Tablet Review (again)

My new tablet is pissing me off, so I already want a brand-new one. I'm willing to buy it as a replacement for my primary laptop. That is if I can also get a docking station or even just a laptop holder that would put it at a good slant for viewing while using the wireless keyboard. We'll still end up losing a good chunk of change over it though, and I doubt the Hubs will like the idea. I won't have to get used to a tiny screen like the one I have now (10.4'') if I get a 12.1'' and use Hubs' old monitor we have in the office when I need larger. I was dumb to get 10.4'' anyway, because the case is the same, just with a smaller screen area.

--Fan runs too loud and too often, without maxing out the processor, even when doing the most basic tasks and even when not warm. It does, however, get warm after awhile of doing next to nothing. It is nothing short of ridiculous. I'm willing to deal with the annoyance if it were only me, but I already get slightly annoyed looks from my classmates, and I'm not willing to be rude.

--I have an indoor display, which is supposedly best if you aren't using it in the brighter light outdoors. However the glare off the classroom lights means that I can't reliably see what I'm writing most of the time. Perhaps an Indoor/Outdoor display will be better, or perhaps this is just a bad example for an Indoor display?

--I can't get the pen calibrated in portrait mode, so I'm touching nowhere near where my pointer is actually hitting. This plus the bad display means that I can't hit the scrollbar for fresh paper in the middle of writing. Bad. Somehow landscape is better, but sometimes I need to write in portrait, period.

--I'm torn on using it as a graphing calculator, because Duh! these and later professors probably won't let me use my tablet on tests, but there is a fair likelihood of using the TI-84 on tests. So I might as well get as much practice as possible using the TI-84, and just dream about all the cool stuff I could do with MathJournal on the tablet. :(

The only good thing I can say is that the battery life on my tablet is amazing, 7+ hours! Reboot only takes about 10 minutes off the remaining power.

GoBinder Lite, too lite for me

Someone on another forum told me the GoBinder lite install "only" allowed 1GB databases, and this is what I replied with:

1GB would be good enough, but according to the splash when it loads, my GoBinder Lite maxes out at 10 MB! Based on that I took a closer look at Microsoft Journal and decided it was equal to or even superior for notes. It lets me adjust the space between lines, the color of the lines, and the size of the page without that weird button to push to extend the page (which I kept missing slightly and hitting the "new tab" instead). It also has flags and a greater variety of pen thicknesses and easier to change the pen color, IMO. Also, Journal seems to not blank out on me in the middle of the notes like GoBinder. Yes I need a tablet with more processor power, I know.

I decided GoBinder is just inkable Outlook plus Journaling plus a file system. I kept it for the Outlook type functions, use Journal for notes, and I'm all grown up enough to organize my own folders.

I haven't read much on OneNote, what really are its advantages? The one thing I would like to do is have it insert basic shapes (triangles, squares, circles, arrows) which Journal doesn't really do. If I go to OneNote down the line, will it take in my Journal files and make them searchable just like notes taken directly in OneNote?

Tablet Review

Things that annoy me:
First, I would appreciate if the fan didn't run almost constantly.
Second, the painting program froze/crashed twice when I was almost done with a picture of my birdie.

Anyway, it does seem to be pretty useful. I downloaded the Education Pack which has GoBinder Lite. Using that, I put my course schedule into an Outlook-type calendar. It also creates a tab for each class where I can add notes documents and store relevant web clippings and handouts downloaded from Blackboard. Sure, XP Tablet comes with a Journal almost identical to the notes in GoBinder, and I'm smart enough to manage folders myself, but hey its nice to have it all bundled in one program and its free anyway.

It also came with a few games to help hone my pen skills*. I do need to re-calibrate the pen because its tough to write with an offset like that. My goal for this weekend is to copy my last Calculus and Chemistry notes into the Tablet, as practice and as a review for the upcoming term.

*at least thats what I tell myself while wasting 30 minutes on a crossword.

See TJ Write

Hi from Tablet Land...
That took longer than it should have, I wish you could see how bad my handwriting is!
Maybe later I'll do some in paint.

Tablet is Here/Not Here :(

A downside of living in an apartment: packages are not delivered to my door. I just got the little card in my mailbox saying Sorry We Missed You! I can pick it up tomorrow morning at the post office. I'm pretty mad at myself for not checking the box first thing when I walked out, because I saw the postman at the other set of mailboxes. Instead I walked down the block to deposit a piece of mail in the drop box. What was I thinking?!?!

Grrrr....

*** Update: I went to the wrong Post Office. As if I drove clear across town and stood in line for 10 minutes just to waste 2 minutes of her time, I deserved a dirty look and bad directions to the right building.

5 Good Things This Week:

- A Sushi restaurant opened in San Angelo, therefore the city has become livable. I ate there for lunch today. We'll be eating dinner there tonight.

- Labs are completed, so my afternoons are free until August 28th.

- I picked up an Asian Pear at the grocery store, and both the birdie and the hubby enjoyed it as much as I did. Nummy-num.

- Amanda has achieved her 50-pound WW goal, and is super happy about it.

- Commander Tucker spent half an episode in his undergarments in one of Monday's episodes of Enterprise. Sweet Chewy Jeebus.

Other Stuff:

I have a routine medical appointment tomorrow. After weeks of struggling with TRICARE for coverage, and the Clinic about my records, it was refreshing to get an appointment with no snags or convoluted explanations.

Bear with me for a moment. I'm thinking about buying a Tablet PC, so if anyone is interested in buying a Sony VAIO, give me a yell. There's nothing wrong with it, I just want to take notes during class and stuff.

Rigelbird has two new cage items: a Comfy Perch and a Birdy Buddy. He's still not sure if he likes them or not. I still need to put together a real cage cover. The ones at the pet store suck, so I might need to run to the craft store.

i just don't think that's right...

I was just now reviewing my lab quizzes for the final tomorrow. Labs were Co-taught/graded by our lecture professor, and another professor. This other guy is so nit-picky about things, he grades very harshly. Whatever, we got used to it. Then I just noticed that he went through and dotted my i's on one of my quizzes. It is a basic training control-thing, where they made us write without "punctuation" to include dotting the letters i and j. Stupid, yes. However I still do it out of habit, an odd little habit I retain from that time. It makes taking notes in class a little quicker.

Anyway, it just threw me that he'd be so picky as to dot my i's on a chemistry quiz. He didn't count off points though. I guess it could be worse...

In other news:
Its storming a bit here. Just started raining.
There is a bee/wasp/hornet thing in the house. (from before I opened the windows, tyvm)
My library books are now 1 month overdue. This is why I don't go to the library unless I can walk there from my house. Oh the good ol' days...
The kitchen is a mess.
We're out of anything to drink and I don't feel like cleaning something to make tea.
I'm going to keep adding things to this list until I remember the actual thing I was going to put here.
That helped.
The new Firefox is pretty nice, IMHO. Less-bubbly icons, X's on the individual tabs, spell-check as I type anywhere. I also appreciate the little things that set it apart, like not messing up my Home and making it yahoo and adding the yahoo search bar every time it updates. Frakkin IE.!

Thanks to pizza, the heartburn is coming back again. Blah.

Definition

Apprehension:
Clanking, frustrated, unpleasant sounds coming from the direction of my husband and my $500 printer.

I will destroy the one that damages the other.

The future is here!

Wireless Power
Just plug the Wireless Extension Cord (WEC) base unit into a standard wall outlet, and plug whatever you need into the satellite unit. The WEC uses microwaves in the 7.2GHz range, so it won't interfere with wireless networks, Bluetooth components, etc. Now, all you need to do is adjust the antennae on the two units so they are aimed at each other. Turn everything on and you have the power! The distance the WEC units can broadcast differs from situation to situation (due to interference of such things as walls, power lines, and microwave ovens), but we've beamed power over 300 feet!

I have arrived!

Okay, so I spent about 30 minutes trying to connect to a wireless network. I guess I was just in denial. I hate being tied to these hotel desks to use my computer.

Now, I must find food. And my shoes. I forgot my black shoes. All I have are tennis shoes (unacceptable) and my cute low heels, which are only good for about one of my outfits, IF I find a razor for my lower legs. Grr. Must find shoes.

Fun Fact: I havn't had a shower with water pressure this low since the last time I lived in poor-people assisted housing. This is a Radisson Resort? WTF? It also appears there is not a free breakfast, not even free bagels or donuts.

On the plus side, the in-room coffee is really good, and the lamps are cute. I guess that's what my fine organization is paying good money for.

I totally should have stayed at the Drury and driven to the conference every day. Drury rocks: sushi restaurant across the street, free hot breakfast AND dinner in the lobby, good water pressure, and much less expensive.

So....***UpdateAgain!***

So about that annotated bibliography, I'm not in the mood, okay. I decided I'm not doing any more homework until I clear the disaster area that my office has become. I don't even know where to stack things anymore. I have to move my printer to a more stable spot. I cannot work in here, and I'm tired of doing my work on my couch (coutch? why does neither one look right? why am I not going to look it up?) because it hurts my wrist to use the mouse from that angle.

Also, I'm still kinda annoyed about this iPod thing. Someone please help, before I pull my ears off from the frustration.

Greetings to Wade, new subscriber, who I do not know.
What possibly drew you to my humble bloggy?
Probably my excessive, yet classy, use of oversized smileys and profanity.
Welcome
Relic


***Update*** I figured it out, but its even more frakkin annoying. The iPod plays in the exact order you originally added to the playlist. But iTunes doesn't ever show them in that order, so it was confusing, and I can't add something to the middle of a playlist later. Mother. Fucker.

***Update2*** RTFM Again
To reorder songs manually, select the playlist you want to reorder, then drag the song titles into the order you want to hear them. If you can't drag a song, click the column heading with the numbers to sort the playlist by play order.You can't reorder songs if they're sorted by one of the other headings, or if shuffle is turned on.
Also, my bloody ears are now sitting on the desk, so I won't be needing the iPoop after all.

Oh for Fuck Sake!

Oh for Fuck Sake! My print head is misaligned again. I just printed this damn memo twice. The table it is on isn't sturdy enough, it shakes side to side too much.

Fuck. I've wasted alot of paper tonight. I'm buying cheap printer paper soon, not this nicer stuff I use for scrapbooking. Its not card stock, just good printer paper.

Fuck. Also, I will use the old printer, no matter how much it annoys me. No sense wasting my photo-quality ink on damn memo printouts.

***Update...realigning didn't work. How's that happen? Too tired to care, she's getting it as it is.*****

The Doctor will see you now.

Dr. Who season 2 premier was an hour and a half long, followed by another new hour long episode. Sweet. The Doctor did most of the first episode asleep, the rest in his pajamas. "Saved the world in my jammers, very Aurthur Dent." I love this show.

Today I had a bit much time on my hands, and wanted to know what the Nutrition Facts were for the banana I just had. I Googled and found this, the most useful nutrition site on the whole internet. Ever. You can easily lookup the food you ate, add it to your list, and edit the serving size to what you actually ate. Then it will chart the total of all your food all day. I've tried the food-guide pyramid before, but it was a pain in the ass and not very helpful. This thing is chart-y, and I do so love charts. Bonus, they are actually helpful and fairly easy to read.

I watch Eureka. If you don't watch the show, its good but kinda silly/lame/formula-driven. Classified town full of geniuses, wacky disaster every week. Fun to watch. Hey but if you like thinkgeek.com, then check out Made in Eureka. I wish I could get my hands on a ThinkBack Memory Backup Drive:

Never forget anything again! After downloading every moment, dream and experience you've ever had through the ocular interface (resembles a pair of goggles), the ThinkBack Memory Backup Drive stores them on a special hard disk, which will allow you to review your memories on the LCD screen. Now you'll be able to call up the lyrics of a song you heard last week or relive that amazing weekend you had by the lake house. You can even compress memory clips into MPEG-4 videos for sharing with friends. Don't really like where your life's gone lately? Just upload a previous backup to your brain and get rid of those bad experiences — quite literally; your old life won't even be a memory. The drive can hold a dozen memory backups from up to four people at once. Memory-editing software is optional, and requires certification from a licensed medical practitioner or professional philosopher.

Yellow Ribbon

Okay, morbid, politically incorrect, but exactly what I think about those stupid "support-our-troops" ribbons on gas-guzzling cars

Goodnight now. And now, please enjoy this video of what I wish I could do at work. Did I mention I'm about sick of this shit? I'm pretty sure I'm sick of this shit. Shit. Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Gmail rocks

So I was just checking my mail for an update from my english teacher (is my research topic approved or what??!!) when I noticed a gmail feature I'd never heard of before. Spreadsheets. Spreadsheets you can share with specific other people on gmail. Way neat. Sounds like a good way to do my checkbook, since hubby and I have a joint account for paying bills and we never use our checkbook register. For years, I have been using Works Spreadsheet or Microsoft Excel for my register because I hate the ones that come with the checkbook. I make too many mistakes, and I love SORTING!!! This year, the whole year, I just didn't do it. Wow. I left for Florida last January and now the year is almost over, wow. Anyway he always ended up never helping with it, never adding his things like when he pays the cable bill or transfers cash to his personal spending account. (We both have one, we both get the same amount each month, don't act like I'm the money-meanie wife.) Maybe this will help. Starting next year of course. Or maybe this November. I dunno.

Topic topic topic is my research topic approved??!?!?!?!?!?

So, this is the topic I sent her:

Should there be more restrictions on who gets fertility treatments and how they are performed, in order to ensure healthy births and promote adoption?

And this was the response:

I don't think it would be ethical to limit such a thing. If they can afford it, (it's very expensive and often doesn't 'take' the first few times) then it should be their choice. And I'm sure women have to meet certain health requirements now before they're approved for treatment. Is there perhaps another spin you could put on it?

So I said:

That's just the thing, in England they are having a big argument over restricting fertility treatments to women who are overweight. They are basically saying they can do it, but it won't be free like it is for 'healthy' people. Critics are saying its the first step in government only allowing those they see fit to reproduce. Eugenics and all that. I could draw from studies on health problems in children whose mothers are obese.

For something that applies more to the US, there are ways to prevent those extreme multiple pregnancies before the egg is even fertilized. Somehow the clinics get better ratings because of the increased number of babies born instead of the number of healthy births, so they don't want to encourage patients to take those precautions.

I think it can work, maybe if I forget about the adoption angle and stick with fertility treatments.

That was on Friday, and her I am at Sunday night and no response. I'm going to take this as a yes, because there is an assignment due tomorrow that depends on finding studies for the topic. I have to work tomorrow, so I have to go ahead with what I've got. I guess its too bad if she doesn't like it.

iPod pErson

First, I must entertain you...then, I shall writ e words, and I shall wonder why there is a n unintentional space in many of my words, and then I shall scream. I did not type those spaces, and they will not go away. I shal l scream. Don't think I shan't...

Here are the words. I have broken down, and I will buy an iPod. I shall become a Pod Person, and it sickens me. Why am I dooming myself to using a popular piece of technology, when I am so obviously allergic to such mainstream behavior? 'cause I wanna listen to MY music before I go to bed, waaaaa!!!! Yes, what I really need is a new alarm clock, and what I want is the ability to listen to music as I fall asleep. I dislike having multiple systems for multiple functions, therefore I require a multitasking device to do both. Therefore I will get an iPod alarm clock. Yes yes, a Pod Person I shall be. Did you get the memo?

Grumpy

Ok, because of the coffee I didn't sleep until at least 230 this morning. I was tired and bitchy all day. Get over it. Then we were released from work early, at like 3pm. So I came back to the apartment and set my alarm for 5pm and took a nice nap. Now I have that fuzzy numb feeling from sleeping in the daytime for only a few hours. My coworker's birthday is tonight and we are all going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

Since I'm waiting for it to be time for dinner, I guess I should relay my ups and downs today. Well, maybe just the downs because its kinda hard to type. In fact it's really hard to type without my right index finger, since I was taught to type correctly using home row and all that junk. I was setting down several large Dell desktops into the little electric vehicle we use for moving stuff like that. As I sat one down, I let it into a controlled slip for the last couple inches. A thin metal thingy in the back sliced a nice clean cut into my finger. Don't get me wrong, I can still type faster than most people I know :P

Lately I have had minor injuries nearly every day at work. This sucks. Two days ago the wire cart scraped my wrist just below my thumb on my right hand, so I have two bandaids on one hand. Last week, a laptop drive bay sliced clean into my left thumb just under the nail. I trip over everything, bump into things all the time, and have to prop computers up onto my thigh while picking them up. So I have bruises everywhere and my coworkers are generally sick of me.

Gah, but I'm sick of them today anyway. The one thing I want to do while stuck in Florida is visit Kennedy Space Center again. So I asked a couple people and they sounded really interested. It ended up pretty much everyone is invited, which is really cool because I don't want to go by myself. But then there's this one girl who completely takes control of it all and insists we have to go this weekend, starts hassleing everyone to agree with her even though half want to go next weekend. Then a couple people's feelings get hurt because they are basically being left out since they can't go and really want to. So finally I said I would go both weekends if they want, because I'm pretty sure I won't see everything in a single visit. It all just made me not even want to go because she was making it not fun anymore. She has to make everything a confrontation and have it all her way, she took over my fucking trip and now I don't want to go.

It doesn't help that I got 1 1/2 hours of sleep last night.

I am now extremely hungry and tired at the same time. Is it dinnertime yet?

***Update 10:19Pm
Bellyache so full shrimp angel hair pasta toblerone swisse almonde cheesecake sleepy sad for the loverman misses him please call me.
Goodnight.

VAIO pt2

Do I have nothing better to do at 5am? Probably not. Note: My alarm usually goes off at 4am. Why am I still awake? NEW COMPUTER

Ok, so I switched over to gmail, so if you didn't get a message from me I don't like you anymore. Kidding. I'm not going to broadcast my email address here, so if you really didnt get a message from me then you'll have to guess what my new address on gmail is , not kidding.

Mmmmm the specs on my new computer:

VAIO FS Series
Intel Centrino Mobile Technology 1.73Ghz
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
15.4" Wide WXGA 1280x800 display
DVD R Double Layer with DVDRW2
523MB RAM and 100GB4 hard drive
3 USB, and one of those flash memory things for the camera! (the technical term of course)
Integrated Wireless (and faster!)

Might not seem all that great to you, but I was mucking along with this for the last 3 1/2 years:

Compaq Presario 900 PP2140
AMD Athalon 1.3Ghz
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
14.1 Inch Display, AND DARK DARK DARK
DVD/CD Player
523MB RAM (because I upgraded about 2 years ago)
80GB Hard Drive
2USB, Floppy (I'm gonna miss that)

I havn't reinstalled any of my old software, or the new Photo Impact Pro, which I also bought today. I really need Firefox back before I hurt someone at Microsoft. I might do that anyway if I don't get rid of all this default 'helpful' crap on the new system. Also, I am apparently crippled without my Favorites, and I forgot to move them over. OMFG I am my own annoying END USER! Save me from myself!

c'mon I just need my link to imageshack..

VAIO

Here I am, with my new laptop. The sleek, speedy, not-broken Sony VAIO. Now I have to go to work. More later. Yes Mom and Jesse, you can have the old laptop as soon as I prep it for you and get my stuff off it. Some duct tape may be required.

<3>

Which vaio? there are about a million of them but unfortunately 999,990 of the various models suck =(Posted by Fred on March 18, 2006 - Saturday at 3:04 PM

Reviving a dead mouse.

Some days I can't stand mice. Not the squeaky ones that leave droppings everywhere, but the round ones with buttons.
There are these devices for people who use more than one computer and only one Keyboard Monitor(Video) and Mouse. It's called a KVM Switch. It is the root of all my misery on a daily basis.

It supports PS2 mice and keyboards, which tend to crap out and stop working if they are unplugged or the power spikes or if you happened to look at your computer funny. This should be easy to fix, just restart your system and the mouse and/or keyboard should start working again. A monkey could do my job.

But no, restarting won't work most of the time, because the KVM does not have its own power source, it draws power from the keyboard's connection to the computer. Weird? Yes. So even when you shut down one computer the other ones connected to the KVM will still provide it with power. EVERYTHING MUST BE OFF SO THERE IS NO RESIDUAL POWER IN THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF DEVICES. Every single tech in my office has their own rituals for reviving a dead mouse.

Fine! So everything is off, you must then unplug the mice and keyboards from the KVM and the computers, all of them, no cheating it wont work. Then wait two minutes. Bite the head off a live chicken and dribble the blood to bless the keyboard. The user's won't notice it amongst the accumulated ketchup drippings. A goat would work but there's too much blood.

Plug in the connection to the first computer, the one in the A position. Then to the box. Now apply power and dash a bit of salt over the mouse. If all goes well, the first computer's mouse and keyboard will come to life. Do the other computers just the same way in sequence. I promise it will work.

Unless you are connecting a laptop (or two!) up together. Yay! Because laptops have batteries that prevent you from removing all residual power from the box. Fuckin YAY! Sooo....before you wait two minutes you have to unplug the battery from the computer. That didn't work? Well did you hold down the grey button for 15 seconds and urinate on the power supply? I told you....gah! Okay well just remove the battery completely and power up without it. If that doesn't work, lets just replace the damn mouse.

I swear, a monkey could do my job.