OSes

I am very much loving this whole VMWare Fusion thing I've got going on, especially with the extra RAM I added a couple months back.

It's taken me a while to really trust it, but I am starting to trust it more and more, now.  I woke up this morning, dying to write some documentation for Microsoft Word, IN Microsoft Word.  My own little cheat sheet, if you will.  I didn't feel like using my work computer because I also wanted to check mail and have options in case I changed my mind and felt like working on pictures instead.  This is precisely why the VM was created in the first place!

So, I fired up Talon (who was sleeping) and checked mail.  Then I bypassed photos and went into Windows 7, where I have Office 2010.  I fired up Word, which came up faster than it normally does on my work computer.  Of course, there are other factors besides the 64 bit OSes at play here, but still... wow.  I began jotting down some thoughts and was immediately annoyed by the "Normal" style and its multi-spacing BS.  So I decided that was what I should start documenting - how to change that default behaviour once and for all.  (It drives me nuts at work, too.)

That of course meant some quick research.  The research turned up nothing, so I set out to figure it all out myself.  THAT was not NEARLY as difficult as I'd expected.  You simply right-click on the style, modify it, and whammo, done.  Forever.  Then I got fancy and decided to completely get rid of the "No Spacing" style.  I saved everything as my own quick set then figure out how to set THAT as default.

I is a happy camper.

The funny thing about all this is that I was using Windows on my mac and nearly forgot about that bit of trivia while I was working.  It's quite seamless... the only thing I feel uncertain about are the keys, because I know they're in weird spots - alt, for instance, is not next to the space bar, and so forth.  I suppose I could map those, but I like learning the default locations of things because otherwise it causes me issues down the road when I reformat things.  Four years from now if I do that, it's gonna cause me headache if I've fully customized everything!

On another note, though... I have figured out that writing "how to" documents is also a good way of documenting your personalizations.  I added a section in there for default save locations, so I know where to find my quick style and back it up.  I could then copy this quick style to my work computer and presto, the same working environment.  Go, me!

I love computers this morning.  But I'm off to work soon, so we'll see how long that holds.  After all, I'll be dealing with a bunch of non-vm's running only Windows 7, 32-bit.  Huh.  I wonder if the Windows I just created an image of happens to BE 32-bit.  I may have inadvertently made a 64-bit image.  That would be bad.  BAD!!  (So far it's working so I'd guess it's 32-bit.  Otherwise the printers would not have worked.)

~nv

You might be a [os] geek if...

YOU MIGHT BE A MAC GEEK IF, WHILE WORKING ON A WINDOWS MACHINE...

...you intentionally go to the end of a line so you can hit "Backspace" instead of simply doing "Delete" where you already are.

...you keep looking for the minimize button in the left corner instead of the right corner.

...you use Alt for weird things, like going to address bars.

...you try to use Shift ALT D to send an email and cannot figure out why you keep getting the date.

...you can't find the "eject" button.

...you're confused, but delighted, by the numeric keypad.

...you keep trying to scroll with the trackpad, despite the fact it continues to either not work or makes you think you've run out of memory or something.

...you hit Alt Spacebar and your eyes wander around looking for Finder.

...you can't figure out what all the noise is.

...you catch yourself being afraid to browse the internet for fear of malware.

...you can't copy and paste without LOOKING for "ctrl."

...you're always looking for the clover.

...you get frustrated when shift+ctrl+alt+4 and 3 don't work.

...you keep confusing ALT or the Windows button with the clover.

...you have to stop and make sure you type in a DOS command, not a unix one

...you're confused by permissions

...you try to minimize windows.

YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME WINDOWS 7 GEEKINESS IF, WHILE WORKING ON A MAC...

...you occasionally use CTRL+C and CTRL+V and can't figure out why it won't work.

...you hit command+D to send mail, and it doesn't work

...you get annoyed by the lack of obvious keyboard shortcuts

...you just can't learn Office for the Mac

...the shaky thing just doesn't work to get rid of your other windows

...command+ arrow does some weird sh**

...you forget where to find "aeropeek"

...you're always looking for "cmd" and it takes you a while to find "Terminal" instead

...you're always typing in DOS commands (and they don't work!!)

...you're often consulting a "comparison" list to get the unix equivalent of a DOS command

...you're pleasantly surprised when you find a command that doesn't HAVE a DOS equivalent - and is VERY useful!!

YOU MIGHT BE USED TO USING VIRTUAL MACHINES IF...

...you click on something and automatically take a sip of something while you wait, even if it responds instantly.

...you're constantly trying to minimize your operating system so you can go to your "desktop."

...you inadvertently close programs in an attempt to close an os

...you have trouble remembering which machine you're on because they all "look the same"

...you forget your laptop and think, "Drat, that had all my computers on it!"

...you chuckle when you clone your computer, because, well, you're cloning a few of them all at once - MWAH hahahahahaaaaaaaa!!

...you've got 8GB of RAM - and you're using all of it without even trying (or gaming)!

Understanding.

Understanding is a good thing.

:)

whitfeelingoftheday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtiXiYMS86U

It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day!!!!!

[despite the rain, which is simply good for dancing in anyway]

whitthoughtoftheday

Vroom, VROOM!! goes the little car

Even when it isn't

Driven very far

Striking blue colour catches rain drops

As the newbies drives

Not as bad as she'd thought

Vroom, VROOM!! goes the little car

Twitchy is his name

Flies when driven hard

Striking blue colour catching the light

As the newbie drives

Quickly out of sight

Vroom, VROOM!! Twitchy growls

Echoes in the distance

Like a carefree owl