August 1, 2006
I miss my Mac
I have been missing the ease of use and non-stupidness of my Mac more and more lately. Windows is being buggy and just pissing me off in general.
Some of the weirdness I have been encountering:
I try to delete something, and the computer says I can't, because the file is in use, even when no programs are open. This has been happening a lot with my digital photos, and is super frustrating. It's especially frustrating when it does it after I have cut a large amount of files to paste, because then it pastes some of them and I have to go back and find the stuff that didn't copy and put them into the correct folder.
When I'm looking at folders in thumbnail version, sometimes the names of the folders won't show up. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to this, often, if I restart the names will show up, but restarting every 10 minutes is, to say the least, annoying.
I can't do simple tasks. For instance- I had some MP3 files on a jump drive- they were in two folders, numbered sequentially, and all I wanted to do was play it as an album. all the mp3 programs would either play them all in numerical order ignoring the folder structure, or would only play one track, even when I added it to a play list. I realize this is a software problem rather than a PC problem, but after dealing with the above stuff for a while, I wanted to throw my computer across the room. In the end, it was quicker to load the files onto my MP3 player and plug my computer speakers into that. (Have I mentioned how much I loooove my MP3 player?)
Anyway, I realize that a lot of my problems are stemming from bad programs, not the OS, but it seems like programs made for Mac are usually implemented better. For now, the best I can do is search for the good software and delete the old stuff off my system. I also need to defrag, but my system keeps freezing when I try. :P
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 1, 2006 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 2, 2006
Wowee
This picture blows me away:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Glasses_800.png
(Be sure to enlarge it for maximum wow factor)
I am continually amazed by what people can do with computers.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 2, 2006 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Flickr
Well, I finally broke down and am using Flickr. I resisted for a long time because I kinda hate web services.
I really like it, though - especially the ability to easily comment on everyone's photos.
http://flickr.com/photos/nirak/
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 2, 2006 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 3, 2006
From Sketchbook
From Sketchbook
Originally uploaded by karindalziel.
This is a test blog from Flickr. Isn't the web cool?
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 3, 2006 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Love Library
Love Library |
Originally uploaded by karindalziel.
This little kitty was right outside my work.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 3, 2006 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yes
Sketchbook
Another test post, coming up!
(I need to work on the formatting, but other than that, thumbs up!)
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 3, 2006 1:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Swing Night
Tonight was Swing Night at the Pla Mor. They only have it once a months now, which is kind of a bummer. they used to have it every week- when Geoff and I were still getting to know each other, we went every week for almost 8 months. I wouldn't say we're great at swing dancing, but we've made it to "ok." I would really like to learn to Lindy Hop- all we know is the Jitterbug, really.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 3, 2006 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 9, 2006
I want one!
Sure, it's dumb looking, but I still want one.
http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2006/08/3g_bikes_the_3g.php#more
Considering I hate sitting on bicycle seats and ride much of the time in a semi standing position anyway, I think this would be great. If I can pick one up for $200 or so, I just might.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 9, 2006 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 10, 2006
The first (non hacked) infrared camera. That I know of at least.
I've spent lots of time dreaming about modding my digital rebel to be a true infrared camera. Well, now a camera maker's doing it for me. The cost is going to be $1800, but I'm sure in a few years I'll be able to pick one up for under a thousand. huzzah! (in a few years I might actually be able to afford another camera, too) In the meantime, I'm hoping my local camera shop will have it to rent- I can't wait to try it out.
I don't know what it is about infrared, I just love it. Maybe it's the dramatically dark skies, the eerie white foliage. I love what it does to skin tones- this would be great for unique portraits.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 10, 2006 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
August 11, 2006
Browser
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 11, 2006 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
August 12, 2006
War Deaths
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 12, 2006 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Flickr Photo Walk 8/12
Today I went on a Lincoln Photo walk with the Lincoln, Nebraska group on Flickr. This is the first time I've done something like this. I've met people from the internet, but only people I've gotten to know pretty well. This was a group of complete strangers- and all turned out to be really nice and not ax murderers or anything.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 12, 2006 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 13, 2006
Moving
I'm moving things around yet again. I keep telling myself I'm gonna stop fiddling with my site someday.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 13, 2006 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Abstract
I really like this photo. I took it on the Lincoln Flickr Photowalk.
I have yet to figure out what this is.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 13, 2006 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 16, 2006
A good way to kill 15 minutes
I really am too dorky for my own good sometimes.
I should be studying for the GRE, so what do I do instead? I take a picture of my computer. 6 times.
Speaking of the GRE, I am SO SICK of studying for it. I'm bogged down in the Math part. I need to buckle down, as I am running out of time and I'm paying $130 to take this stupid test.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 16, 2006 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 17, 2006
Cool web stuff
I've been trying out a lot of web services lately. Here's my quickie review of each:
I'm loving this site. It's a bookmark management tool, but the nice thing is, it lets you easily tag bookmarks for future reference. So, for instance, I can tag things with "daily" "weekly" or "monthly" and then use those pages to build a web feed for my links page. I also tag things with "temp" for things I want to look at later, but won't want to keep. This is by far the best use of tags I have seen yet. Another nifty feature that I have yet to try is the ability to tag things for other people. So, if I come across a site I think my husband should look at, I can tag it with for: and their name, and they'll be able to see it. Pretty nifty! Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anyone else I know that uses the service. (hint!) (my del.icio.us page
The other nice thing is, I can easily add things just by adding bookmarlets to firefox, which makes it oh so easy. I use this at work when I find a page I want to look at in more depth, but later, when I'm home.
This is similar, but you need to actually download a plugin for Firefox to use it (I think) - it lets you rate pages, and click a "stumble" button which brings up a random web page based on your likes reccomendations. I've found a lot of neat websites, and have also linked my most recently rated pages from my "links"page.
The thing that really sets this service apart for me is how well it works with other services, and the fact that I can dowload an application to let me upload images straight from my desktop, which will also auto resize images as I upload them. This is a HUGE improvement from the old process- resize an image, then go to a web form and find the image on your hard drive and choose it, repeat for other images. Now I can just drag the images to the uploader and I'm done! I can also post to my blog stright from Flickr- either my images or other's, if they allow it. I have also added my most recent Flickr pics to my Gallery page.
I'm not completely sure about this yet. There's a definate lack of customization options, but seeing what some people have done to their myspace page, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. What I like is that it's pretty easy to build collections of things- music, video, etc. I'll be using my Vox page to showcase images and videos I find on the web, such as .
This works well with flickr- you can choose from your flickr photos right in vox.
ok, I'm sure myspace does not need a review. I actually dislike myspace quite a bit, but as everyone I know is on it, it's a necessary evil. I do like the ability to form groups- that's nifty.
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web web_servicesPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 17, 2006 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 18, 2006
Project: Me
I spend a lot of time thinking of ways to improve myself. I'm going to be more disciplined, get more done, exercise and eat better. Does any of it actually happen?
Not really.
But, even so, I'm going to write about one thing I really want to change about myself here- maybe by writing it down, I'll have more incentive to work on it.
The problem is, I interrupt too much. We'll call this a "known issue."
My main hurdle in overcoming this is figuring out the fine line between interrupting too much and not enough- because sometimes you have to jump in, or you will never say anything at all, especially in animated conversations. I always feel so awkward talking to people until I really know them well, because I feel like my interjections are always placed at inopportune times. This is probably why I love the internet- I can consider my reply and not worry about stepping on other's toes. I'm even worse on the phone- with no visual cues to go by, I fumble all over my and other's words.
I think I can trace, at least in part, why I interrupt. When I was younger, say until about 3rd grade, I stuttered badly- so bad that I had to go to a speech therapist several times a week in elementary school. Obviously, I got better, but during that time I felt like I could not say anything at all because it took me so long to say it. I think I missed the foundations in good conversation at this time.
My other problem is my bad short term memory. If I think of something to say, I will often forget what it was by the time the conversation has reached a lull. I do this all the time with Geoff- "what was I going to say? I forgot."
Anyway, neither of those are excuses, just reasons.
So I'm trying to be more diligent in my conversations- Listening more carefully, and thinking before I speak, but not so much I miss the opportunity to speak all together. I especially want to get better at work.
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interrupting self improvementPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 18, 2006 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
August 22, 2006
random stuff
1) I love Ibuprofen. just love it. I was miserable an hour ago, and now I'm just peachy.
2) I really hate being a girl sometimes. I won't elaborate here, but you girls know what I'm talking about. I need to stop being such a baby.
3) I'm both excited and scared for my first Library class this Saturday. Scared because it's not entry level (those were all full) and so I'm kind of jumping into the deep end. I'm excited because my interest in this Library stuff has not waned yet, which is a good sign. Sometimes I latch onto things and am all excited about stuff for maybe a week, but then I get bored.
4) My school books are only $10 each for this semester. Sweet.
5) I'm digging vox.com's Books feature- I'm using it as a place to keep books I want to read. I'm going to go pick up a few during lunch. It would be really super dooper sweet if I could add books from library holdings as well as Amazon, I'm hoping they work to improve the feature.
6) I have all these ideas for blog posts I have not gotten around to. I have a pretty long one about work formulated, but when I get home, I don't want to write about work.
7) Caffeine is my friend.
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grumble school sickness web web_services workPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 22, 2006 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 23, 2006
Best Stumbles so far
I know that I just wrote about Internet services a couple of entries ago, but in my infinite ability to procrastinate I have been playing with stumbleupon.com quite a bit. What I am amazed about, is that I am getting ever more intelligent recommendations. Today, I got this page:
Ideas Worth Spreading: Hans Rosling from TED 2006 - Google Video
This is a longish (20 min) video, but worth the watch. Hans Rosling (the guy in the video) has a blog (Hans Rosling) and here's the website of the organization: G A P M I N D E R: HOME. Lots of cool stuff to download.
New Click Survey
See if you click where everyone else does.
5nak.com
The best online portfolio I've seen. Great artwork and innovative presentation- hard to find.
www.dontclick.it
Try not to click.
Boing Boing: Talking to Americans: hilarious Canadian TV show about USA
This is pretty funny. It's obvious they left out the non stupid people, but funny nonetheless.
People are stupid. I'm glad he didn't interview me- I'm way too gullible.
Sketch Swap
Draw a picture, get a picture.
Iraq War Coalition Fatalities
I already posted this, but it deserves another post.
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internet sites web web_servicesPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 23, 2006 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 28, 2006
9% of UNL students drive drunk?
Many students have been sporting buttons around campus that say something to the effect of: "91% of students don't drive drunk"
Am I alone in thinking this is a horrible statistic? That means 9% of students admitted to driving drunk. That's at least 1,950 students.
I don't know where they got the stats, but I'd be interested to find out.
Eep. Be careful driving around downtown, especially around the time of last call.
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drinking statistics studentPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 28, 2006 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Dick Blick/ Blick Art Materials sucks
I've defended them for years, way past when I really should have, but I've finally taken a firmly anti Blick stance. Don't get me wrong, I still love (almost) all of the people that work there, but as a company, they suck. They don't care about their employees, and by extension, don't care about their customers.
Looking around the web at reviews of Blick, I see a common refrain- they have crappy customer service, go somewhere else.
Let me shed some light- they have crappy customer service because they pay next to nothing, and won't hire any full time employees (and will fire existing ones, as it turns out.)
This isn't bitterness- I was fine with them when I quit several months ago, but recent action they have taken are just too much.
The part that really irks me is that they have the gall to have this on their website:
Bull. Shit. Telling employees they have to clock out and then work is not creating a good working environment. Firing good employees because you don't want to pay for their health insurance is not a good work environment. And deciding to base your entire workforce only on those willing to work for $6.50 or less certainly won't get quality people that will actually be able to tell the customer something about the product.
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blick retail workPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 28, 2006 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 29, 2006
The Crapometer: A great idea
I've been reading Miss Snark, the literary agent for some reason lately (mostly because she's an interesting writer). She's having a nice little contest kind of thing she calls the "crapometer" - people send in submissions for novels, which she picks a random few of and tears apart. There's no promise of anything but an honest review from someone in the business.
I love this idea. It's hard to find honesty anymore, and even harder to find people that are looking for honesty. A lot of vitriol exists on the internet, but for the most part people play nice. Sometimes too nice.
I'd love to see this for paintings. Heck, I wouldn't mind trying my hand at reviewing a few.
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sites webPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 29, 2006 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Dumb Day
Do you ever have one of those days (or weeks) in which you keep making stupid mistakes over and over?
Today and yesterday have been like that. Today I sent out not 1, not 2, but 3 incorrect emails- and all to the same people! I had to keep sending out new emails to correct what I'd said, which only called attention to my stupidness. A few of these people I've never had contact with before, so I'm sure I come off as an airhead.
I know I'm not an airhead, but I sure feel like one at times. And once people think that of you, it's hard to overcome.
I need to get the mud out of my brain.
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day grumblePosted by Karin Dalziel on August 29, 2006 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Little Black Raincloud
You know how, in cartoons sometimes, a character would have a little raincloud following them around all day?
That's me. yup, it's up there.
As you might have guessed, my luck has not improved today- I continually made mistakes- not just mistakes, but stupid mistakes. I had to aplologise at least 20 times for geting something wrong.
I really hope tomorrow is better.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 29, 2006 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
August 30, 2006
Random thoughts for today
I am steadily trying to manage what I read online by categorizing things into "daily, weekly, monthly" categories. This is a good idea, but I find myself obsessively checking things in the "weekly" and "monthly" categories, hoping there will be updates.
I've been reading blogs of local people, some of whom I have met, but some I have not. This is kind of weird, because, for instance, last night at the Sheldon I saw a person whose blog I read. Would it be weird to go up to them and say "hey, I read your blog?" Probably. Sometimes I feel like a crazy stalker person because of it. I need to start leaving more notes so people know I'm reading, huh?
I always want people to write more in their blogs. It's really fascinating, being able to know what's going on in the life of someone I only tangentially know.
I'm still studying for the GRE. I keep taking practice tests in the book, and I'm not getting any better. I keep getting the same exact score over and over. I find this strange, and disconcerting. I am improving on vocabulary, though. I found a vocabulary podcast that's been helping me a lot with that.
I need to start contributing to internet content I find useful. Since we canceled our cable, I have been filling the void a lot with various podcasts and other things. Lots of people whose content I really like have donation links on their site, I need to make use of them. I feel strongly about supporting this kind of content, because I don't want it to go away. Maybe I'll make an easy goal for now, like- I will donate $10 from each paycheck to a site I like.
I'm going to an artist talk at the Sheldon tonight. I think it starts at 5:00. I hate it when things start at 5, because it means I have to leave work early to get there on time, and that Geoff will probably not be able to get there on time, which complicates things. If it started at 5:30, I could go meet Geoff at work and we could walk over together.
Yesterday sucked, but today will be better. Most of the meetings I need to set are done. I am working on systems to get more organized at work, and I still have a few things to figure out. I don't think I'm cut out for secretary work, and I've come to think that good secretaries are undervalued and underpaid, because this job is hard! And I don't even have it that bad.
All of my library class assignments will be due on Friday. This is kind of nice, and kind of not. It's nice because it means I will have weekends pretty much worry free- I can start on the next assignment, of course, but I don't need to worry about it. It's not nice because some weeks, like this one, are so packed full it's hard to get things done. I'm using my lunches for the rest of the week to try and finish homework.
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blogging school web website_donationsPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 30, 2006 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
This is a test
I'm testing out the Windows Live Writer Beta software.
I'm including this picture to make a point. I recently came across Amber Eve's Blog and looked at her Flicker photos. What do I see but this - as it turns out, she lives in the same house I used to (oh, 5 ish years ago)
Lincoln really is a small town.
These kind of little coincidences happen a lot here, and it freaks me out.
Edit- the Windows software is purty cool. It included the image as a thumbnail and everything. woo.
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local webPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 30, 2006 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Latest Painting
I'm working on some small paintings... they're really just vetting for me, a way to get out some imagery that's stuck in my head and quite possibly left over from school days. I have a feeling something bigger and better is coming, thoughts are starting to formulate.
After I'm done with the GRE, I will be spending a lot more time on painting. Looking at Old Sketchbooks is making me realize that somewhere along the line I lost track, that I started thinking about what would sell. In a way this is why I'm glad that I'm doing something else for a while- I still really want to go to grad school for art, but I know if I go now I won't get all I could out of it.
Posted by Karin Dalziel on August 30, 2006 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
August 31, 2006
Thickbox
I am so impressed by other people's willingness to make something, and then make it super easy for me to use it on my webpage. I love programmers, what they do is amazing, and I really want to learn how so I can contribute.
But I don't know if it's something I can learn that well. I'll try, anyway. I'm hoping to learn programing as part of my Library Science program- since librarians that can program seems to be a small but growing segment of the workforce. At the very least, it's very helpful to be able to tweak things and know what the programmers are saying, as well as knowing what's possible within a given language.
Click on the latest two images posted, and you'll see thickbox in action. I got the scripts here:
http://jquery.com/demo/thickbox/
If anyone is having problems with it let me know. I've tested it at home at work, but both are pretty nice computers. I need to look at it on a mac still.
Also, I widened my site to 58em instead of 50. I hope it displays ok for everyone. The page will get bigger and smaller as you increase or decrease your font size, so I worry my page will be too large if your text is set too big. I may go to a set size if that's the case, but I like the fluid approach. I also like that the font size on my page is the default of the user- many pages have tiny text that I then have to enlarge.
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site_changes thickboxPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 31, 2006 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
And the winner is...
I made my my first bi-weekly donation to http://www.djliang.com/testprep/. This is the vocabulary podcast I mentioned in an earlier post- it's been really useful, because I can listen to it while walking to work, making dinner, cleaning, etc. He also includes some interesting cultural information about places he's lived, which I like.
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website_donationsPosted by Karin Dalziel on August 31, 2006 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)