Tag: computer stuff

Getting away with it

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In Theadia, our two main characters are computer nerds. However, I’m trying to avoid as much techspeak infodumping as I can. Can it be done?

That’s a good question. I mean, I’m basing their work background on my own experience at the Former Day Job — basically working behind the scenes as code checkers to make sure system are working the way they’re supposed to work, and to figure out solutions when they’re not. And believe you me, I did a LOT of that over the fourteen years I was there. And if I learned anything, it’s that there are indeed code geeks out there who are not savants but instead kinda sorta know what they’re doing and hope for the best. That is what the leads in my novel are about: they’re good at it, but it really is all held together with sticky tape and dreams most of the time.

This upcoming project is very much like that: you’re probably not going to see the stock characters of the introvert genius who saves the day, but you’ll definitely see the common citizen who’s hoping it doesn’t all go kerflooey at the worst possible moment. I like the idea that the world is not just imperfect, it’s messy as hell, and we’re all pretending that we have it under control. Theadia is about people who aren’t in charge, but do know what they’re doing. Sort of.

Getting back to the question, I do in fact have a few techspeak infodumping scenes, but they’re not the kind you’re expecting. Again, I based it on my own experience: the most common reason for system failure at my FDJ was either someone making a really stupid mistake upstream (or just plain not knowing what they’re doing), or someone forgetting that what works on the shiny and clean test platform will trip up in the messy and chaotic live platform. I have a few scenes not just explaining this, but having my two mains exploit it. The trick isn’t so much hacking in, it’s not getting caught. And if you know how and where to go…

Year End Review – positives

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[Picture source: Neon Stargzing by Zerahoc from DeviantArt]

Yes, even despite my newish PC being out of commission for a bit, things have been good here in Spare Oom and elsewhere. I’ve used this time to detox for a little bit; shutting things down, taking a breather, whatever it takes to be where I need to be.

I’ve received notice from Lenovo that said PC has been fixed and will be on its way back to me with a projected return of Just Before Christmas.

I’ve initiated the eventual closedown of my Twitter account (I won’t deactivate, but will merely have it in lockdown with the occasional ‘you can find me elsewhere’ post) and have started showing up on Threads and BlueSky with the commitment to being more vigilant about curating my feeds.

I haven’t obsessed over my music library — including these last few New Release Fridays — with the reminder that they’ll still be there when I get my PC back, and I don’t necessarily have to have it on drop date.

I’m still sliding into a few old distractions, but I’m doing so willingly, whether it’s watching a few goofy videos on YouTube or whatever, but I’m backing away at the first twitch of okay, that’s enough, time to get back to work. And that length of time is so much shorter than it used to be.

I’m actively not reading the internets during breaks at work, instead writing notes in a small notebook I carry around, or working through a few games in the crossword puzzle magazine I’d bought recently.

Today I tried an outtake of my future project Sheila Take a Bow that came out a hell of a lot better than I’d expected it to, so I don’t feel as tense about starting that at 750Words come the new year.

I’ve also chosen to to do a ‘soft restart’ of Queen Ophelia’s War because it’s better to attack these problem spots now instead of down the line, that way I’ll have less to worry about in the near future once it’s done and ready to see release.

So yeah, I’d like to think that things are positive for me right now while getting ready for 2024, so I’m happy about that.

PC Stuff

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It’s been a bit of time since I got my new PC, and for the most part it’s been behaving pretty well. I’m still running the cleaners on a sort-of-weekly basis and keeping it healthy. I’m still having the occasional weird issue but I think that’s more on the wonky internet in Spare Oom. That’s most likely due to running too many internetty things at the same time and causing a bottleneck, which ends up causing a disconnect. I’ve always had that issue back here, mainly because we use a Powerline adapter back there. [Short version, it’s using the power outlets instead of an ethernet cable, which we don’t have set up back there.] It would be nice to get properly wired up back there, but it would require either some ridiculous wiring straight from the router (which we had back in Jersey) or rewiring with the landlady involved, and I don’t think I really need to go that far.

I suppose this would be a problem if I was, say, a gamer or a coder or doing something tech related, which I’m not. I’m just someone that’s streaming KEXP online while looking at email while downloading new music releases and saving things to Dropbox. It’s not a big problem at all when I’m working straight to Word, but it can be a problem when I’m working at the 750Words site, or writing a blog here. An internet drop-out can cause drafts not to be properly saved.

It’s not a consistent problem, just one when I’m multitasking too much. It’s merely an occasional setback I can work around. And perhaps I don’t really need to have five different internetty things running at the same time just then…?

Upgrade time

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The Spare Oom PC is finally starting to show its age. Which is actually not surprising at all, since I’ve had this one for four years. It’s seen a lot of use between August of 2019 and now: music streaming and playing, novel writing, movie watching, Plex servering, internetting, job searching, 750 Words posting, blogging, and more. That’s a hell of a lot of words, music and visuals. Recently the PC has been consistently rebooting overnight, possibly due to a system failure, and the internet connectivity seems to drop out a lot when I’m multitasking online. It’s still a workable PC when it’s not acting up, but it’s only a matter of time at this point.

So on Saturday we ordered me a new replacement PC. I’m sticking with Lenovo this time, partly because this current one (an ideacentre 720, which is no longer made) stayed with me for so long with minimal problems for the longest time. I’ve mentioned before that my PCs usually last about three years before they start acting up, and four is actually a record for me! The new one is an ideacentre 3i which is a slight upgrade in terms of processing. It’s a bit smaller in storage space, but I’m okay with that considering that pretty much everything important to me lives on multiple external drives. It also doesn’t have a cd/dvd drive, but that’s okay too because I have a portable one of those as well that also reads blu-rays.

Meanwhile, as I wait for the new PC to arrive I will be shifting whatever’s left of the important stuff (photos, documents, and so on) to an external and/or to Dropbox for safekeeping. This means it might take me a little longer to Get Back To Work as I proposed on Friday, but it’s worth the wait.

Back to writing work

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OKAY! So it’s been a bit of a weird week, what with the Day Job schedule and all the PC issues I’ve been having of late. On Wednesday night I chose the nuclear option and did a factory reset of my computer, and spent my day off reinstalling several apps I use the most. [I should add that in doing the reset, it finally let me upgrade to Windows 11 as well. I’m still getting used to the changes, though there don’t seem to be too many that are all that significant.] The PC is now behaving quite nicely again, other than the continuing Bluetooth keyboard stickiness (which I’m yet to figure out how fix).

The good news is that everything is back to normal and I can get started on writing again! Even better news is that this gave me the time at work to think about the next chapter. I knew who was going to feature in it, but it had to be different from my original outtake from a month or so ago. And the amusing thing is that this new approach was influenced by…the original 1993 opening of Vigil! Heh. See, this is why I’m a packrat when it comes to my writing!

Anyway, now that I’m back on track (FINALLY), I’m hoping I can get a headstart soon!

A new(ish) monitor arrives!

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Okay, so it’s a few years old, but it was A’s at that point before her new job provided her with a new one. And as you can see, it’s partially blocking the whiteboard schedule and the clipboard. I’m probably going to take the latter down as I rarely use it, and move the whiteboard up a few inches and rearrange all those ‘I Power KEXP’ stickers I’ve accumulated. Most everything on the desk can easily be shifted around to make this work.

So what’s different here? I mentioned at my Dreamwidth account that I’m now facing the desk directly instead of at an angle, and after adjusting the armrests of my chair (again, formerly A’s before she bought a new one) I’m now enjoying much better posture. Especially now that the mouse and pad are off to the right, so I’m no longer crinching up my shoulder to use them. I’m not slouching or leaning in this chair, nor am I craning my neck at weird angles when I’m working with documents and suchlike. [I’ve also noticed that the sound quality in the music I listen to is different as well, now that I’m facing the speakers directly instead of mostly in my right ear. I’m posting separately about that over at Walk in Silence.]

I’m using the new monitor for internet browsing and my writing and the old one for my music player and other media software. Sure, the older monitor is bigger and you’d think that would be useful for writing, but after so many years I think it’s a little too big. Useful for watching movies and music videos, but probably not for extended periods of editing. The smaller monitor helps me focus on the work at hand instead of getting lost in all that workspace.

They’re simple adjustments, sure, but I’m already noticing how big of a difference they’ve made, and that’s always a good thing.