5 words make a title
Mar. 20th, 2013 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mni1) Still struggling with writer's ... not "block" so much as ... I dunno, "malaise?" "doubt?" "Cranky-pants-ness?" So, to give myself some positive incentive, today I bought a bag of my favorite cookies (ginger snaps), and will only allow myself to have the treat if/when I've met that day's writing goal. Sometimes, when my brain is acting childish, it helps to give up and stop pretending to be a grown-up.
2) Speaking of writing: now that I have a modern machine with a much faster microprocessor, and a bit more memory, I'm thinking of getting Dragon Dictate (or Naturally Speaking, whatever it's called, now). Question for those reading this who may have experience with it: is it worth it? How steep is the learning curve? Is there a better alternative out there?
3) Today is the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere; yesterday, while drinking my first cup of coffee, I looked up to see one of the resident feral rabbits hopping through my back yard. Bunny, bunny, bunny, bunny! Yay!
4) Still getting used to "Whippersnapper." The most annoying thing is that when you first set it up, it requires you to choose a password -- and there is no way to bypass it; also, it automatically locks your computer and requires you to reenter your password every time it goes to sleep, which for me, is every time I take a bathroom or snack break ('cause these things take longer for me). I thought I'd set up my personal preferences to not lock it when it goes to sleep, but for some reason, it didn't take. Still, if I have to type my password several times a day, I'm not likely to forget it. But since I live alone, and this computer is a tower/desktop, if some stranger comes along and fiddles with my computer when my back is turned, I've got a bigger security problem than a password-- it means someone has picked the deadbolt lock on my front door.
One thing that does make more sense than older Windows systems: no more shut down menu. When you want to shut down the computer, just reach over and push the power button-- what a novel concept! Although, even then, Windows's default is to put the computer to sleep, rather than fully off -- as I have cats who walk across the keyboard, that doesn't work for me. That, I was able to change, but I still got the message on my log-in screen that "Windows will shut down in two days to finish installing important updates," so its still going by Sleep Mode as the default version of "off".
If "forty is the new thirty" I guess "Sleep is the new Off."
5) I was sure I had five things when I started, but by the time I got here I forgot the last point I wanted to make... then, I wandered off to YouTube and forgot to post this (what you're reading now is a "Restored draft"). While on YouTube, I watched a video listing facts about American TV icon Mister Rogers, then got nostalgic and went looking for clips... I found an entire half-hour episode that had a) one of my favorite characters (Robert Troll -- I was introduced to him, in childhood, before I knew about the nasty goat-eating troll) and b) it ended with my favorite song (It's You I Like). Would you be annoyed if I posted the video here?
It always kind of saddens me when I think about how Mister Rogers was never exported to other Anglophone countries, the way Sesame Street was...
2) Speaking of writing: now that I have a modern machine with a much faster microprocessor, and a bit more memory, I'm thinking of getting Dragon Dictate (or Naturally Speaking, whatever it's called, now). Question for those reading this who may have experience with it: is it worth it? How steep is the learning curve? Is there a better alternative out there?
3) Today is the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere; yesterday, while drinking my first cup of coffee, I looked up to see one of the resident feral rabbits hopping through my back yard. Bunny, bunny, bunny, bunny! Yay!
4) Still getting used to "Whippersnapper." The most annoying thing is that when you first set it up, it requires you to choose a password -- and there is no way to bypass it; also, it automatically locks your computer and requires you to reenter your password every time it goes to sleep, which for me, is every time I take a bathroom or snack break ('cause these things take longer for me). I thought I'd set up my personal preferences to not lock it when it goes to sleep, but for some reason, it didn't take. Still, if I have to type my password several times a day, I'm not likely to forget it. But since I live alone, and this computer is a tower/desktop, if some stranger comes along and fiddles with my computer when my back is turned, I've got a bigger security problem than a password-- it means someone has picked the deadbolt lock on my front door.
One thing that does make more sense than older Windows systems: no more shut down menu. When you want to shut down the computer, just reach over and push the power button-- what a novel concept! Although, even then, Windows's default is to put the computer to sleep, rather than fully off -- as I have cats who walk across the keyboard, that doesn't work for me. That, I was able to change, but I still got the message on my log-in screen that "Windows will shut down in two days to finish installing important updates," so its still going by Sleep Mode as the default version of "off".
If "forty is the new thirty" I guess "Sleep is the new Off."
5) I was sure I had five things when I started, but by the time I got here I forgot the last point I wanted to make... then, I wandered off to YouTube and forgot to post this (what you're reading now is a "Restored draft"). While on YouTube, I watched a video listing facts about American TV icon Mister Rogers, then got nostalgic and went looking for clips... I found an entire half-hour episode that had a) one of my favorite characters (Robert Troll -- I was introduced to him, in childhood, before I knew about the nasty goat-eating troll) and b) it ended with my favorite song (It's You I Like). Would you be annoyed if I posted the video here?
It always kind of saddens me when I think about how Mister Rogers was never exported to other Anglophone countries, the way Sesame Street was...
no subject
Date: 2013-03-22 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-22 10:34 pm (UTC)I think what annoys me most of all is not the extra fiddliness this requires on my part, so much as the philosophy behind it:
It feeds into the "Stranger Danger!" fear,* while at the same time I think it's more of a placebo nod to the personal security and privacy fears-- more cosmetic than anything else.
*which I hate-- I believe my fellow human beings are far more trustworthy and honorable than our current cynicism would have us believe, (and besides, it implies that I cannot be trusted with my own instincts regarding my personal security; ftr, the only times my instincts have failed me is when I've ignored them for the sake of rationality).