Thought Patterns

I am still having to run a fan to keep the computer cooled. I have a 6" AC clip-on fan hooked to the cart. In the warmer weeks prior, this was fine. But now that it is cooler (it is currently 55F), my mouse hand is freakin' freezing! So when I am not playing a game, I turn the fan off.

With the Dell, I went through several different cooling systems, none of them lasting long. Right now the Dell (which is miraculously still alive!) is using one by Vantec. It is cheap plastic and bows in the middle. Sheesh. The one before that isn't being made anymore. It connected (like most of them do) via a USB cable. The end on the fan itself was on a removable USB hub. Sounds good except that hub had to really be set right before the fan would work. I also have a USB fan by Thermaltake sitting at the back of the Dell directly onto the heatsink.

Now with the Toshiba, the heatsink is on the side so I have to be careful what I put on that side so the thing gets adequate air. I also have a short piece of 2×2 along the back to raise it up off the table. Anyone have any advice on laptop cooling? What works?

***

I also just bought Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 (DNS). I got an email (from a company I have bought stuff from before) announcing they had a great price at about a third of the cost. So I grabbed it. I've used voice software before with mixed results. ViaVoice was decent. I've had several older versions of DNS. I've only had it for a few days and have done limited training with it. But I will say that first impressions are this thing rocks!

First off, when setting up the user profile, I had to select a language. I selected US English (duh). Then, I got to choose SOUTHERN US English. How cool is that?

I've used it in several different situations and overall, I'm really impressed with this software. I can talk in a normal voice, without pausing to clarify words, and it keeps up fairly well. I have to get used to saying punctuation, though. I don't think about it as I use a keyboard, ya know? I figure I'll work with it during the day then in the afternoons and evenings, when the house is noisier, I'll use the keyboard to edit and continue.

There's this "DragonBar" thing that is always on top of whatever. I dislike things that do that. Sure, I can take away the "always on top" check mark, I guess.

Then I found out I could make that go away and still get to almost everything through the tray icon. Right-clicking is the way to go, dudes.

On the other hand, Nuance (who makes/sells DNS now) is heavily attached to Microsoft. Which means it is designed to work with Word and I would assume it does it quite well. But I use OpenOffice.org (OO.o), dammit. So when it scans the My Documents (which isn't where I keep my manuscript files anyway) to build up the vocabulary and dictionary, it only scanned in the .rtf and .txt. It skipped the .doc because this laptop doesn't have Word installed. It also offered to scan emails to further learn my writing style but only works with Lotus somethinganother, MS Outlook (every hackers dream), and some other MS based email. Not Thunderbird. Really annoying.

But, it will open OpenOffice.org and any other program that is listed in the Start Menu. I renamed a few things to make it easier to say ("OpenOffice.org Writer" was a bit long). I can dictate into OO.o but I am limited in some things. Not sure what exactly. Mostly I think in controlling macros (which I don't like) and accessing other MSWord stuff.

A few other bugs I have about it: it came in a DVD. Not a CD, a DVD. Luckily, this Toshiba reads both. But what if it didn't? Would a CD drive read a text DVD? And, with all that it downloads onto the computer, it does NOT download and install the .pdf extended help files. WTF? I found them (the written itty bitty manual mentions many times where they are) and drag/dropped them onto the desktop. What a silly little thing to not do automatically.

***

I am doing my laptop shopping again. The Toshiba came to me used but in great condition. It has a few weird quirks (don't we all?) and I knew from the beginning it was only a temporary fix to my laptop problem. Anyone have any recommendations? I like the Lenovo stuff. And Dell for the most part. I abhor HP/Compaq and I want to stay away from no-name brands and cheap brands. I need a "desktop replacement" computer. I use it constantly. 12-16+ hrs a day (I have no life, ya know) I like the bigger screens (my eyes are 43yrs old and not getting any younger). I don't want lightweight, I want usable. I want one that is easier to keep cooled. I will wait until the next MS OS comes out since Vista is Satan wearing a "Blue Screen of Death" mask.

Speaking of which, am I the only one freakin' about the idea of MS Sync in cars? They can't get their OS right and they want to be in my car? I don't think so!

As always, I am constantly looking for the perfect keyboard. Since my laptop's monitor died and I am stuck at a desk (vs where ever), my research into them has dropped to minimal effort.

But today I see an article about the "new" keyboards out there. LiveScience.com has a video article (short and sweet) about the different ergonomic keyboards out there.

The video article mentions a several keyboards. I'm not sure on the spelling of the last two and will be looking them up in a minute.

Kinesis Advantage
Goldtouch
Kinesis Freestyle (check out the YouTube video)
Safetype (the site has sound come on when you first load the page so be aware and don't jump out of your skin like I did!)
G-tech (also has sound! and has more annoying sounds as you move the cursor across a link. annoying)
das keyboard (not sure why this one was included in the article….)
Saitech - couldn't find the keyboard on their site. Again, not sure why this one was listed in terms of ergonomics
I-tech

Another site, speedingcomputer.com, had a listing of "25 Coolest (and most unconventional) keyboards" almost all the keyboards above, plus several others. The most intriguing are the AlphaGrip and the Combimouse.

I find myself drawn, still, to the Kinesis Advantage and to their new Freestyle. I like that the Freestyle can come with a 20" cord between the two sections. I don't like that I have to buy all these accessories to make it at an angle or curved.

I need a new laptop. My old one, a 3 yr old Dell Inspiron 1100 (as in, can't get no basic-er) is on life support. The monitor is dead (I have it attached to an old CRT monster) and the keyboard is dying, if not dead (I use an external one). So the laptop is more of a desktop, but smaller and hotter (as in temperature, certainly not as in hot looking).

I have been shopping around for a while but got depressed at the prices. I learned a lesson with this one. I got a cheap one thinking I would use it for writing and maybe games. Nope. I used it constantly and Lorna took over the desktop. It became very important to me and not just my writing, but my life. So I know I can't get another el cheapo model but need to get a good CPU, better RAM, and better case so it doesn't get so hot. And that all adds up to big bucks that we don't have.

NaNoWriMo is coming up again. I was depressed because I wouldn't be able to meet others in the area for drinks and word wars. I decided to look into the price of PDAs and external keyboards for them. The price was more than I was hoping and never got around to looking for keyboard prices. All those bells and whistles for something I didn't think I would use, ya know?

Then I remembered the AlphaSmart Dana. I went to their website and took a look around. The price was more than our current wallets could afford but I was really interested in one. So, I girded my loins and went to eBay. I know, I know, the devil itself is eBay but I went anyway.

Found a bunch of Danas there, all less than $100. I did some research for reviews. Raves. Did more research on the software (they are based on Palm). Went back to the eBay search results. Contacted the seller with some questions. Several emails later, I hit the "Buy Now" button on one of them. Including shipping, it was $105. I ordered it Tuesday and it was here Thursday. And I am in love.

The Dana is part laptop, part PDA, part word processor. It has a wide screen and a full-sized keyboard. It has AlphaWord which saves in .doc format. It has 2 memory card slots for making backups but can also hot sync with the desktop using Palm software. The downside is if it completely is drained of battery, it loses anything you have added in. The good news is that the battery is rechargeable via the AC adapter or the USB cable, AlphaSmart sells them cheaply, and it can also run off AA batteries. How cool is that?

I like this machine. It is lightweight, can allegedly be dropped from 4' up and still work, is simple, and allows me to write anywhere I happen to be. With the flash memory, I just turn the machine off and when I turn it back on, it is exactly as I left it. Granted, if the battery dies before I hot sync or save to the SD card…. This is going to be good for me. No more lugging a 10lb computer, its bag, its power cord, the mouse. Just push the on button and go.

If it can survive November while I pound out 50,000 words during NaNoWriMo, it can survive almost anything.

Linkage:

Alphasmart - Dana
Brighthand Reviews the AlphaSmart Dana (several years old but still great)
NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month

Click the link below to see the photos and explanations.

(more…)

The main page for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has a poll that is changed every other week or so, sometimes sooner.

This was the poll, and its results, from one in March:

Are they "happy" with their current version or are they just not eager to upgrade just yet? That'd be my vote. I guess ARRL with its prestige couldn't put anything negative about M$ such as "Are you freakin' nuts?" as a poll option.

If it ain't one dang thing, it's five hundred others.

My poor laptop….

I've been getting slammed with UDP:1026 attacks. Plus, I've been getting these weird popup things. When it happened when the browser wasn't even open, I knew something else was going on.

So I did a search for UDP:1026 and came up with some interesting things.

LinkLogger.com has some simple information including how to "fix" it.

UDP:1026
Messenger Spam

Another website, LURHQ.com, has similar information. The interesting part is that it is dated from 2003. Funny how M$ hasn't fixed it.

A third website gave good information and a much better solution. Turning off the messenger service is one thing but catching the bastards is even better. myNetWatchman.com has a tester page to see if your computer is vulnerable for the Messenger PopUps. After that, if you have a firewall running, they'd like you to download their free software and let it run in the background. What it does is take the firewall's logs and sends them on to their website. They then filter it and can track down repeat offenders.

My firewall program, Lavasoft's Personal Firewall, wasn't listed. I'd heard good things about ZoneAlarm so I downloaded and installed it. I like its user interface better, more friendly and understandable. I love Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and Ad-Watch, though.

The reason I am mentioning all this is that there's nothing more annoying than dang popup ads. Here I was, trying to write, when I keep getting these firewall messages and popups. And instead of writing, I have now spent the last several hours trying to figure out what was going on.

The laptop spent nearly three days at the hospital.

They said it is dying but I was allowed to bring it home to let it die among friends.

And it refused to connect to the internet again. I called the cable company and we figured out that the laptop doesn't like the wireless stuff anymore so now the 'puter is hardwired to the modem.

So, for now, I am back on line. How long will it last? Another year or another hour.

I got some great writing done whilst unplugged. I have big gaps where I needed to look something up but couldn't.

I kept a journal/log of sorts and I may post that here later.

Tuesday we went to the Asheville Mall to the Dell kiosk and ordered the power adapter. It came today and poof! I am on the 'net!

I kept a journal of sorts of my twelve days offline. What an interesting experience. What I learned? I can live with out the email, without the blog, without the comics. I am not addicted to those. I do like talking via email to friends I will never meet and I realized how vital they are to my life. I missed them, much like I would if I were on vacation. How is so-and-so doing and what happened with another situation? Stuff like that.

But when it comes to the instant information, the ability to know the weather, know what a word means or what a person did, etc, well, I am addicted to that. Sitting through the crap on the Weather Channel just won't do. Gimme the weather at a glance via Weather Watcher. WordWeb is a great program and boy did it get a work out but, for example, it couldn't tell me enough information about the smelting of iron and what kind of carbon goes into it to make steel. I wanted Wikipedia and I wanted it now!

The desktop computer works but its CD drive is dead and it won't talk to the internet. Which means I couldn't access my files on the internet. However, I did have the external drive that I had just saved all my WIP files and other such stuff. Had I not done that, I would have no way to access my WIPs. I could have gone to the library and downloaded them onto something, yes. As a great location to do massive backups, that folder on the 'net is an excellent place. But for instant retrieval in a non-internet setting, it failed. I may go back to putting the active files on CDs as well as sync-ing with the external drive.

For a few minutes, the external drive didn't seem to want to work with the desktop. For a few minutes, I don't think my heart beat. I felt as if my heart and stomach had switched places. All those files, all my writing, all my research and notes. Unreachable. Untouchable. When it finally did start whirring and blinking, I breathed. My heart thudded as it fell back into place. My stomach decided to hold onto its own contents.

More later.