This photo was snapped from the 4th floor of the Bay School in the Presidio, where Linda and I attended a function for the Beatitudes Society. Christine Pelosi and Marcus Borg were the featured speakers…
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From the monthly archives:
February 2008
The midday sun streams into our suite at Hotel Drisco in San Francisco. After yesterday’s landmark walk, I worked out for 45 minutes at UCSF’s Millberry Center this morning, and returned to our room to find this charming display of light and shadow. Another very pretty – and warm – day in San Francisco…
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Here’s Twin Peaks as seen from Hotel Drisco in the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco. After chemo at Mt. Zion Cancer Center this morning, I walked 14 blocks to lunch at Vivande, on Fillmore, with Linda and friend and former classmate Dr. Stuart Rosenberg. The walk, which took an hour and ten minutes and included a steep hill, is the longest I’ve managed since May…
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…is tough. So far today we’ve done our killer physical rehab exercise, proofed and dropped off the liturgy for granddaughter Grace’s baptism at Kinko’s (Lord, help us), seen our shrink and dry cleaner, Debbie, walked for 20+ minutes, dealt with some confusing insurance papers, renewed a domain name, folded the wash, called around trying to find pre-made iced tea in gallon-size containers for the baptism reception, answered email and (finally) blogged – and that’s just the stuff I can remember. I haven’t even had time for a nap…
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From the Source:
“Apple today introduced new models of the MacBook and MacBook Pro. MacBook Pro models feature the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors (running at up to 2.6GHz with 6MB of shared L2 cache), larger hard drives (up to 300GB), and 2GB of memory standard in most models. They also include the latest NVIDIA graphics processors — with up to 512MB of video memory — and an innovative Multi-Touch trackpad, first introduced in MacBook Air.
“The three new models of the MacBook feature faster processors and hard drives: sleek white 2.1 GHz and 2.4 GHz models with 120GB or 160GB 5400 rpm hard drives and a stunning black 2.4 GHz model with a massive 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive. The 2.4 GHz MacBook ships with 2GB of memory standard, expandable up to 4GB across the line.
“Available immediately, the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models start at just $1,099 and $1,999, respectively.”
Ooh, ahh…
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Sweet spouse Linda loves watching the Oscars, so I did the dishes tonight so she could get back to the big show. To tell the truth I was one of a small coterie hereabouts who were rooting for Ratatouille…
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Friend and former classmate Kevin McKean offers this:
“Thought you might enjoy the view from our back deck overlooking a parking lot and the Hudson Palisades from the village of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. ”
The second weather report from a former classmate: I hereby invite all former classmates to forward their weather in words and pictures...
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We have long wished for a ‘Cloud Computer’, an inexpensive device that would allow us easily to connect to the web and email. Together with Google Apps (and some installed software for occasions where connectivity or other issues come up) one might not need anything else to be productive and connected.
The computer should be small and light, flawlessly wireless, and connect easily to a big screen and peripherals when available. This machine, hopefully, would not be too expensive since it would need relatively modest hardware and (probably free) software.
Surveying the field of currently available machines, one finds a split: you can have inexpensive, lightweight machines like the Asus Eee PC (bottom photo) or the Everex Cloudbook (top photo) for around $400, or Apple’s Macbook Air (above left) for $1800.
The big difference in the 2 classes of machine is the screen size: the $400 machines both have a miserly 7-inch screen, while the MacBook Air has a much more useful 13.3-inch screen. $1400 is a tough premium for the big screen (and a few other features), IMHO, and is probably the reason that the Everex and Asus have been flying off the shelf, while the Air has had a more lukewarm reception, if its current press is any indication. Interestingly, all 3 machines run UNIX clones: Linux on both the EeePC and Cloudbook, and the BSD-based Mac OS X on the Macbook Air…
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View from my front porch this afternoon… a gray and wintry day. We couldn’t see the Lunar eclipse last night: it was too cloudy here… but clear in San Francisco…
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The BBC has stopped broadcasting to Europe on shortwave, as listeners switch to FM, satellite radio and online delivery. As a boy and young man I used to love trolling the shortwave frequencies on a string of various shortwave sets, starting with a home-made crystal reciever and ending with a (now 20-year-old) sophisticated (for its day) Icom short wave receiver.
The Beeb was a favorite: so were the mysterious ‘numbers stations,’ thought to be encrypted messages for spies and other shady operatives. You could also hear long-range commercial air craft over, say, the Pacific, transmitting SSB (single side band) shortwave signals when they were out of range of the high-frequency ATC network.
On clear nights when everything was working, you could hear station from thousands of miles away. It’s been awhile since I listened in: I understand there are now digital transmissions on shortwave. I had thought short wave would just go away…
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