It's Dai Time

Katie & Scott & Simon & Cecily.

Tag: computer (Page 2 of 4)

Day 254: windows 7

October 23, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’m currently downloading a version of Windows 7 I just purchased.

I’ll certainly upgrade the DVR to Windows 7 (from Vista) for the Media Center improvements and the additional stability, but what about my main desktop?

Is it worth losing the relatively rock-solid Windows XP that I’ve had on here for a while now, along with the installed programs and settings that I’ve gotten just the way I like them?

Is it worth the hassle of having to make sure that all my important files are on my backup hard drive while I wipe my primary one to install the new OS?  The chances of losing something are pretty slim, but it would take a few hours just to get everything ready and then, I’m sure, at least an hour to set up Windows 7 in a way that I’d be satisfied with.

It’s hard parting ways with XP on this machine.  I’ve gotten used to where things are, the shortcuts to my favorite applications and such.  More so, applications gains memory as it runs.  It’s not something obvious, but what additional work will reinstalling iTunes require?  What about Picasa?  Quicken?

I’m sure I’ll get around to it eventually.  If Windows 7 is everything that people seem to say it is, it’ll be a definite upgrade.  It having a XP compatibility mode is a nice fallback.

Still, I’ll be sure to test drive it on the DVR for a bit before unleashing on my “real” computer.

Day 253: password

October 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

So here’s a story of me losing to technology today.

My work password needed to be changed.  Every month or two months or some other arbitrary amount of time, our work servers force us to change our password.  Some of you probably experience this at your work as well.

So, this morning, with 1 day left until my password expired, I went ahead and changed my password.

At some point in the late afternoon, I went into a meeting and locked my computer, as I often do when I’m going to be away from my desk for an extended period of time.

When I returned, every password I attempted to put in to unlock my computer failed.

Here’s what must have happened.  I must have made a typo when changing my password.  And then, miraculously, I must have somehow made the same typo when entering my new password into the second field.

Either that, or I’m incredibly stupid and can’t actually remember what I changed my password to.

Still, I left work today (a rather productive day, overall) feeling sad and defeated by a simple string of letters and numbers.

Day 202: dvRRRRRR!!

September 1, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’ve spent most of tonight trying to fix our DVR, which started to record things without sound a few weeks ago.

So far, I haven’t had too much luck.  The fixes are getting slightly more and more harsh, and I fear that I am just about to reach the line where I wipe the machine and start over, losing those precious Gossip Girl recordings that I haven’t quite caught up on.

Also, I played a demo of the game AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity today and I loved it.  Yes, that’s the actual title.

Lastly, Katie and I just bought one of those little USB video camera things so we can catch every adorable baby moment as it happens and get it up on Youtube faster than two shakes of a walrus’s tail.

It looks like this:

OK, time to go see how the DVR OS reinstall is going.

And perhaps indulge in a fudge bar.

Fudge bars can make any unproductive night satisfying.

Day 173: LIY

August 3, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Many skills in my life have been LIY – learn-it-yourself – and there’s a certain calmness and excitement about teaching yourself the basics in a new skill.

I went through a few Maya tutorials today to supplement myself with some 3D modeling skills that should help the team over the next year (and, I suppose, in the long run, forever).

It was nice.  Just reading through the Maya starters guide, making my first polygons, going through my first extrusions.  It’s like hiking an abandoned trail, seeing sights for the first time, with the knowledge and safety that an expert has already forged this path, lying flags along the best trail.

In some ways, I like it better than having the tour guide with me the whole time.  There’s no pressure to ask good questions, no expectations from the tour guide to keep up, and with a self-guided walk, the pace is entirely your own.

Also, picking up new computer programs and thinking in terms of numbers and mathematics is easier for me than picking up a language or a skill like a guitar.  Or perhaps it’s just because I enjoy it more, so I’m willing to devote more time each day to it?

Or perhaps it’s simply because I can go through a Maya tutorial at work for a day, while spouting random German phrases and having co-workers quiz me on German grammar would probably not go over as well.

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