How do you feel today? v. 3.0

[aliantha]

Ali, you do know that windows 8 comes out on Friday. The OD made me go get certified so now I get to walk around with a special badge that proclaims it.

Jenn, we're still running Office 2003, so at this point any improvement is a good thing. That's cool about your certification, tho -- badges are a big deal.

I asked whether we were getting touch-screen monitors, and the answer was no, they're just the regular kind. So I'm guessing we won't be rolling out Windows 8 any time soon...

[deer of the dawn]

Ali, you do know that windows 8 comes out on Friday. The OD made me go get certified so now I get to walk around with a special badge that proclaims it.

Jenn, I do hope you availed yourself of the opportunity to say, "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"

Av, is Win8 really going to suck, or do ppl just hate change? I wound up with Vista (I hate to admit the Geek Squad pulled a fast one on me when I bought my laptop in 2009, giving me a "free upgrade" from Vista to Win7, and neglecting to inform me that installing it would wipe out MS Office which I had just paid them so much for) and although it was so despised, I got used to it and the only advantage I could see in Win7, which my husband has, is the smoother, prettier animations.

Next year, it's time for a new laptop anyway. I can't complain about this Dell Inspiron, I use the holy crap out of it and it's been very reliable.

Conducted the HS choir last night and they outdid themselves, especially on a medley of Rumor Has It/Someone Like You. They also did an Igbo hymn and Instruments of Your Peace, a capella. Today I have a nasty cold and am supposed to go to a conference beginning tonight. I'd rather remove 40 more mango worms than go to it, but I kinda have to. :/

[Iolanthe]

My computer is a Dell (not a lap-top) and I was using Office 2003 so they put Windows XP mode on it for me. Have now updated to Office 2010, but I love Windows 7. C has vista on his lap-top; I missed out on that .

[I'm Murrin]

Sudden topic change: I've been thinking about phones on the way home. I'm starting to switch my position on the contract versus pay as you go issue, for a couple of reasons:

1) My current phone, my first smartphone, doesn't seem like it's going to last as long as my previous phones, both in terms of wear-and-tear, and technology. (It's pretty beat up already after less than 9 months. Scuffed plastic case, and now a couple of v. small colourful streaks on the display.)
2) Now that I'm on a smartphone, data has become the main use of my phone's credit, and my usage is increasing. I've gone from topping up every 3-6 months to topping up every 6 weeks or so.

All together it looks like my decision to pay £200 for a handset because I don't use the phone a lot may wind up costing me money, because I'm paying more in for data and might not get the 2-3 years out of it I'd thought. I might just go for my first contract phone next time I need to upgrade.

[Frostheart Grueburn]

We have snow.

And a dead mouse this morning in the middle of the kitchen floor, had dragged the trap across the room. x(

[Cameraman Jenn]

Actually windows 8 is really cool and they have been beta testing it since February and I have been using it for a month and I think it rocks. Microsoft admits that they have a bad reputation to make up for with previous launches and have not made the same mistake with this one. So don't be afraid of windows 8.

[balon!]

We have snow.

And a dead mouse this morning in the middle of the kitchen floor, had dragged the trap across the room. x(

JEALOUS!

I want snow, and I want the large mouse in my garage to be dead....

Send me some of your vibes!

[Avatar]

Av, is Win8 really going to suck, or do ppl just hate change?

I've seen some pretty negative comments about if from people in the industry who usually pride themselves on being early adopters. *shrug*

For me, I just can't face reinstalling everything and getting it to work on a new OS. I've just done it for Win7...

Apart from anything else, Win8 compatibility is going to take time to sort out for all the software and hardware companies.

Nah, I'm happy with Win7 and will stick to it for a good while.

I only upgraded from XP about a year or so ago anyway. And I used '98 until well into the 2000's.

--A

[Frostheart Grueburn]

I want snow, and I want the large mouse in my garage to be dead....

Send me some of your vibes!

*sends Kekri ghosts to bring bad luck to mice and Finnish wind spirits to carry frost across the seas*

[aliantha]

We've finally got Win 7 and Office 2010 here at work. Everybody seems to be out of panic mode now. Having fun playing with the new-to-us features. The only problem I've found so far is that I have to keep checking Outlook for new messages -- I'm used to relying on the envelope icon in the tray on the bottom right corner of the screen, but the tray is gone from this version, and the pop-up box fades after a short period of time. If I'm away from my desk or immersed in another application (or on the web ) I'm liable to miss it. Ah well, just another bit of personal retraining....

[Theo Mach II]

My computer is a Dell (not a lap-top) and I was using Office 2003 so they put Windows XP mode on it for me. Have now updated to Office 2010, but I love Windows 7. C has vista on his lap-top; I missed out on that .

you should have just needed an update or patch for Office 2003, not have to go into XP mode.

[I'm Murrin]

Ali, you can change your settings for notifications (I noticed that issue too when I got upgraded a few weeks back). Click on the arrow from the tray, click Customise, find the Outlook mail icon, and set it to "Show icon and notification".

[aliantha]

Aha, thanks, Murrin! I'll pass that along here.

[Iolanthe]

My computer is a Dell (not a lap-top) and I was using Office 2003 so they put Windows XP mode on it for me. Have now updated to Office 2010, but I love Windows 7. C has vista on his lap-top; I missed out on that .

you should have just needed an update or patch for Office 2003, not have to go into XP mode.

Oh well. Not being an expert I have to believe those who say they are. I wasn't able to reload my Adobe Professional either, so got a cheaper program (Soda PDF). It's not as good, bookmarking takes a lot longer, but it was a hell of a lot cheaper (I wasn't paying btw, but the people I volunteer for are a charity so I saved them some money).

[deer of the dawn]

We have snow.

And a dead mouse this morning in the middle of the kitchen floor, had dragged the trap across the room. x(

Welcome to my world. Critter invasion. My cat is covered with ticks every night (and when we tried to use repellent he had convulsions), palmetto bugs are parading through the living room, ants, mango worms, mosquitoes, fruit flies, wall spiders, geckos, even frogs in my house.

On a complete tangent, our friend Ali from Niger almost lost his adorable little daughter to cholera two weeks ago (in fact the doctors had told them she wouldn't last the night, but she recovered). He came to the conference I so didn't want to go to. Yesterday, the Christian school his two boys go to in a city called Baga way up north was attacked by Boko Haram, the headmaster was killed. A friend was able to get his two kids out of there and home (since Ali is hours away from there).

So I guess being "attacked" by frogs and cockroaches ain't so bad.

[sgt.null]

damn deer. makes our tree roaches seem tame by comparison.

julie was tired after her part time job and i was sick as a dog so we put off Houston today. she will see her mom tomorrow while I am at work.

rumor is my captain is trying to leave. if she does i will be happy to stay and try my luck with the new captain.

we moved most of stuff out of her mom's apartment last week. since taking since her mom moved in with julie's sister.

it has been rough, watching her mom's slow decline. she is in her 80's - but we still want more time with her.

julie's brother is a glassmaker, pretty well known in Houston. (Bosshammer glass.) he made glass tops for the tables and julie now owns them. she hasn't said it, but it is the first time she has owned any of his work.

we have a house full of boxes and little time to unpack. anyone willing to help.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I've been ripping my cd's to my new "entertainment" computer that I couldn't pass up due to clearance, employee and open box discounts and mail in rebates at work and I've noticed that any cd that has a hispanic person or spanish language just categorizes as latin. That means if I choose shuffle with latin as my music genre it will shuffle, Don Omar, Hector el Father, Desi Arnaz, Buena Vista Social Club, Ricky Martin and various other Latino rap artists off my variety cd. I find that highly amusing. Granted, they are all hispanic but DESI ARNAZ and DON OMAR??? The first is swing and the second is rap... hmmmm.... Also, one of my Rammstein cds came up as being categorized as techno...

[aliantha]

That's quite a lineup, Jenn.

We're battening down hatches here in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. I do kind of hope this thing turns into something, because otherwise the weather forecasters are gonna look pretty stupid. Pretty much the whole city is shut down tomorrow, including the federal government, the Metro system, and our office.

The thing I'm really worrying about it the drive to Toronto on Thursday. Hopefully the areas that get snow will be pretty much dug out by then...

[Cameraman Jenn]

What can I say? I like music, lots of music of all sorts. It also classified marcy playground, marilyn manson and ween as alternative, wonder what that mix is gonna be like...

[Iolanthe]

We're battening down hatches here in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. I do kind of hope this thing turns into something, because otherwise the weather forecasters are gonna look pretty stupid. Pretty much the whole city is shut down tomorrow, including the federal government, the Metro system, and our office.

The thing I'm really worrying about it the drive to Toronto on Thursday. Hopefully the areas that get snow will be pretty much dug out by then...

Good luck Ali and anyone else who is in the path or in the reach of the hurricane. I'm complaining here because there's no wind to dry my washing, but I certainly don't want what you'll be getting.