Monday, December 27, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Last word on my new MAC
For 11 years, I wondered why my company sucked so bad at simple things like returning emails or accepting calendar invites.. well, now I know why. The calendar and mail app for Mac is barely usable. It is so bad, I am constantly losing emails. There is no way to see if an email has an attachment. I used to use that as a search criteria to find stuff I needed. I couldn't even figure out how to send a high priority email.
All the reviews I have read for the new Outlook for macs is very negative. Sigh. it can't be worse than the default mail and calendar... hopefully I can get it soon.
I do like OFFICE Mac 03. Its a nice application.
All the reviews I have read for the new Outlook for macs is very negative. Sigh. it can't be worse than the default mail and calendar... hopefully I can get it soon.
I do like OFFICE Mac 03. Its a nice application.
Monday, October 18, 2010
getting settled in mac world
I have all the necessary software now.
I did have a problem on the very first document I created in Mac Word. My cleint on a windows box (aren't all clients on windows?) could not read the document. All she saw was a black background. I have not been able to replicate on windows boxes however.
One thing I do not like though. The file system, with the little arrows to display folder contents. In windows, I would open my folder, use a control A - select All. I cant do this in Mac. It selects everything, all folders. I have to use the shift key to select a bunch of files. I think Windows is easier in that regard. We will see if that changes over time.
I did have a problem on the very first document I created in Mac Word. My cleint on a windows box (aren't all clients on windows?) could not read the document. All she saw was a black background. I have not been able to replicate on windows boxes however.
One thing I do not like though. The file system, with the little arrows to display folder contents. In windows, I would open my folder, use a control A - select All. I cant do this in Mac. It selects everything, all folders. I have to use the shift key to select a bunch of files. I think Windows is easier in that regard. We will see if that changes over time.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
MAC world!
last week Dreamweaver crashed on me and I had to restart! I thought that was a Windows thing. Not so. Today I couldnt get connected to the VPN... and I had to Restart! I thought these things were more stable.
today, I find myself needing Textpad, for its block select mode. I use this when i need to change a bunch of links in an option tag. xyz. I have to change 1159 of these. When i was in Windows, I would rely on good ol text pad. Grab 1159 new link titles and paste them in via block select mode, allowing me to replace as if it was a column in a spreadsheet. Now, I am stumped.
Does anyone know a good, free text editior for Mac that has block select mode? Oh, and its a rush job too!
today, I find myself needing Textpad, for its block select mode. I use this when i need to change a bunch of links in an option tag. xyz. I have to change 1159 of these. When i was in Windows, I would rely on good ol text pad. Grab 1159 new link titles and paste them in via block select mode, allowing me to replace as if it was a column in a spreadsheet. Now, I am stumped.
Does anyone know a good, free text editior for Mac that has block select mode? Oh, and its a rush job too!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Mac life...
well, I am getting proficient in the Mac OS now. There are still a few issues though..
This keyboard. how do I delete? They have a delete button, but it is the equivalent of the Windows Backspace key. Oh and no End and Home keys. I liked those keys and used them often.
The calendar boggles my mind.. What day is it? The calendar does not tell you what today is, it assumes you know. I don't always know. Last week I waited on a conference bridge for 10 minutes before I realized the meeting was the following day. And I have these numbers next to my calendar, I think they mean there are new things on my calendar? What are they? Do I need to accept them? There is a calendar event on my calendar for today, its says "lunch meeting". Who's lunch meeting? I click on it and it doesn't tell me anything useful, like, who initiated the meeting and who is invited? That would be helpful, I will assume its not for me.
This may be a browser issue with Firefox for the Mac, but in windows when I look at my tabs, I can see immediately if I have a new message in my Gmail acct. Not so here, I have to click on the tab to see if I have a new mail. Annoying.
I cant get Subversion to work.
Basically, I have no idea how anyone in management could possibly use a Mac. No OUTLOOK? Outlook is singlehandedly the greatest management tool ever created and next month Macs will finally be able to see what they have been missing.
There is more, but I have to finish a proposal.
This keyboard. how do I delete? They have a delete button, but it is the equivalent of the Windows Backspace key. Oh and no End and Home keys. I liked those keys and used them often.
The calendar boggles my mind.. What day is it? The calendar does not tell you what today is, it assumes you know. I don't always know. Last week I waited on a conference bridge for 10 minutes before I realized the meeting was the following day. And I have these numbers next to my calendar, I think they mean there are new things on my calendar? What are they? Do I need to accept them? There is a calendar event on my calendar for today, its says "lunch meeting". Who's lunch meeting? I click on it and it doesn't tell me anything useful, like, who initiated the meeting and who is invited? That would be helpful, I will assume its not for me.
This may be a browser issue with Firefox for the Mac, but in windows when I look at my tabs, I can see immediately if I have a new message in my Gmail acct. Not so here, I have to click on the tab to see if I have a new mail. Annoying.
I cant get Subversion to work.
Basically, I have no idea how anyone in management could possibly use a Mac. No OUTLOOK? Outlook is singlehandedly the greatest management tool ever created and next month Macs will finally be able to see what they have been missing.
There is more, but I have to finish a proposal.
Monday, September 20, 2010
my new Mac part II
well, its going ok. A lot of my current issues are probably more tied to software than the OS.
I am having a bitch of a time with Dreamweaver CS5 ftp. There was some problem that it kept trying to synch files or something, but in my directory I use mostly there are a bunch of file checked out by Joe. I think that was the problem, I turned off the check in /check out feature.
I really screwed it up this am though. I uploaded a bunch of files into the wrong directory. ugh.
I was working on my google docs budget spreadsheet this am, I tried to SUM a column and it wouldnt work. now I cant get it to open.. is google docs not compatible wth Mac OS? OMG, I live on google docs for my personal calendar and finances.. sigh.
I am thinking about trying to use VM ware again to install windows. There is a feature were you can basically suck an existing windows machine onto the mac. I am thinking about trying to do this with my work from home machine. I am surprised that thing starts up still!
I am using a mouse now, It is faster. The touch pad is cool though. I like the "spaces" thing. I have it set now if I move my mouse to the top right, everything minimizes. that is cool. I need a keyboard next.
My Office 2008 should be here today. Open office is not that great. I can get by, but I am hoping that the Office app will be better.
on goes the battle
I am having a bitch of a time with Dreamweaver CS5 ftp. There was some problem that it kept trying to synch files or something, but in my directory I use mostly there are a bunch of file checked out by Joe. I think that was the problem, I turned off the check in /check out feature.
I really screwed it up this am though. I uploaded a bunch of files into the wrong directory. ugh.
I was working on my google docs budget spreadsheet this am, I tried to SUM a column and it wouldnt work. now I cant get it to open.. is google docs not compatible wth Mac OS? OMG, I live on google docs for my personal calendar and finances.. sigh.
I am thinking about trying to use VM ware again to install windows. There is a feature were you can basically suck an existing windows machine onto the mac. I am thinking about trying to do this with my work from home machine. I am surprised that thing starts up still!
I am using a mouse now, It is faster. The touch pad is cool though. I like the "spaces" thing. I have it set now if I move my mouse to the top right, everything minimizes. that is cool. I need a keyboard next.
My Office 2008 should be here today. Open office is not that great. I can get by, but I am hoping that the Office app will be better.
on goes the battle
Thursday, September 9, 2010
PC vs Mac part I
I've worked in a Mac shop for 11 years now, using a PC. well, I finally broke down and got a Macbook.
two days our desktop support person tried to get Windows to run.. no luck, he handed me my computer and handed the boss his resignation. Not sure if they are related, but it makes for good reading!
I took the Macbook home for the labor day weekend. there it sat. Finally Monday night I pulled it out. Since its a mac and doesn't have Outlook, the Qwest mail is delivered via webmail, into the Entourage email program that comes with Macs. Unfortunately they cannot be connected the first time from our office, because the VPN we use won't let it. So, the method people who need Qwest mail use is to take the mac somewhere else, home, starbucks, wherever and then connect to the Qwest mail. Once configured it will then work from the office. It didnt work. I tried for several hours on monday night, no luck.
Tuesday am I woke and I realized what was wrong... my ldap password expired over the weekend! doh.. what timing. So I changed it and it still didn't work. I decided to work from home monday so I could get it working. I had one of my coworkers send me screenshots of their configurations and found a port number was wrong. It now works. hurrah, I can now access my qwest mail and peak mail.
Since I can't get windows to work and we have no desktop support (besides my increasingly annoyed cube neighbors) I decided to try to live within the Mac OS.
Wednesday I came into the office and began the process. I downloaded the trial Dreamweaver CS4 and OpenOffice. I set up my ftp sites through Dreamweaver. One issue I have is that I often get files from one server and upload to a new server. This is clunky with DW FTP. DW FTP is great for pulling files down from a server, modifying and uploading to the exact same location on the same server. That is great for 80% of my work.
I had to use telnet and I could not find the command prompt. Rob showed me and it worked fine once I figured out where it was.
I needed to import a txt file into a spreadsheet, a pipe delimited file. That took me some time to figure out in OpenOffice. I had given up, but Rob assured me it could be done. It can. Its really different from the way Excel handles it, but in the end, I converted my file into a spreadsheet.
Current issues:
I cant get my qwest calendar to work. This could be due to the issue I described above. I need to try to connect outside Peak VPN.
I need my ichat account pwd reset so I can use Ichat instead of Meebo on the pc.
I have trouble going between applications or between windows. I opened two windows of Firefox this am and I minimized them. In the bottom right, I could see one window, but not the other. If I clicked on the one window and then minimized it, I could get the other window. Weird.
Its weird and foreign and not very intuitive for my Windows brain.
two days our desktop support person tried to get Windows to run.. no luck, he handed me my computer and handed the boss his resignation. Not sure if they are related, but it makes for good reading!
I took the Macbook home for the labor day weekend. there it sat. Finally Monday night I pulled it out. Since its a mac and doesn't have Outlook, the Qwest mail is delivered via webmail, into the Entourage email program that comes with Macs. Unfortunately they cannot be connected the first time from our office, because the VPN we use won't let it. So, the method people who need Qwest mail use is to take the mac somewhere else, home, starbucks, wherever and then connect to the Qwest mail. Once configured it will then work from the office. It didnt work. I tried for several hours on monday night, no luck.
Tuesday am I woke and I realized what was wrong... my ldap password expired over the weekend! doh.. what timing. So I changed it and it still didn't work. I decided to work from home monday so I could get it working. I had one of my coworkers send me screenshots of their configurations and found a port number was wrong. It now works. hurrah, I can now access my qwest mail and peak mail.
Since I can't get windows to work and we have no desktop support (besides my increasingly annoyed cube neighbors) I decided to try to live within the Mac OS.
Wednesday I came into the office and began the process. I downloaded the trial Dreamweaver CS4 and OpenOffice. I set up my ftp sites through Dreamweaver. One issue I have is that I often get files from one server and upload to a new server. This is clunky with DW FTP. DW FTP is great for pulling files down from a server, modifying and uploading to the exact same location on the same server. That is great for 80% of my work.
I had to use telnet and I could not find the command prompt. Rob showed me and it worked fine once I figured out where it was.
I needed to import a txt file into a spreadsheet, a pipe delimited file. That took me some time to figure out in OpenOffice. I had given up, but Rob assured me it could be done. It can. Its really different from the way Excel handles it, but in the end, I converted my file into a spreadsheet.
Current issues:
I cant get my qwest calendar to work. This could be due to the issue I described above. I need to try to connect outside Peak VPN.
I need my ichat account pwd reset so I can use Ichat instead of Meebo on the pc.
I have trouble going between applications or between windows. I opened two windows of Firefox this am and I minimized them. In the bottom right, I could see one window, but not the other. If I clicked on the one window and then minimized it, I could get the other window. Weird.
Its weird and foreign and not very intuitive for my Windows brain.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Spring Break in Vegas!
The girls and I went to Las Vegas for Spring break. Vegas you say? with kids? Well, being an el nino year, I just didn't trust the weather in Southern California, and lodging and flights to Vegas are very reasonable, so Vegas it was.
We got in early afternoon and hit the strip. The highlight was the Stratosphere tower. When we got out there, I was scared to just be on the roof, let alone get in a ride! Kelsey and Jessica made their way to the rides. Kelsey looked back at me just as she was getting on the ride and looked really scared! Jessica grabbed her and gave her a shove of encouragement. Away they went! They loved it.
It was getting late now, we still had not eaten dinner. We got in a cab and he raced us down to the other end of the strip. We decided we could find some good food at NewYork New York. We went t the cafe America and it was decent.
The next day we went on more rides, doing the 3d rides at Excalibur. We checked out the Shark Tank at Mandalay Bay. That was amazing!
Another late night, we waited to see the TI Sirens show, it was too windy. We waited to see the Mirage Volcano, too windy. :(
We finally ended up at Imperial Palace, dining at the Hash House, a place that specializes in large portions! Jessicas sandwich was bigger than her head! I ordered an appetizer and it was larger than most entrees and it was good!
The next day we went to Circus Circus and rode more rides. I rode the log ride and the roller coaster. WOW! that was a rush. We then went back to Imperial Palace for a show. Matsuri. It was a Japanese acrobat show. These people were amazing! It was very well done and we all liked it.
The last night, we ate at Peppermills. This restaurant has some history. I took my kids mother to this restaurant for her 21st birthday. I met her dad there for the first time. It was also my friend Glenns favorite restaurant. I took a few minutes to reflect on the past, then back to the present, and ordered a Mai Tai, in honor or Glenn and his love of foo foo drinks. This thing wasn't foo foo though and after that it was time to go back to the room!
The last day we went to Planet Hollywood for breakfast buffet and it was good. The kids rode the NewYork NewYork roller coaster. We got to the airport early and had a delay.. So, I plunked a few dollars in a slot machine, hit max bet and won $225 on the first spin. I cashed out and went home.
States map at New Yorks America restaurant
We just got here, and we are tired!
Lunch at the Harley Davidson cafe
The Hash House at Imperial Palace
Moon over the Strip
Contortionists at Circus Circus
No Cameras allow in the show. We saw Matsuri.
View from the Condo
Botanical Gardens at Bellagio
We got in early afternoon and hit the strip. The highlight was the Stratosphere tower. When we got out there, I was scared to just be on the roof, let alone get in a ride! Kelsey and Jessica made their way to the rides. Kelsey looked back at me just as she was getting on the ride and looked really scared! Jessica grabbed her and gave her a shove of encouragement. Away they went! They loved it.
It was getting late now, we still had not eaten dinner. We got in a cab and he raced us down to the other end of the strip. We decided we could find some good food at NewYork New York. We went t the cafe America and it was decent.
The next day we went on more rides, doing the 3d rides at Excalibur. We checked out the Shark Tank at Mandalay Bay. That was amazing!
Another late night, we waited to see the TI Sirens show, it was too windy. We waited to see the Mirage Volcano, too windy. :(
We finally ended up at Imperial Palace, dining at the Hash House, a place that specializes in large portions! Jessicas sandwich was bigger than her head! I ordered an appetizer and it was larger than most entrees and it was good!
The next day we went to Circus Circus and rode more rides. I rode the log ride and the roller coaster. WOW! that was a rush. We then went back to Imperial Palace for a show. Matsuri. It was a Japanese acrobat show. These people were amazing! It was very well done and we all liked it.
The last night, we ate at Peppermills. This restaurant has some history. I took my kids mother to this restaurant for her 21st birthday. I met her dad there for the first time. It was also my friend Glenns favorite restaurant. I took a few minutes to reflect on the past, then back to the present, and ordered a Mai Tai, in honor or Glenn and his love of foo foo drinks. This thing wasn't foo foo though and after that it was time to go back to the room!
The last day we went to Planet Hollywood for breakfast buffet and it was good. The kids rode the NewYork NewYork roller coaster. We got to the airport early and had a delay.. So, I plunked a few dollars in a slot machine, hit max bet and won $225 on the first spin. I cashed out and went home.
States map at New Yorks America restaurant
We just got here, and we are tired!
Lunch at the Harley Davidson cafe
The Hash House at Imperial Palace
Moon over the Strip
Contortionists at Circus Circus
No Cameras allow in the show. We saw Matsuri.
View from the Condo
Botanical Gardens at Bellagio
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