the daily snivel

  Isn't that veird?

Apple came out with some damn remarkable compu-bling on January 11, and it just behooves (behoooooves) the Apple geek in me to say something about them.

mini Mac



I think the most remarkable announcement was that of the new "Mac mini" (I shall call him mini Mac), the first "headless Mac" (without a built-in display) outside the professional line (including the infamous G4 "Cube") since the colourful iMac was introduced in 1998. The mini Mac is a very functional and well-equipped computer, but at a price that's hard to resist -- $499 US or $629 Canadian. It's also in a brilliantly small package -- 2 inches by 6.5 inches of anodyzed aluminum. Inside that little sexy box is a robust bundle of features: A G4 processor running at a zippy 1.25 or 1.42 gigahertz, 256 megabytes of RAM (expandable to 1 gigabyte), a 40 or 80 gigabyte hard drive, an ethernet card, a 56.6 k modem, an ATI Radeon 9200 video card with 32 MB of dedicated DDR video SDRAM (as opposed to the integrated video mooching off the already overtaxed RAM of your bargain basement PC), a combo CD burner and DVD player, a sound card, a built-in speaker, and whisper quiet operation. The mini Mac will work with any USB keyboard and mouse, as it has two USB 2.0 ports, and will connect to any DVI or VGA display (you can even buy an S-video adaptor to connect it to a television).



A lot of people have been clamoring for an affordable, entry-level Macintosh because there is a perception that Macs are very expensive. I'm not sure that's so true when you factor in total cost of ownership of Macs vs. Windows computers, including virus threats, software costs, upgrade requirements, downtime, lost work, crashes and maintenance -- but anyway, most people already have perfectly good monitors and keyboards at home from their last system and don't want to pay the premium of a whole new set of equipment when they buy a new system. So it makes sense that, given Apple's renewed exposure by virtue of its success with the iTunes Music Store and the iPod, they want to give people a platform that will allow them to try out a Mac without paying extra for an integrated display, and an included keyboard, mouse, and so on. Me, I have a crappy 14" monitor that hearkens back to the days of my erstwhile 386, so when I get to buy a new computer it's going to have to include a monitor (heavily favouring the iMac G5 on that wonderful day when I'm a "rich" lawyer). But don't let my misery bother you non-crappy monitor folks none.

I think it will be a tempting invitation for any Windows user who have fallen in love with the iPod, and I hope it will hook a lot of people into switching or at least adding the goodness of a Macintosh into their lives. I suppose it could go either way -- taking Apple to new heights of market share, or simply ending in more Cube-esque infamy. Still, the mini Mac is a very light, powerful, but portable computer that I think will fit in well in a home office, dorm room, or as a second household computer. There's gobs and gobs of software too, which is where the Mac experience really leads the way -- OS X, the iLife suite (including iTunes, iDVD for DVD authoring, iPhoto, iMovie HD and the Garage Band music editing software), iWork (including the elegant Keynote presentation software, and the new Pages word processing package that includes the ability to make PDFs and extensive layout for professional-looking publications as well as read and save Word documents). There's also the ubiquitous, wonderful Mail software, iChat software, built-in Apache web server capacity, a firewall, as well as the reliability and security of OS X's UNIX foundations, and immunity from Windows viruses, worms, trojans, spyware and blue screens of death(TM).

iPod Shuffle:

Another introduction is the strange little iPod Shuffle. It's a flash RAM-based iPod (as opposed to the usual hard drive) going for the low low price of $99 US or $129 Canadian, and is smaller than a pack of gum. That price will buy you 512 megabytes of memory, which Apple says is enough to hold 120 songs. Fifty smackarooneys more will buy you 1 gigabyte, or storage for 240 songs. What's striking about the iPod Shuffle is that it has no display. Instead, the solid state music player will replay songs based on a playlist programmed through iTunes, or on a random shuffle. The playlist or shuffle feature can be toggled by a slider bar on the Shuffle. Because there are no moving parts, the tiny player can provide 12 hours of music playback, and won't skip while you're jogging. Because it has an integrated USB connector (normally hidden by a cap), it can plug right into the computer for synching with iTunes, or you can use the dock to connect instead. What's more, the iPod Shuffle will work like a USB keychain memory stick so you can transfer documents and other files to other computers.

I already have a 10 GB iPod, and have been inseparable from it and my 1886 songs for the past year, so this isn't something I would buy (though I'm tempted to use one as a portable memory stick), but I can see it being snapped up by the ravenous hordes. Apple reports that 2000 were bought in the first four hours this was offered through the Apple store, or 8 per minute.

All in all, these are some really interesting announcements, and I hope in the coming year more people get to experience the cult-like goodness of the Mac and the iPod because of them. Trust me on this (as I said to a friend who spent the past week purging her PC of a stubborn worm) -- you won't look back. 

  Earth to Captain Video

I sadly shook my head and spoke out angrily from the moment the talk began of invading Iraq. I was extremely glad that our Prime Minister at the time, Jean Chretien, was outspoken and principled and contrary enough to refuse to commit Canadian troops to such a travesty of international law even at the risk of souring US-Canada relations (and sour it did). It has turned into a human rights disaster, a breeding ground for new terrorists, and a fractured, burned nation enduring torture and massacre in a way that could not even be said to have occurred in the late, unlamented regime of Saddam Hussein. There's even talk now of forging El Salvador-esque death squads to hunt down "insurgents."

Now, NEWSWEEK has learned, the Pentagon is intensively debating an option that dates back to a still-secret strategy in the Reagan administration’s battle against the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador in the early 1980s. Then, faced with a losing war against Salvadoran rebels, the U.S. government funded or supported "nationalist" forces that allegedly included so-called death squads directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathizers. Eventually the insurgency was quelled, and many U.S. conservatives consider the policy to have been a success—despite the deaths of innocent civilians and the subsequent Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal.

...

Following that model, one Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria, according to military insiders familiar with the discussions. It remains unclear, however, whether this would be a policy of assassination or so-called "snatch" operations, in which the targets are sent to secret facilities for interrogation. The current thinking is that while U.S. Special Forces would lead operations in, say, Syria, activities inside Iraq itself would be carried out by Iraqi paramilitaries, officials tell NEWSWEEK.

...

Shahwani also said that the U.S. occupation has failed to crack the problem of broad support for the insurgency. The insurgents, he said, "are mostly in the Sunni areas where the population there, almost 200,000, is sympathetic to them." He said most Iraqi people do not actively support the insurgents or provide them with material or logistical help, but at the same time they won’t turn them in. One military source involved in the Pentagon debate agrees that this is the crux of the problem, and he suggests that new offensive operations are needed that would create a fear of aiding the insurgency. "The Sunni population is paying no price for the support it is giving to the terrorists," he said. "From their point of view, it is cost-free. We have to change that equation."

Meanwhile, there is a distinct element of cheerleading from the right, as though this great experiment in democracy were a rousing success, and peace, rose petals, and topple-proof statues of George W. Bush were just around the corner. Worse, the one person who should be on top of all events, and prepared to respond realistically, firmly has his fingers in his ears and is shouting "la la la, I'm not listening!"

Captain Video's Visor Yields Poor Visibility

Posted by James Wolcott

Last week an inside peep courtesy of the Washington tipsheet The Nelson Report made the blog rounds concerning Bush's see-no hear-no policy regarding the war in Iraq. According to The Nelson Report, Bush literally didn't want to hear any bad news about how thing going there, EVEN FROM SENIOR MILITARY COMMANDERS, only "progress reports" that played up the good things GE brings to life: new schools, etc. The Report went on to say that the sunshine policy wasn't the product of aides trying to filter news from Bush, that Bush himself insisted on accentuating the positive.

Given Bush's refusal to remove his Captain Video space helmet, isn't any wonder that sympathetic bloggers have been aping his example?

For months, hawkish bloggers have been dismissing and downplaying the black smoke pouring out of Iraq. They would direct readers to the Belmont Club or Belgravia or Bloomsbury or whatever these hangouts for the horsey-set are called for crushing refutations of grim tidings. Again and again they blamed the BBC and Reuters--which one bon vivant said should have its name changed to Reactionary News Agency--and, their favorite sneer acronym, the MSM (mainstream media), which was drenching the airwaves and newsstands with prophecies of doom. They trumpeted the Iraqi bloggers who agreed with them and patronized the Iraqi bloggers who mourned and railed against the ensuing chaos in their country. They pounced upon every post from a military blogger who told them the media was painting a distorted picture, and ignored the revelations coming from Soldiers for the Truth.

But now reality can no longer be barred entry. Andrew Sullivan, whom I often abuse, but only because I care, has an item today from Stratfor that the battle to subdue the Iraqi insurgency may be lost, and with it the prospect for democracy in Iraq. And Daily Kos alerts us to a Republican Congressman from North Carolina who says it's time to start thinking about American withdrawal from Iraq. As certain bloggers scratch their heads like Alfafa, wondering if sending in death squads would be the way to go ("I don't know whether this sort of thing is a good idea or not -- I can see arguments both ways"), a brutal desperation is surfacing among those who once anticipated a cakewalk. Not knowing what to do, they're willing to do anything, or at least entertain the notion...torture, death squads, whatever.

It's going to break Norman Podhoretz's peach-pit heart, but it will soon become time to recognize the inevitable and blow the whistle on the World War IV he and the neocons have been so determined to wage. At some point Dick Cheney will place a fatherly paw on Dubya's shoulder and say, "Earth to Captain Video: Time to bug out--I mean, withdraw in an orderly fashion." It's going to be hard breaking the news to the little fella.

I just hope his loyal space rangers are able to take the shock too.

 

  Rob achieves the impossible...

So my driving instructor observed when he and I realized that I'd successfully completed a three-point turn in third gear. I'd made the mistake because first and third gears are beside each other on the shifter of my instructor's Mazda 3 and I'd inadvertently selected third gear and somehow got the car moving from a complete stop and completed the turn. My instructor, attempting to find a positive side to this beginner's mistake, paid me the compliment that I was "obviously very sensitive to the needs of the clutch" in being able to smoothly move the car in high gear without bucking or stalling it.

This was my second driving lesson in a standard, and while I've discovered that I really enjoy driving, I'm still getting the hang of controlling a car and acquiring the confidence to multitask and maneuver without consciously thinking about what I'm doing (which is when I get nervous and make mistakes). In particular, I hesitate when I'm putting the car in gear and getting it rolling when I think too much about what my feet are doing, and I get nervous when there are cars behind me. That said, when I relaxed I did much better, and had a good sense for left turns and three point turns and backing up (notwithstanding that pesky third gear thing). When I'm not thinking about how something should be done, I just do it, and quite smoothly at that. I have good reflexes, as well, as I noticed when a cat ran out in front of me only a few feet ahead of the car. I was on top of the brakes and clutch in a heartbeat and saw the little critter run to safety.

By way of making myself feel optimistic, I'm compiling a list of things that used to cause me great anxiety when I was learning how to do them, but are now second nature.

1. speaking in court and examining witnesses
   
2. riding my bicycle on busy city streets - now I'm defensive, assertive, confident, and comfortable with both the rules of the road and giving the look of death to people who open their car doors in front of me.
   
3. talking to strangers at parties
   
4. kissing and other things that lend themselves to a certain amount of performance anxiety
   
5. working out at the gym with all those buff, hardcore people who know exactly what they're doing and can do it a lot better than you
   
6. showering at the gym with aforementioned buff, hardcore people
   
7. flirting with girls and taking the initiative to ask someone out - now I can get shot down more often than the Luftwaffe in stock footage about the Battle of Britain and still live to flirt again!
   
8. job hunting and job interviews
   
9. public speaking
   

If I can do all those things, I can surely learn to drive a stick with confidence and agility. It's just a matter of applying my magic hands to other avenues, right?