An Apple makes a happy Valentine's Day

I'm no tech geek, in fact, if there were a Darwinian scale on tech awareness, I'd probably be hunched right next to the primates, but I'm right on top of Apple's droolworthy Ipad launch. While the $500 gadget is a must have for this year,  here are some other cheaper yet great Valentine's day gift ideas from the Apple Store

1) Personalised I-Gadgets - SFr 7+ (SFr 75-200)- A personalised engraved message on an I-gadget of your choice - the catch here is that you have to buy the Shuffle/Ipod/Iphone itself. If your significant other doesn't have one of these, however, it's worth considering.

2) Ipod+TomTom - SFr 119.95 - A great solution for those stuck with significant others who won't ask for directions, are incapable of understanding directions, or just so disorganised that you don't want them messing around with multiple gadgets while driving.

3) Itunes gift card - SFr5 to 100 - Easily available at most supermarket checkouts, and can be personalised with a message. Practical and non sentimental its a great last minute buy to be presented with a bunch of flowers and a kiss.

More information at The Apple Store, Schwiez.  (all images from Apple Store).

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Anyone home??

Never let it be said that I wasn't brave enough to venture out to explore the beauties of Switzerland in winter. An impromptu visit by a friend led to a boatride to Evian. She was on a short trip, visiting the thermal baths was not an option, so the experience was... how should I put this... a sleepwalk through a ghost town.

No more Lac Leman boatrides for me till the peak of summer. Meanwhile, this was me after a long boatride back, a shower and a soak.....

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Avatar - the modern drama

The Chinese government has pulled Avatar out of an estimated 1500 theatres in China, substituting the film with a biography of Confucious. While arguably, cinemagoers are better off with this switch, the motives behind the move are more sinister; many commentators believe that it is an attempt to nip in the bud any unrest that might be building up as a result of popular association of the Avatar storyline with the struggles of Chinese against land grabbing real estate developers. (China's Avatar restrictions cause a stir - Wall Street Journal)

Elsewhere, the L'Observatore Romano, the Vatican mouthpiece, slammed the film as endorsing a return to "neo paganism" , or the worship of nature over God, a view that they say is endorsed by the Pope (the Pope watches movies?? who knew!!.) Not to be outdone, the American conservative media has also jumped on this bandwagon, one reviewer calling the film anti  American in its "... hatred of the military and American institutions, and the notion that to be human is just way uncool.." (John Podhoretz, The Weekly Standard)

Seriously?? We are talking about the film with the giant blue people right?? The one you needed to wear those comical cardboard glasses to watch? The one with flying mountains, dragonlike creatures for transport, lack of substantial clothing for the main protagonists and a giant tree as the main point of conflict? The real green metaphor in the film is the amount of moolah that the producers of the film have generated, and the colour of envy in the faces of the competition.

 

The only real risk that this film poses to mankind is the prospect of a lineup of sequels and a slew of knockoffs in which we will be forced to endure cliche-ed storylines and even more dazzling special effects as substitutes for great storytelling and real human emotion.

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