2ndchance

Cats and Computers

My cats love my laptop.  They like to sit in my lap anyway, but when I have the laptop going, they seem to re-double their efforts to share the space.  I have a hard time keeping Bonkers from sleeping with her head on the keyboard.  I flatter myself to think that they just want to be with me; which I'm sure has something to do with it.  But for some reason, they want to get as close to the laptop as possible.   Is it the bright screen?  Is it the heat it puts out?  Do they just want to annoy me?  Is there some sort of electrical attraction.

I don't know the answer. Perhaps Toshiba infuses their machines with catnip.

 

Friend Smoothie

Facebook continues to amaze and amuse me.  What has really struck me lately is how it takes friends and acquaintances from wildly different parts of my life and puts them all in the same place.  One friend of mine called this 'homogenization' of people. (Thanks Mark) I guess I am used to my friends being compartmentalized. . .college, former youth, family, online friends, etc.  Some of these friends know some things about me. . .others are privy to a whole different slate of information.  (For example, many people know what the name of this blog signifies.  Many do not.)

Just the other day, a several friends posted their status messages, as usual.  The first one was one of my more conservative friends who was ranting about President Obama.  Directly after that, was a status from one of my gay friends talking about a Pride March he was in.  Right after that was a family member talking about moving from one state to another.  And after that was a Christian friend of mine, using her status to broadcast her faith.

You get the idea.  I had to chuckle.  I started to think, which one of my friends would unfriend me if they could see all my other friends.  Would my pro-choice friends disown me because I also have pro-life friends?  Would my atheist friends sneer at my christian friends?  Would my straight friends be shocked that I have gay friends?  What kind of conversations would ensue if everyone was gathered in one room?

It only makes sense.  I usually describe myself as a mutt when meeting new people.  I have threads of many different philosophies, beliefs and choices flowing through me.  It helps me to relate to individuals and groups of many different backgrounds.  I was just always the kid who had friends of all different kinds, shapes, and colors.  I always try to respect other people for their beliefs; while still holding intact my own beliefs.  So my FaceBook friends are a reflection of all of this.

I would like to bring everyone together in one room.  Just to see.  How many people would get into heated conversations.  How many people would make new friends.  How many people would storm out of the room.

Wouldn't it be fun to watch.

Its a snap

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out. 

I will reserve the right to uninstall this nifty little tool if it becomes too annoying to me and to readers.

Dell sucks part II (Andrew rawks)

Andrew brought multiple fans over.  Which was a good thing as he had to cannibalize parts from two of them to make it work.  Now my computer has a nice shiny used fan which doesn't squeal.  Yay for Andrew!  We went out to eat with his wife to celebrate.

On the flip side, now my vid card fan is squealing and the colors on my monitor are mainly green.  It's like looking at TV through a chia pet.

Heh.

Dell sucks (rant)

I have been going round and round with Dell computer to get my desktop up and running again.  All it needs is a replacement case fan.  You would think that would be a simple thing.

Not.

Rebuilding

I spent about two hours geeking out the other day with two friends.  Both of them build computers and we were looking at ways to extend the life of my almost 7-year-old Dell.

It has been a great computer. . .but most of the components are aging.  The impetus for us looking it over were the failing bearings on the case fan which squeal annoyingly.  We opened the case, blew a boatload of dust out, and looked things over.

Ads pay

Thanks to everyone who has been clicking on my ad links on the top right.  I have earned $15 in the past two months, which is not very much as compared to high traffic sites, but means lots to me and my hosting bill.  Hopefully it will increase a bit more (hint hint) and my hosting will end up being free.

Thank you.  :-)

Clicky

If you are kind enough to visit my little site here, you have no doubt noticed the advertisements. . .in blue and white. . .to the right of this post.

You may already know how these work, but if not. . .every time somebody clicks on them, a small amount gets deposited into my online account.  I hope to be able to pay for this website through ad revenue.

So if you have the time and inclination, take a minute to open one or more of the ads.  It won't cost you anything except the time, and it will help me very much.  Thanks!

Blog entry

I write in this blog.

Geekify Me

You are 29% geek

You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator. Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines! Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals! You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

This sounds about right. I always seem to live in both worlds. Test yourself. Go ahead. You know you want to.