Thought Patterns

Finally got around to installing the new OpenOffice.org 3.0. With us going out of town (had fun with the kids and got to take Mom and Jim to lunch) and other stuff going on, I decided to wait until we got back.

Installing was the same as always. OpenOffice likes Java although I'm never really sure just how it uses it. I think it uses the Java "platform" but not Java itself. Not sure on that one. Anyway, got it installed and opened it. Got the usual "user information" screen. I decided to register this time. Usually I don't since I'm a long time user and should already be marked on the books but with this being the new one and all that stuff, I decided to register again. OpenOffice is not exactly a Sun product. More like Sun is a big sponsor, I think. Anyway, registering this time meant registering with Sun. Not too happy about that but we'll see what bacn shows up in my mailbox.

After registering (and realizing my OO.org user stuff wasn't valid) I got down to checking out the new version. This is what I got when I opened the program (vs opening a direct component such as Writer).

(larger version of the opening image)

Plenty of choices on what to do next as well as access to add-ons and the like. The icons on the bottom right are: "Get more templates…"; "Add new features…"; "Register…"; and "Get more information….".

I selected "Open a document" and opened "Exodus and Genesis" (my possible NaNo project). The document opened in the same window so I had to resize it. It looks as if the add-ons I'd installed in the previous version transferred over and the color scheme (migraine specific) is still intact. Even the customization of the toolbars is there, although moved around. There's some new ones in place (like hyperlinking) that I'll get rid of. My custom dictionaries/spelling lists are still there.

I clicked the little X to close the document and was shown the window again (vs a blank). I chose "Spreadsheet" this time. Looks the same. So, basically, at first glance, the only obvious difference is the opening window.

I'm going to ask some writer friends who use Word to send me a commented document to see if my OpenOffice and their Word can communicate now. I hope they can! Any volunteers?

And this time I'm not leaving you little stories to read. They all stank anyway.

I'm taking the laptop with me and plan on doing some writing/editing while Lorna drives. I plan on irritating the shit out of her with my whining. It'll keep her awake, right? Nice of me to do that public service.

Back Monday or Tuesday. If I can, I'll let y'all know I'm still alive. You just never know when Lorna is going to have enough and kill me.

The main site is acting wonky. At least for me it is.

Anyone else get a weird full page error message? "Precondition failed"?

I'm on my way out of town (read for us, Kev and Col??) and can't really fix it until I get back.

I just rechecked it and the site comes up fine. Until I get into the admin section and then it boots me. Weird.

Still, if anyone else has problems, let me know.

Way. Freakin'. Cool.

OpenOffice.org 3 is out. And so many people tried to download it that the main site crashed. Ain't that cool? I mean, I'm sorry the site crashed, but it's cool so many people are using it. I love OpenOffice. I use it for spreadsheets and documents, mostly. I've also used it to view and create PowerPoint files and database files. As a writer, I need a dependable, flexible, user-friendly data processing program. OpenOffice is all that and, better yet, it is FREE.

email from Louis Suarez-Potts, head of OO.o:

All,

We must apologize. OpenOffice.org 3.0 is proving immensely, staggeringly popular. And our site is down as a result. While we fix things, we urge you to be patient and try again later on tonight, tomorrow, this week. It will still be there.

Oh, by popular, we mean it: figure hundreds of thousands of users, mostly Windows users, but also Mac OS X and Linux and Solaris users, all trying to download it all at once…..

Cheers, and thanks for your patience,
Louis

What other folks are saying:

Google News list of articles

What OpenOffice site crash means

This is good news and bad news. The good news is we have more proof of the popularity of Open Office, which continues to seize market share from Microsoft Office and reduce the monopoly rents that company earns. The bad news is it will take some time, and some money, for the open source group to scale-up. I know they can speak for themselves, but it's time that companies which benefit from OpenOffice step up to the plate. If you're an enterprise standardizing on OpenOffice, or a company that competes fiercely with Microsoft, you have a stake in this. It's time for you to step up and support OpenOffice. Now is the time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of the software.

OK, now OpenOffice is definitely good enough

OpenOffice.org is not a clone of Office 2007 (good call, Sun). It's a full-featured suite that gives us everything we need from MS Office and the world of productivity software while keeping the bottom line quite a bit more reasonable (you don't get any more reasonable than free). Yes, OO.org has been good enough for a long time; the latest release should leave little doubt for any users who had been on the fence.

PS I just tried to do the upgrade from OpenOffice itself and it can't make a connection. I am currently downloading the huge 142.37M file. While the new modem is working great, Charter's download speeds are not what they say they are. The download has yet to top 42Kb/sec.

As most of you know, I have a (nearly) constant companion named Joella. Jo is a big, vicious, mean, droolin' Rottweiler.

Okay, so she's not vicious. Nor mean. And she doesn't drool. But she is big and she is a Rottweiler.

And she's also my Service Dog. I trained her to retrieve certain things (Jo, where's my shoes?) and to pick up items I drop (Jo, hand me my keys. Again.) and to go get Lorna (never really got Lorna trained to listen, though). Jo just turned 8 and it is time I got another dog to train as her SD replacement. Not that Jo is going to be happy about it.

It is weird for me to even be considering getting, on purpose, a full breed dog. I'm a mutt kind of gal. I'm not too happy with AKC and their "standards" which are based on looks and not much else. But I love the Rottweiler breed. They are sweet dogs with wonderful personalities. Most people agree that they are such clowns! And they are. I love that humor in Jo.

Anyway, full breed dogs cost money. Lots of money. One breeder from TN I spoke to charges $1500 each. I about crapped with that one. I understand it, though. Her close watch on genetics means that certain traits (including hip dysplasia) are almost eliminated. It also continues good temperament. While a happy dog won't automatically produce happy puppies who grow up to be happy adults, the potential is high.

Perhaps what stops me with the price, other than the price itself, is that I'd be paying for a dog that is not guaranteed to be trainable as a Service Dog. Yeah, I'm taking that risk with any dog I get, even an adult. I'm not sure I want to spend $1500 for a pet. Know what I mean?

And I want a puppy. The youngest we've ever had was Zeus at about 3 mos. Joella was 6 months. I was there when Zeke was born but he died before he was 3 months old. There wasn't time to really bond or to form much of a personality.

It's also hard to spend almost as much on a DOG as I would a DELL.

So, donations are being accepted for either one!

Monster Blue got some updates yesterday.

Permobil makes excellent chairs. Unfortunately, they had to "dumb" them down in order to meet the Medicaid/Medicare requirements. So things that normally are nice and sturdy were made cheaper and not as sturdy. The best example are the armrests. Cheap plastic with metal only going part way. Which means when a user pushes down on the armrests to transfer, the stress is on the plastic. Mine broke within just a few months. The pad was a cardboard backed, foam covered barely in place thing. I lost one on the way to Atlanta for my first GCLS con.

(larger image of left armrest)

(larger image of right armrest)

The new armrests have metal all the way out and, better yet, are universal. Meaning one can go on either side. The other ones were side-dependent.

underneath of the new armrest:

Universal fit:

I also got some thigh pads. This will help keep my legs aligned and look less like a harlot with my legs spread.

(larger image of thigh pads)

(larger image of left thigh pad)

The thigh pads fit into a doohickey called a Unitrack. Permobil developed this to use to attach various doohickeys to the chair. This includes the pads, transfer handles, and even a lap tray.

(larger image of Unitrack)

***

I'm still having internet problems. I am at the laundromat right now with the fastest upload/connection speed I've had in weeks. One last call to Charter today and it'll be fixed, one way or the other.

Sheesh. I'm gonna chuck the modem.

We have Charter Communications for our cable, internet, and phone. Great price and I like them. We've had the internet through them for a long time. They provided a Motorola Surfboard cable modem. I think it is the original one. Anyway, the modem is connected to the two computers via a Linksys wireless router. Lorna's computer, the Dell laptop, is hardwired. The Toshiba, the one I am using, is wireless. At first I thought it was this Toshiba acting up. Then I checked to see if the Dell could get on line. Like the Toshiba, it does, but it takes fooooorrrrrrever to load a page if it does at all. Some websites load partway then think about loading the rest. Sometimes, I can hit stop/reload and it finishes. Tomorrow (or maybe tonight if I feel like it) I'll bypass the router and see if that helps any. The reason I am certain it is the modem is that the lights on it keep going off and on. The Surfboard has 4 green lights for connectivity and an orange light showing activity. At times, only the top light and the second is on with either the second one blinking or the third blinking. I did a reboot (simple unplug) which worked for a few hours then I did a reboot and reset. But it keeps doing it and it is very frustrating.

If bypassing the router is no different, then I'll call their tech support. Sometimes there is a reset or something they do remotely.

Anyway, I've been trying for the past several days to post this message about backing up work.

As a writer, my documents can't be just recreated from data elsewhere. Unlike numbers in a spreadsheet, a lost manuscript will never be the same if re-written because the hard drive crashed. I've discussed backing up work before but its been a while. This is your reminder (and mine!). I back up my manuscripts to 3 different places. I have an external hard drive and I have a hidden, password protected directory in one of my websites. And, when I remember to can, I upload files from the external drive to the Dell.

I use Ipswitch's WS_FTP Pro to upload chunks of files. I use the program's faster (and lighter) Upload Wizard to upload one or two files, such as images and such. There are other online ways to save files. There's places that let you upload files to their site and they keep it safe for you. Kinda like a safe deposit box. My webhost, Dreamhost, has a Files Forever option but I've not really looked into it yet.

The external hard drive is the old one from the Dell. I wiped it clean, reformatted it, and got an external case. It connects via USB cable and is hot-swappable, which I like. I have a flash drive/memory key but I keep losing the damn thing. Flash drives are getting cheaper with bigger capacity. External hard drives are also getting cheaper with huge honkin' space on them. Someday I hope to have a networked hard drive system where I can access files from any networked computer in the house. Not sure if I want to do the remote access way, though. For now, when I want to put files on the Dell, I upload them to the 'net then download to the Dell. Yeah, complicated and why don't I just plug in the external drive? 'Cause the poor half-dead Dell won't recognize it, that's why. I really ought to shoot it and put it out of my miser.

A lot of people save files on CDs for their backups. I'd do that, too, except I don't have rewritable ones. I'd just be wasting CDs since I do backups weekly or even daily when I am actually working. Regardless, be sure to mark each CD with the date so you can quickly grab the one you want. I'd suggest putting manuscripts on a CD of their own.

Okay, well, that's all for now. I'm going to hit 'publish' in the hopes it actually gets saved and put on the site. Sigh.