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Yes, there, I am out in the open now, ready to admit it. For the longest time I’ve been watching Netbooks, saying to myself – it’s really a useless toy, why spend money even?

• Sure you could check your email on the tiny screen, but can you play online video from YouTube or Hulu? Well, not in HD, but works just fine as regular video!
• But surely it can’t even play local MP4 files full screen – Yes it can, aparently!
• But you won’t even be able to play any 3D games or run Vista! Well, 3D games work! I was shocked to discover that even World of Warcraft runs, on minimum settings, of course. Vista I haven’t tried (and don’t recommend to), but Windows 7 (RC) works nicely on this machine!

In fact, I decided to post this from my little Netbook! We picked it up for only $260 before recent family vacation, and it proved to be an integral part of the family during the trip. Sure I was waiting for some real 3D (will nVidia’s Ion platform ever materialize?), but with the trip on the horizon and this great Woot price, decided that this is a worthy investment, for now.

Overall we’ve been really happy. Family mostly used it to visit Facebook and watch online (and offline) videos. Did I mention that our model came with 160GB hard-drive and 6 hr battery life? Two really important characteristics, in my opinion, making it much more than a toy.  My only complaints are 10″ screen (really minimum), and keyboard size (but new 11″ models have bigger keyboard also). Oh, and be sure to always use Full Screen mode on your web browsers (key F11 on most).

In unrelated news, our Internet at home is back! Comcast tech came and delivered, as they say. It’s very fast and stable now, and we are happy. So, to celebrate, enjoy this fun music video! If you are not on Netbook, hop over to YouTube site and watch in HD.

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Be sure to click through to Vimeo to watch in HD (if your connection allows). Also, for the record, I love this music and the whole thing is excellent!

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I was going to write some cheesy commentary about how nVidia should branch into making computer CPUs, and finally be bought by Intel, or die out altogether. Coupled with some analysis into the future of multi-core systems and the many cores it takes to run today’s 3D applications, games, OS, and what not.

But seriously, would most of you care? I guess this is one of the reasons I haven’t been blogging. It felt like nothing is really big enough, important enough, interesting enough, etc.

But, Today is that Day. I am quitting, changing, destroying, rebuilding, rethinking, re-everything. Teen rebellion finally caught up with me? Perhaps, but I think not! Then maybe its the 15 years of marriage that I just celebrated, that hit me like a brick wall. Nah, that’s not what I feel. Mid-life crisis? Too early, really!

I feel that change is overdue. Things need to happen, I need to make things happen. I just have been too lazy and too not-caring to make things happen. And mostly, I’d like to blame it on World of Warcraft. Too often I, granted tired and all, stared at the computer and said too myself – Take the Easy Way Out. Just play a little, do something small. You will feel accomplishment almost right away, 10, 15 minutes later you would have earned some more virtual money, gotten closer to that distant level 70 goal or something else virtual like that.

Yes! I am finally ready to admit it — It’s all been virtual, also known as Not Real. Sure, some of it is real achievement. Something you can boast about, something you can help your friend with (yes, it’s easy to help people who just starting to play, while you arrive with you 100 times more powerful character than the starting zone intended).

But, I am putting a serious stop to this! Yes, I am going into full remission. My own initiatives were the first casualty of WoW, along with many cases where quality family time, or other truly important things suffered.

Yes, I will come back to writing here! It is something I enjoy, and I can’t really deprive myself of all things fun, all at once, now can I? I was going to add some cheesy picture to this post, but I am too emotional at the moment. Today is the day, and Now it happens!

Welcome, Neo, To The Real World.

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Lately I felt that I have been posting way too much on Technology or plain fun stuff, and not at all enough on Meaning of Life, as the sub-title of my blog implies. I have been contemplating for a while to break this trend, and today, the opportunity just screamed out at me while driving to work.

You see, I was listening to Episode 124 of the ever excellent EscapePod, which is by far my favorite podcast. It presents short science fiction stories each week, and each is profoundly thought provoking, while staying fun and fresh (and often sexy!). I highly recommend you subscribe to this podcast, and to your advantage, there are over 100 earlier episodes that you can try to catch up on! 

I won’t spoil the plot of Episode 124 for you, entitled Save Me Plz, but instead lets switch to the promised topic of this post, which has risen to the news again lately: Our Entire Universe is Simulated.

In fact, there has recently been a mathematically calculated proof that there is probably a high probability we are living in a simulation.

You can read more on this fascination philosophical argument, but I just wanted to move on and say Yes, lets assume that we Are living in simulation.

So what? Should you live your life any differently? Is your behavior less or more important, even if there were conclusive proof that we are living inside someone’s little simulation tube? I think by definition our creators wouldn’t want to interfere (read: communicate) with us, so should we even try to reach them? But maybe we are already in constant communication, Sims style, with the grand creators of our simulation. And these communications reach our subconscious and often tell us what we "want" to do next (though sometimes we don’t listen, naturally). The Book of Kabbalah also reaffirms this, by implying that our life here is a Dream, and our wants are given to us from "the source".

Speaking for myself, I wouldn’t change a thing! Ups and Downs of life are here to be enjoyed, and dare I say, equally enjoyed. Give this little sentence more thought, as you go off and play Sims 2 or World Of Warcraft (former: Girls favorite, latter: Boys favorite, but your results may vary!)

So Make Sure to Enjoy Life, with this Simulated Post that’s in it!

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So, most of you are wondering where is it I disappeared to, for the last few days. Over the labor day weekend I was learning to fly, of course!

Actually, at first I just decided to make a push as soon as I hit level 67, to reach 68 in record time. You see, level 68 is when Druids get their flying form. That is, magical creature that is Druid, it is able to morph into various animals. But the bird form is something that is achieved only on level 68 with Burning Crusade expansion.

Yes, I got bit by World of Warcraft bug again. But I have to tell you, flying is Amazing! The graphics are beautifully done, and the locales in Outlands are awesome. Mystical outer space kind of areas are just indescribable, so instead I took some screenshots, while flying. But I am sure they don’t do the game justice. So here are some more screenshots, just from the BC expansion: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, lots more.

If you get upset with my geeky fascination with this fairy tale game, don’t despair! I am planning to be back to something which should interest you much more! In the works is extensive post demystifying PodCasts (with and without an iPod) and bringing you some of the best ones in News, Enrichment, Science, and Science Fiction that I enjoy.

Meanwhile, go check out some flying mount video or druid flying form video; the latter video is similar to what my Druid character can morph into.

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