Translated from the English
Writing. Something long. Takes. A long. Time.
I write at a rate that I would call “writing like hell” for an hour every morning before work (and then in the evening after work) and look at the typed page and say to myself, “Is that all there is?” (You know the rest of the lyrics. Right?)
If I’m away from here, it means that I’m working on Balrog with every minute of free time I can spend on writing, including commuting time (luckily I have a 45 min bus ride to work and back). I’m going to post the roughed up NaNoWriMo version as soon as I have time.
Home again from a week on the Olympic Peninsula, a refractory paradise where we (or I) fell in love with a beach (Ruby), visited what may be one of the best small museums in the world (Makah in Neah Bay), saw more moss in one place than we’ve ever seen along with spirits trapped in trees and a fairy ring (Hoh), ambled through the downside of Twilight’s popularity arc (Forks), ambled up to the center of a terran tiara (Hurricane Ridge) where a mountain goat herd pulled photographers in way too close (5 feet), et up some of the best pizza we’ve ever etten (Gordy’s in Port Angeles), and ended the trip far too soon.
More later. Back now to reconstructing a bathroom and writing more important things.
Ah, my ASUS “Black Diamond” wireless router just arrived–this means that by Monday (Memorial Day) I could have a wireless network at home that I don’t describe using words like feckless. And I can attach our printer and a centralized backup/media drive to it. And our Wii won’t say “wha?” when I ask it to stream. And I can even use WPA2. And, hopefully, I will be able to connect to HTTPS domains from home using my work laptop.* It’s my little slice of nerdvana.
* Said machine is a new Lenovo Thinkpad (or Stinkpad) running Windows 7–a sturdy, reasonably fast laptop that is in mysterious wireless conflict with my wheezing wireless router when WPA is enabled. I’ve never had this issue before and don’t have it with the nearly as new netbook (running both Win7 or Linux). It’s a valuable but frustrating lesson when tech fails to work.
Update: The router took me less than an hour to set up that same night, including connecting a printer. The reviewers all love it, but warned that its admin screens are more complex than most routers to configure. Not compared to the admin panel for the router it replaced. And my goodness it’s fast.
Update: The conflict with my older router was related to DNS at my workplace and a Windows 7 update. It’s annoying to step back 10 years and have to update the local hosts table manually, but that’s what it took to fix the problem. Still love the router.
Windows makes it very easy to get and install software without having to work or think very hard (or much) about the task. That’s good and, if you ever need or want to switch (or really know what’s going onto your computer), not so great. The PR says that autoamazations like this make it easier for you to focus on the real work. Until the real work becomes trying to fix something relatively simple yourself without paying a tech (or auto mechanic or carpenter or plumber or other specialist to do the work).
Even the slickest of Linux distros require you to be more aware of how the file system and OS work and how software plugs into that system. For example, my new install of Linux Mint 10 makes it very easy to add from a select set of software that’s been vetted by a Mint team. But Mint will also run a lot of software built for the comparable Ubuntu core–in my current case, Maverick Meerkat, and that requires a little extra research and work. (I wrote and then deleted a brief and obvious discussion about freewheeling nifty naming conventions for Linux vs. Windows.)
My #1 priority after installing Mint last weekend was to find writing software that was more of a small tacklebox than rolling toolchest. Last night Debby and I and my netbook snuggled down to Dancing with the Stars and, during the breaks and handful of train wreck dances, I narrowed choices down to FocusWriter. The reviewer and user accolades matched my requirements and the negative criticisms weren’t deal busters. But it wasn’t available via the Mint Software Packages tool (where currently the only writing toolset other than text editors is OpenOffice). I found install packages for Ubuntu but nothing specifically for Mint. I remembered reading that–due to a complex familial relationship–Mint will run some Ubuntu software, Ubuntu being the father of Mint (and its cousin, godfather, and possibly its guild leader and future nemesis). So I googled for the version of Ubuntu that matched the current version of Mint and selected that matching FocusWriter PPA, which Mint said (yes, it spoke to me in articulate dialog box) that it would be happy to download and install.
Five minutes later I was in the mysterious fogbound fullscreen landscape of FocusWriter where mousing to the northern border opened a simple but very functional toolbar, while the southern border laid down minimal tabs for the open file(s), word count, timer, and some simple file-based functionality. (Word count and timer are optional settings–allowing you also to set daily goals for both or either.) FocusWriter also includes options for modifying the background, fonts, and basic styles via simple themes.
I miss the simple visual organizational tools that came with my Windows-based writing tool, PageFour, but I think this is a fair trade with, ultimately, fewer distractions (and PageFour has some annoying bugs around non-sticky styles). The author of FocusWriter has also written a portable version that runs on a USB key, which means I can haul the files and key with me to other systems and work as needed. I’m using Dropbox for redundancy across computers and backing up to an external hard drive, and I’m copying complete chapters to a private section of this blog (which is also backed up). There’s more I could add or tweak, but then I wouldn’t be writing. Next steps are to get back to said writing and, in-between, regain an understanding of Linux basics. Right after I make a donation on gottcode.org, the FocusWriter author’s home page.
My netbook is now dual booting with Windows 7 or 64bit Linux Mint 10 (“Julia,” the mainline release). I’m really pleased with the overall nimble performance and UI for Mint, and found the install (from a USB key) to be fairly simple. I’m not so thrilled with the performance of the Broadcom wifi driver, but I’ve read there’s a better option (to investigate later). My most important next task is to find the right set of writing tools. I have the “DVD” version of Mint, which includes a variety of built-in software packages, including OpenOffice, but I’d like something lighter and more focused. I was initially more enthused about the number of writing tool choices for Linux but, like for Windows, software PR is better than the tools themselves. I tried installing the Scrivener beta for Linux (which I still have hopes for), but the instructions left out some key aspects I need to research. Still, I think I’ll find something that’s nimble and provides an explicit and focused feature set aimed at writers. The biggest rumple in the covers is the UNIX model for app and file management–an environment I “grew up in” and am emotionally very comfortable with but, as I suspected, have forgotten how to use. Thankfully, there are a bunch of Mint tutorials and a reasonable user’s guide out there.
Once I’m sure this machine really plays well with Mint, I’ll zap the Windows install and stick with a VM for any Windows needs (WINE, Virtualbox, or some other).
Empty 12 oz. clear plastic cup with the dregs of a matcha** green tea slurpie and stamped round with a “floral motif representing the earth in bloom.” The bloom recycles but the underlying description has an initial cap and full stop, separated by a 10 mm translucent void. The message is clear as the cup: pictographs rule, words drool.
Also, an old cell flip phone that loses signal often enough to remind me not to rely on convenience, a gloomy black digital desk phone that semi-randomly forwards my calls (out of boredom?), an old photo of young Debby in beret and Travis in bunting at the beach when Trav was 6 months (still one of my favorites), two computer monitors, a wireless keyboard that also doubles as a crumb collector, a Dundee marmalade jar that has been my pen container since 1992, a lamp with a long thin neck bent like the swan’s when he tried to look three ways at once, infrared wireless headphones (I can’t have infrared vision, but I can have infrared hearing), a brown ceramic head of a French–really, Gallic–gnome to which I’ve taped a phome rubber beret phormerly attached–as they say–to a phone headset, a rumpled 4×6″ napkin the color of brown rice, and a homemade family photo collage printed on white card stock.
Most importantly, there’s a small charm to ward off the Evil Eye (and certain management)–a flattened shiny round stone with a gravity of 9.6 m s-2 and viscosity of 3-6 • 1019 Pa·s painted to look like a piercing sky blue eye, with a small hole drilled at the top of the sclera and strung with a short lanyard of matching sky blue: a gift from a friend’s visit to Turkey, along with a long gone box of addictive Turkish delight. My friend, who had no wish to bewitch me, gave me the ward first, then the candy. I also just noticed that my coffee mug, which I can only describe as the orange eye socket of a whale, is decorated with variations of the same charm.
I’ll end our journey across the tableland at the edge of my 2 drawer file in the tangle of a steadfast succulent vine (esculentus stabilis) that is older than at least one of my children. I won’t bore you with the walls, floor, small bookcase with its trail of river rock and sand dollars left by my daughter, or the contents of the file–which would give too much away.
** As in, “Matcha wattah wit me! Matcha wattah wit you?”
Well, it’s not the netbook I thought I would buy–which was to be the spanky new dual core ASUS with USB 3; instead it’s the Samsung NF310, also dual core, higher res screen and wider keyboard (with a bit more responsive keys and touchscreen buttons), and USB 2.0 only–but it was $140 less than the ASUS (special deal at the local Fry’s).
The bad news on the Linux front is that this model’s new enough and netbook configurations are unique enough that that no Linux flavor supports all the necessary hardware features yet–so for now I’ll stick with this Windows 7 Starter OS, strip off all the extra crap that came with it (including Office lite and a 60 day subscription to that PITA Norton Internet Security), install OpenOffice.org and PageFour, and put it to work right away–as my primary writing tool.
Overall, I’m very happy with it. Typing is no problem, the screen is bright with high contrast, the sound is terrific for a laptop, and it has these sexy clamshell curves that I can’t stop caressing with my eyes. Those crafty engineers at Samsung. And the battery life’s great–I’ve run it now with full power to the wifi and screen for well over 6 hours. Reducing brightness and wifi power is supposed to give me about 9 hours. And there’s the little popup telling me that it’s time for both of us to recharge.
I tell thee, I tell thee, I tell thee!
It were proper thou show thyself.
Thanks to the IRS savings plan, we’ll get enough money back this year to pretty up the main bath, make some necessary car repairs, fix the front porch roof, and, more importantly, buy a netbook for me. My precious, not for sharing.
Specs
The Asus Tripoli* PC 1018P w/ Intel Atom N550 Dual Core CPU, 2 gb RAM, 250 gb hard drive (enhanced hamster, not SSD, which unfortunately is out of budget), two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 ports, and a card reader. And a neoprene sleeve for transport.
It comes with Windows 7 “starter.” I plan to wipe the drive and install CrunchBang Linux. My son’s SO has been using C! on her netbook for about a year and has been very happy with it. C! doesn’t have the pretty UI provided with (K)Ubuntu, but it supposedly runs faster and has fewer issues. And fewer distractions. I like Win7, but also like the idea of using an OS that’s currently less subject to attack, has less system overhead, and keeps me focused. I also “grew up” on UNIX and Windows systems, so shifting back and forth is fairly easy.
Writing tools for Linux
I’m buying the Tripoli to use as a very portable, moderately priced writing tool, that can also handle e-mail, browsing, and playing multimedia files. I’m willing to trade screen and keyboard size for portability/weight (which is minus one pound–the anchor comes with it). For home use, I’ll eventually get a larger screen and keyboard.
I will miss my two favorite, distraction-free writing tools for Windows: PageFour and Scrivener. I’ll install OpenOffice to handle compability with MS Office files, but I stopped using Word for personal writing projects waaaay back in ’09. So I’ll be evaluating tools like FocusWriter, PyRoom, q10, KWord, Writer’s Cafe, Celtx, and, for desktop publishing, Scribus. There are also full featured text editors, but I want writing tools that provide a little more lift without much adjustment. If you know what I mean.
I hope to have the netbook in my grubby little hands in three weeks or less. I’m getting the white clamshell, though, so I best wash up first.
Note: I was writing this list of tools as I was looking them up. It turns out that Windows is the starved platform. Kind of like eating the same thing for years out of a well stocked pantry and suddenly noticing a plain but well built little door along the baseboard that, on opening, leads into a gourmet deli.
Update: Several people have asked why I didn’t consider an iPad or wait for an Android tablet. They said that the netbook market is shrinking and will soon vanish, squeezed between cheap repackaged last-gen notebooks and the sexy new, ready to go out of the box, tablets. Err, no. At least, not anytime soon. Those cheap notebooks are still heavy and large, and the tablets are still appliances, not tools, and are more expensive than netbooks. The iPad has lousy wifi connectivity and, without buying an external keyboard, doesn’t cut it as a writing tool. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with tablets and appreciate them for what they are and will be, enough to know they won’t serve my needs anytime soon. I also don’t care if the netbook market dries up. It’ll continue to be a very useful tool until it stops working. I don’t know if Kurt’s world is the real world. But it’s real enough for me.
*Tripoli reads nicer and carries the weight of history while Eee sounds too much like a shriek, and I don’t want no computer that makes me shriek. Anymore.
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