2008-8-18  Checking Out iNetWord

Looks pretty good. The editing screen is nice and clean. The control buttons are a bit small, but that's okay, I guess. It works really well with the browser's zoom feature. It also works with Firefox's right click spell check suggestions and other options.

Unlike Google Docs, which saves everything to a folder where things go that haven't been asigned to a folder yet, iNetWord lets you choose the folder and file format when you save your document. Very nice. It's a bit annoying to have to move every single document in Google Docs to get it where you want it.

Also unlike Google Docs, you can create and modify styles in iNetWord. Very handy.

It allows you to publish your documents to your blog site. I'm gonna try that with this document and see how that works. Google allows this, but I'm not sure to what degree. I couldn't get it to work with my blog site. It may be possible, but I didn't know enough technical stuff about my blog site to completely fill in the dialog box. Hopefully, I'll have better luck here.

I haven't been able to make this work. It very well could be my fault. I'm still kinda ignorant about such things.

It'd be really hand to be able to publish directly from a web based word processor to my blog site. Right now, I compose in Word and then copy and paste to my blog. Not so much fun.

iNetWord seems to do all the normal formatting things everything else does. It appears to have a pretty robust tables feature. I rarely use table, so I haven't tried it out.

It has its own spell check, but I tend to rely on Firefox's spell check on th go feature.

You can add backgrounds to your documents similar to how you can in Word. Cute, but hardly necessary. I do it to make the all white screen a little easier to see.

All in all, I'd have to say I like it. Maybe better than Google docs. Since Google Docs is tied in with my e-mail, it is kinda convenient, but again not something that's necessary.

Now it’s Foxfire’s turn to be in the hot seat. From time to time, I run into things Foxfire won’t do. Such as saving filled in forms, watching on demand video from Netflix and other general quirkiness.

On the plus side, it downloads quickly and is supposed to be “safer” online than IE. Okay, so I use Foxfire most of the time.

Just now, I was playing with Google Docs. Trying out stuff I hadn’t tried before.

I uploaded my July diary document that I had created in Word. This document comes complete with a Table of Contents.

In Word TOC listings are linked to the heading they refer to. Handy. The way it should be.

I had noticed, but had never tried Google Docs’ Bookmark feature. I like that kind of thing and make use of it from time to time, so I scroll down to the first entry of the month after the TOC. I insert a bookmark. Cool. Then I go to the top of the document, highlight the corresponding TOC entry and click on Link.

It gives me the option of picking between a URL, a file, a bookmark, or an e-mail address. Nice. I like flexible.

I choose Bookmark. My recently created Bookmark appears in the drop-down pick list, and I pick it.

When I return to the document, the first line of the TOC section now looks like a hyperlink. So far, so good.

I hover and get a description, but my pointer doesn’t turn to the little hand I’m expecting to see. I click once and get a drop-down option line. This asks me if I want to follow the link, change it, or delete it. More flexibility. I’m okay.

I click on follow the link. The screen goes blank for a couple of seconds, then I’m right where I started from on the TOC entry line, but now I have the entire document in a new tab. I did this a couple of times before I realized I was getting a new tab with the document in it each time.

I’m not so happy, but I remember how Firefox can be quirky sometimes, so I decide to try the same thing in IE (Internet Explorer)..

I guess you know what happened. Yep. It worked just like it was supposed to.

So, you might ask, and legitimately so, why don’t you just use IE and shut the f#@k up.

Well…IE does lots of things really well, however the one thing it does that irritates me is when I increase the Zoom in Google Docs (and anywhere else), it causes me to have to scroll horizontally to be able to see everything. Firefox knows to keep everything in page width, despite the Zoom level.

I’ve looked at the set up section of IE a couple of times hoping to be able to remedy this, but so far, Stevie Wonder can’t find anything.

Since I’m mostly using Google for storage and organization, I guess it’s okay, but I if I’m going to the trouble to put a link in a document, there’s a good chance I’ll be referencing that document at some point, isn’t there?

I downloaded and tried Opera the other day. I removed it less than an hour later.

I’d love to find a product that does everything all the time, the way it should. It seems everything has issues, caveats, or just plain lack of features.

When I was younger and could see normally, I should have learned how to program so I could write my own stuff that probably wouldn’t always work. At least I could fix my own stuff.

Looking forward to a relaxing evening around the fireplace with hot cocoa and marshmallows.

Well…I’ll at leas relax.

Let’s see if I can kinda organize my thoughts after several days of playing, experimenting and cursing.

Keeping in mind I totally love to do this stuff. Also bearing in mind I’ve been working with computers and software since 1989. I’ve always tried to get and use whatever was considered to be the best stuff out there whenever I could.

Okay, so establishing I’m coming at this from the point of view of a computer-snob, here’s what I’m thinking at the moment. Subject to change without notice.

Let’s start with e-mail clients. Between Outlook, Outlook Express, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. I don’t much care. They all pretty much work okay for me. I don’t get tons of e-mail, but even back when I did, I’ve been okay with all of these clients for a while now.

I do like using Word as my editor with Outlook, but it’s not something I get all worked up about.

Address books. For complete functionality, you can’t beat Outlook. That said, both Gmail and Yahoo!’s address book equivalents are adequate.

Because I can, and because my Virgo brain loves this kind of stuff, I like going to a contact’s record in Outlook and being able to make a Journal entry, an appointment, a Task and have the entry automatically tagged for that contact and have that tag show up in that contact’s Activities log.

I’ve been spoiled. I’m an only child. I not only enjoy being spoiled, I practically demand it.

Otherwise, as a place to keep names, addresses, etc., either web based app will do.

Same thing with their respective Calendar apps. The same tagging (and categorizing) feature notwithstanding, I’m okay with either Calendar.

I like Yahoo!’s Calendar a little better for some reason. I like the way both web based calendars send you e-mail reminders. Outlook will pop-up reminders, but the e-mail thing is cool.

Yahoo!’s notes thing does what it’s supposed to do. It’s handy enough.

Google docs is okay. It’s a rudimentary word processor. At the risk of sounding really snobbish, for someone who has made a living word processing, it just ain’t enough. It’d be like trading in your Harley for a moped. Sure, you can still get there from here, but it ain’t nearly the same ride.

When it comes to organization and searching, however, Google Docs kics ass. Even though I grew up on DOS and consider myself pretty good at file management, I can’t make Word do what Google Docs do without a lot of effort. And even then, Google Docs is still better and infinitely easier.

Since I cut my teeth in another era, I’ve always looked for my documents manually. I’ve always been very anal about the way I name them to insure I could find easily them later.

I’m realizing I need to more embrace the search engine capabilities of Google Docs and other web based applications. I just haven’t been used to thinking like this. I need to re-program.

Sure I use Google all the time, but in this recent round of experimenting and playing, I’m really just starting to understand how well both Google Doc’s and Yahoo!’s search engines work in their respective applications.

So, here’s kinda where I am at the moment.

For typing stuff like this, stories and most daily diary type entries, I’m probably gonna type them in Word, then upload them to Google Docs.

To me, this is the best of both worlds. I can use all of Word’s features that Google docs doesn’t have like macros, AutoCorrect, tables of contents generation, etc. while using Google’s excellent organizing abilities.

One thing I didn’t mention earlier, I should mention now, is another major plus for Google Docs is my stuff is safe with them. I’ve had a couple of computers crash on me, and I’ve lost stuff because I’m not as judicious about backing up as I know I should be.

With all my docs on Google’s servers, I’m safe, even if my computer decides to take a dump on me again.

So, Google Docs advantages that Word can’t touch are organization and storage safety.

For everything else, I’m not sure yet. I’m leaning towards Outlook. Primarily because I still use my Palm OS device and it works really well with Outlook. Doing anything else would cause me to “keep two sets of books”, and if I don’t have to do that, I don’t want to do that.

Despite how I feel at the moment, I must say, if I didn’t have a Palm OS device, and I didn’t own a copy of Microsoft Office, I’d be really happy using all web based applications.

If I didn’t already have Office, I wouldn’t go out and buy it. I’m probably not going to upgrade my version until it no longer works with the rest of the world at all. I have Office 2000 Professional.

So, for the rest of the day, I’ll probably be using Word to type, Google Docs to organize and store and Outlook for most everything else.

But don’t forget, tomorrow’s a new day and I’m only one burp, or fart (from the software) away from reviving this whole process again.

Too bad nobody will pay me to evaluate and write about software. Except for getting paid to write stories, I can’t think of a better way to make a living.

(:

2008-08-04 Getting Off The Teat

As I discussed earlier, I'm trying to get off the Microsoft teat. Let me start by saying I'm pretty much stuck with the two PC based machines I own. Unfortunately, for me, Macs are prohibitively expensive. This means I'll still be somewhat Microsoft dependent for a while...maybe always.

I'm glad I don't drive anymore. There's no way I'd want that Microsoft based voice recognition system in my car that'll play your favorite song for you if you ask. I get nightmarish visions of asking my music player to play D.OA. by Bloodrock and all of a sudden the car lurches to the left and runs headlong into an oncoming tractor-trailer.

At the bottom of the story in the local paper, it states, "an unidentified Microsoft source says, Microsoft will issue a patch next month on patch Tuesday".

With more pleasant thoughts in mind, I've been test driving web-based applications lately. I've been a Gmail user for several years. It works. That's really all I ask of any piece of computer hardware, or software.

Over these past several years, I've been using Outlook to send and receive my Gmail. I have two Gmail accounts and Outlook happily checks both of them every time it checks mail. Handy, and in all fairness, works well. Outside factors notwithstanding.

Outlook has decided to be "funky" on me over other things, but it's been a good e-mail client over the years.

My version of Microsoft Office is getting a little long in the tooth these days, and upgrading is not an option for me. Plus, web-based applications are the way of the future and have reached a point where a lot of them are good enough to actually use.

I grew up on WordPerfect for DOS. Like lots of first loves, I'll always love it. I still fire it up from time to time and if it weren't for my low vision, I might would still be using it for the bulk of my word processing needs.

Being a Gmail user, and wanting to switch to web based applications, it was logical and easy for me to check out Google Docs and Google Calendar.

The calendar is okay. Google Docs took some getting used to, but after a short breaking in period, I'm pretty okay with it. I serves most of my needs.

Most of my word processing needs revolve around diary entries, blog entries and writing stories, so basically I just need a good electronic typewriter. I used to do typesetting and page layout for a living, but I don't play with that anymore, and I don't do web page design. There's already way too many people doing that. Besides, I have a very good friend who is a web page guru, so I'd just get her to do it for me. (:

One of the big reasons I've stayed with Outlook for so long is I have a Palm OS PDA. I totally love it and it's very handy when I need to visit doctors, or be away from home. I keep lots of vital information in there.

Over the last couple of days I've been looking into how, or if I can synchronize my handheld to web based stuff.

Doing it with Google is doable, but the best way seems to be a $30 program. I'm loathe to spend $30 to get better use from something that's free to begin with.

While finding out about this product, I noticed someone had posted a suggestion to just use Yahoo's calendar and address book. I've had a Yahoo account for a very long time, but I never use it because the username has the name of my former employer in it, and there's no way I want to be associated with them any longer.

Never mind they're a Fortune 500 company and probably don't want me associated with them anymore either.

I don't really need a third e-mail address, but I decided to get a new Yahoo address so I could test out this synchronization thing.

Yahoo's mail client is as good as anyone else's. The calendar is a little more robust than Google's, plus Yahoo offers a Task list and a Note pad applet. No word processor.

For the cost of the time to download and install a free program, one can synchronize one's Yahoo stuff with Outlook, Outlook Express, or the Palm Desktop software. I downloaded and installed said program and grabbed my calendar, address book and notes from Outlook. It worked flawlessly.

Everything from my Outlook Contacts folder is now in my Yahoo address book. All of the names display in the correct order. Correct order meaning it didn't assume which name should be first or last, it just brought everything in from Outlook just the way I have it in Outlook.

I like Yahoo's address book a bit better than Google's, although Google's is adequate.

While this sounds like a simple feat, it is fairly impossible for some import/export utilities, including Palm Desktop.

Now comes the inevitable problems. I added a name to my address book in Yahoo, then attempted to sync again with Outlook.

When Yahoo imported everything, it even imported all my Outlook categories. Pretty cool...except...any Outlook category of more than one word, (personal bills) became one word with an underscore between the words (personal_bills). Okay, whatever.

The rub lies in the subsequent sync-ing. When I tried to sync after adding a contact to Yahoo, the sync-ing program sees all of these "converted" category names as conflicts between Yahoo and Outlook and want to change my Outlook category names. I ain't having none of this. I was able to cancel the sync-ing without screwing up my Outlook contacts folder. Yes, I had definitely backed up my outlook.pst file before attempting this...just in case.

I was expecting the sync-ing program to add the new contact to my Outlook Contacts folder and let the rest of the world keep turning. Silly me.

A cursory look at the setup options for the sync-ing software didn't offer an immediate fix for this. I may dig deeper into the mapping and filtering options later. I may not.

The easiest thing to do would be to retire my PDA, but I really don't want to do that. I also don't want to manually update my PDA after I put stuff into Yahoo, or anything else I might choose to use.

I could get a smart phone that would possible work better with both Google and/or Yahoo, but a smart phone is way overkill for my pitiful excuse for a life.

I could just keep using Microsoft stuff and shut the f#$k up about it all.

Maybe a s#!t, shower and shave and a couple of beers will clear my head and let me think about this some more...and some more...and some more.

The root of the problem here is I absolutely love to mess around with this kind of stuff. PIM stuff, database stuff, conversion stuff. I can sit and self entertain for days on end with this stuff, so I may never really find a solution. If I did, then what would I for fun???

And yes, I'm the poster child for the Styx song, "Too Much Time On My Hands".

Now accepting applications for reasonable girlfriend candidates.

I'm a pretty good lap dog as long as you scratch me behind the ear every now and then.

(:

When I think of VOX, I think of the Beatles' amplifiers, Dave Clarke Five's compact organ and the guitar that guy in The Byrds played, but I guess I can get used to it as a place to blog. (I left out Bono on purpose. I like U2, but he already gets too much ink.)

Today's offering is a first time getting-my-feet-wet kind of thing. All too often I get caught between too much to say and nothing to say.

Today is a cooking day for me. I'm gonna make turkey beef-a-roni a little later. It almost sounds involved, but it's just spaghetti sauce (home made, thank you very much) made with ground turkey along with cooked macaroni folded in at the end. It stores easy, plus it's easy to eat. Big spoon, big napkin. Good meal.

I'll make it later when I can have the initial serving fresh, although it's one of those things that tends to get more flavorful after a day or two in the fridge.

For those of you keeping score, it was home made burritos for b-fast, and it'll be Chinese style chicken and veggie stir-fry for lunch. My delicate medical condition requires I eat reasonably healthy most of the time, plus I live on a fixed income, so I have had to become one with my kitchen. I like my cooking, so it's okay. Nobody else ever eats it, so that means everybody likes it.

My latest computer quandary is how to wean myself off the Microsoft teat. I have been using Microsoft Office applications for years. A decision made people who were supposed to know better back when I was working. I'm all for web-based application and I've made peace with stuff like G-mail and even Google Docs to an acceptable degree.

If not web-based, then I'm all about free software. Legitimately free, of course. Piracy is for people like Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. So, I'd particularly love to find something that could take the place of Outlook's Journal applet. I use it extensively to keep track of all the insignificant things in my world. I remember the significant stuff.

There are, of course, all kinds of manual logs that can be kept in word processing, or spreadsheet programs, but I'm looking for something a bit more automated. We are talking about a computer, after all.

Google searches introduce me to all kinds of programs like Vox (I can't believer "Vox" is not in the Vox spell check dictionary. If I built a dictionary, "Rick" would be the first entry. And yes, I had the presence of mind to add Vox to the dictionary. Thanks for checking.) Anyway, I suppose if I blogged every little thing I did, I'd have a journal-type listing, wouldn't I?

For me, the money feature of Outlook's Journal is being able to tag, or assign each Journal entry to any number of contacts in one's address book. Cherry. Categories are nice, and I certainly use them, but you can often find programs that will offer categorization.

Since I haven't been able to find an alternative to Outlook's Journal in a couple of years of searching, I'm guessing this project will continue to keep me out of trouble for some time to come.

Just to be fair, Act! performs a similar function quite nicely, but it's a long way from free. I even built an application in Access that kinda sorta does the same thing, but I'm not savvy enough to re-create the contact tagging thing in Access. I can easily do it for one contact, but not if I want to attach an entry to multiple contacts and have a reference appear in each of their records. Plus, Access is Microsoft and I'm trying to move on with my life.

Of course, in the time I've spent looking for a free alternative to Journal, I could have learned how to program and I could have written my own program except the books and programming software aren't cheap, much less free. I'm generally not a cheap guy, but I am living on a meager fixed income and food is more important than computer stuff on most days.

Speaking of food, if you're coming for dinner, bring your own spoon and drink. Actually, bring beer for us, and I'll let you use one of my spoons, or throw-away chopsticks if you prefer.