I wore them out to buy some teabags from the shop on Main Street. It felt decidely unusual having my toes exposed to the elements like that.
They just don't get much play in England. It's not weird to own them, but unless you've got disposable income you really want to throw at shoes, you're not going to wear sandals often enough to buy them.
In an interesting contrast, things are apparently the other way around in Indonesia. When CK went back there last year, she only had her trainers with her - and people stared at her in the street because of her outlandish footgear.
Also, where we Westerners deride the sarong as a skirt for blokes, CK finds the idea of a girl wearing a sarong hilarious. Different strokes etc.
Don't knock sarongs, by the way. They're very comfortable in warm weather and have the added bonus of protecting your legs from mosquitoes. Thanks to mother-in-law gifts, I have two of them.
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