Windows XP finally rests in peace except for some limited and low-cost computers, according to MSNBC.com, a part of the joint venture of microsoft and NBC universal.

I have to say that the Operation System family, windows, is getting bigger, like an giant enephant, far bigger that goes beyond hardware capabilities. For the laptop I am using, IBM R52, bought 3 years ago, had this intolerably slow speed with 256MB memory, typical at that time. You have to remember, for  a highly customized laptop, there are a bunch of drivers and software to keep it going. So when you've boot up, you can easily see your memory comsuption reach 300MB. An additional piece of memory, will be inevitable, in my case, a 512MB.

Now, the windows vista can easily eat up 1 Giga Byte memory to just boot up. for my poor 256 pulse 512MB memory, I am not expecting installing one.

Software and hardware are like good bothers, they keep developing in such a speed that if yo

 形容水果成熟了是哪个词一直没搞清楚，看书时不经意间看到的。
ripe
adj
Those bananas aren't ripe yet - they're still green
香蕉还没熟，还是青的。
[引申]时机的成熟
The time is ripe (= It is the right time) for investing in new technology.
[引申]情况的成熟
The company is ripe for takeover.
公司已经准备好收购。

Near midnight in Chengdu, thousands of people trying to evacuate the city by car became mired in gridlock, stuck bumper to bumper in clotted streets.
--Newyork times, May 20,2008

gridlock，交通大堵塞：车辆完全不可能移动的交通堵塞，尤指因为在棋盘式街道中的重要路口发生堵塞而引起的交通停滞
bumper to bumper, bumper是保险杆：与机动车如卡车或轿车的任一端相连的，用来减少碰撞中的冲击的金属杆，bumper to bumper形容车流量大，堵塞造成车距太近。
clotted street, 堵塞的街道

   朋友推荐美国的动画片南方公园，背景是美国的一所小学，四个小朋友和老师、家长和社会之间发生的故事，虽然讲的是小朋友，但目标观众应该是成人，因为语言explicit,内容紧跟社会热点现象，针砭时政。语速很快，适合训练语感。对于英语学习者来说，推荐不带字幕看一遍，然后看着字幕听一遍，查查字典。

Railing

 rote learning 或 learn sth by rote 是死记硬背，而不是试图理解。