Wipe Out
Yesterday, even though I caught up on my rest, I got more done than I planned. My laptop, which I use for most of my writing has been getting real flaky. Especially the internet explorer. So I flattened the machine, and rebuilt it. "Flattening" a machine means wiping it absolutely clean. It came with an image disk for restoring it to factory settings that worked great after a false start or two. Even though it gave you options for reformatting and partitioning the hard drive, it did not really do it. I ended up doing most of the disk setup work manually, but then it worked fine and I now have a fully functional machine again. Today or tomorrow I will be copying all my archived documents back, so I can get back to my active script projects tomorrow.
I am very, very tired of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It is bloated, sluggish, prone to attacks. I believe most of the vulnerability is caused by Microsoft's institutionalized ascendancy of marketing, and a tiny fraction because they are the big gorilla hackers like to attack. Marketing trumps quality and security for all products at Microsoft, even internal tools. I can attest to the latter having spent most of my nine years as a contractor working for Microsoft Internal Technology (IT) groups. A "good" Powerpoint presentation always impresses more than a functional piece of code. It is a very typical business model. Is it any wonder the U.S. is less and less admired every year? Our current atrocities in Iraq only serve to accelerate the trend.
Now, back to my computers. I installed Opera on my laptop. It was so easy I am trying Firefox on my work machine. I like both of them so far, thanks to DV8OR. So far I haven't found anything that I liked better with Internet Explorer, and there are features I like better with these browsers. So much for my customer loyalty. I am not a Microsoft hater, but I do get tired of all the constant irritations I feel as a result of their generally poor quality control, and catering to big business customers while telling me to deal with it.
While I was rebuilding the laptop I was also going through the garage. Got about 2% of the job done. I have boxes of stuff that have followed me around since I joined the Navy in 1984. I now have boxes of my Mother's junk too. I haven't seen her in nearly two years, and would like to extend the hiatus indefinitely. Luckily my brother is seeing her occasionally now. She is living in an assisted/independent living situation in Seattle, and I have to sort through things trying to determine what should be tossed, donated, or delivered to her. It was easier than I thought, though some of the sentimental items make me a little sad. I really looked forward to getting to my boxes of junk, which are much easier to sort. I don't worry much about tossing my stuff. Arts taught me things are not meaningful to me, relationships and making art are. Not a view I learned from my Mother. Still, I need to be mindful of her values and save the stuff which will give her the most joy, and dispose of things that will be missed the least. Not an easy task, and while I can put myself into the space where I valued the same things as she, it is not a role I would audition for, or accept willingly.
There is a silver lining. When I get my cleanup and box sorting done I will be that much closer to being able to load all my stuff in a pickup and a trailer. It will also make my house seem much bigger. : )
I am very, very tired of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It is bloated, sluggish, prone to attacks. I believe most of the vulnerability is caused by Microsoft's institutionalized ascendancy of marketing, and a tiny fraction because they are the big gorilla hackers like to attack. Marketing trumps quality and security for all products at Microsoft, even internal tools. I can attest to the latter having spent most of my nine years as a contractor working for Microsoft Internal Technology (IT) groups. A "good" Powerpoint presentation always impresses more than a functional piece of code. It is a very typical business model. Is it any wonder the U.S. is less and less admired every year? Our current atrocities in Iraq only serve to accelerate the trend.
Now, back to my computers. I installed Opera on my laptop. It was so easy I am trying Firefox on my work machine. I like both of them so far, thanks to DV8OR. So far I haven't found anything that I liked better with Internet Explorer, and there are features I like better with these browsers. So much for my customer loyalty. I am not a Microsoft hater, but I do get tired of all the constant irritations I feel as a result of their generally poor quality control, and catering to big business customers while telling me to deal with it.
While I was rebuilding the laptop I was also going through the garage. Got about 2% of the job done. I have boxes of stuff that have followed me around since I joined the Navy in 1984. I now have boxes of my Mother's junk too. I haven't seen her in nearly two years, and would like to extend the hiatus indefinitely. Luckily my brother is seeing her occasionally now. She is living in an assisted/independent living situation in Seattle, and I have to sort through things trying to determine what should be tossed, donated, or delivered to her. It was easier than I thought, though some of the sentimental items make me a little sad. I really looked forward to getting to my boxes of junk, which are much easier to sort. I don't worry much about tossing my stuff. Arts taught me things are not meaningful to me, relationships and making art are. Not a view I learned from my Mother. Still, I need to be mindful of her values and save the stuff which will give her the most joy, and dispose of things that will be missed the least. Not an easy task, and while I can put myself into the space where I valued the same things as she, it is not a role I would audition for, or accept willingly.
There is a silver lining. When I get my cleanup and box sorting done I will be that much closer to being able to load all my stuff in a pickup and a trailer. It will also make my house seem much bigger. : )
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