Just a brief message, wishing all a Happy New Year. May it good new year for all!
Peace and Happiness to all!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Off My Rambling (again)
So, it's the night before the Night Before Christmas in my neck of the woods. A good time to spend time with family and friends, and all the usual traditions the season brings here. Which is, of course, why I'm playing on my computer.
Not just any computer, though. Oh, I was using that fancy Thinkpad Carbon earlier on this evening. I got pestered from work, apparently another crew hadn't figured out that this is time off, and they shouldn't be pestering, but they did. And I had to put together a quick report to send them. (Pulling files off USB thumb drives, putting them together with a quick write-up.)
After that, I decided to play around with some of the older cyber-critters on the ranch. Most of my older systems have been unplugged and packed away. However, to my surprise, I found that I'd left the little Thinkpad T30 powered up. So, here I am, all booted up into Puppy Slacko, enjoying the evening at a much more relaxed pace. Guess a Pentium 4 will do that for you...
Beyond all computer amusements, this is a time for a little quiet reflection. The year is winding to a close, and I hope it ends on a good note. It hasn't been the best of years, but it most certainly hasn't been the worst. I hope next year brings good things.
I hope it's a peaceful season for all, whomever and wherever. My best wishes and thanks to all who've stopped by. Hopefully you'll stop back again. I'll try to be a bit more reliable in my writing in the coming year. And maybe even a bit more informational as well.
And now, back to an evening with Slacko...
Not just any computer, though. Oh, I was using that fancy Thinkpad Carbon earlier on this evening. I got pestered from work, apparently another crew hadn't figured out that this is time off, and they shouldn't be pestering, but they did. And I had to put together a quick report to send them. (Pulling files off USB thumb drives, putting them together with a quick write-up.)
After that, I decided to play around with some of the older cyber-critters on the ranch. Most of my older systems have been unplugged and packed away. However, to my surprise, I found that I'd left the little Thinkpad T30 powered up. So, here I am, all booted up into Puppy Slacko, enjoying the evening at a much more relaxed pace. Guess a Pentium 4 will do that for you...
Beyond all computer amusements, this is a time for a little quiet reflection. The year is winding to a close, and I hope it ends on a good note. It hasn't been the best of years, but it most certainly hasn't been the worst. I hope next year brings good things.
I hope it's a peaceful season for all, whomever and wherever. My best wishes and thanks to all who've stopped by. Hopefully you'll stop back again. I'll try to be a bit more reliable in my writing in the coming year. And maybe even a bit more informational as well.
And now, back to an evening with Slacko...
Friday, December 20, 2013
Traitorous Leanings
It's been a while since I've posted, and I apologize. Been a busy couple months, and it's not really letting up as we head into the holidays. But, work is work, and I'm glad I have it.
I've made some heavy changes in my computing arsenal. Some have been necessary, some not so much. Some have resulted from tripping over exceptional deals on eBay and elsewhere. Some may eventually send me to the poor house.
I previously mentioned my purchase of a Surface Pro, and how much I actually liked it. Well, due to some of the demands of my current job (RE:, some truly horrific websites that I'm required to access), I found myself somewhat having to use a Win8 system. I wasn't particularly happy about that, but ya does what ya does...
The Surface, while a great little system to tote around and use on the go, is not a system for everyday office work. A 10" screen just doesn't cut it, especially when your eyes are as bad as mine. So, a check of the local Best Buy netted me an el-cheapo Asus computer for just a bit over $200. (It was an open-box/demo/closeout deal.) It had an i3, a decent 15" screen, and a serviceable keyboard. And it worked.
Till today. I started having trouble with the USB 3.0 port. Inserting a thumb drive would crash the computer. (I have my suspicions of what's going on, but I'm not sure.) This didn't make me happy, but luckily, I was testing a new system I just got it, thanks to one of those serendipitous eBay finds: a Thinkpad X1 Carbon.
Yeah, I know. But the price I got this one for was literally too good to pass up. It's a nice system, 1.8 Ghz Core i5, 4 GB RAM, and a 256 GB SSD. Running Windows 8.1 I've loaded Office 2013 onto it, as I wanted OneNote, which I've (re)fallen in love with.
And the whole system is beautifully compact, yet completely usable. I've avoided the "ultrabooks" for a long time, just considering them overly expensive toys. The Carbon changed that opinion. Yeah, it's damned expensive, but it's definitely no toy. I have to put a big check mark into Lenovo's corner on this one. (I'm starting to sound like an advertisment, aren't I?)
Today was the first day i used the Carbon in the office full time, and it was like night and day from the Asus. Yes, the 14" screen is smaller, but the keyboard more than makes up for that. I've heard people gripe about the new "island-style" keyboards. And I have to admit, I love the older style Thinkpad keyboards, but this one holds its own. It's damned good. And it makes typing on this system a pleasure.
So, here I am, becoming a Windows user again...
Well, not really. But that's a story for another entry... ;-)
I've made some heavy changes in my computing arsenal. Some have been necessary, some not so much. Some have resulted from tripping over exceptional deals on eBay and elsewhere. Some may eventually send me to the poor house.
I previously mentioned my purchase of a Surface Pro, and how much I actually liked it. Well, due to some of the demands of my current job (RE:, some truly horrific websites that I'm required to access), I found myself somewhat having to use a Win8 system. I wasn't particularly happy about that, but ya does what ya does...
The Surface, while a great little system to tote around and use on the go, is not a system for everyday office work. A 10" screen just doesn't cut it, especially when your eyes are as bad as mine. So, a check of the local Best Buy netted me an el-cheapo Asus computer for just a bit over $200. (It was an open-box/demo/closeout deal.) It had an i3, a decent 15" screen, and a serviceable keyboard. And it worked.
Till today. I started having trouble with the USB 3.0 port. Inserting a thumb drive would crash the computer. (I have my suspicions of what's going on, but I'm not sure.) This didn't make me happy, but luckily, I was testing a new system I just got it, thanks to one of those serendipitous eBay finds: a Thinkpad X1 Carbon.
Yeah, I know. But the price I got this one for was literally too good to pass up. It's a nice system, 1.8 Ghz Core i5, 4 GB RAM, and a 256 GB SSD. Running Windows 8.1 I've loaded Office 2013 onto it, as I wanted OneNote, which I've (re)fallen in love with.
And the whole system is beautifully compact, yet completely usable. I've avoided the "ultrabooks" for a long time, just considering them overly expensive toys. The Carbon changed that opinion. Yeah, it's damned expensive, but it's definitely no toy. I have to put a big check mark into Lenovo's corner on this one. (I'm starting to sound like an advertisment, aren't I?)
Today was the first day i used the Carbon in the office full time, and it was like night and day from the Asus. Yes, the 14" screen is smaller, but the keyboard more than makes up for that. I've heard people gripe about the new "island-style" keyboards. And I have to admit, I love the older style Thinkpad keyboards, but this one holds its own. It's damned good. And it makes typing on this system a pleasure.
So, here I am, becoming a Windows user again...
Well, not really. But that's a story for another entry... ;-)
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