Microsoft, Intel, and a few hardware vendors announced the ultra-mobile PC at the CeBit Trade Show in Germany on March 9th.
This device, which runs an enhanced version of the TabletPC operating system, is estimated to be in the price range of $499-999US depending on the features included. An UMPC models launched yesterday are in the 2 pound range, have a 900mHz processer, have 30 or 40gb hard drives, a 7" screen, Bluetooth and wireless, and assorted USB and even a VGA port. The battery life is estimated at about 3 hours at this point. There are posts that state that the viewing of movies can occur without launching the entire operating system, but I have not verified that as of this point. There is a unique, software-based, thumb-usuable overlay keyboard on the screen of the device as well as enhanced menus and scroll bars that allow fingertip access. (This can only mean these devices have a passive digitizer screen which I have on my current TabletPC and it works very well, for those who are wondering.)
The impact for schools? At this price point (about 1/2 the price of the current small TabletPCs on the market), imagine a lab setting that only has keyboards, mice, and monitors...the students all have their own UMPC and simply hook it up as they come into the lab via the VGA and USB connections. They have the same set-up at home, and can easily have a full operating system...the great OS of the TabletPC, whereever they are!
Just my first thoughts on the subject?
Links to check out if you are interested:
http://umpc.com/product.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/default.mspx
V is for Vendetta
Hollywood, why why why do you keep doing this to us???
I love the Wachowski brothers' movies. I was ready for this flick man, excited about a movie that could capture my imagination in the same way that the Matrix Trilogy did.
So why did I hate V is for Vendetta? In short, it was more of a preachy, self-righteous, anti-war flick than Fahrenheit 9/11. Michael Moore couldn't have done a better job if he tried.
Originally a graphic novel designed to whine about Margaret Thacther's Great Britain, V is for Vendetta is set in Orwellian England sometime in the near future. I'm not going to go into the movie too much, other than to say it's chock full of attacks on conservatives, Christianity, the war on terror, and other tired cliches used exhaustively by today's anti-war movement.
What really pissed me off after watching V is Hollywood in general. Would it kill them to make a somewhat patriotic film for a change? Why does every single movie that comes out of that rat hole have to be about how brave people are for having an ideology that is anti-American, anti-Christianity, and anti-military?
I love movies. I realize that they're there for entertainment value. And I don't get into huge hissy fits over gays, or abortion, stem cell research, or any of the other hot liberal vs. conservative debates of our current era. And I sure to hell don't offend easily.
But there's only so much you can expect someone to take. Vendetta didn't just attack my beliefs as a patriotic, church-going American, it ridiculed them, spit on them, and lectured me on how those beliefs make me an enabler of fascism.
I don't know if it was the pedophile Catholic bishop, or the American and British flags embedded with the swastika, or the lectures on how "the former United States" started its decline with its war on terror. Whatever made me snap made me snap hard.
My friends who were with me, a nice couple from Alabama, decided that enough was enough and walked out halfway through. How much of the "you're a stupid fascist" diatribe did the Wachowski brothers expect them to sit through?
Why does Hollywood continue to hero-worship this cult garbage? Don't they realize the potential of a patriotic, flag waving, hero kills the terrorist, and gets the girl apple pie flick? 80% of Americans self-identified Christians, and I bet you a buck that even more of those folks are self-identified patriots. The Passion of the Christ demolished the box office, wasn't that a strong enough message to ruling movie elites that America has a thirst for films that satisfy their core ideology?
I don't know why the Wachowski brothers decided not to let me sit through a popcorn thriller filled with cool fight scenes and gee-whiz special effects, something that they're damn good at. Instead they decided to take out all their anger and aggression about the evils of the United States and organized religion on me, the innocent movie-goer.
Hollywood, if any of you guys have the guts to make a movie about real heroes - our American fighting men and women - I'll go see it. But for now, I want my seven dollars back.
I love the Wachowski brothers' movies. I was ready for this flick man, excited about a movie that could capture my imagination in the same way that the Matrix Trilogy did.
So why did I hate V is for Vendetta? In short, it was more of a preachy, self-righteous, anti-war flick than Fahrenheit 9/11. Michael Moore couldn't have done a better job if he tried.
Originally a graphic novel designed to whine about Margaret Thacther's Great Britain, V is for Vendetta is set in Orwellian England sometime in the near future. I'm not going to go into the movie too much, other than to say it's chock full of attacks on conservatives, Christianity, the war on terror, and other tired cliches used exhaustively by today's anti-war movement.
What really pissed me off after watching V is Hollywood in general. Would it kill them to make a somewhat patriotic film for a change? Why does every single movie that comes out of that rat hole have to be about how brave people are for having an ideology that is anti-American, anti-Christianity, and anti-military?
I love movies. I realize that they're there for entertainment value. And I don't get into huge hissy fits over gays, or abortion, stem cell research, or any of the other hot liberal vs. conservative debates of our current era. And I sure to hell don't offend easily.
But there's only so much you can expect someone to take. Vendetta didn't just attack my beliefs as a patriotic, church-going American, it ridiculed them, spit on them, and lectured me on how those beliefs make me an enabler of fascism.
I don't know if it was the pedophile Catholic bishop, or the American and British flags embedded with the swastika, or the lectures on how "the former United States" started its decline with its war on terror. Whatever made me snap made me snap hard.
My friends who were with me, a nice couple from Alabama, decided that enough was enough and walked out halfway through. How much of the "you're a stupid fascist" diatribe did the Wachowski brothers expect them to sit through?
Why does Hollywood continue to hero-worship this cult garbage? Don't they realize the potential of a patriotic, flag waving, hero kills the terrorist, and gets the girl apple pie flick? 80% of Americans self-identified Christians, and I bet you a buck that even more of those folks are self-identified patriots. The Passion of the Christ demolished the box office, wasn't that a strong enough message to ruling movie elites that America has a thirst for films that satisfy their core ideology?
I don't know why the Wachowski brothers decided not to let me sit through a popcorn thriller filled with cool fight scenes and gee-whiz special effects, something that they're damn good at. Instead they decided to take out all their anger and aggression about the evils of the United States and organized religion on me, the innocent movie-goer.
Hollywood, if any of you guys have the guts to make a movie about real heroes - our American fighting men and women - I'll go see it. But for now, I want my seven dollars back.
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