What News Thou Brought Forth?

Some recent updates:
1. Microsoft will cease production of Windows XP in the near future, and updates of Windows XP will also cease thereafter.
Friend A: and running on Vista is like trying to melt wax in water - I have Vista, and I liked the busybody and over-protective features, but not when I'm in a hurry or when I have a presentation to do and everyone is staring at 'you are about to enter an unsecured network' message.
2. Cold weather - massive amounts of fishes freezing to death in Penghu Island of Taiwan; Toronto temperature at -17, and I got a one-day flu.
Location: central atrium of school; event: open day. I was sitting behind the desk for TCU Choir, my face white as sheet and I'm feeling completely out-of-way. It might be the virus my vice-president is carrying for the past week, causing him to lose his voice, or the traumatic and arduously heavy cargo I carried from my Choir office to the exhibition venue earlier this morning (but how many people fell sick because they carried something overweight?). I retired at 4pm, woke up at 7 to find my camera malfunctioning (details below) had dinner, forced myself some anatomy till 12 before collapsing back to bed.
The following day I felt fine except for some occasional shoulder and back pain. Studied more anatomy, held a funeral for my digital camera (details below), browse for digital cameras, and went to this two stones' throw place which serves very spicy noodles, which I assume might cure my cold completely. The TV at the noodle store was blaring an exclusive report of the frozen fishes floating on the sea (spans 3 football fields). I thought they would be nice for sashimi.
3. My HP Photosmart R707 gracefully retires.
HP Photosmart R707 announced its retirement at around 3pm yesterday, marking the end of its 3-year service with the Sim family. The R707 has in its lifetime shot approximately 5000 photos and had been traveling extensively - Malaysia, Italy and Taiwan. The Sim family had come to rely on its crisp photo quality, helpful picture advice device and intelligent auto-shoot mode. The R707 first came into service in 2004, and the Sim family officially employed it in early 2005 using Maybank Visa credit card points. Though bulky compared to contemporary models, the extensive battery life and protective design had proved useful in the past 3 years. May God rest HP Photosmart R707 in peace and the Sim family acknowledges its faithful service for the past 3 years.
Actually its only the LCD screen which became nonfunctional. It's cracked - which downgraded it into a traditional film camera - aim and shoot, and get over it. Due to the economic downfall and currency inflation it's only wise to observe and procrastinate a little longer before I decide and buy the right heir for the R707.
4. I became a digicam expert in one day.
For the sake of quickly finding an heir for my R707, I became a self-learned digicam expert in one day - ISO, shutter speed, optical zoom, digital zoom, white balance, scene models etc. My primary concern, as a student, is of course the price. Initially planning to invest on an iPod shuffle this semester, the passing of my camera means channeling the money away for the time being. In the long run, this rather exorbitant expense, plus some ruthless monetary exploits from time to time, means I might not have money for my school fees when in 2 more semesters to come (though for the n-th time Mum and Dad would say don't worry too much about the dollar sign, as long as you don't go to a casino or don't start dumping money everywhere they can still manage to pay through my studies).
Quite a number of people recommend Panasonic, but I fell straight in love with Kodak by its looks, though for old times' sake I'm still looking for HP. I do not really like the huge cylindrical lenses of Panasonics, and I hate the geometrical design of Canon. I like the HP R742, but my roommate told me RM600 for 7MP is not worth it. Being cool in personality I prefer black, and pink is definitely a no-no, except in the circumstance when they give it to me for free. I just wished there would be a software where you could key in all these requirements and they'll make a decision for you straightaway without you procrastinating and considering all options.
5. The future is bleak.
Believe it guys, the more you study people-related fields and literature, the more you feel the world is heading right off a cliff. Politics, industry, intelligence copyright, and the words that come out of people's mouth everyday. And the amount of things everyone has to do everyday.

Just to end this post, I noticed American camera manufacturers dislike the rotate-by-mode device found primarily on Japanese cameras. Guess that sleek device is too fragile for giant sized Americans. I personally prefer buttons though.