Microsoft really has a way to create a loud noise each time they launch new products. But when they are about to pull out a product in the market, the noise becomes louder. And this time, it is the consumers who are creating the sound.

The latest brouhaha is about the phasing out of the famous Microsoft operating system from the market, the Windows XP. I don’t know about you, but I was like oh, no. Please don’t force me to use Vista.

I can still remember the time when I was so used with Windows 98. Everything seemed easy and not complicated for a non-computer geek like me. Many OS have been introduced after but I did not change mine.

It’s not until my old PC became irreparable that I had to buy a new one. And to my surprise, everything in the market came with a pre-installed Windows XP. I loathe the day that I had to learn everything from scratch.

The wiz in me came back into being a student. But I had no choice. I don’t want to change into Mac. If changing OS with Windows is like going to another country, changing to Mac would be like going to another planet.

Well, that’s only for me. I am conventional. I prefer the common postcard design as a marketing tool than a 3D billboard. And it took me ages to adapt to my Windows XP just to be told that now I have to let go of it soon and face another tune.

Microsoft will stop selling the XP OS. They will also stop giving updates. But it will still function. I can still use it until the day that I have to buy another PC. Oh, how I dread that day.

Can Bill Gates just make up his mind and stop creating different names for Window’s OS? Can Vista be the last? I know that technology improves through time. But can he just integrate all the improvements on the last OS standing?

Not all human beings have the size of Mr. Gates’ brain, especially the technology wiz side that I only have a very small portion of. So do not make things any more complicated than they already are. 

I was a skeptic about Grey’s Anatomy.

I never did like watching television series too much. It’s impractical for me to hurry home and wait on the telly for the show to come on. Plus, drama can suck the life out of you. I was afraid that such a series would be like the Days of Our Lives or The Bold and the Beautiful which stuck to traditional, stereotype soap-drama plots.

It’s a love and hate thing. I’d watch certain episodes of television series faithfully – both those I love and not so much love. But if I miss one and another one consecutively, I’d lose all interest.

Thanks to DVD, I could let the season pass me by and I’d watch the whole thing in one go. It’s like bulk printing , get it all done and be over with. Well, that’s what I did with Grey’s Anatomy and the comedy show Scrubs.

Now while the format for each series may be different, they’re really more similar than you think. I haven’t done any research or reviews about Grey’s Anatomy or Scrubs, because frankly, I don’t want to accidentally read anything about some person drooling all over McDreamy or McSteamy.

Anyway, I tried studying how Scrubs suddenly propelled all of these series that involves doctors and hospitals, including the series House. And so, I began to ponder and think about the relationship of all these soaps to the successful sitcom Scrubs.

However, I’ll be concentrating on Grey’s Anatomy where evidently, drama has made it all the more seemingly different from Scrubs. So, what one has to do is take all of Scrubs characters and try to dissect and analyze them comparatively against Grey’s Anatomy, and here what I’ve noticed:

Eliot Reid – Dr. Eliot Reid is quite simple and complex at the same time. (Women are all complex anyway) She has a lot of personality that Scrubs tried to translate on-screen. Grey’s Anatomy did this by splitting her character up. There has to be a sensitive woman who believes in real love – Dr. Izzie Stevens. There has to be a woman who guys go after or the other way around – Dr. Meredith Grey. And of course, there has to be the neurotic, bossy and overachiever side – Dr. Yang. And if it were up to me, Eliot Reid has another persona taking in the form of Dr. Allison Shepard – probably an alter ego of what Eliot Reid wouldn’t want to end up like.

Now, they take all these women who of course, need men to be partnered up with. Hence, the number of eligible men on the set of Grey’s Anatomy. The friendship of JD and Tuck are not up played in Grey’s Anatomy since romance revolves around couples and not best friends. And so, you take Dr. Shepard as JD who had a fell in and out of love with Eliot. Hence, Dr. Allison Shepard and Dr. Meredith Grey.

Take Turk and split his personality as a cool and promising surgeon, who also, might be a player. Hence, you have Dr. Burke – the interest of Dr. Yang and Dr. Sloan or McSteamy for Dr. Allison Shepard. Why would Grey’s Anatomy do this? Probably to keep it tight and convenient so everyone’s lives revolves one another in the hospital. Besides, the two characters turn up to be Dr. Shepard’s friends, one way or the other.

Dr. Cox – another central character takes in the form of Nazi or Dr. Bailey. She who hustles and bustles the main interns.

Bob Kelso – takes the form of the chief who is more reserved except for his love life.

As for the other characters, there’s still a long way to go and this is taking too long. And so, to be continued.

As people age, it is becoming more and more tempting to eat more. Most of the time, we just give in and say, ‘Oh well, life is short. I might as well eat everything I want while I’m still alive.’ But living your life imagining how you’d look like with what those skinny models are wearing can also become a burden.

Have you been the target of postcard mailing tactics of those diet and slimming medications? So those companies thought that you can’t make ‘It’ happen without resorting to science. They may be right. But let’s prove them wrong no matter how hard it seems to be.

I am no expert with diet tactics. I have followed and broken so many rules before. But I read one just this moment that I think I can do. It says to eat in smaller plates.

When we use smaller plates for our meals, we won’t be tempted to fill them up to the brim. Okay, so this may be likened to eating smaller portions, smaller servings of each course. And this will be also as hard, especially when you are faced with oh so many mouth watering delicacies.

Oh God, give me those postcards and I’ll just pop in some pills. Dieting requires a lot of concentration and imagination, ain’t it? You have to concentrate to get only the right amount, no more, no less. You must also imagine that you are full even though you are still hearing your stomach grumbling like there is some kind of a storm.

Learn to be deaf with the noises that are coming from your tummy. That might lead you over the counter of a fast food chain, getting a fix with burgers, fries and soft drink. Now those wouldn’t need plates to begin with.

But you must choose the path that you want to take in order to succeed in dieting. Do you want to eat every good food before you die? Or do you want to be able to shop better clothes? I want both. So okay, where are those small plates?

Finding love these days seems easy but well, tricky.

If you thought that you can only get postcard printing services online, you’re mistaken. Because aside from having marketing tools like the one mentioned, love can now also be found through the Internet. Thanks to Bill Gates, love is now only within your reach. But you have to be very cautious, especially when you set that ultimate goal of finding Mr. and Ms. Right on cyberspace. There are a lot of hoaxes in the world, especially in the worldwide Web. Life really has gotten more complicated. In taking the path to the love avenue online, you can go many ways. You can sign up for dating sites. You can also go wholesome and create a friend’s list with online communities. There is also chatting, personal messaging, name it. The choices are varied when it comes to love. Your only hope is that heartbreak doesn’t follow suit when a short circuit happens. Oh well, people will always be interested in finding their perfect match, except for those who love themselves so much that they don’t have room in their hearts for another person. I think that finding people and being found is the magic of the Internet. I’m not exactly referring to love, but also lost friends, family and loved ones. But yes, having a hot date that you met online is definitely an advantage that is hard to ignore. But with the boom of technology, you must also beware that not everything that you see on the Internet is true. A photo can easily be manipulated these days. Even how we look through the megapixels of the cameras can also be adjusted. So for those who are hoping to find the one on the Web, you must not trust what your eyes see. Just listen to the tune of your hearts and prepare to find love and be found, even by someone who looks better online than in person.