Zen of Tofu

This has been one crazy week for me. Between having a whole bunch of math assignments and a programming assignment I barely found time to sleep. But now, still slightly sleep deprived, I am here to write about the aforementioned new MacBook. A spectacle of design, functionality, and simplicity. The MacBook is like a metaphor to the theme of this blog. It’s like it was made in a state of zen, just as tofu is the careful balance between water and curd. And in the theme of mathematics I present a proof as to why zen is an equivalent to tofu:

This is intended to prove that both “tofu is part of zen”, and therefore “zen is tofu”.
A) Let x be the element of tofu known as “water”.
=> x is part of zen since it is the balance of destruction and growth; where destruction takes the form of typhoons and tidal waves, and growth is trivial since all life forms require x to grow.
.: It is proven that tofu is part of zen.
- Now we shall prove that zen and tofu are indeed one in the same.
B) Let z be an element in zen, namely the idea of “perfect balance” and “tranquility”.
=> z is part of tofu since the creation of perfect tofu requires the concept described by z.
.: It is proven that zen is part of tofu.
By A & B, it can easily be seen that tofu and zen are one in the same.
.: Q.E.D

Now that the idea is satisfied I’ll continue with the main intention of this long-awaited entry. This MacBook is absolutely amazing. I am impressed in every way. First of all I haven’t even booted up my Windows machine ever since I got my Mac since I can do everything that I did in Windows on OS X. I would complain that I can’t play all my games on OS X but oddly enough I’ve been bent on productivity and studies more than ever and I just haven’t had the time nor the interest to play something serious. I was thinking of upgrading my desktop PC this summer but this Mac has effectively changed my mind, also in part because of the XBOX360 featuring Forza Motorsport 2 at the end of February(EDIT: End of April - May?! Oh man…). Why play PC games when the 360 has Forza 2? Also featured on this Mac is a built-in webcam, microphone, Bluetooth, and a wireless network card.

The wifi card deserves a discussion on its own since Apple has released a patch to the card. Why patch it so soon? Well to unlock the hidden 802.11n standard! How sweet of a surprise was that! Better transfer rate, longer range, and backwards compatibility, how can you go wrong?! I can’t wait to upgrade my home’s wifi network to 802.11n when a stable router is released.

An issue I was worried about when I first though about switching to OS X was how long it would take me to get used to the shortcuts and interface. To my surprise the learning curve isn’t very steep but the depth is great. From assigning my own keyboard shortcuts to doing all my tasks without a click of the mouse, the interface is not just intuitive but also fast and pleasant to the eye. This operating system is very far ahead of Windows XP in my opinion but that all might change with the official release of Windows Vista in less than a week now. I’m excited to see the graphic intensive Vista and how far Microsoft has come. Some people have speculated that this will be the last version of Windows since it is simply becoming a game of patch, patch, patch, but I can see Vista having a lifetime as long as 6 years if it doesn’t bomb like the Playstation 3.

For the rest of the details of my MacBook, refer to these photos I took and possibly this weekend I will have a separate page dedicated to it on the menu bar. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments as usual!

P.S. This new colour scheme is just an experiment. Don’t expect it to stay like this for much longer than the weekend.

written by tofu

First thing this morning I checked the UFC 66 results and low and behold, Liddell knocked out Ortiz in the third round. I was more surprised that it went all the way to three rounds. That’s just an example of how well conditioned Ortiz was and how much farther he has come since he last fought Liddell and lost. Soon after I checked around to see if anyone has posted the fight online as yet and I was not disappointed. Someone had posted the whole fight on Google Video, which surprised me since I expected it first on YouTube. I was surprised at how the knockout occurred since Ortiz still looked like he was defending himself and not taking too much damage but the referee stopped the fight regardless. So Liddell defended his title once again and I don’t see anyone taking his belt anytime soon since his biggest enemy now is his age. I would be more than happy to see Ortiz give it another shot since he can only get better. I have to give props to Ortiz since he trained so hard for the past year and spent about ten months at seven thousand feet above sea level training six days a week. Well either way, it was a good fight and both fighters deserved what they received.
I wonder how many people made the same New Year’s resolution like last year of shedding the pounds. Health has become a prominent topic in the news and is a popular topic among everyone regardless of age. Maybe all those news reports and research dollars have started to take a more visible effect. I say “FINALLY!” We’ve all seen those unhealthy kids on the news or in person and we all know it will get even more serious as those kids get older. At least now we have the information readily available to set an example so that we can be around longer for our children and so our children can enjoy their own children for as long as possible. Exercise, eat healthy, and keep drinking that clear stuff we call water. It’s good for you.

written by tofu

Today was not the most exciting day of my break, but the good news is that I finally received my 1GB micro memory card from eBay for my K790. This means that I have huge amounts of space for pictures AND all my mp3’s for when I’m GO traveling to and from York. Now I can bring along the voices of Ayumi Hamasaki and all my other favourite artists including DJs with me wherever I go. With the help of my Bluetooth stereo headphones I’ll be tranced, mellowed, and hypnotized to my favourite tunes and melodies.

Now onto the disordered part of my day; the traffic, crowds, and intensity of boxing week shoppers. I haven’t seen this much impatience, attitude, or disrespect all at once in a long time! Sure there are some shoppers who are too timid or scared to get in other people’s way but the majority of shoppers are quite the opposite. Maybe I’m losing some faith in humanity but I do hope there’s an upswing of attitude at the end of this story. If not, then may we all be saved from our own wrath in our own special way.

written by tofu

Exquisite. Insightful. Maniacal.

These are but a few words that can describe the movie I saw today. Curse of the Golden Flower was an absolutely unexpected film. There were so many twists, revelations, and questions but somehow I left satisfied. It was as if the movie was a symbol of neutrality and balance. The perfect balance of yin and yang.

I’m not here to spoil the movie for you, but I do encourage you to see the movie in the closest theatre that’s showing it. Just don’t expect a Hollywood plot. The few action sequences are breath-taking, especially the first, and the acting is great with subtle emotions and an irresistable empathy for the characters you will come to know.

So there’s my little review of the latest product of Asia to hit the big screens of North America. I hope you make an effort to see this film while it’s still out at the big screens. Enjoy.

written by tofu