BRRRR!

"Even hardy Minnesotans buckled to the cold, calling off a Minneapolis holiday parade Sunday that is automatically canceled if the wind chill dips below minus 20."Here's more: Bitter, cold winds Makes you wonder: why would anyone go to Minnesota in the winter? Here's what the airport info shows: MSP. Well, I'll let you know what it's like soon...
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October

I'm getting ready to spend a couple of weeks in Minnesota, where I've heard the temperature got as low as 17 below. BRRRR! To get in the mood, I checked out my nephew's blog, THIS APARTMENT LIFE, and came across his posting on The Unspoken Dread of Minnesotans. In it, he posts a picture I like, and a piece by Eric Satie.

Well, what better way to get in the mood than to hear a little MP3. Here goes:


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Clipmarks

One of the fun things about having a new computer is that I can customize it to my heart's content. I don't have to worry about size or space limitations. Right now, I seem to have all the power, landscaping, and building materials to "build" whatever kind of "house" I want here on the web. So, I've downloaded the Firefox browser, and added several tools to it, just as I had before. But now, however, I've been exploring what other tools might be useful. The one I came upon today was Clipmarks.

Clipmarks allow you to select portions of a page, for printing or emailing or even blogging. Here's a short video to show how it's done:



I haven't even begun to use it, but it sounds like such a great idea, I thought I'd pass it along immediately. I'll let you know what I think of it in a few...
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Dell XPS

My Sony Vaio has finally bit the dust. Actually, the hinges gave out (sounds like some people I know). So, for one who travels a lot, this is the kiss of death. On the last trip I was afraid to open or close it. Here at home, it collects dust, grit, and grime (?) from being open all the time. I should really be thankful for this opportunity to buy a new computer. The sound system was atrocious, I could not play DVDs (and hence could not add recent software), could not burn DVDs (and therefore could not transfer or make backups of photos) and, well, it just wasn't up to snuff.

A new computer buying opportunity raised for me, once again, the issue of Mac vs. PC. I have wanted to own a Mac for many years now, and I spent an exciting hour at Foothill College bookstore admiring the Mac. It is so beautiful, and it's a dream to operate. How could one not buy it?

The problem is two-fold: cash and investments. After deciding to take some more time to think things over, we went to Costco for some groceries. While there, I checked out their computers once again. The decision had already been made to buy a small, light-weight computer. I checked out what they had, and found the Dell XPS was priced at $1109 for 4 GB/320 GB, compared to the 13-inch Mac at $1500 for 250GB. If you include the cost of replacing my PC software (my investments), the Dell was probably $4000 cheaper in cash, and perhaps another $1000 in investment. Sigh. For that kind of money, I can go to Europe - and take my 4 lb "Mini" (as I've christened her).

When I went to look for a backpack, to carry my new computer, I found a beautiful sky blue Cadence bag by Kelty, makers of "outdoor tech for urban and on-the-trail pursuits". This, my friends, is my consolation prize, for giving up my dream of owning a Mac (at least for now) - a backpack, a Dell, and a trip to Spain or Scotland. Hope I've chosen well!

By the way, thanks again to cousin Kaarin who gave me the Sony so many years ago. Loaded with Adobe software (Dreamweaver, Flash, and Photoshop), she started me on this path of artistic pursuit. With the money I saved buying Dell, I can upgrade to CSS 4 (software I can share with our desktop). Looks like I'm all set for another quarter of classes! Now if I could just decide what I want to take...
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Obama's Neighborhood

Here's another good use of Internet tools to highlight the background of our political figures. San Franciscan Robert Kay put up this website called Obama's Neighborhood. It too is about Hawaii. But the website explores Obama's world in Hawaii in far greater depth than does the tourist's view given of Obama's Hawaii.

In fact, there are views here of the actual homes his family lived in, the friends that are still close to him, and Google maps of where he wandered and what he did. I'm simply amazed at how much the Internet lets us learn about history, and about the various leaders of our communities. I feel so fortunate to be alive in this era of technological advancement and enhancement.

Trivia time: Did you know Barak was once known as Barry, and that his mother's first name was Stanley?
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Obama's Hawaii

Here's a great use of the blogsphere - Hawaii's Official Tourism site has a page on Obama's Hawaii. It's hard to remember that he was raised in Hawaii! With a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas, and a step-father from Indonesia, Hawaii may not come to mind when we think of his roots. However, this website is right to claim fame for being a part of his formative past. It's a great way to highlight Hawaii, and provide more depth on a key individual of the 21st century. How's that for an impact by a blogger?
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Class Podcasts

Here are more podcasts I enjoyed that were done by COIN 63 classmates: Tyler celebrates his father's 60th birthday, and Vani talks about her visit home to her brother's wedding. Here's Hee-Sun reading an Emily Dickinson poem (with a great music background), Thanksgiving musings from Geri, and news from Mike.

And then there's Dawn. I don't think she's a current classmate, but her podcast is online with the rest of ours. In fact, she's even got an audio with slides. So, enjoy!
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