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Mac VS PC Shootout: Will It Turn Into A Civil War?

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I know some very kewl Jesuits... and on my flight back from my first trip back from Israel when I was 16, I met this nun waiting for my flight from Montreal to Winnipeg and she was such a kewl person I ended up keeping in touch with her until she passed away in '96. Her name was Sister Marie-Cécile and she used to say that if you thought of things the right way, everything you did was a way of praying... but then, I didn't have 'baggage' from having gone to a Catholic school... all I knew about nuns for the first ten years of my life was that some could fly, that in Austria they helped a big family with a bunch of singing kids escape the Nazi's, and that they had to wear uniforms... oh... and that crucifixes scared the crap out of me... not that really had to do with the nuns...

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I happen to be Lutheran... so I know very little about Catholicism.

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Wasn't there in <i>Franny and Zoey</i> something about the idea that you should live your life all the time as though you were in constant prayer? The father was I believe Jewish, the mother a blue-eyed Irish catholic. The prayer seemed to be more a mantra than anything else. I'm probably the only person on earth who couldn't finish the work, but then I slept through </i>Lolita</i> too, so my tastes are questionable.

Prayer seems worthy to me as long as you don't expect divine intervention from it--then we get into who prays the loudest, which is just another form of God fights on the side of the heaviest artillery. Followed to its conclusion, that means that Osama bin Laden prayed pretty loud, but if there had been more people at the mass of St. Francis getting their ferrets and gerbils blessed, the WTC might still be standing.

But if you use it to clarify your mind, and, this seems to me to be most important, to take yourself to task, to try to confess <i>to yourself</i> what you've done, not filtered through your desires to see yourself in a good light, then it sounds an excellent idea to me.

Honorable Chairman, last night while being Processed Cheese at the People's Residence Inn in El Paso, I happened across VH1--which TiVo and DirectTV let me avoid, and I lost my virginity in a big way. There is a show called "The (White) Rapper Show" [sick]. In it white people whose eyes barely focus compete to enter the hip-hop culture, which exists only if the milk in their fridges goes off. Much pointing of fingers, and shouted grunts and labials and there were challenges, like <i>Project Runway</i> or I suppose <i>Survivor</i> which even I'm not pervert enough to watch. And the piece de resistance was something which to even relate is so un-PC that I would be hounded into the skull orchard by the winged monkeys of EEOC.

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Commissar Theocritus wrote:I just unpacked a 24" iMac with a 750GB drive which will hold 2250 CDs ripped in Apple Lossless Format, and I have Airport Express, and have on order Apple TV to grapple it all from the ether. This 24" monitor redefines big--and bright.

Ahhhh! Now you're talking! But how do you manage without games (er... I mean "software," as Pravda so euphemistically calls computer games.)

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Project Runway is one of my guilty pleasures, Theocritus... it fascinates me how rags become "art" and then are sold at ridiculousy high prices. But yeah, my last post was pretty damning on this Red Eye show Fox has lined up - that was until I saw how the host (Greg Gutfeld) was being ripped apart on the Huffington Post...well... I guess I'll watch it now since it's so awful and I pity the poor bastard. Hmmm, I haven't heard of the show you are talking about on VH1... then again I do tend to stay away from the bastard child of MTV.

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My pastime is spreading my noxious personality on people. Why be insulted by a machine when I can be very disobliging, far and wide, to other people? I'm currently confecting something particularly nasty which I plan to dump in the People's Blog concerning Anna Nicole Smith and Our Many Titted Empress.

Since I posted that bit of braggadicio, I have unpacked the new B&W 705s I just got in El Paso. The sub is too heavy for me in my still-weakened state to carry, but tomorrow, tomorrow. And there is another sub for the 705s in the bedroom. And Misti, my secretary, couldn't get her mother-in-law's pickup to pick up the 803S's en route to Cruces, so I think I'll get some demo Nautilus 801s for the offfice to match the Nautilus 801s in the living room.

This is properly called a geekgasm. And having no children, or nieces or nephews, and being in the good graces of Chesapeake, I see no reason not go get all the giquoiserie that I can.

Ahh! That was good! Pardon me while I clean up...

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<i>Project Runway</i> fascinates me because it's predicated on the idea of people who live utterly second-handed--something that Rand rejected utterly, and Red Square would have, I think, some strong ideas on this. In my often-quoted discussion with the genial, but essentially unreflective priest/author Brooks, I came to the conclusion that he, along with virtually everyone else, is on contest with the world.

He cannot prove that Jesus is the son of God, nor can I disprove it. And with that I am satisfied, because I understand the meaning of the word faith, which no Christian I've ever known actually does. And this causes a Boolean-algebra view of life, in which people spend their time contending with the rest of the world, at the least, wanting face time for a camera, and you can turn off the goggle box. Next in awfulness is evangelist of whatever stripe. I do not mean the money-grubbing madman like Falwell or hard-dick like Swaggart, but the man who asks you, apropos of nothing, if you're ready for JAYzuss. (I am, more than he, if I read the Bible right.)

Then we get to the politician with a panacea for all, always involving submission of some sort. And of course, raised to the Hillaryth degree, we have concentration camps and death marches.

All of this is from people who cannot sit alone in their room. Who exist in others' eyes. Who are hostage to others' opinions.

And we have an entire industry devoted to people who get famous for...wait for it...getting people to look at other people. The glances of people whose opinions are not known and do not count.

If Milton Friedman, on receiving the Nobel prize, could say that he cared more for the opinion of his colleges than that of a bunch of Swedish socialists, and when you consider that even Swedish socialists have more on the ball (misdirected of course) than people who buy Hilfiger marques, then what sort of non-people are we watching?

For me it's the purest anthropology.

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That has to be a cushy gig... to be an "Image Consultant", going around and telling other people how to look, what to say and what kind of hand gesture to say it with.

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Commissar Theocritus wrote:<i>Project Runway</i> fascinates me

Is that a TV show?

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<i>Project Runway</i> is a show on Bravo. A dozen young, and not-so-young wannabe fashion designers are selected and given challenges to design a rag for a woman's back. With restrictions--couture, junk yard, black-and-white, and so forth. They are judged by the effect the rags have on judges, and they are eliminated one by one. The winner gets $100K, a new Saturn and a spread in a fashion mag.

I guess I missed that gene.

Chairman, the idea of Image Consultant reminds me of a conversation I just had with Jan W., a friend, and an MD whom you'd hire if you wanted to get a drug by the FDA. Made lots of cash flying around the world doing just that. Jan told me that Japan is now where we were 30 years ago and Europe 10 years ago--where doctors merely prescribed what they felt like, and now, you'll notice, medicines are prescribed FOR something specific and disallowed for something else.

I'm getting to the point, I promise. Medicines are so good now, Jan said, that they are poison. Auto-immune suppressant drugs, for example, can destroy your ability fight infection. The reason that doctors 30 years ago got away with it was because drugs were on average not that good and it was the placebo effect.

The patient got better because he thought he would. The image consultant has to sell himself to the person so he can sell himself. I've heard that over half the ad agency's work is selling the agency, and I believe it.

And the People's Residence Inn slew many trees to convince me, and they failed in it, of the lustre of their carefully crafted image, which had, pardon the mixed metaphor, no clothes.

Nothing more deflating that an honest little boy watching a parade, except perhaps a pissy queer in Texas.

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I love how language 'evolves'... we used to call them 'stylists' when we worked in wardrobe... half the costume designers I know work as 'stylists' when they don't have film work, though it's a bit more comprehensive than clothes...

... My fave are my friends who are making a living as Cool Hunters - how can I get this job?... they have an uncanny sense when it comes to viral marketing and leveraging it... it's a weird talent... part Pattern Recognition (see Wm. Gibson - he got it pretty right) but they also need to be hyper-sensitive to branding to the point that it gives them migraines... heheheh... they have to rely on intuition but be able to articulate why they know something is going to tip... it's interesting but slightly freaky... a bit Asperger's Sydrom-ish meets Dead Zone... Think of Christopher Walken meets... well... maybe Christopher Walken...

"I... think YOU... should wear this... "

Theocritus wrote:I'm getting to the point, I promise. Medicines are so good now, Jan said, that they are poison. Auto-immune suppressant drugs, for example, can destroy your ability fight infection. The reason that doctors 30 years ago got away with it was because drugs were on average not that good and it was the placebo effect.

She's not speaking metaphorically... I was on methotrexate for 5 years till my immune system tanked last August... look it up online... in lower doses, it's used to treat autoimmune conditions like my arthritis... in higher doses, to treat leukemia... it's Chemotherapy, and not the only kind used as an immunosuppressant... I took it low-dose, but my life-time load is already several time that of someone who was given it to treat cancer. There are a number of anti-folate meds (they block the uptake of folic acid and therefore inhibit the turnover of fast growing cells, some of which can cause inflammation... like your liver, epithelials (sp?)... tumours... and most importantly in the case of leukemias AND inflammatory conditions, blood cells... wether they are growing out of control OR they are producing too much of the immune cells that are attacking your own body)... There are a lot of multi-use meds on the market these days and you'd never know because they're often given different names (especially if they're till under patent) for different uses... and then there are the off-lable uses that have to be okayed by ethics boards etc. etc... bit which eventually become standard practice over time...

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Sister Massively Opiated wrote:BTW - for those who weren't around for the evolution of the Mac/PC fracas, here is one of the best commercials ever made... it is considered a masterpiece not only by many Mac users, but my many in the adverstising world to this day...
We've got your best commercial right here - Watch the whole thing! That's an order!

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I can't wait for that future to come so won't have to think for myself anymore.

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just stop thinking for yourself now... it'll make the future come that much sooner...

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That won't be too hard, my teachers have been doing that for me since 2nd grade.

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And when you quit thinking for yourself, that little bit of you which rebels, the bit which makes the lap-dog snarls, cannot be quite stilled, and to give you peace, there will be an entire class of anger-management professionals, who will have the ability to write prescriptions for drugs. And the only drug research in the whole world, since medicine will be socialized, will be for drugs to make people more ductile, biddable and docile, to do the Master's work.

And we will have new surgical procedures. Phrenology will make a come back, but with scapels. There will be designer makeups to cover the scars of lobotomies done directly into the brain, because it takes so much more time to go under the eyelid up into the prefrontal lobes.

Because lobotomized men will have less control of their impulses, there will be more sex workers. Intelligence in a woman will be replaced by mountains of artifice like Anna Nicole Smith.

Homosexuals will be killed, not from moral grounds, but for not reproducing. Heterosexual people will choose not to bring children into Hillary's Brave New World. Also homosexuals tend to be mavericks--to be avoided at all costs.

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Commissar Theocritus wrote:And when you quit thinking for yourself, that little bit of you which rebels, the bit which makes the lap-dog snarls, cannot be quite stilled, and to give you peace, there will be an entire class of anger-management professionals... people will choose not to bring children into Hillary's Brave New World. Also homosexuals tend to be mavericks--to be avoided at all costs.

Dear Betsky,
F**k that! Think as hard as you can!!.... NOW DAMMIT!!!!... Theocritus is rarely wrong about these things... I have no wish to become experimental homunculous (motor, cortical, or otherwise) for some phreaky phrenologist... ... "Toast is burning"**
SMO

**sorry... couldn't resist... if you liked the Hinterland Who's Who commercials put out by the Canadian government, you'll love the History by the Moment PSA's... this one is about Dr. Wilder Penfield who mapped the different areas of the human brain and helped treat a lot of epileptics in the process (though I'm sure he also performed his share of labotomies, electro and insulin shock treatments, and just generally unscrewed the top of many patients' heads, messed with their clockwork and replaced the lid - often with the threads lining up not quite right or with a faulty gasket... but then, screwing around inside people's heads wasn't an exact science back then)... but this hasn't kept more than a few Canadians from making sick "toast is burning" jokes, based on this History by the Moment piece. I myself will often blurt out "Toast is burning!" for no apparent reason and yet, no one is surprised and almost everyone knows what I'm refering to - which is a strange kind of national collective consciousness to have achieved... In any case, I'm sorry I can't embed it like with YouTube stuff, but to see the original PSA:
https://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10211

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TOAST IS BURNING!
(Dedicated to Chairman Punchenko and his untimely departed toaster Helen<3)

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I guess I'm missing a plug-in in Safari... or Michael is haunting my computer... "I see left-wing people"...

In any case, I'd like to see him try to act that one out without using any words... Anyhow - I already know it word for word (it gets played an awful lot on late night TV when they have to mask Amerikkkan commercials on the satelite feed)... everyone else can commisserate with Meow in situ...

Gee frickin' whiz...I didn't know that we were going to have a civil war here...(I'm gone like two months and get a monster forum)...so wait, that MacBook that I got sent in the mail wasn't from Red Square's Headquarters? So that means some capitalist pig is trying to spy on me.

In all seriousness, I personally do a lot of graphic and video work, so the switch to Mac was very logical (and I have used a Mac for a few years on a university campus). I'm very satisfied with the experience, and no complaints here. In fact, I don't use any Windows programs...I use OpenOffice for the office suite (I know some people hate it, but I don't have any problems with it). I've worked IT for years and am very sick of Windows (no withdrawal symptoms here).

Anyways, Chairman, so maybe I should get the General Store to send you a complimentary Apple for dinner.

V. Ivanov

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Comrade Ivanov,

There is no civil unrest in the Cubisphere! We are all in agreement... on principle... to paraphrase Mrs. John Ono... "We're in love with us and We FEEL™ fine."

Please join us in FEELING™ fine as quickly as possible, before there are consequences...

Sister Massively Opiated
Kommissar of Housekeeping, &tc. &tc.

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Dearest Commissar Ivanov wrote:Anyways, Chairman, so maybe I should get the General Store to send you a complimentary Apple for dinner.


I don't eat anything with a plug, Commissar Ivanov.

Make love to Appliances, not dinner.

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Chairman M. S. Punchenko wrote:I don't eat anything with a plug, Commissar Ivanov.

Make love to Appliances, not dinner.

I've never understood your love of your appliances. Me, I'm in love with my car.

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Margaret wrote:
Chairman M. S. Punchenko wrote:I don't eat anything with a plug, Commissar Ivanov.

Make love to Appliances, not dinner.

I've never understood your love of your appliances. Me, I'm in love with my car.

Well I never understood your love of boy bands. They're gay, Margaret, and you're two-hundred pounds over weight and have bad skin. Now put the cake down.... don't make that face at me, put it down Margaret! No, not down your throat, put it down on the table... that's a girl... we don't want our Margaret ending up like Rosie do we? Now lets go out and get you a pretty moomoo so you can show off for Uncle $.$ at his Corporate Gala event tomorrow night.

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Chairman M. S. Punchenko wrote:Well I never understood your love of boy bands. They're gay, Margaret, and you're two-hundred pounds over weight and have bad skin. Now put the cake down.... don't make that face at me, put it down Margaret! No, not down your throat, put it down on the table... that's a girl... we don't want our Margaret ending up like Rosie do we? Now lets go out and get you a pretty moomoo so you can show off for Uncle $.$ at his Corporate Gala event tomorrow night.
Well... some Chairman's got their period! That's just mean and snarky, Meow... apologize to Margaret right now, or it's to bed with you! You'll never foster understanding of Appliance Love with that attitude mister!

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Someone fetch me some midol and a pint of chocolate ice-cream.

My dear Chairman,

Apples don't have plugs...they just have dual cores.

Vlad

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My computer has dual cores, and they are already coming out with quad core! not even a year has passed yet, and already they have processors faster than those quad cores that use light!!! I Can't keep Up!!!

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I'm moving a post by Premier Betty from another thread >>
- Red Square
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Microsoft -> Evil kkkapitalist corporation that is fueling the PC business and thus destroying the glorious people friendly and technologically superior Mac.

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