Chris’s Domain

You’d think that I’d have suffered my (un)fair share of discrimination in Malaysia when it comes to scholarship access and entry into universities. Well, Australia’s much better in the sense that because I’m paying for university, they didn’t discriminate my admission. However, when it comes to scholarship opportunities, the same story unfolds. Looks like being a 2nd class citizen is never good anywhere in the world.

I recently received an invitation to apply for postgraduate research scholarships. I felt honoured that the Faculty sent this to its top performing students, but much to my dismay, I discovered that there is a difference between being “top performing student” and “top performing Australian student” as I was clearly not the 2nd because I don’t hold an Australian passport! In essence, I’m only welcomed to apply for scholarships if I’m Australian. Fair enough, but why the exclusionist principle for one of the most prestigious international postgraduate scholarship programs in the world. Do my qualifications suddenly become irrelevant because I’m not a permanent resident or citizen of Australia?

While I understand that scholarship programs offered by local institutions for higher learning are primarily meant for local students, but if Australian universities willingly accept international students (and charge 4 times more in fees), they should do everything to ensure that international students obtain the equivalent experience as a local student. Being excluded by an overwhelming majority of scholarships, awards and prizes means international students will NEVER be able to gain the same academic experience as a local student. This means they are being shortchanged as we were promised a truly Australian university experience, which is impossible given the principles of excluding international students in any major academic award of significance.

Here’s an excerpt of the mail (there were others too):
“You have been specifically identified by your Faculty as one of their most academically outstanding students in the latter stages of your undergraduate degree, or currently undertaking honours.

At this event, you will learn about some of the world’s most renowned programs that are designed to foster and reward scholastic excellence. These programs include the Rhodes Scholarship, Monash Awards, and Fulbright Scholarships, as well as other opportunities in Canada and the United States.

(i) Almost all of the programs being presented as this session require applicants to be Australian Citizens. However, if you are a Permanent Resident of Australia who is considering becoming an Australian Citizen in the near future, you are also encouraged to attend. If you are a Permanent Resident of Australia but you are not considering becoming an Australian Citizen, or you are an international student, there would be no benefit in you attending this event;”

“The Jacobs Australia Engineering Leadership Prize will be awarded to recognise
outstanding engineering leadership or management exhibited by a UNSW student
undertaking one of the following Engineering undergraduate programs
……..
To be eligible, undergraduates must:
* Be Australian citizens or permanent residents only.”

Disappointed? You bet I am.

Ever wondered what happened to the HP Mini 2140? This interesting backstage insight to Microsoft’s 2009 TechEd event in Australia provides all the details relating to what is essentially the first ever mass scale temporary netbook deployment program, with over 2500 HP Mini 2140’s ordered, shipped, reimaged with Windows 7 and handed out to attentees of the event.

http://4sysops.com/archives/deploying-2500-windows-7-netbooks-at-tech-ed-australia/

http://www.techedbackstage.net/2009/09/04/netbook-imaging-is-almost-done/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYg46-6yfA

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37473564@N00/3877137526/

Some additional points:

• Every 2140 ordered was a custom base unit SKU with FreeDos, with Windows 7 installed by the deployment staff.
• All 2140s deployed have the standard 1024×576 resolution screens with 160GB hard drives.
• The large supply of 2140s ordered resulted in a stock shortage earlier than anticipated, but there were enough 2140s committed for this event.
• The 2140 runs Windows 7 beautifully and is fully compatible.
• Attendees will be asked if they wish to receive the device as a gift or a loan. Those who elect for the loan option will be able to use the netbook as much as they wish during the event but must return it on departure. MS will then donate all returned netbooks to a community program aimed at helping the disadvantaged develop technology skills.

I spoke to some attendees during the event and they appear to be very satisfied with the netbook, albeit with battery life being the only concern as 3-cell batteries were handed out with a promotional offer for 6-cell batteries which they could purchase at a very good price. Being IT pros, there’s great praise for the keyboard, nice touchpad, bright screen and of course Windows 7 performing very well on this netbook. Even the HP DriveGuard and durable shell was put to the test as I saw many instances of people dropping their netbooks, but no casualties! The HP Mini 2140 is officially the best enterprise netbook out there. Period.

As I posted on NBR:

The HP Pavillion dm3 will be one of a series of updated HP Pavillion consumer notebooks that HP will launch in conjunction with Windows 7. These notebook will be announced in the coming weeks and should be available upon Windows 7’s official launch on October 22nd.

The HP Pavillion dm1 and dm3 marks HP’s first foray into the consumer CULV platform, directly competing with Acer’s successful Timeline series. Prices suggested here will be competitive with Acer’s offerings.
HP Pavillion dm3 Tentative Specifications
ETA: Mid September 2009, shipping October with Windows 7
13.3″ HD Display (1366×768)
Intel CULV, AMD Athlon Neo platforms
AMD HD 3200/3410 graphics
HDMI, USB/eSata, no optical drive
Ultra-thin design
1.8kg
Chiclet keyboard
Brushed aluminium highlights/HP Imprint
The other notebooks to be launched in the consumer range include:
dm1 - 11.6″ CULV
dv6 Refresh
dv7 Refresh - new i7 mobile CPU configurations
dv8 - 18.4″ entertainment notebook with i7 mobile CPU
Additional Analyst Notes:
No information on HDX updates yet, but the dv7 and dv8 will now overlap the HDX series, especially with new HD resolutions expected to be offered.
A 13.3″ commercial notebook counterpart to this is also expected.

Another year of uni has passed now that exams are over, but I’ll need a lot of beers to drown out the sorrows once results are out next week. I’ll finally be heading home to Penang for holidays next Friday, but that is going to be short stay in Penang as I’ll then be leaving for Seattle the following week and spending the next 12 weeks there with the cool folks of the Dynamics team at Redmond.

Of course I still have my thesis which I’ll be working over the break, so there is a lot to do in the next few weeks. Now, if only the US consulate will hurry up with the visa, all will be well.