| I want this day back |
[May. 26th, 2012|08:56 pm] |
At least 3-4 hours of it, which was the time I spent deciding I needed a new external HD, buying one in haste from the local big box, trying to install it, failing miserably, and driving back to big box to return it.
Yes, Dear Reader, it was a Day of Unintended Tech.
I found the right external HD online and ordered it, so sometime next week I may finally be able to use Time Machine as it was intended. I have an external HD currently, but it’s only 80 GB (only 80 gigs ::shakes head::) and is just about full–I can save individual files and folders, but wholesale backup is no longer possible according to said Time Machine. In addition, the 1 TB unit (1. Terabyte.) I ordered is already formatted for a Mac, which the one I struggled with today wasn’t. Yes, there were instructions for reformatting, but something kept accessing the drive even though I was sure I disabled/turned everything off, and I frankly don’t have the patience + know-how to grapple with something like that at the moment. So back to the store it went and left the store I did, return credit in hand.
What started this little rainbow ball spinning merrily down the mountain was the fact that MobileMe is going away next month and with it my access to Backup, its nifty, straightforward online storage application. I liked Backup. I could configure it to save the files/folders I wanted saved when I wanted them saved. Every night at 730pm, a little brollie appears in my Dock, and all my writing files–PC Word, Works, MacWord, Scrivener–all get backed up within an inch of their little virtual lives.
Starting sometime next month, however, MobileMe will be replaced by iCloud. The issue that served as the first warning pebble in this avalanche of WTF was the fact that iCloud only works with Lion, the new OS which I had yet to download because I kept hearing that there were Issues. Supposedly many of those Issues have been resolved and I was running out of time in any case, so today I took a deep breath and downloaded/installed Lion. I then checked Scrivener to make sure it still worked, which it did. Then I set about setting up my iCloud account.
I did believe at first that I would be able to backup my files as I had before. Not so, Dear Reader. iCloud apparently only works with iWorks and other Mac products, none of which I am using, so backing up my files as before was Right Out. This was when I reevaluated Time Machine, learned that my present external HD was no longer up to the task, and set about finding a replacement. And failing. At least until later in the week, when I SHALL SUCCEED, DAMMIT, AND SPIT IN THE FACES OF ALL THOSE *&^%$#@ WHO REPLACE PROGRAMS THAT MEET MY NEEDS WITH PROGRAMS THAT DON’T.
Don’t mention Dropbox to me. I opened an account today. It doesn’t do what I want, unless I am missing something obvious which is totally possible because I tend to intuit applications instead of reading the instructions. This system usually works reasonably well, to tell the truth, if only because a program that I can intuit is one that I will be able to work with. Like Backup. Which is going away next month, did I mention?
Night is falling. Coffee has been brewed. Some days, there isn’t enough coffee in the world.
At least the brownies came out all right. This recipe, courtesy of the folks at Recchiuti, but without the nuts and marshmallows. My batch actually tasted fairly close to the to-die-for brownies that Recchiuti sells on their website, but there were differences due to, I think, the pan and the butter. I used a glass 8×8 baking pan/dish, and did not remember until too late that you need to bake at a lower temp in glass. As for the butter, I used plain ol’ grocery store unsalted, which I doubt met the 82% butterfat requirement specified in the recipe. So, watery butter and too high a heat meant that the brownies came out slightly overbaked–still moist in the center, but dry around the edges and lacking the flourless chocolate cake density they were intended to have. That said, they’re still the best brownies I have ever made and among the best I have ever eaten. It’s a keeper recipe. I just need to tweak. And get hold of a good metal pan and some boutique butter.
And it’s now dark outside. Chilly day, as it turned out. Rainy morning. Tomorrow, however, we are supposed to set records–I am hearing rumors of triple-digit temps, which would be an almost 40-degree upswing from today. Personally I think those of us north of the city will be cooler, but I guess we’ll see.
Mind’s churning a little bit. Tech has that effect on me. If I were a hard drive, I would be racing.
Backup’s going away next month. Fck.
Mirrored from Kristine Smith. |
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| Thud: Turnover |
[May. 27th, 2012|12:28 am] |
Words: 2264
Total words: 5764
Files: 3
Tea: White Orchard
Music: Three Double Concertos, arguably the best music of all time ever.
RSI: Forgot that line, didn't I? Well, reminded of it now.
Reason for stopping: end of chapter.
I'm two chapters in, and these people are five courses through a twelve course lunch? Seriously? Oh well, we've also had a lot of backstory. It'll work out.
Anybody know anything about ballet that they didn't get from Noel Streatfeild and Rumer Godden? Any recommendations for ballet blogs? |
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| Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism, by Roy Richard Grinker |
[May. 26th, 2012|12:38 pm] |
A clear, well-written, informative, easy-reading book for the layperson on the history and current conceptions of autism, and what that means for people with autism. Grinker has an autistic daughter, and includes his own experiences with her to illuminate larger issues. He primarily writes about the US, but has two chapters with snapshots of the situation in South Korea and India.
I particularly liked the lengthy section in which he makes his case that autism is not increasing, but seems to be because we are more aware of it. I don't have time to lay out his detailed explanations of how he came to each of his conclusions, but the reasons for the perceived increase are as follows:
- It is only comparatively recently that autism, like many other mental and developmental disorders, has become understood as a unique phenomena rather than lumped in with every other disorder else as "mad" or "simple" or some such. That is, autism has always existed, but was not called "autism."
- Parents and researchers agitated for more awareness of autism. Once people became aware, they started noticing it more: laypeople recognized kids with autism, and doctors became able to diagnose it. Previously, the same kids would have been labeled mentally retarded or schizophrenic or something other than autistic.
- Due to improved services for autistic kids, pressure arose to diagnose kids with autism rather than with some other diagnosis which entitled them to less or inferior services. Hence, kids who previously would have been labeled mentally retarded are now labeled autistic. (Autism is also less stigmatized than mental retardation.) For the same reason, kids who have less severe problems, who previously would not have been diagnosed at all but would have struggled and been called weird, stupid, or lazy, now tend to get an autism diagnosis so they can get help.
- A misprint in an early edition of the diagnostic manual DSM-IV - "or" instead of "and" - led to many kids qualifying for an autism diagnosis who otherwise wouldn't have gotten it. (Basically, it should have been "must have this symptom AND this symptom," but it was printed as "must have this symptom OR this symptom."
Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/1040761.html. Comment here or there. |
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| Where The Streets Have No Name |
[May. 26th, 2012|08:49 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | my desk | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  pensive | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Any Way You Want It by Journey | ] |
As always, I am behind and trying to catch up. The revision of Timothy is coming along nicely, if too slowly, and Night Shadows is also nearing completion. I might not make this coming Friday's deadlines for everything, but that last extra weekend might just do the trick.
Fingers crossed, people.
Heavy sigh.
For today's entry into Short Story Month, I gave myself the daunting task of picking out my favorite Stephen King short story--which was no easy feat; Mr. King is certainly a master of the short story (as he is of writing in general, frankly) and he has produced any number of magnificent short stories--from "Children of the Corn" to "Word Processor of the Gods" to "Night Shift" to "The Last Rung on the Ladder" to "Ur" to "Riding the Bullet"; the list goes on and on--and that doesn't even take into consideration the novellas: The Body, Apt Pupil, Hearts in Atlantis, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Langoliers, and Big Driver,--another list of great work that goes on and on.
But if forced to choose, I would have to say ( my favorite King short story ) |
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| Signal Boost: Project Save Annabelle |
[May. 25th, 2012|10:56 pm] |
I've had some scary moments with my two pups, and I'm lucky to have insurance for them. Even so, the bills mount so quickly. But you'll pay anything, because you just want them to be okay again.
Originally posted by ![[info]](http://l-files.livejournal.net/userhead/567?v=1322424142) harnessphoto at Signal Boost: Project Save AnnabelleI don't normally re-post these things, but I'm seeing this one everywhere and I would hope people would help me out if it ever came to life or death with Herbie or Ozzy. I donated and just $5 from everyone would go a long way. Help if you can. Re-post if you think other people you know might be inclined to do the same. ( Great Dane in need ) |
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Lemonade (for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) fivemack and rezendi) |
[May. 26th, 2012|12:18 am] |
You need a 2 liter jug, a pyrex jug, a lemon squeezer, 2 big or 3 small lemons, 2 limes, 1 orange, a tray of ice, 2 oz of sugar, and lots of cold water. Takes 5-10 minutes.
Put the sugar in the pyrex jug. Boil the kettle. When the kettle boils, cover the sugar with boiling water, stir to dissolve. You don't need to make syrup or anything, but you want the sugar dissolved.
Meanwhile, put the tray of ice into the 2 liter jug. Squeeze the lemons, limes and orange in, getting out all the juice and pulp you can and avoiding adding the pips. Pour the dissolved sugar and water in. Top up with cold water. Shake or stir. Drink, with ice. It'll be cold enough. I used to refrigerate it for a while first, but then I had to make some in a hurry and it was just fine.
This is very refreshing and about as isotonic as you can get. I sometimes add mint or basil to the sugar in the boiling water when I have that growing outside. If it's too sweet, use less sugar next time. I figure this has about a teaspoon of sugar per glass.
The other thing you can do, right now while limes are nine for a dollar, is just squeeze half a lime into your glass of water and ice. Kids won't drink this, but it's good. |
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| Thud: Turnover |
[May. 25th, 2012|09:09 pm] |
Words: 3492, about 100 of them words from last time. I started again, much better. Now have good grip on voice.
Total words: 3492
Files: 2
Tea: Four O'Clock White Orchard. Also home made lemonade.
Music: Three Double Concertos.
Reason for stopping: Solid end of chapter.
Z fixed, or reasonably fixed, Protext on this computer, so I am trying it again. Much nicer using this keyboard!
Posted and deleted science query because I want an answer, not my competence to write SF brought into question. Thanks to people who gave useful answers anyway.
I think the short version of what this is about is "an art festival on a generation starship". |
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| Change and decay in all about I see |
[May. 25th, 2012|09:40 am] |
Some change passes muster, at least in the boys' eyes. We are trying them on a self-service system, full bowls of crunchies all the time. They have eaten ... well, not enormously, but significantly more than usual overnight, and were not at all hungry this morning. Which means they were not making nuisances of themselves at five o'clock, which is a win on Karen's calendar. We'll see how it goes, if the scoffing levels off; if they become little rotund balls of furry blubber, we'll think again.
In other news, I can report that the sun is actually not shining - oh wait, yes it is. There are fluffy white stuffs in the sky, that come and go. I think they should go and go; I have got used to my eternal sunshine, and I want it back. This is Memorial Day Weekend, which is officially the start of summer; I have no interest in cloud.
This is Memorial Day Weekend, which is a weird phrase whichever way you cut it.
This is Memorial Day Weekend, and like a million Americans and one Brit we are hoping to buy a barbecue, or "grill" as they call it over here. I have stood over many a friend's barbecue, but never really had one of my own, so it's not really an art that I have cultivated yet. I intend cultivation. I've bought a book and everything. And of course I want the biggest kick-assest charcoal grill on the street, which of course is stupid, but. What's that you say? Baby steps? Pffft.
Also, clouds. It's getting cloudier. I've just looked at a weather forecast, for the first time in weeks: brr! Temperatures in the 60s and a 20% chance of rain. What's that about? My eternal summer shall not fade. It says so, right here...
What else? I dunno. We're conventioning all weekend, and I feel like a fraud. How can I be a writer, if I don't have a book to write? Also I am wearing my Linux T-shirt, which is outright fraudulent, as I'm writing this in Windows. Neither a novelist nor a geek I be. Every fair from fair sometime declines (and yes, I know I'm not being fair to myself; I never am), but I hadn't expected it yet.
Mostly I just want to cook stuff, really. And read books, and potter in the garden. But I have this edit to work through (very, very slowly, apparently), and accounts to render, and like that.
And, damn. Clouds. |
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poor puppy