This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter). Posts here are rare these days. For current stuff, follow me on Mastodon

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Lucky Kid

New iMacs FINALLY came out today. This has long been scheduled as “Amy’s Year” for a new computer. 2006 was my year. 2007 will be Amy’s. 2008 will be Brandy’s. Then lather, rinse, repeat. So this is Amy’s year, we were just waiting for iMac revisions.

All along the plan was to get the maxed out version of the smallest size when the updates hit. There was some discussion between Brandy and I today on the possibility of getting a baseline model instead as “good enough for now” but I’m a big believer in maxing things out so that you won’t be TOO frustrated too quickly as the thing ages. In the end we decided to stick with the original plan of maxing out the smallest size. (We never considered a 24″ for Amy.)

Since they dropped the 17″, that means we’re looking at a maxed out 20″. So the specs for her will be:

  • 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM – 2x2GB
  • 750GB Serial ATA Drive
  • SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
  • Apple Mighty Mouse
  • Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
  • Accessory kit
  • 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
  • ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory
  • 20-inch glossy widescreen LCD
  • AirPort Extreme
  • Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

That will beat the specs on my machine Cronus by a decent bit. It should last her for the three years no problem without me even having to do any mid-cycle upgrades. In the additional one to two years before it will be time for my own next computer though, I will be jealous, since she’ll have the best machine in the house for awhile. But it is her turn… so that is OK.

I just initiated the process I need to do to swap money around between a few different accounts before I actually hit the order button. I’ll probably actually hit that button sometime next week and we’ll have the thing the week after that or so. In time to be all set up and running and happy before school starts in any case.

As I said… Lucky kid.

No Easy Victories

My father William Minter’s latest book (co-edited with Gail Hovey and Charles Cobb Jr) is now available for pre-order directly from the website for the book.

It presumably will be available through all the normal channels as well when it is fully released in October. I pre-ordered my copy though.

The summary blurb from the website:

FOR THE FIRST TIME, A PANORAMIC VIEW OF U.S. ACTIVISM ON AFRICA FROM 1950 TO 2000.

“We were part of a worldwide movement that continues today to redress the economic and social injustices that kill body, mind, and spirit. No Easy Victories makes clear that our lives and fortunes around the globe are indeed linked.” – Nelson Mandela

Hundreds of thousands of Americans mobilized to oppose apartheid in the 1980s. That successful movement built on decades of behind-the-scenes links between African liberation movements and American activists, both black and white.

No Easy Victories draws on the voices of activists of several generations to explore this largely untold history. While U.S.-based groups and individuals contributed to African liberation, African struggles also inspired U.S. activism, including the civil rights and black power movements.

Today Africa and the world face global injustices as deadly as apartheid. Understanding this history of solidarity is essential for finding new paths to a future of equal human rights for all.

With a couple of exceptions I’m guessing this is not the sort of book that is the typical reading for most of my blog’s readers, but if this sort of thing interests you at all, go ahead and pick up a copy.

Exterminate!