The real blog revolution

Today I was thinking about all the really great, funny, interesting, and thought-provoking blog posts I write in my head, but which never actually make it onto my blog.

Recently I've written a rant about misspelled signage and one about being sick of winter, a post about editing, one about geekdom, one about Second Life, and one about raising kids who are readers.

If we ever get to the technological point where I'll be somehow "plugged in" to my blog all the time and will only have to think things to have them appear on the page, I'll be a very prolific blogger indeed.

In the meantime, maybe I'll get to write a few things down sometime soon. *Sigh*

Domino Effect

Ever notice how sitting down at the computer to do what you expect will be a relatively easy task so easily dominoes into a huge, time-devouring project? That's the kind of day I'm having.

I decided that, of the many projects on my list, today I would work toward getting electronic versions of my stories for sale on my website. I've already made PDF files and cover images for the ones I'm starting with. While I spent some time looking at the ZenCart system in the fall, I decided it's a bit more complicated than I need right now--a page on my site, some PayPal buttons, and download pages are really all I need for now. Should be do-able, right?

I started setting up the page, uploaded my graphics files to Photobucket, and started in on the first ebook. Hmmm, I thought, I should make it available in more formats. Easy enough. I have both Mobipocket Creator and Microsoft Reader on my computer. That would give me three formats, which looks pretty reasonable.

Well, seems that the Microsoft Reader add-in for MS Word (to convert .doc files to Reader files) no longer works with Word 2007. Kind of a big oversight there, for the folks at MS Reader. Some time eaten up trying to determine whether I still have Word 2003 installed on one of the computers in the house. Oh yes, I do. However, for some reason, the add-in doesn't recognize it. Sigh. Okay, time wasted, forget offering the files in MS Reader format. Grrr.

Mobipocket Creator--great, easy graphical interface. Wait a second, only opens MS Word files. Okay, load up a story and transfer it into Word, save it. Make the e-book, easy as pie. Wait, the formatting is no good. Back to Word, change the layout. Make ebook again. Better, but not great. Ah, this should look better. Well, it would, but Mobipocket doesn't translate it the same onto the page. Off to the Mobipocket page...huh, there's a different edition that will import .pdf files--which I already have. Download, install.

I'm about to try that. That's where I am, after about four hours. Sigh. Cross your fingers for me. Right now, it looks like I could be at this all night.

Chandler Project

A quick note today on a new organizer I've been trying out--and already I love it. Chandler (http://chandlerproject.org/) is a free, open-source organizer with the ability to share data with other users or across multiple computers using the online Chandler Hub.

Tasks, to-do lists, calendar events and the like are tracked on a triage basis of "now," "later" and "done," which makes it easy to see at a glance what should be on your immediate radar. There's also an option to create an email directly from Chandler, so that you can take some tasks from start to finish without switching programs.

I'd like to be able to customize the interface colors a little more, but other than that I have no complaints. It's easy to learn and is proving very helpful as I organize all this book launch data.

Good news from the computer front

Today my computer is almost back to normal. Much of the data has been restored and it's running at its usual speed again (which my husband still says is too slow, but it's fine with me). I've been climbing the learning curve of a new email program, and I'm not quite ready to pass judgement on it yet. There are some things about it that I don't like, but at least it has an easy feature for backing up data. Also a nice calendar/task feature which, if I could train myself to use it, could be very helpful.

To de-stress tonight I finally played Guild Wars again for a while. Ahhhhhh. ;-)

I'm also playing with a free trial of a program called Inspiration, visual brainstorming and organizing software which is meant for the educational market but has been recommended as good software for writers as well (by Holly Lisle). The price tag is a little hefty for my taste, but it does seem like it might be useful. I have 30 days to play around with it and see. Tonight I was making a schematic diagram of the story I'm currently working on, using the multitudes of clipart and photos included in the software. Quite interesting. I can see that it would be great for brainstorming and working out story problems.

Anyway, I'm very glad to have my computer "back."

If anything, worse

Well, the computer troubles are, if anything, worse now. I do have more data move and programs re-installed on the new system, however that system appears to have faults that we didn't know about at first and the video card we bought for it is not working out. Sigh. It's up to my husband to solve the problem but it will likely involve ordering more hardware, which will add more time to the whole process.

The big downside is that I'm spending so much time on this, I'm not getting anything else done at all. Well, some reading, while I wait for files to transfer. I guess that counts for something.

Plodding Along

The re-installation of my new hard drive continues...is this three days now? I've lost track. I can only work on it for so long before I start to get a headache and have to take a break. I've done all the "easy" stuff (not that it was all easy, but at least I could do it without help) but now I'm going to need some technical assistance from my husband to do the rest. With luck we'll have a chance to work on it tomorrow night.

I've found the entire process strangely depressing. I've read so many old emails and opened so many documents to see what they were, only to be reminded of times past, projects started and abandoned, attempts to get organized that fell flat--so many things have been either melancholy, bittersweet, or downright downing.

At the same time it has made me ponder just how much of my life has become caught up with the computer. One could reconstruct an amazingly accurate picture of the past five years by combing through the archive of my hard drive. Is this a good thing? I don't know. But it is rather interesting.

In the interest of fairness, I should say that I've found a few gems that I'd forgotten about, like a poem my daughter and I co-wrote so long ago that neither of us remembers doing it. So it's not all bad. But even that is one of the bittersweet things, at least in mu current state of mind. Which I think may be succumbing to the onset of a bout of winter blues. I'm trying to fight them off. We'll see how that goes.

Domestic Goddess Day

That's just a more interesting way of saying that I spent the day housecleaning, doing laundry, and shopping for groceries. I also managed to install some programs on the new system, and my husband did some, too, so that job is progressing. Of course downloading and installing things is the easy part--transferring data and setting everything up the way I want it is the part I'm still dreading. At least we're labouring in a clean house now.

I also am trying very hard to view this in a more positive light. So far, I'm about 75% successful.

On a brighter note, I've got about 3000 words on a new short story, and I like how it's going so far. I've also realized that if I'm going to achieve my goal of reading 30 new books this year (which seems like a pretty modest number to me) I have to read more. I'm currently reading two books but haven't actually finished any yet, and now January's gone!

Here's another watercolor/dry pencil picture that I enjoyed doing:

A Glum Day

So my computer seems to have developed some sort of mental illness--it's sluggish and non-responsive much of the time and I can't figure out why. My dear husband has come to the rescue, done some wheeling and dealing and is in the process of building me a new one, bigger, better, faster, etc. Why am I still glum? Because this means that the day I dread is looming fast.

The day I have to re-install my computer.

I've managed to put it off literally for years, ignoring my husband's advice that a re-install is necessary once in a while to keep the machine running smartly. I'm sure he's right, it's just such a huge, huge job that it's always been too daunting. However, I can't avoid it any longer.

I've spent most of the day deciding what needs to go on the new system and what I never use anymore. I've deleted thousands of old emails so that transferring my data will be easier. It's been altogether a rather depressing task, and there are probably days and days of it ahead. Ugh!

I know, this is a terrible attitude. I should be grateful that I'll have a lovely new system when it's all said and done. I should be grateful that I have a computer at all!

Perhaps the rejection letter that came in today's mail has something to do with it. I suspect it does.

At any rate, I've stared at the screen absolutely as much as I can today. I'm going to go to bed and read for a while.

Lego Star Wars II

I've been playing this game with my son the past couple of days and I have to post a recommendation for it--it's a total blast! The storyline is so similar to the movies it brings a smile to the face of any Star Wars fan. There's no dialogue, but the cutscenes are mimed so well you know what's happening.

One thing I really like about the gameplay is that it's challenging but completely do-able. The number of lives seems to be infinite, so that while there's a penalty to pay for dying, it doesn't involve repeating sections of the game over and over. One can always move ahead. The Lego characters are awfully cute and while it's only a two-player game, it's often the case that a group contains more than two characters, and players can switch between them. There are 99 levels of play, so it's good for lots of hours of fun.

If you like video games with lots of action, a fun storyline, and just enough challenge that it's not frustrating, I highly recommend this one. Oh, and if you're a Star Wars fan, it's just that much better.

Your Backup Plan

This morning I came down to my computer and turned it on to look up an email address. It halted halfway through the bootup process, which is very unusual. I restarted it; same thing. Called in my computer technician (that would be my husband). After spending the morning working at it and trying different things, it's working again, although my Christmas list may end up consisting of just one item, a new video card. We'll see what happens over the next few days with it.

While this was disconcerting and annoying, I couldn't stop thinking about how much worse it would be if my NaNoWriMo novel were saved only on this computer. It's not: it's backed up on my flash drive, in my Google documents, and on my laptop, as well as on another computer in the house. Sound like overkill? Maybe, maybe not. All I can say is, it was one less thing to worry about this morning. One big thing.

Coincidentally, Sue Lick's column in the current issue of The Scriptorium is about this very same issue.

If you haven't backed up your NaNo novel or anything else you're working on lately, do it now! As soon as you finish reading this post! You never know when the unexpected will jump up and bite you you-know-where, and the peace of mind is well worth the few minutes of preventive time it will take.

What do you want right now?

A website asked me this question this morning, so I'll attempt to answer it.


Sitting here right now, I want to get ahead on my word count for NaNoWriMo. This year I'm just keeping my head above water every day, when usually I'm floating along on an inflatable raft. So, although one wouldn't know it by the way I'm procrastinating, that's one thing I want right now.

I'd also like to have all my housecleaning done, Christmas shopping finished and presents wrapped. But I'll stick to concentrating on things that are within my grasp.

I'd also like world peace and an end to all the ills of civilization, but again, beyond my abilities. If I start thinking about those things I'll have to go and lie down.

Well, that's new

I just posted today's entry (A Little Self-Expression) and it posted under yesterday's date. How can this be? It's 8:02 in the evening (and no, it's not my office clock again!). Is Blogger having some kind of meltdown? It will be interesting to see what this one gets dated...

ETA: Okay, I have a guess at what happened. I saved the picture into a post yesterday but didn't write the post until today--but I guess it posted under the date the draft was started? Isn't that kind of a weird setup? What if I started a draft and then didn't finish it for two weeks? Would it still get posted 'way backdated? If anyone has the answers to these questions, I'd love to hear them.

eMate Update

I mentioned picking up a Newton eMate 300 a little while back. I now have the capability to connect it to my PC to export files that I create on it. I had to find the proper cable, and hoping to pick up some advice I joined the NewtonTalk list server. What a wealth of information! It's a very active list and after I asked where I might find such a cable, the replies came thick and fast. I found an online store and ordered one.

I should have held off a little longer as someone on the list offered to send me one for only the price of shipping from Holland, but mine was already ordered. Live and learn!

Anyway, the cable arrived today, I downloaded the Newton connection program from the United Network of Newton Archives, and installed the program. It took me about ten minutes of fiddling with my serial connection settings and ping! I had a connection. Now I can export any files I create on the eMate onto my PC in .rtf format, quick as a wink.

The last thing I'd like is a new battery for it--the one it came with works, but doesn't hold a charge for as long as it could. There are instructions on the 'net for building a new battery, which I might resort to, but right now I have a line on a new one that I could pick up for around $20 and shipping. If so, that would bring my outlay to less than 100 dollars. A great bargain! I'm thinking this rig is going to come in really handy during NaNoWriMo this year...

Newton eMate 300

A while back I read a post by Doug Johnston over at D*I*Y Planner about a nifty-sounding little rig called an eMate. Originally made by Apple for the educational market, they're no longer in production, but the ones that are still around are tough little things. I picked one up on eBay for about $35.00 including shipping, and it arrived yesterday.

It's super cool. Better even than a laptop for portability, and there's no startup lag time--open the cover and start typing. We're just talking basics here, folks; word-processing, notes, calculator, etc. on a monochrome screen with backlight, but with re-celled batteries it can run for up to 24 hours. I still need a cable to connect it to my PC and I'll probably have to play around with software a bit, but it will export files in .rtf format so it should be a welcome addition to my writing tools.

My seven-year old son loves it and is already writing a story on it.