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It's official, sports fans!
Jan. 14th, 2011 09:33 pmI'm posting from a PC running Windows 7 instead of linux. Alas and alack.
Still, it's gone pretty well so far. I brought the machine home from the computer shop Thursday morning, then promptly put it aside while I dealt with other chores. I was able to spent an hour or two on it that afternoon, doing New Computer Housekeeping. Which in my case, meant:
Plug in the ethernet cable. Open Internet Explorer. IMMEDIATELY download the latest Firefox. Close IE and consign it to the dustbin of history. Add Password Exporter, then import my passwords from the old machine. Import bookmarks. Redeploy AdBlock Plus, NoScript, etc.
Then it was off to pick up my lovely and talented wife and head out for a night of playing D&D (she's joined my regular Thursday night gaming group). We had fun. Once I'd put her to bed at home, I spent hours more on the computer. I downloaded Seamonkey and ran through the same housekeeping chores for that program.
Why two web browsers? Well, I'll tell you. I have two online identities. This one (Sinanju) and Gail Roarke, my erotica/romance pen name. I frequent a lot of the same internet corners (Yahoo, LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, and numerous websites) in both identities. Using one web browser for both IDs requires signing in and out all the damn time. It's a pain in the ass. So I segregated Gail Roarke to Seamonkey. Now I can remain signed in as me on Firefox and as Gail on Seamonkey. It's much easier.
Anyhow, I then installed Xmarks, to keep my bookmarks synched between the desktop PC and my laptop. And then Jungledisk, to back up my files.
Then it was time to tackle the wirelessness. I'd tried when I first got the machine home, but couldn't manage. I didn't know why, and didn't have time to mess with it, so I just plugged in the ethernet cable from the router and used that. After gaming, I went at it again. I spent two or three hours trying to get that damn wireless card to work, to no avail. Seeing as how I'd given up my linux box in large part because of the need/desire to go wireless, I was...aggravated.
This morning I called the computer shop to ask for help. It went something like this:
Me: "Hi, I picked up my computer from you guys yesterday."
Computer Guy: "Yes, how can I help you?"
Me: "When you assembled the system, you checked that the wireless card worked--right?"
CG: "Yes."
Me: "That's what I figured. So maybe you can help me. I can't get the wireless to work."
CG: "Are the antennas attached to the wireless card?"
Me: "....what antennas?"
CG: Tells me that there are a couple of antennas (that screw onto the wireless card) in a small box (which held the wireless card originally) inside the box that contained the motherboard. [It also contained boxes holding the Windows 7 and Microsoft Office DVDs, which I knew.]
Me: "Well, that's probably the problem, then."
CG: "Yeah. It worked in the shop without the antennas, but you might need to use them."
And so it was. I found said antennas (yeah, yeah, antennae), screwed them into place and--presto!--suddenly the wireless card connected to our router.
I felt pretty silly. Not entirely silly, mind you. They never said a word yesterday about any antennas, or the possibility that I might need to attach them. I assumed that the system was ready to go.
But the important thing is, the wireless works. The whole system works...so far, he said darkly. It's Windows. I don't entirely trust it. But it's what I'm going to use now. And so far, so good.
Still, it's gone pretty well so far. I brought the machine home from the computer shop Thursday morning, then promptly put it aside while I dealt with other chores. I was able to spent an hour or two on it that afternoon, doing New Computer Housekeeping. Which in my case, meant:
Plug in the ethernet cable. Open Internet Explorer. IMMEDIATELY download the latest Firefox. Close IE and consign it to the dustbin of history. Add Password Exporter, then import my passwords from the old machine. Import bookmarks. Redeploy AdBlock Plus, NoScript, etc.
Then it was off to pick up my lovely and talented wife and head out for a night of playing D&D (she's joined my regular Thursday night gaming group). We had fun. Once I'd put her to bed at home, I spent hours more on the computer. I downloaded Seamonkey and ran through the same housekeeping chores for that program.
Why two web browsers? Well, I'll tell you. I have two online identities. This one (Sinanju) and Gail Roarke, my erotica/romance pen name. I frequent a lot of the same internet corners (Yahoo, LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, and numerous websites) in both identities. Using one web browser for both IDs requires signing in and out all the damn time. It's a pain in the ass. So I segregated Gail Roarke to Seamonkey. Now I can remain signed in as me on Firefox and as Gail on Seamonkey. It's much easier.
Anyhow, I then installed Xmarks, to keep my bookmarks synched between the desktop PC and my laptop. And then Jungledisk, to back up my files.
Then it was time to tackle the wirelessness. I'd tried when I first got the machine home, but couldn't manage. I didn't know why, and didn't have time to mess with it, so I just plugged in the ethernet cable from the router and used that. After gaming, I went at it again. I spent two or three hours trying to get that damn wireless card to work, to no avail. Seeing as how I'd given up my linux box in large part because of the need/desire to go wireless, I was...aggravated.
This morning I called the computer shop to ask for help. It went something like this:
Me: "Hi, I picked up my computer from you guys yesterday."
Computer Guy: "Yes, how can I help you?"
Me: "When you assembled the system, you checked that the wireless card worked--right?"
CG: "Yes."
Me: "That's what I figured. So maybe you can help me. I can't get the wireless to work."
CG: "Are the antennas attached to the wireless card?"
Me: "....what antennas?"
CG: Tells me that there are a couple of antennas (that screw onto the wireless card) in a small box (which held the wireless card originally) inside the box that contained the motherboard. [It also contained boxes holding the Windows 7 and Microsoft Office DVDs, which I knew.]
Me: "Well, that's probably the problem, then."
CG: "Yeah. It worked in the shop without the antennas, but you might need to use them."
And so it was. I found said antennas (yeah, yeah, antennae), screwed them into place and--presto!--suddenly the wireless card connected to our router.
I felt pretty silly. Not entirely silly, mind you. They never said a word yesterday about any antennas, or the possibility that I might need to attach them. I assumed that the system was ready to go.
But the important thing is, the wireless works. The whole system works...so far, he said darkly. It's Windows. I don't entirely trust it. But it's what I'm going to use now. And so far, so good.
