S E r y n

There's no non-offensive way to say this.

There's now a G+ Local thing.... it integrates Google Maps, Zagat, and reviews from people in your circles.

Guess what? I know a LOT of people whose opinions suck. I'm pretty sure they think this about me too. Look at your network page. Someone you have friended here on DW reads that shit. One degree of separation.

I went out for pizza with a friend. We got slices because we couldn't agree.

The Coffee Woman prefers frou frou places and frequently drops $50 on a meal for 2. Her favorite breakfast place costs 5 times what I spent last time we went out. We don't have any restaurants we both like, we always have to compromise and it's usually me compromising.

So frankly I don't see how this integration of advice from friends is going to help anything. Yes. Yes. I realize this makes it sound like I think all my friends are fools, which I don't. But the more I respect someone's opinion, the further away they seem to live. I do have a list of people I would have encircled or befriended if I were to join some sort of social media thing. The ones who could honestly list restaurants within walking distance... don't eat spicy food.

Something good today. I figured out why my Windows nav was all screwed up. I could NEVER find anything ever. If I put a file down or closed a window, it was GONE. C:\Users\S was set to "hidden". It was hidden even from me. I had 7 copies of the same shortcut when I was trying to find the downloads directory and kept saving it to the favorites. Let me explain, when I unchecked "hidden" files APPEARED on the desktop.

I fixed it.

Stuff like that is hard to decipher and I fixed it without ever having seen this operating system before this instance, without knowing someone else who had fixed it and who explained, without knowing that it could get better.

Not saying I've invented a better water filtration system or solved the three-body problem (Simon asked me if I thought mathematics was fundamental to our understanding of the universe or our our interpretation of the universe and I said "it's obviously an attempt to understand the universe but falls far short of the reality." he was surprised I had such a strong opinion and asked why. I said, "The three body problem. Mathematics and physics at the current moment are incapable of addressing this solubly, yet our solar system has dozens of planets and moons.") or created something artistic. But it does come from a place of pride in my accomplishments because it's nontrivial.

I took a slew of pictures today. When I loaded them onto my laptop and could not find them, that was the incentive to do something about the nav issues.

I'm having a vocabulary problem. I can only explain the techy device I need with handwaving and Google doesn't speak, "Ya know, like *this*, with the dongle and the wooosh wooosh, so it works!"

I have an ancient laser printer which uses parallel ports. I bought an adapter thing so it could be connected to a computer that doesn't have a parallel port. But that printer needs a new toner cartridge and it's mega slow. (Like upwards of 5 minutes per page.) So between when I got the adapter thing and when we stopped having a parallel port computer in active use, we got a multi-function printer/scanner/copier thingy. It's by Brother and prints in color.

Now that I have a laptop, I find it incredibly irritating to have to boot my old computer and watch it struggle to load web pages (the main reason I wanted to upgrade in the first place) and flail over starting Acrobat Reader to display PDFs. The Brother printer uses USB. So I could plug it into my laptop. But this still doesn't solve the fact that Simon wants to print things sometimes.

Our TiVo is so old that it came with a modem and would call up the TiVo servers, eventually we shelled out for a wireless USB thingy which allowed the TiVo to be on the network and just download whatever it needs via wifi.

We have an internal protected wifi network. (No idea how secure the security is, but I find it extraordinarily difficult to add devices to the approved list, so there's certainly a hassle involved and there are unsecured networks all over my apartment building, so I'm sure bandwidth thieves will look for easier targets.) My laptop doesn't have cords plugged in except for the charging.

What do I need to make the printer like the TiVo, where it can see the network? Is there a version of that device which could have the Brother printer drivers loaded into it so I don't have to worry about updating every single machine we own with the revised printer/scanner drivers?

Logitech is going to be selling an ambidextrous gaming mouse, the G300. It's corded. They have a wireless gaming mouse, the G700 but it's right-handed only. They have some decent ambidextrous wireless mice, but they have no programmable buttons and use batteries (it's unclear whether one must recharge the batteries or whether the 15-18 months life expectancy is without recharging; I might be able to tolerate buying a pair of AA batteries every year if it isn't intermittently inconvenient due to needing a charging cord as well, but that seems pretty unlikely in a $20 item when they can't manage that kind of battery life on a $50,000 car. Last time I had a wireless mouse, the batteries weren't rechargeable and needed changing every 3-4 weeks. It was incredibly expensive and didn't work very well about half the time while I was trying to eke out the last drop of power.)

I like the M570 trackball even though it's right only. I dislike the ambidextrous trackballs and no one makes lefty ones (I really don't understand it since I prefer to mouse on the left despite being a righty, obviously everyone would prefer that if they just tried it.)

I'm really less than whelmed. That's how I ended up buying a Razer mouse last time, because Logitech keeps missing the only boat I'm willing to sail.

Other than desperately wishing that there was a nubbin or touchpad on the new wireless solar keyboard, I am astoundingly happy. I'm still really happy with the new computer as well. I guess when I splurge on buying myself nice things, I really mean it.
( because it looks really huge and I doubt most of you want to scroll past my ramblings 4 times today )

Gaack.

I'm pretty sure there's a clause in any relationship which dooms only one person to the hell that is doing your own networking setup. Right? Or any sort of understanding that means, "Seryn doesn't have to fucking know her computer's MAC address and it's completely okay for her not to know hexidecimal counting."

#00 The LAN password is written on a piece of paper from a non-sticky stickynote pad. It's under the salt shaker on the table. There are a couple dozen of these sheets there. All these pieces of paper are covered in cryptic alphanumeric vomit. Phone numbers, IP addresses, catalog numbers for ordering gadgets, map coordinates, MAC addresses for devices unspecified.... and once you find the right paper, it has the MAC address for the original device (TiVo) interleaved with the LAN password and they're both hexidecimal. And written in pencil.
#0 Knowing the LAN password doesn't make it go.
#0.5 oh yeah, we have restricted access to only specified MAC addresses.
#1 The MAC address is not printed on a handy sticker included with the laptop.
#1.5 Windows doesn't know its MAC address and if you open Help and ask about MAC address, it suggests you might want to configure a new printer. (WTF?)
#2 I had to be online to find out how to look up my MAC address so I could be online. I guess if you're buying your first computer, you'd better really really really know what you're doing because this would be extremely difficult to bootstrap.
#3 After logging into the router. Which, because I had to do my Kindle wifi setup too I actually left myself a clue about.... it says "routerlogin.net user admin password [clue]" (([clue] is not the password, it's indicating that I wrote a clue to the router's password ON THE ROUTER.)) So I was able to login to the router. I was able to find the part that explains the problem.
#4 I was able to add the MAC address to my new laptop but when I went back to the laptop and told it to try connecting again, it still fails. No explanation. Maybe I mistyped the LAN password?

The new powerstrip I bought, however, is excellent.

Whilst whinging about my dead iPod which wouldn't hold a charge long enough to link to my computer's USB port for charging... I looked up troubleshooting advice.

It turns out there are reset procedures. I did that. After the reset, it charged to 10-15%. (Which was a huge success, just getting it to accept charging.) Then I reset it again. Afterward it charged apparently normally. I charged it "full" and when that charge dropped to 60% in 4 minutes, I reset it again.

Then the next day I reset it a fourth time, and charged it fully again. It's holding steady at 85% charge after about a week of me not using it.

(Before, during the failure that starting the whinge, it would completely decharge overnight.)

The reset procedure involves toggling the "hold" switch several times, then hitting the select and menu at the same time. It feels like geek voodoo, but it sure beats soaking it in chicken blood and setting it on fire.

Do I want a solar-charging wireless keyboard?
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Solar-Keyboard-K750/dp/B004MF11MU

+ Logitech
- not illuminated like current Saitek Eclipse II (which is a stellar keyboard but needs replacing from user abuse, and I sometimes pull the keyboard off my desk when the wire catches my foot on the footrest, so the wireless aspect interests me.)

It looks like it will fit on the desk space allocated to the current keyboard, and with it being wireless, I could slot it into a napkin holder when I wasn't using it.

I'd never buy a wireless item that wasn't rechargeable (I have battery issues), but cordless charging is the way to go. I've really enjoyed the touchstone charger for my Palm Pre phone.

(Interestingly enough there are cradle-charging vibrators now, no cords and more importantly, no holes for the cords to dock, increasing the water resistance and decreasing hygiene issues dramatically.)

I'm also considering buying speakers. I found a set on sale which claim to play music directly from MP3 players, so they're not just computer speakers. That would allow me to have music on when I'm at home but don't want to use headphones. The concern is what kind of plugs they have. Maybe it would be better to get some that also charge the player? I don't really need computer speakers. The dinky ones built into the monitor are more than sufficient. I have them muted 98% of the time. Simon, however, might like some. So I could buy them during the sale and if I didn't like them, he might?

These speakers here:
http://www.amazon.com/Duet-Speaker-System-Portable-Music/dp/B0007XU370/

ps... are people irritated that I rarely change the icon I use?

pps. I didn't say this publicly, but I bought a new computer over the weekend. It's not here yet.

Things are better with the insurance issue. (Like tons better. I'm almost happy about it now.)

Today I went to Trader Joe's to buy frozen fruit because Simon and I both bought bananas so we had 17. Simon wanted smoothies but when I admitted we didn't have any other fruit, he wanted something else for breakfast. Now we have strawberries, mango, pineapple, and some sort of mixed berry blend.

I'm making quiche filling, curry, rice, and naan all at once. They're not all for tonight, but the last three are.

When I was at Whole Foods, they had fresh chorizo on sale. Not the salami-style Spanish chorizo either. So I cooked up 3 links worth (sans casing) and added minced onion and minced potatoes. I had in mind that I would chop spinach and add cheese to blended eggs and then bake the whole thing. But right now I'm actually considering whether I should save some of this out in a dish in the freezer to be tossed into plain eggs on an ordinary day. Not to mention that there's more of it than it looked like. Theoretically one can freeze quiche though, so we'll see how far I actually get tonight.

Curry is with curry sauce from the grocery store. Maya Kaimal's vindaloo. I put in cubes of yukon gold potato, half a bag of baby carrots, rough-dice onion, and boneless lamb stew meat. I also added some water because I like my curry wet and so there's liquid for cooking the potatoes.

Today I went out for Thai food at lunch. Mango chicken stir fry.

There was a bunch of new Iron Man fanfic on AO3 that I found today. And, shockingly, most of it was het too. (I can buy Harry Potter being gay although it's unlikely and I'm still not reading the fic. But I cannot even comprehend anyone who has any experience with the Iron Man canon (in any medium) thinking Tony Stark is gay. Bi, sure, he's wealthy enough to have anything he likes, but not anti-woman-interest like a lot of the slash fic claims.)

There were also a slew of new novellas released as free k-books lately too. I grabbed at least 2 dozen yesterday. I'm starting to understand why people want software that allows them to organize their k-books. When I look at the title/author listings I have absolutely no idea what that was or why I thought I wanted it, or even if I thought grabbing it was questionable but I thought I should get it while it was free just in case. But organizing this stuff would take work.

I saw the new ChromeBook ads. I'm in the market for a new computer. Simon thinks I want a laptop so I'm not tied to my desk so much. But I'm kind of against laptops because their very portability requires some obnoxious security software. My desktop computer, which is behind 2 hardware firewalls, has the Windows security running, has anti-spyware, anti-virus, and a software firewall running.... got infected with a virus TWICE since I bought it. But the software firewall and the anti-virus fight with each other. The first anti-spyware had to be uninstalled when a version of something incremented because they stopped playing nice together and attempted to brick my machine. How on Earth do people use unsecured wifi hotspots for anything without Hal-ifying their computers to insanity from electronic syphilis?

Not to mention that whenever I use the media laptop or Simon's laptops, they stop connecting to the world. No one knows why. And they have these arcane rituals one must go through to get it back. The wifi switch must be turned on and off 3 times and the router rebooted. Or the battery removed and reinserted. Or one must hold a certain key which is only labeled in blue on black (signifying that one must use a function key in combination with another key in order to get the blue alternate function) but by the time one figures out which key that was and how to press it correctly, the machine has completely booted and the process must be begun anew from scratch because wifi cannot be hotswapped.

So. As much as I'm not a Chrome fanatic. As untrustworthy as I consider a machine whose premise is that Google owns all my data and I should pay them for the privilege. I still WANT what the marketing for the ChromeBook promises.

They promise that they will take care of your machine's security. No antivirus to update, no clunky firewalls constantly displaying error messages about "OMG! SOMEONE IS USING THE KEYBOARD!!!!!!" false positives. They promise the ChromeBook will connect; 3G, wifi, whatever, it will just work. No more networking nightmares that require a live goat and braiding potion-soaked sawgrass around the user's nutsack. (Which means, yes, actually it cannot work for me.)

It's not that I believe them that they can do that. And Google has a shite track record for supporting their self-branded hardware... remember the G1? Yeah, no one else does either, but Google forgot it first. But I'm really tired of this computer stuff being hard. I didn't breed myself a brood of tech support staffers, so technology needs to catch up to my declining brain power.

I got a piece of software that works with Calibre, FanFictionDownloader (available from fanfictiondownloader.com and previous versions were vetted by CNET and others as being malware-free). The software is free.

One opens the software, one provides a link to the first chapter of the story. One clicks "check" and it looks up the link and what chapters are available. One selects the chapters desired (it defaults to all) and the desired output format (mobipocket, for Kindle). (The output directory and path to Calibre were part of the configuration.) Then one opens one's email (previously registered with Amazon as an approved sender) and sends an email with just the attached file to one's @free.kindle.com address. Then one turns on one's Kindle and activates the wifi. The converted story appears. If one is wise, one then deletes the sent email from one's email so as not to waste space maintaining several copies.

This software does well with fanfiction.net. I have not attempted to grab anything from The Petulant Poetess nor from Sycophant Hex. Both of those sites require authentication to access some/most of the fics I read, but I'm not sure that's the problem.

Also I am unsure whether I can use this tool to convert multiple saved locally HTML files (grabbing chapter by chapter) into one Kindle book. Because that would solve authentication issues. I wish this was a browser app built in and I wish I could figure out how to set the right-click menu so I can send the file by email using gmail instead of having it launch some weird thing.