Rest in Pieces Edison the 4th

[amberfocus]

Well, I am back online now.  I ended up getting a new laptop even though I hadn't finished saving up for it yet, since I qualified for the 18 months same as cash deal they are running.  The old one is dead, dead, dead, well, a little bit alive, but for all usable purposes dead and won't access the internet at all.  It has been a long day and I haven't had internet in two days, although I did sneak up and use mom's computer last night to check in a little bit.  Not much though as it's only a one hamster computer on the slowest DSL in the known universe.  As for this one, it's megafast, but Windows 7 is difficult to get used to and it for some reason doesn't want me to have more than one IE screen open at once, though it'll let me have numerous tabs so...eh.  It does not appear to have Works which means I will have to try to import my spreadsheets into Excel and hope they work.  Excel has always had too many bells and whistles and I like simple so I've always used the Works one.

I've got Office 2010 though I haven't had a chance to use it yet.  I hope it's not as much of a pain to learn as 2007 was.  And I hope I don't have any trouble importing my documents from my portable hard drive.  I did manage to get them all off the other computer, and all my audio and video files but not all my pictures.  And I don't have my favorites anymore which about makes me cry because I had 50 recipes alone saved to my favorites and all the camp info and school info and banking info.  Chris might be able to retrieve it for me.  I hope so.  It's got my favorite desktop on it and I want to have that on here.  But he doesn't come home until the 2nd.

I still have a ton of things to download, like yahoo messanger and winamp and winzip and megamanager and a bunch of things I'm probably not thinking about at the moment.

So far I really like this laptop but it's got some things that will take getting used to.  The mousepad is not in the middle of the computer, but it is in the middle of the letter part.  But because it has a numbers keypad (yay!) it's offset.  And it's not a smooth mousepad either, it got weird bumpy bits.  Still, it types like a dream.  I think my typing speed has gone up from 70 wpm to 80 just from the better keyboard.  It has raised keys insteaad of sunken ones which I like a lot.  I still haven't decided on what I am going to name it.  Usually it's Edison but I'm starting to think the name is jinxed so I'm thinking maybe of going with Fargo.  I don't know.  I'll give it a few days.

In other news the kids are both sick again, and T got put on antibiotics today for a severe sinus infection and tonsilitis.  Rose has been on antibiotics for three weeks for her sinus thing and she's suddenly caught something new.  I never got well.  Running on five months now.  Longest cold on record, methinks.  Oh, and it's snowing.  *sighs*

Comments

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your new laptop! I really like Windows 7, and I'm normally resistant to change. Not being able to open more than one IE window at a time sounds weird, though. Never had that.

(Though psst! Firefox! I love it, especially with all the add-ons you can install, including AdBlock Plus, ReminderFox and Lazarus - have you ever typed something into a form window online - eg an LJ comment box - and then lost it? Lazarus saves it and you can get it back just by right=clicking in the window).

I've never seen Office 2010 as we haven't upgraded to it yet either at home or at work, but I have a website for you: GCF LearnFree. It's a completely free computer skills training website. I recommend it to clients all the time, and have even used it to teach myself bits of things like advanced Word or Excel I hadn't learned previously. They do cover Office 2010 - either follow the links or go here: Office 2010. The site generally offers a choice between self-study through videos and step-by-step instructions broken down into lessons on specific functions of each program, and online classes where you're set assignments which you submit and where you can get help and advice from the instructor via a message board and email. They don't always have online classes for everything, though.

The site is completely free, and don't worry about giving your email address when you sign up - I've been registered for over four years and have never had a single email from them other than confirming my registration. It's run by the Goodwill Community Foundation and is entirely non-profit :)

[rainshadowsfic.livejournal.com]

I second the Firefox idea, or Google Chrome. They're both great.

[amyo67.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry to hear the kids are sick and that you are still not well. I hope you all feel better soon.
Congrats on the new laptop. I hope it works for you for a long, long time.

Sending you good thoughts and prayers and (((HUGS)))

[crimedoc1.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear everyone is sick AGAIN. Hugs all round!

What type of laptop is it? I'm curious because I may have to go laptop shopping soon myself and I'd LOVE a laptop with a numbers keypad - that'd be really useful with all the numerical stuff I do (data, grades, etc.)

I am VERY nervous about moving to Office 2010 - PLEASE let me know what you think of it. I've still got 2003 on my computers and am fine with it but the computer I use to give Powerpoint presentations in class and the ones in the univ library all have 2010 and I am finding it very user unfriendly - Word and powerpoint 2010 seem very different from 2003. See! this is why Word Perfect is better! I can go from WP9 to WP10 to WP X4 with no trouble at all! Yay Corel! Also how is Windows 7 - I'm still on XP but any new laptop will have 7 and I'm concerned I'll have troubles there also.

I heartily second wendymr's suggestion for Firefox - it is a zillion times more user friendly than IE, which I avoid like the plague! IE is slow and clunky and hates me.

[rebeccaclark.livejournal.com]

Is your laptop an Advent Modena model? I ask because it sounds an awful lot like mine, which is :)

If so, I find that the trackpad is basically just not worth using, ever. I have a logitech mouse with a "nano-receiver" and a year-plus of battery life - it's wireless, hassle free and so much better. Also, as a bit of a geek, Chrome is my ideal browser - it doesn't suffer from pesky security issues like IE, and the way it's built is much more sensible (they have a little comic explaining it!)

I hope your new laptop goes well and you retrieve everything you want!

Favourites

[ruthieg.livejournal.com]

I also love Firefox.

But if you still get your old laptop powered up, go to My Computer and explore your hard drive, go to your users documents and (you may need to show hidden files) but there is a folder on your computer which stores all your favourites. It has a yellow star as it's icon.
Then you place it in the same place on your new computer and you should be able to view your favourites in IE again.

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

Bah for being ill. How sucky for you and the kids.

But yay for shiny new tech. I have used Office 2010 once or twice on other people's work computers, and there is a bit of a learning curse because I haven't used it enough and am still preferring 2007.

[develish1]

yay for new laptop, boo for all the work it'll take to get it "just so". my new toy runs windows 7 so I know exactly what you mean about it taking a bit of getting used to. I still have Office 2007 though, so that side of things is okay, all my docs work fine.

As for IE, I never use that any more, I've had too many problems with it in the past, freezing up and such. these days I use Opera and/or Chrome. both are pretty similar, and seem to be faster and more stable than IE.

As for the germs, I think I'm finally getting to the end of mine, so I' hope you're not too far behind me on that. Hope the little ones recover soon too. *hugs*

[susanb03.livejournal.com]

congrats on the new computer. Hope you all feel better soon!