My New Laptop Has Arrived!

I found this little beauty at the local Staples store in the clearance section. And the sweetest thing about it was the price: $547.00!! For those of you so inclined find below the specific specifications specifying the details of my buy.

This HP Pavilion Entertainment PC features a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM to take on any workload.

The massive 250 GB hard drive offers ample storage space for all your applications, games, videos, music, data files and more. Plus, it comes with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed.

Easily access the most popular forms of digital media with the built-in 5-in-1 card reader. Create your own CDs and DVDs to share with family and friends on the DVD±RW DL drive. Flip the disc over and burn professional labels directly onto the disc with LightScribe Technology. Keep all your important information safe with the built-in fingerprint reader!Whether you need the Internet for work or play, this HP Pavilion Entertainment PC has you covered.

Get online via the 56k modem, integrated Ethernet, or hit up local "hot spots" with the Intel PRO/Wireless 802.11a/b/g connection. Network all of your Bluetooth devices with ease with the integrated Bluetooth Technology. Spice up your instant messenger sessions with the built-in HP Webcam and microphone.View brilliant images and text on the 14.1-inch widescreen High-Definition LCD with BrightView Technology.

As a replacement to an antiquated desktop, or as a new travel companion, this HP Pavilion dv2715ca offers the ultimate experience in performance and reliability.

Features/Specifications:


HP Pavilion dv2715ca Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz 14.1-inch Notebook
General Features:
Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed w/COA
Intel Centrino Duo Technology
Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66 GHz processor
2 GB DDR2 SDRAM (supports up to 4 GB)
250 GB hard drive
DVD±RW LightScribe drive with Double Layer support
No floppy drive
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Integrated audio with built-in Altec Lansing speakers
High speed 56k modem
Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
Bluetooth connectivity
5-in-1 Digital media card reader
Built-in HP Webcam and microphone
Built-in fingerprint reader
Keyboard with TouchPad
14.1-inch WXGA High-Definition BrightView widescreen LCD
Supported Media:
Secure Digital (SD)
Memory Stick (MS)
Memory Stick Pro (MS PRO)
MultiMedia Card (MMC)
xD-Picture Card (xD)
Expansion Slots:
One (1) ExpressCard slot
I/O Ports:
Three (3) USB 2.0
One (1) Expansion Port 3
One (1) S-Video
One (1) 15-pin VGA
One (1) 4-pin FireWire
One (1) RJ-11 Modem jack
One (1) RJ-45 Ethernet jack
One (1) Microphone jack
Two (2) Headphone jacks

Sir? Vidia

Yet another review of V. S. Naipaul's authorized biography by Patrick French confirming my initial impression of this man when I read his travelogue, India: A Wounded Civilization (1977).

Now it is clear, just as a Brahmin can smell a lower caste, or a Shia can spot a Sunni, like dogs sniffing each other to keep up the hierarchy, Naipaul is coloured so sadly and deeply that he can do nothing now but be himself -- hateful of his heritage, his pidgin culture and grateful to the western (read White) culture which has awarded him the Nobel Prize and even Knighted him.

His hatred for all things Indian, including himself, was only an inkling for me at the time I read A Wounded Civilization. What's more evident from his autobiography is that Naipaul has not only hated himself and his background but is caught in the chasm between the old and the new (read western) world. Unable to jump to one side or the other, perhaps unable to straddle as many of us do, he is a sad excuse for an Indian, a great writer and completely inhumane to those nearest to him.

So I send to Sir Vidia this poem by Derek Walcott and hope that he will find rest with recognition of who he is:

Love after Love

The time will come when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

I will end with an excerpt from the latest review to come to my attention on Naipaul's recent biography:

The woman's name was Margaret Gooding, and Naipaul met her in 1972 in Buenos Aires. French's new biography of Naipaul, The World Is What It Is, quotes extensively from her letters: unbearable scrawls that read like clinical case studies drawn from the pages of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. She begs, moans, despairs, and pleads for Naipaul's "cruel sexual desires." She calls him her "god," her "black master." Her multiple abortions of his children sicken her, but she offers them up to him as proof of her love and abasement.

And all this sex stuff is only the beginning. Throughout The World Is What It Is Naipaul shows himself arrogant beyond belief, and vile-tempered, and as self-obsessed as a man simpering while he looks at himself in the mirror. His letters and conversation are full of references to "niggers" and dismissals of Africans and dark-skinned Indians.

Found List

20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on
and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don’t Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something,
Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It “In.”

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks.
Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions,
Switch to Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks,
Write “For Smuggling Diamonds”

7. Finish All Your sentences with
“In Accordance With The Prophecy.”

8. Don t use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is “To Go.”

12. Sing Along At The Opera

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don’t Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends
You Can’t Attend Their Party Because You’re Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name,
“Rock Bottom”.

17. When The Money Comes Out of The ATM, Scream “I Won!, I Won!”


18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling “Run For Your Lives, They’re Loose!!”

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. “Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.”

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity….Send This Juvenille List To Someone in an E-Mail.

'A Transformational Figure'