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Books and Links

Saturday, January 12th, 2008

I heard some people already have their books to judge for the RITA Awards. I’m not one of them, but then I always seem to get my books later than most others. It’s frustrating, though, because the more time I have to read, the easier it’ll be to get them all in before the deadline. Sometimes judges really get slammed with a huge amount of entries. IIRC, I had eight last year. That’s a lot of reading in a short time.

I was talking to a guy at work Friday about Linux and Ubuntu because I heard about this really small, light laptop that’s incredibly cheap. The EEE from ASUS (you can read more about it here if you’re interested), but it runs Linux and I’ve never used that before. So this guy at work is geekier with computers than I am and not only is he running it, he says his laptop boots up incredibly fast. Unlike with Windows where I can basically make coffee and still sit and wait. That speed makes it incredibly tempting. And this wouldn’t be a substitute for the current laptop, but a traveling version. But since I still haven’t made a decision on a new desktop computer after 2 years of consideration, I don’t guess I’ll be moving too fast on this.

Today is my local chapter meeting and I’m hoping to attend, but before I go, I found a fun web page. If you’ve owned a dog, you might find this amusing.

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Search and Save

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Last night I downloaded another program that’s supposed to help keeping notes–including snips from websites. I say another program because I have like three–or is it four–that I’ve tried and don’t use. All of these previous programs had been recommended by other writers so I figured they’d work for me, too. They didn’t.

This one is free as well, although only because it was the giveaway of the day on Thursday. Normally it’s a fifty dollar thing and I wouldn’t spend that much to make notes. :-) I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that this one really will be the solution for me. Right now, I just save stuff to files for each book and sometimes it’s hard to find what I’m looking for–especially since I have the picture/web page file and then the file for emails. It just seems as if there should be an easier way. The demo looked cool, so hopefully this is it. We’ll see.

I reread a proposal last night that was sent to one of my editors yesterday and discovered a missing word. I didn’t see it the other ten times I read it, but after it was off, then it leaps right out at me. Sigh. I guess that’s just the way things go, huh?

In other news, one of the radio stations here has begun its all Christmas music 24 hours a day programming. Yea! I love Christmas music. Sometimes I listen to it on my MP3 player even when it’s mid-summer. :-) What can I say? Besides there’s nothing like Dean Martin crooning Baby It’s Cold Outside to make a day divine.

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Happy Dog Time!

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

The last of the flower bulbs has been planted! Hallelujah! If I wasn’t so tired, I’d post the dancing Hobbes because I’ve never been so glad to have anything over in my life. Never again will I ever order this many bulbs at the same time–so help me God.

Of course, the damn yard work isn’t exactly done yet, but I feel as if the worst is over. It’ll all be worth it next spring and summer–that’s what I keep telling myself.

Amusing story. A few months ago I ordered a garden tool from QVC. I know, huge shock that I bought it online from them. Anyway, it’s an 8 in 1 tool and I liked it for weeding, but it proved itself invaluable during this bulb planting marathon. My dad picked it up on Saturday to use because the other tools (which all belong to him) weren’t handy. It’s funny how my garden tool ended up in his hand continually the rest of that day and next three days, as well. And last night, when he packed up his tools and took them home, he loaded up my handy dandy gadget, too. Something tells me I’m not getting it back. Fortunately, they’re still available (though on clearance) and I ordered a new one for myself.

The USB wireless connector thing arrived yesterday and I hooked up the old laptop to it. The thing worked slick as spit and I was able to get everything updated in a couple of hours rather than days (or weeks) on dial up. Now this was definitely worth the investment for non-wireless capable computers.

Now that the copy edits are on their way to NYC and the planting is done, maybe I can get some writing done again.

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Retrograde Woes Continue

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007

Yesterday morning my connectivity woes continued. I was able to access my high speed on my desktop, but when I went to my laptop, nothing. It offered me the choice of 4 wireless networks–none of which were mine. Some of those networks were so far away, there was hardly any green on the status bars, but it couldn’t pick up the router 30 feet away.

Since I want all my email on my laptop computer, I had to use dial up to get it. Big sigh. At least I was able to do everything else on the desktop, but it was so frustrating. I rebooted the desktop before I left for work and hoped it would all work when I got home–just like it did on Monday–and sure enough, it did. This morning–so far so good.

It has to be that damn Mercury being in retrograde. I’ve never had this problem before, but shortly after this Mercury thing starts, it happens two days in a row? Normally, I don’t have big retrograde issues and never anything with the computer–until now.

I finished copy edits. I think. The CE suggested I maybe add a thought to the end of the book. I tried that, but the problem is that I run on and don’t know when to quit, and once I start explaining, I can go on forever. So I decided I better stick with what I have, although I’ll keep it in mind and see if an epiphany doesn’t strike before I have to mail it back. Anyway, I’m going to read through one more time and try to watch for repeated words. I have a little problem with that and I honestly don’t see them no matter how closely I watch.

Monday I received my first magazine from the garden club I joined and one of the ads was for a red amaryllis. It looked so cool, much better than a poinsettia. Maybe that’s because my mom always had at least one every year and so I think those plants are common and boring. But a red amaryllis…. Sigh. I’m so tempted, but it’s a sissy flower and I’d have to keep it inside.

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Place Your Bets!

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

Sunday night the Red Sox won the American League pennant. That means that from the time the playoffs started (and I’m counting Colorado’s one game play off with San Diego to see who would get the wild card slot) every team I’ve wanted to win has won–with the exception of my beloved Chicago Cubs. I don’t know why they were immune from my mojo, but if we exclude them, I’m absolutely 100% dead on. :-)

Those of you who want to fly off to Vegas and bet on the World Series are undoubtedly dying to know who I’m rooting for next. I think it’s Colorado. I’m like 95% sure. The only uncertainty comes from the fact that I cheer on the Sox because they’re the Yankees arch enemy and I hate the damn Yankees. (Sorry Yankee fans.) So I’ve rooted for Boston for a few years and there’s a slight possibility that I might not be able to root against them. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but you never know.

In writing news, I’m nearly finished with my copy edits. I just have two more questions to think about–both in the epilogue–then I’ll do one more read through, and send it back. I’ve really had great copy edits on my books, and I’ve particularly enjoyed this most recent set because there have been scattered comments throughout–all nice stuff. It’s great to get that kind of feedback in addition to having my boo boos caught.

My cable internet was down on Monday morning! Talk about your Mercury retrograde issue. I recycled the router and the desktop computer like three times a piece, but I came to the conclusion it had to be cable even though I had television. All systems were go on the router with the exception of the net. I had to plug in the phone and–GASP–use dial up again! OMG, am I spoiled! It was painfully slow. Luckily, everything was working when I got home yesterday afternoon, but man, it makes me wonder how I managed with dial up for all those years.

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I Stink at Titles (Blog or Otherwise)

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

I actually got a little sleep last night–not as much as I needed, but hey, I’m just happy I got some. That made it easier to get out of bed this morning, and so I didn’t hit the snooze as many times as usual. Cool, I thought, I’ll be able to blog from home this morning instead of the EDJ (Evil Day Job) or at least be able to answer comments.

Instead, I spent all the “extra” time I had trying to get my laptop to pick up the wireless signal from the router. This included several boot-ups of the laptop, one boot-up of the desktop, and unplugging the router for a minute and plugging it back in. One of the last two steps worked. :-) Since did both simultaneously, I’m not sure which one it was.

This has become a frustration for me since this weekend when the power went out for a minute or two. There wasn’t lightning so I don’t know what happened, but that seemed to have knocked the router out on Saturday morning. Computers–you gotta love them–or something. ;-)

I stopped by my parents house on the way home from work yesterday. The first thing my mom asks is: “Did you stop and get gas?” Um, no, why? Apparently, I was late. I looked at the clock and it’s 3pm. Not that late. Besides, it was raining yesterday and Minnesotans can’t drive in rain. But gee, how close is she paying attention to my schedule? I rarely stop off on my way home so the timing isn’t something she could be accustomed to.

The other parent event of the day involves my dad. I saw him digging out the space for my garden on Monday when I got home from the EDJ and it was a lot of work. It just seemed smarter to get the wall put around the garden this fall rather than having him dig it out, pile dirt in, and then get the retaining wall put up next spring. So we talked about hiring the guy who did my tree ring and my dad said he’d call him and see when he could come out and give an estimate.

Now here’s the funny dad part. I drive home and the phone’s ringing as I walk in the door. Of course, I didn’t reach it in time. I had my purse, my tote bag, a couple of bags full of stuff my mom had given me and my shoes were wet from the rain. I wasn’t traipsing through the house with those on.

After missing the phone, I put down my bags, took off my shoes, and the phone rings again, so jacket still on, I rush to the computer room. It’s my dad. I just had to shake my head. Does he think I can beam myself home like Star Trek? And when I didn’t answer the first time, he didn’t wait very long to call the second time. I guess he was pretty impatient to talk to me. :-) Anyway, the tree-ring guy is coming out to give my dad an estimate tomorrow morning.

And I got some semi-decent work in on my latest project yesterday–both on lunch and in the evening. If I hadn’t been so darn tired, I could have done more. I love it when things actually go well!

Baseball playoffs start today. Unfortunately, the Cubs/Diamondbacks game is on at 9pm MN time which means I won’t be able to watch much of it.

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The Password Shuffle

Monday, October 1st, 2007

My password expired at the EDJ (Evil Day Job) this morning and I had to pick a new one. I absolutely hate having to go through this every 3 months. We’re not allowed to repeat anything we’ve used before, and we can’t even start with something similar to what we’ve used before. Oh, yeah, and it has to be letters and numbers. Just to add an extra layer of difficulty, we’re only allowed 8 characters and none of them can be symbols. I’ve gone through everything that would be easy to remember and now I’m having to invent stuff. I hate it.

Anyone with an IS background is thinking well, it’s good to be secure, so quit your complaining. I maintain that there is less danger of someone hacking into the EDJ computer and using the name of one of the castaways from Gilligan’s Island to hack my account than there is of someone walking into the building and checking for where I wrote down my now-impossible-to-remember password. :-)

Today, my first option was rejected by the system without explanation. I don’t know why since it fit the parameters for passwords. My only guess is that maybe it didn’t like that it was 6 characters instead of 8.

But not to worry, I came up with an even-more-difficult-to-remember alternative which was 8 characters and that was accepted. I carefully wrote it down across my calendar so that any thief off the street can come in and access whatever he or she wants. ;-)

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Laptop Fan Thing Review

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

I ordered a laptop fan thing recently after reading a discussion about them on one of my loops. You rest your laptop on top of it and it keeps the computer cooler. It’s basically a thin, flat surface that houses two fans that blow air onto the bottom of the laptop.

Since my laptop does get hot on the bottom and since I do like to sit with it on my lap, this sounded like something I need. It arrived yesterday.

First thing that surprised me was how small and light the thing was. I expected something heftier and my laptop is bigger than the fan thing, making the balance of the two together seem a little off to me.

The second thing was that when I plugged it into the USB port, I didn’t receive any kind of new equipment message. I thought it wasn’t working so I unplugged it and replugged it a couple of times before I decided I wasn’t going to get a message. I checked the fans, and sure enough, they were blowing cool air.

They had other models of these things, but I chose this one deliberately because its power comes through the USB connection. There were others that involved an electrical cord and I have enough of those to trip over without adding one more.

Overall, I liked the laptop fan thing. It did keep the laptop much cooler (I checked the bottom of it several times to check on it) and it kept the heat from my legs. It’s quiet, so it didn’t bother me when I worked on a couple of synopses last night and the light weight keeps it from feeling like a burden.

There was really only one thing about it I didn’t like and that was the small size. I wish it had come larger to fit the bottom of the laptop. Maybe I’ll get used to balancing it, but it just felt off last night. I think they kept it small for travel.

That’s my review service for the day. Definitely worth it, but I wish I’d found a bigger size with a uSB hook up.

Cubs lost. Milwaukee won. Magic number remains 4.

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Mission: Impossible

Wednesday, September 12th, 2007

Yesterday I was on a mission. I wanted to be able to share files and printers between my laptop and my desktop and I’d sought out–and found–instructions. I was getting this setup accomplished!

The first hour passed in a blink. I didn’t get anything to work yet, but I felt as if I’d made progress even if I was running back and forth between my great room and my office to do things on the two different computers. The frustration level was low at this point and victory seemed close at hand.

Hour two brought my first win–I managed to get the desktop to read files on the laptop! Hurrah! The second hour passed in a blink, too, and I had a ton of stuff to do that didn’t involve the computer, but hey, I was halfway there and it would only take a couple more minutes to get the laptop to read the desktop–I was certain of that–and most importantly to be able to print to the laser.

Hour three saw my frustration level growing. I was resorting to online searches to figure out why every time I tried to access the desktop, I received an “access denied” error. My problem was bigger than I thought because there was a time out when the laptop tried to ping the desktop. The router pinged and I could ping the laptop from the desktop. I managed to get this fixed. Now everyone can ping everything else. Surely, I must be thisclose to being able to print from my laptop.

Hour Four. Frustration level is soaring off the charts. Online searches are turning up instructions that say go to programs–>adminstrative tools–>security options and I DON’T HAVE SECURITY OPTIONS AS A CHOICE! I try to find more instructions. Nothing helps. I’ve since moved the laptop on the desk next to the other computer so I can search on one while I tinker with the desktop, but even this doesn’t help.

Time wasted: 4 hours
Other priorities/obligations completed: 0
Final result: Still can’t print from laptop and access to the desktop is still denied.

I went to bed.

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I Hate Titles or This Blog is Untitled

Tuesday, August 28th, 2007

I read through the synopsis again–all 23 pages of it–and I didn’t think it was bad. I tightened up a few things and rephrased what didn’t make sense or seemed repetitive. Unless my writing buddies come back with something big, I can’t imagine not having this new story ready to go to my agent by the end of this week. (Note to the universe: Please don’t let them find anything major.)

The big bummer? I didn’t cut much. Maybe a couple of sentences. And I couldn’t see where I could delete a whole lot. I’ve heard authors say that it’s never a good thing to give too much information in the synopsis before writing the book, but I’m not sure what I can leave out.

Anyway, I just want the synopsis done so I can move on to other things. I’ve got too much I need to do and not enough time to do it in and I’m just talking about my writing, not the gazillion other things that are on my list. (And I seriously want to find out if I have a story to go with all the research I did on quantum mechanics!)

My new shoes came yesterday! The left one is completely comfortable, the right one rubs against my heel. Grrr! I’m going to keep them and hope that as I break them in the rubbing stops. They’re so comfortable otherwise. Plus, they make my feet look small! That’s always a good thing.

There were more computer issues to solve yesterday. I couldn’t get MySpace to pull up in Firefox on the laptop. That was no biggie while I didn’t have high speed on that computer, but once I did, it didn’t take long before I got tired of using IE. Besides, how long could it take to solve this issue? It had to be cookies or one of my add-ons, right? I cleared all my blocked cookies. Nothing. I turned off all my add-ons. Nothing. I cleared all my cookies, even the ones I wanted on my machine (and that meant reentering passwords later). Nothing. So much for quick and easy. I finally figured out it was some third party cookie issue, but that took time and I don’t have it to waste. How do computer issues expand from simple to time consuming?

The storms rolled through at 2:55 this morning. I’m exhausted.

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