1) To begin with, after some late revision (by late, I mean ending at 11:50) yesterday, I was about to bathe and turn in when I remembered telling myself to go check out the physical specs of the computer some time soon. I say physical because the BIOs was obviously lying when it told me this computer had 2GB worth of DDRII RAM, when it can't even hold its own against one Chrome window and a word document. (To be fair, the Chrome had 4 text-page tabs open, and the Word Document had 2 filled pages of info.)

Well, turns out that there was a measly 256mb DDR ram in the damn thing. It's not even DDR2. So I decided to complement it with my 1GB from the old com, but it appears that the RAM slot is different for DDR and DDR2, so I'm stuck with the same ol same ol. Plus, the graphics card couldn't fit as there was no graphics card slot, but that one was pretty much a given for me.

2) Digital Life ran a feature on the Singapore-made TheKube by Ollo, a square-shaped MP3 player that seems to be a no frills, but potentially spacious player. Going for 34.50 at 7-11 outlets, it seems to me like a steal, and I nearly wanted to just go down and buy one the other day. But seeing as this computer would take 2 days to transfer measly stuff, and seeing as the music was not even in yet, and also, finally, seeing that the product ownership is not mature yet, I decided to wait. Some say, though, that it is eerily similiar to the mobiBLU.

3) I was doing more history notes yesterday, and I happened to remember the song "we didn't start the fire" that Ben introduced to me. I listened to it again the other day, and I suddenly had the urge to find out (or find out more) about every event and every person mentioned in the song. there's one on youtube with 700,000 views, but seriously, it sucks, and the creator doesn't realize it. This slideshow one is much better.

4) Also, throughout this whole H1N1 scare, I've remained very skeptical about the prevalence of it, as well as the grave harm it brings that has apparently warranted its high coverage. When I saw the headlines yesterday which went something along the lines of "I survived H1N1", I felt slightly irked. After all, I've read stories on its harm relative to other illnesses, conspiracy theories and the death rates, and it seems nothing to worry about.

Still, the other day, I learnt that both my older brothers may be infected in a way that would be too long to elaborate upon, and then my mind went into a bit of a conflict, wondering how I should react. I didn't, but its still interesting to see how one's perspective changes when the situation is brought much closer, especially when that persepective is one of skepticism.

5) Thank god, this is the last one. (but its a long one.) I read in Life today that Disney is doing another princess movie, with traditional 2D methods. The twist is that the princess and almost all of the 'cast' is black. This has introduced mixed reactions from the black community, with some hating and some loving.

Some said the setting in New Orleans was too racist, Princess Tiana's original name Maddy sounded like a slave name, her original role as a maid serving a white person reeked of racism, so on and so forth. Others applaud the way Disney seems to be "bending over its back" to appease the black community and to be as racially correct as possible. While this attempt is not its first, given its predecessors of Aladdin, Mulan and Pocahontas. Still, some recognised racist themes in previous movies, (which I can't remember and must refer back to Life) and don't want to see the same in this one.

You can find an article on it here, but I recommend the one in Life for its comprehensive take on it. In my opinion, society nowadays has become way too connected and has too convoluted a past to achieve a balance when it comes to interracial ties. Too often, 'politically correct' terms, racially sensitive phrases and carefully guided themes have to be thought through so heavily that, to me, its a clear sign that racial boundaries are still very, very real. In attempting to be so overtly correct and so inclusive, it kind of shows that we aren't truly bonded yet, and that is the difference between being racially correct for the sake of it, and being truly accepting of people of different races.

Of course, I'm not about to preach an egalitarian society where racial differences mean nothing, that is up to the dreamers who will never live to see their fantasy come true. Call me a skeptic, but I recognise that no matter how people try, different skin colours, different 'eye sizes' and different builds that segregate us so will never make us truly inclusive. Of course, that is not to say that many of us join a fundamentalist group, or look at racially different people with disdain, in fact many of us have good friends of different races. Whether or not its only primarily seen in cosmopolitan cities, I don't know. But friendliness exists, at the very least on the surface, for most of us when it comes to interacting with people of different races. That, I think, is and will continue to be the norm amongst people. Anything more should not be a given. And when I say 'should not', I don't mean its not condonable, but that it should not be expected.

If you have more free time, perhaps you could read up on this, taken from The Straits Times "The buzz over the summer blockbuster 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' only grew Wednesday as some said two jive-talking Chevy characters were racial caricatures. Skids and Mudflap, twin robots disguised as compact hatchbacks, constantly brawl and bicker in rap-inspired street slang. They're forced to acknowledge that they can't read. One has a gold tooth."

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