I know I said I’d disconnect, but that was before I found THIS:

Even though I won’t begin my new job for another week, my new boss encouraged to pick out a laptop and “make it mine” now so I can jump right in on my first day at work. Geek that I am, I was shopping for a new machine within an hour of bequeathing mine to the new project manager who has been hired in my place.

So far I’m loving this "espresso" Vaio! It’s fast and sleek and very friendly. I especially like the button just above the keyboard that allows me to just turn off the display. No “start/sleep,” just press and it’s done. There’s also a “web”button that allows super-fast access to a browser. And thank goodness, there are no pesky ports on the front of the machine that get in the way of my docking station. It’s the little things like that endear me to a laptop.

My only complaint so far is a very faint pulsing noise in the fan, but I have a feeling that will become one of those things that becomes un-noticeable over time. Either that or it will drive me completely bonkers and I’ll end up returning the thing!

My new toy

After weeks of drooling over Peter’s new iPod Touch and then enduring the agony of watching Kat buy one too, I knew that in order to protect my reputation as Geek Queen of the family, I had no choice to go out and get an iPod Touch of my own.

So today I did exactly that!

Yes, I am, in fact, in love. It was love at first sight and it promises to be a torrid love affair!

I immediately downloaded my e-mail, my contacts, my calendar, my music, and a bunch of apps – including, of course, Facebook.

I also downloaded Urban Spoon so we can easily find local restaurants that serve exactly the type of food we’re craving…

… and I downloaded Bump (invented by Elisabeth’s friend!), which allows me to just bump my iTouch to someone else’s in order to to “beam” a contact to them…

…and Convertbot, which converts just about any unit to any other unit.

But my favorite app (so far, anyway) is iGlow Stick, which turns my iTouch into a glowstick, but only after I “break” the stick and shake my iTouch! It’s incredibly inventive (and useful, too)!

You’ll surely be hearing more from me about my beloved iTouch! But maybe I need to hear more from YOU! What apps do YOU recommend?

Almost as bad as a “What I had for Lunch” post

So I got a new cell phone today.  Before you get all “la-dee-da” and “whoop-dee-do” on me, allow me an evening to be downright excited about this cool little geeky gizmo.

 

My kids text like crazy. In fact, they rarely call anyone, preferring to text them instead.  Kat’s had this Samsung Alias phone for about a year. I’ve been envious because I’ve been texting more and more these days but it’s been really arduous with my old phone: press the “9” key three times for “y,” press the “6” key three times for “o,” and press the “8” key three times for “u.” 

Yawn.

But behold!  My new phone has a real keyboard!  Yes, I know that I’m a two-finger typist, but still – texting with this thing is really fast… even for me!

And if that’s not enough, listen to my new ringtone:

Yeah, I know it’s kinda seasonal, but I like it!  The other two options were the theme to “Dr. No” and a meowing cat.  Maybe I’ll tire of this quickly and try one of those.

OK, I’m done with this boring post now.  I promise I won’t write about getting a new cell phone again.

Unless I get an iPhone… and then you better believe that I will write a drippy, gushy, frikkin’ LOVE LETTER to my phone!  But until the kids graduate and have their own plans, and we’re not paying for six cell phones, that’s not about to happen.

Do You Want to Report Your Non-Problem to Microsoft?

This cracked me up! For a few moments this morning, I couldn't connect to the Internet so I asked Windows (Vista... need I say more?) to "diagnose" the problem.


This is what came back:

"Windows did not find any problem with your Internet connection. (OK, cool! Thanks.) Do you want to report the problem to Microsoft? (But I thought you said there WAS no problem?!) Additional details about what went wrong can help create a solution. (But wait! You told me there's no problem, so why would I need a solution?) The report will be sent next time you go online. (But see, I AM online because... well, because, according to you, there's no problem!)"

Mobile Technology

This is my key chain. It contains a few keys. It also contains a 1 GIG jump drive and a digital photo keychain (a birthday gift from Tom).

Never let it be said that I'm not Miss Tech-Geek!

I Stumbled Upon It

No time to post today, for I have discovered either the greatest time-waster or the greatest knowledge-seeking tool of all time -- Stumble Upon.

I had to pry myself away from that damn "Stumble Now!" button and I finally headed to bed around 2 AM last night after hours of clicking, each time bringing me to a new discovery, each time about something I'm fascinated with, thanks to Stumble Upon's customization tools.

Go ahead and try it, but I warn you, the end of the month is near and your NaBloPoMo standing -- not to mention your marriage, your job, and your personal hygiene, will be in great jeopardy if you do!

"60 GIG Should Be Enough For Anyone"

As I attempted to open Picasa last night to add a photo to my slideshow, I got an error message that I'd never seen in the year and a half that I've owned this laptop. It warned me that I am just about to run out of disk space.

Excuuuuse me?

Way back in the early 80's, I produced educational films and filmstrips (you're laughing, aren't you?!) for a now-defunct off-shoot of the Walt Disney Company called Walt Disney Educational Media Company (WDEMCO). My first project was a filmstrip called The Research Paper Caper (that's when I fell in love with producing) and after that I managed the production of a multimedia kit called Cheeseburger, This is Your Life (about food origins and nutrition; we were -- pffft! -- ahead of our time) which, as a multi-media kit, consisted of a filmstrip, a comic book, a poster, and audio tapes. (You're still laughing, aren't you?!)

In late 1983, we were told that WDEMCO would be experimenting with a new type of media called Personal Computer Software, and five of us were tasked with making the first educational computer games for kids. I freaked, of course, being the techno-phobe that I was. (Am?) But I jumped into my new role and loved it. I got to design the characters, stories, lessons, and look and feel, while artists and programmers did the rest. (Ah, those were the days!)

The powers that be at Disney in the early 80's had high hopes for this new business and looked forward to seeing our first games (which we produced with a teeny-tiny company called Sierra Online which was located in the teeny-tiny town of Oakhust, California, near Yosemite). We designed the programs for the Atari and Apple II computers, which had a whoppin' 48K memory, 8 colors, a few pixels per square inch, and which ran our software on a 2400 baud audio tape (later upgraded to a 5" floppy disk). I remember the VP telling us that the "art" was unacceptable, since Mickey's ears weren't as smooth and round as they were in "our movies." It took some time and significant adjustments for us all to understand the new media that we were working with -- both its opportunities and its limitations (and, as a company used to the beauty of movies consisting of individually hand-painted cels, there were both).

Disney did adjust, and our little 5-person team eventually became a new division called Disney Interactive.

And now I'm complaining because 60 GIG (how many gazillion times 48K is that?) isn't enough for me! (And hey, why does it show my capacity as only 50-ish? I guess 10-ish are "saved" for behind-the-scenes duties?) I can't even begin to put that into perspective, given what we worked with 23 years ago, except to say that, to salvage a tiny bit of disk space I deleted a CD labeling software program -- all 240 MB of it!

You know, there was a time when, if someone heard you say "I need more memory; I'm running out," they'd consider committing you to an institution! And a few short years from now, people will laugh at the whimpy 160 GIG external drive that will be permanently plugged into my laptop from now on because, well... "I needed more memory; I ran out."

"Facebook" is a Verb

"Are you gonna facebook those pictures?"

"Facebook me when you get home!"

"Did you see what he facebooked yesterday?"

We saw it happen with Google (noun) years ago, and now we all google (verb) pretty much on a daily basis -- and chances are we've all even performed an "ego-google" by typing our own name into the search box. (Admit it, you've done it!)

But have you facebooked yet?

Until yesterday, I was a facebook virgin. But today I'm just slightly more cool because I am a member of that distinct and elite (ha -- can you call it elite when it has a bazillion-kajillion members?) Facebook (capitalized) group!

I think you might have to be a member to see my page (see reference to "elite" above), but come check it out! And if you're cool like me, we can even be friends!

I must admit, I feel kinda like I've been invited to a frat party...

I Miss My PC!

I promised myself that I wouldn't take my Dell Inspiron 1405 (my beloved Dell!) out of my backpack all weekend -- that I MUST learn to use this MacBoob (too good a typo to fix!), come hell or high water.

Yeah, after a weekend of frustration, I've changed my tune.

Intuitive? BULL! How am I supposed to know that in order to eject a peripheral on a Mac you drag its icon to the TRASH?! That's not something I'd think to do... or risk experimenting with! I bought myself a Macs for Dummies book yesterday, but I have so much to do that I don't have time to read it -- only to refer to it in a panic. Constantly.

But I did get through the weekend without unpacking my (beloved) Dell laptop PC. When I do unpack it again, I'll lovingly toss confetti over it.

How long is it supposed to take for me to fall in love with a Mac again? Please remind me. And if anyone has a friendly way for me to get to know this strange machine, please do let me know! I'm not adverse to a love affair; I just have yet to feel any chemistry.

(Posted clandestinely from the PC in the spare bedroom.)

Cool New Toy!

Greeting me when I walked into my new office this morning was a very sleek and "cute"little " Mac Book Pro! I tried not to squeal when I saw it, and sighed a pseudo-professional, "wow, very cool!" instead. But inside I was definitely squealing. This thing is not only sleek and cute, it's a real powerhouse -- yet light and small enough to travel with easily... which is apparently why this machine was chosen for me.

Unfortunately, I had no time to get acquainted with my new toy today because the day was jam-packed with a conference call, then back-to-back meetings at the Foundation. Tomorrow and Friday should be just as crazy, with more meetings and preparation for non-stop interviewing next week. Maybe this weekend I'll have a chance to explore this little guy. (I've never felt like referring to my Dell Inspiron as a "little guy"!)

Transferring my files to my Mac Book should be a breeze because I recently bought myself another little toy, a Western Digital Passport 160 gig hard drive. Even with my gazillions of photos, ten years of career documents, and quite a bit of music, I've barely made a dent in the storage capacity. 160 gig is way too much for anyone to ever use up! (Ha ha... famous last words?!)

Is it possible that I actually have some geekiness in me after all?!