Category Archives: Technology

Whuh huppint?

Where the heck did the day go? I was only going to work until 2ish but I got caught up in things and the next thing I know my tummy is roaring and I find myself eating a turkey drumstick over the sink wondering how it got to be 6:00.

I’ve decided I am going to really try to work at Twitter. I have stayed away because even though it’s an open network, the people seem very closed. So much etiquette and coded behaviors. So much crap. But I am going to keep at it. Let’s hope I survive.

Just today some person sent me a message:
@donnasxxxxxx {{friday hugs!!}}

What the freak is that? How the heck am I supposed to respond?
@twittertool {{uncomfortable hug back!!}}

There’s this guy I know who likes to brag that he has 5K followers. I just smile and nod but inwardly I am thinking he’s an idiot. It’s so very clear to me that the number of followers you have only means you have no life and spend all day following people who automatically follow you back. Or you have some app that just follows people automatically. I get a ton of follow notices every day. These people don’t want to follow me! They want me to follow them! And if I don’t, I find myself unfollowed within a day or two.

I am currently following 121 people. And I can’t keep up with the constant dribble. There’s this one woman who posts something every other minute. Usually it’s some inspirational quote. I want to hunt her down and do nasty things to her limbs. Yes, I realize that’s a lot of anger I have and it’s totally not healthy. I will unfollow her.

And the other thing I hate about Twitter? All the article posting. Read this, check this out, Here’s my latest blog post… There is simply not enough time in my life to read all the links to articles people are tweeting. But I would venture to say that there’s not enough time for these Twitterers to read all the articles they are posting.

All I can say is I wish Twitter was more like Facebook except more open and easier to connect with others. I enjoy reading my Friend’s Facebook status updates. Except when it’s an old friend who recently posted a YouTube video of him fondling himself. That was disturbing and I really wish I had clawed my eyes out.

Okay, done.

When did I become an old fuddy duddy?

Point Release

Everything feels slightly different to me.

My HTC Hero got the Android 2.1 update… only because I stomped into the Sprint store at the mall and demanded it. The darn update wiped my customized scene but I’m slowly rebuilding it. I can’t quite figure out exactly what’s different, I just know it’s different.

And WordPress recently updated as well. Things are similar but not comfortably familiar… yet.

I am sure I will grow accustomed to my phone and WordPress 3.0. The funny thing is, after 2 years I am still not comfortable with Microsoft Word 2007. I hate it and can’t get used to it and I would do anything to get the old interface back.

Disc Vs Disk

Did you know there is a difference between Disc and Disk? I had no idea! I had been using them pretty interchangeably. But I was wrong!

Discs
A disc refers to optical media, such as an audio CD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, or DVD-Video disc. Some discs are read-only (ROM), others allow you to burn content (write files) to the disc once (such as a CD-R or DVD-R, unless you do a multisession burn), and some can be erased and rewritten over many times (such as CD-RW, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs).

All discs are removable, meaning when you unmount or eject the disc from your desktop or Finder, it physically comes out of your computer.

Disks
A disk refers to magnetic media, such as a floppy disk, the disk in your computer’s hard drive, an external hard drive. Disks are always rewritable unless intentionally locked or write-protected. You can easily partition a disk into several smaller volumes, too.

Disks are usually sealed inside a metal or plastic casing (often, a disk and its enclosing mechanism are collectively known as a “hard drive”).

Via

Apps to install

My new computer is due in either Monday or Wednesday. I am super-psyched! And so in order to get ready, here are the programs I intend to install:


Chrome

My browser of choice had been Mozilla Firefox but somehow it became bloated and unmanageable and I switched to Chrome which is fast and lightweight. I love it. FREE

Mozilla Firefox

I rarely use this browser unless I need to do a full page print screen or need to figure out SEO or code stuff (plugins: Fireshot & SEO for Firefox & Web Developer) FREE

CCleaner

Crap Cleaner cleans crap off the computer– I don’t use it as much as I should but it works really well when I do. FREE

avast!

avast! is my antivirus. I really like it even though I don’t totally understand it. I guess it scans itself because I’ve never had to run a scan. Every now and then it says, “Virus Database has been updated!” I wish it would also say, “Your computer has been scanned and is free of viruses…. but it doesn’t. I may opt to install Microsoft Security Essentials instead. I’ve heard good things about it. Anyone have any advice here? FREE

Secunia PSI

This little app tells me what applications installed on my PC need to be updated to avoid security holes. It works great! FREE

FileZilla

My FTP app of choice. FREE

AlwaySync

This little app helps keep my external hard drive in sync with my laptop so I figure I will probably be using it with the desktop FREE

CutePDF

Since I use Google Docs more often than not I don’t use CutePDF as much becasue Google Docs comes with a PDF converter but there are times I need to convert something to PDF and that’s where CutePDF comes in. FREE

DiffDaff

Compares files in different folders– I use this when I am unsure if my external hard drive and laptop are in sync. There must be a better way… I know but it’s how I do it. FREE

Picassa

Picassa is more than just a Photo Organizer. It’s also the greatest zit and wrinkle remover! And it keeps track of people’s names and it’s an awesome photo album! FREE BUT MUST CONSENT TO TOTAL DISCLOSURE OF LIFE TO GOOGLE

Inkscape

Because Adobe Illustrator is too expensive FREE

GIMP

Because Photoshop is too expensive FREE

Paint.net

Because Corel Draw is too expensive. FREE

Color Cop

I use this ALL THE TIME! It’s basically just a color dropper and it tells me the hexadecimal code for whatever color is on my screen. FREE

Photostory

I used this once and the audio wasn’t so good but I quite liked it nevertheless and may use it again if I can get a better microphone. FREE

Any Video Converter

My video camera is a Sanyo and only outputs .mp4 files. This sucks because Windows Movie Maker doesn’t accept .mp4. This means I need to convert to WMV or AVI. Enter Any Video Converter. It converts my mp4 to avi and I can then edit my footage. FREE

Netflix Movie Viewer Plugin

I always think I will one day watch a movie from my computer– perhaps I will and when that day comes, I will be ready! NEED TO BE SUBSCRIBER

Rhapsody

I usually find myself playing music via their Website so it might not even make sense to download the actual software but perhaps because this new computer is going to to be more powerful than my dinky laptop I might find using the software easier, I dunno. NEED TO SUBSCRIBE

MediaMall’s PlayOn Server

I have a VuNow POD and I use Playon to access Hulu from my 42 inch TV. COSTS MONEY

AcrossLite

So I can print New York Times Crossword puzzles and do them in bed before I fall asleep at night. FREE BUT NEED TO SUBSCRIBE TO NYT CROSSWORDS

Seesmic/TweetDeck/Hootsuite/Brizzly

I really need to figure out which TwitterApp I want to use and then USE IT! Any advice here?

And if anyone has any apps they LOVE and would like to share— please leave your recommendation in the comments! I would love to hear what you think of my list and if you have any better alternatives.