A Mixed Bag

Hey all, sorry it took me so long to write another post, homework has sort of thrown me off.

I've decided I'm going to talk about programs today, from essentials to little things that make the desktop look nicer.

First is Launchy. Launchy is this little program (it's tiny!) that runs in the background, waiting for you to call it up. You just hit Alt-Space, and a window pops up. You start typing the name of the program, Launchy finds it, you hit enter, and bam! It's quick as, so you're really saving time. Launchy also comes with a bunch of cool plug-ins, like Calcy, which can do calculations, and one that lets you do google and youtube searches.

It's a really simple and efficient program, and I'm lost without it.

What next...?

Fences!

Fences lets you make little containers for your desktop icons. It's just a little shaded area with a title, and you can drag and drop icons in and out of them. You can then move a fence, taking the icons within along with it. I haven't even gotten to the best part yet! Whenever you double click on a blank part of your dektop, all of your fences and icons just fade away, leaving you with a nice clean desktop to look at. Double click again and they're back!

I'm going to stop talking about programs, because I can imagine it getting quite boring.

I was talking yesterday on MSN with my friend (who also helped me brainstorm for this post) and we got onto the topic of operating systems.

We discussed the eternal Mac vs. Windows debate.

We both had fairly similar opinions, and it started to get me thinking.

Does anyone really HATE an OS that much?

I mean, sure, Windows is sort of the designated punching bag for trendy people to make fun of, but when it comes down to it, it's still a good OS. It's stable and it's great for power users. You can customise it like nobodies business, and it's powerful. So why all the hate?

Of course, that's not to say Windows is the only good OS. Mac is still the second most popular, after all. I've always appreciated the way Apple has made an OS that looks nice and clean even on the first run. It's easy to use, and I think the Mighty Mouse is a force to be reckoned with.

So really, it boils down to personal preference. Some people like Mac, some like Windows, and some like both (me!) The truth is, they can both do just as much as each other.

I'm going to jump right into the other extreme. Instead of being lovey-dovey-lets-hold-hands, I'm going to go into bitching mode. Ready?

I'm trying to install iTunes. Becasue frankly, it's one of the few decent music players.

But guess what?

Quicktime is allergic to my computer. It just wont install. Full stop. At all.

So what do I try to do? I go to the apple website and try to install Quicktime on its own.

Now things get interesting.

That wont install either. I get a really ambiguous error message, and then it just leaves Quicktime half-installed.

I go to the control panel, so I can uninstall the half-installed program.

But guuuueeeessss what?

Apparently I have SOME trace of Quicktime Pro on my computer.

For those who dont know, Quicktime Pro is Quicktime with some more features, and it costs money.

This doesn't make sense because:

-I do not have quicktime pro,

-I never have had quicktime pro,

-this laptop has NEVER had quicktime pro installed on it

So that's where we are!

It tells me that if I uninstall, then the Quicktime Pro registration code goes with it.

I'm just not sure what to do.

I want iTunes. So much. So VERY much. But it really gets quite annoying when installing becomes like trying to wrestle a bear covered in oil.

You know what would be more helpful than "The installer encountered an error while..etc."?

this sort of error message:

"(insert error) went wrong, sorry.

You can either try again, or try these things:

(insert list of troubleshooting options RELEVANT to the issue at hand)"

Why can't even simple things be simple?

Link of the week this post is a bumper edition!

First of all, Launchy.

Then, Fences.

And a video, too! You know that band, 3OH!3? Well, their song Dont Trust Me is really catchy, dontcha reckon? Shame about the video clip. I dunno about you but I wasn't expecting two guys jumping around in stupid outfits. So lets just forget that one ever happened, and treat this one as the real one, okay?

I'm really spoiling you this week, I have another link for you. Everyone loves hangout websites, rrrrright? Gaia Online is a free to join hangout site. You sign up (it's quick) and create your avatar, a little person that you can change and dress up to look either like you or completely crazy. It's a really fun website, it's addictive (I've been there since 2004 [nnnneeeerd!]) and there are heaps of free games. There are forums as well, for just about every interest. I promise you'll like it. If you sign up and want to find me, I'm at 586638.

Wow, that was a long post, I hope you read the whole thing (haha, 'sif!)

Bye for now!

Thursday!

It's almost Friday, that's nice.

I want to see the new Harry Potter movie, don't you?

I've heard it's long and boring, but you know what? If we never saw movies we heard bad reviews about, we'd probably only see about 10 movies a year. You've got to go on your gut instinct.

And anyway, it's Harry Potter. I sort of HAVE to see it.

Has anyone seen Blade Runner? Beautiful movie, great story, and yeah, it's a bit long. It's still a damn fine movie, though. I think films should be as long as they need to be. If you discrdit a movie because it's longer than 2 hours, you're a sook. Get over it.

Hum..what else? Well, I'm signing into MSN more and more often, gee, I'm such a socialite!

It's getting really damn cold. I want the weather to heat up so I can make iced tea with lemon. Yum.

Also, I'm a bit confused. What is Web 2.0, exactly? It seems to be a bit of a buzz word nowadays. Are we actually there yet? Or is it like some perpetually un-attained state?

Are you watching MasterChef Australia?

It's great! I just love the food they cook, and the drama of it all.

To top it all off, there's Matt Preston. Isn't he just...spectacular?

I wonder who will win? We're down to Poh, Julie and Chris. It's a shame Justine got eliminated, but at least she got a job with Matt Moran. I'd like Julie to win, but I just don't think she will. My prediction is that it comes down to Poh and Chris. As to who wins out of them...I have no idea! Chris is good, real good, but I find him a bit arrogant. And that damn hat is frustrating.

Poh is good too, but when she stuffs up it's usually pretty apocalyptic. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I think that's enough for today. You should be glad you got this much, this is the first time I've blogged twice in one week.

Video of the week is Paparazzi by Lady Gaga. You probably know the song, but it has an extra depth once you see the clip. Tell me what you think, okay?

Bye!

Ramblings.

So, school just started again, how depressing.

Oh sure, I had two weeks of holidays, but in the end, you still have to wake up early the next morning. There's just no way around it. Holidays, my sleep schedule was like...1 o'clock in the morning and then waking up about 10:30-11. Now? 10 o'clock, and then waking up at 6:20.

On the subject of my 6:20 wakeup time, my alarm no-longer wakes me up. Maybe it's the volume, but you know what? I check the volume every night. Maybe it's the radio station. I recently changed from the fox to PBS. PBS is okay, they play a good mix of retro stuff and some modern jazz and stuff. But the announcers voices are just too mellow for me. It's what I call a "hessian pants voice" It's just like...imagine you go into a cafe, there's a chilled out guy sitting in the back, reading a German newspaper and sipping his soy-mocha-chai-latte. That man would have a hessian pants voice.

Of course, not that Matt and Jo are much better. They're just so casually racist, it makes me sick.

At least their shrill voices wake me up.

Oh my gosh, on the subject of music? One of my earphones died. I don't know why! Sound only comes out of one of them now. I looked it up, apparently, one of the wires inside the cable has broken, which is why both phones sometimes work when the cable is bent or something. Either way, I'm upset. These were damn good headphones. Regular headphones don't fit in my ears, and these were in-ear ones. So snug, like having a slug in your ear. Without it being a slug though, y'know?

I'm in a bit of a rut when it comes to video games lately. I mean, I've got Pokemon Ranger, but I'm stuck on this one part, and I just can't pass it. I really should try it again, you know? Not to mention Twilight Princess. It's such a good game, but as usual, I'm stuck at one difficult part. I'm ashamed of myself, I give up so quickly in video games.

Humm...what else?

Oh, I installed Chrome. It's a nice browser, clean, really quick and clever, too. Not to say I've abandoned Firefox, though. I still need StumbleUpon. I wonder if Chrome will ever get official themes and add-ons? Hmm..

I went a bit customisation crazy this week, I've completely transformed my desktop layout. I wanted to go for a Mac theme, specifically Leopard. It looks really nice now, I'm downloaded a few programs for some nice effects. Wanna see?

If you want to know what programs, themes and customisations I've used, just ask me on MSN. They're all (fairly) simple to use and install.

Also, I'm on Twitter! You can follow me at @586638.

Facebook, too, but apparently Facebook is "uncool" Hmm. I'll be here when you're ready.

I don't do MySpace, don't ask.

Well, I'd say that's about all for now.

I leave you with one of the best video clips I have ever seen. Janelle Monae-Many Moons.

Because Blogger won't let me embed a YouTube video, just click this link to go to the video. Make sure you turn the sound up, and click the high quality button.

Bye!