img addendum

OH and get this.  DVD Player remembers where you leave off, even on a different disc.  I suppose this isn't surprising (it's the same image) but it just never dawned on me it could do that.

Surprise!

Now it's time for TEA!!!!!

~nv

img

I love my mac.  Last night I had issues creating a DVD (which I seldom, if ever, do).  It's meant to be a movie you put into a DVD player to play on either a tv or computer.  Dale comes over and looks at the rendering menu error and starts pointing me in a few directions, so I'm wandering around the laptop doing this stuff.

I don't know what I did originally but I'm pretty sure it was something I did.  Thing went without a hitch once Dale got me in the right spot.  The entire movie I put together seemed daunting at first, too, but once I began to get into it, I was like, holy moly, this is awesome software!!  (iMovie)  And it was /included/ with my laptop, go figure.  iDVD was actually easier but seemed trickier because of the trouble I had.  But now, I have a .img file that I can burn at will.

Burning images is what I'm really ecstatic about.  Yeah, you can get DeepBurner for the PC or use Roxio or Nero.  But Disk Utility is probably the easiest, most straightforward tools I've used now that I know how.  Sometimes it takes me a long time to do things on the mac because I'm still unaccustomed to things being easy and intuitive.  I've begun to purposely complicate things just to keep some of my skills honed.  For instance, I admit that I did look up how to burn an image in Terminal instead.  Didn't try it, this time, because I'm on a deadline for this one and want to make sure I save time to fix any issues that may have came up in the image I made last night.  But some image somewhere will be burned via Terminal.  Nonetheless, DU is a very easy thing to use, too easy at times.

It's just another example of Apple thinking differently.  All computers are going to have their issues, but I find so many fewer problems on my mac than I do with any other computer I've used (even Selene with her very stable Windows 98se install, which had to be redone every six months).

Happy Harmonies everyone!!

~nv 

whoa, this is a ripoff.

Dale was just talking about Office and the programs that are included in the two mac versions.  I went to compare them for myself to the Windows versions and realized that they charge $150 for both the mac and Windows versions of the home/student edition.  I have a bit of an issue with that.  Onenote comes with the Windows version, but not with the Mac version.  It's a $79 program by itself.  I find it annoying that they'd a) not make OneNote for mac (I happen to love OneNote) and then throw salt in the wounds by keeping the price the same.

Admittedly, they can charge whatever the heck they want, but it still seems wrong on the surface, somehow.  They got their pricing right for the next one, though... Tacking on the price of Outlook minus four cents.  (whoo)  Anywho, whatever.  I have the full Professional version for Windows through work, great deal, that.  I might have purchased just OneNote otherwise (although I have Scrivener for writing, which is similar in some ways and native to Mac).  OpenOffice isn't horrible, after all.  But I am glad to have everything because it's so much more fun to use MS products!!  (And I'm not kidding, I do love their suite.)

~me!

More SQL FUN!!

Today I figured out how to create a batch file coupled with a .sql file that creates a text file of all schemas and their associated tables in a database.

W00T!!  That was a fingerful.

This is the most awesomest class I've taken in the past few years... I think the last time I loved a class this much was Cisco.  This time, however, there's no heartbreak associated with it, and it's actually useful in my job, and even at home (if I remember right, SQL can easily be used in Access, which I also use at home now and then).

There are a couple things making this one so special:

- It's at home, effectively removing all interruptions except the cat or an unexpected knock at the door.

- The instructor shows us lots of examples as he talks about the modules.

- It's going at a good pace.

- The labs are very very helpful, and give the answer which helps me get through them quickly, taking screenshots as I go for additional examples (future reference).

- The labs are available outside of class hours, so I can do them later as well if I can't finish "in class."

- During breaks/lunch, I can listen to the new-to-me stuff by Chicago, which gives me all sorts of energy because it's so powerful and awesome.

- I can make my own lunch, which is likely a LOT healthier (even if not cheaper).

- The time is perfect, 9-6 or so, giving me time for mind-helping breakfast, tea, and morning studies - morning has always been best for me to learn in.

- I thought ahead this time and read the book before class began, taking notes and raising questions before the guy even began to speak.  That helped prep me for the class material and I've absorbed more.

- I've been somewhat familiar with SQL anyway because I was exposed to it a little bit years ago by a DBAdmin, and a bit in my current job.

- I have a practical application for SQL in my current job and a place to "play."

- I can go back into my labs and play more, because it's a safe, non-destructable area to play in so I can solidify some thoughts and take further notes on results.

- There's SQL Server Express, which I've downloaded on my personal computer and can also play with once I figure it out.  (ROCK!)

- It's all about data manipulation and querying, both of which I have some weird interest in.

- There's a commandline version of SQL called SQLCMD!!  OMG!!  I'm in heaven again.

- I don't feel compelled to pay extremely close attention this time around for several reasons, which takes pressure off me, which removes "mental blocks."  Whenever I feel bored or disinterested, or an idea strikes, I simply go into the next lab and begin working on it, taking notes on things that catch my attention instead.  I figure they're either too advanced or not yet applicable, and I'll learn them eventually as I need them.  Also, the labs cover all the lessons, so I get my examples from those and snag them in my notes.

This week has, so far, felt more like a day off than most of my days off do... Just sitting around browsing the web, going through pictures, watching TV, and reading simply don't do today justice.  Likewise, there's no running around, either, so my body isn't tired.  My mind has thus been awakened and has all sorts of energy!!

Speaking of which, I still have ten minutes left for lunch but I also have an unfinished lab I want to go tackle, so... Laters!!

--

-Whitney

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Contentsofsignaturemaysettleduringshipping. -- Mike Beattie

I IS POWERFUL!!

Earlier today while we were supposed to be working on our lab, I became a powerful creator.

First I made a view, then I dropped it off the face of the planet.

MWAH Hahahahahahahahaaaa!!!!

Okay, so DB admins and first-year college students and probably the kids out back probably knew about this stuff years ago, but I just got into SQL myself, so BYTE ME!! HARD!! It's FUN!!!!! (The SQL part that is, the byting might hurt.)

~nv
ps I was done with my lab because I did it while the guy was talking about what I was doing... and that's because I already summarized the chapter last night so I wouldn't get behind like I did with the VB.NET stuff... SQL is incidentally much more interesting...

Nom nom nom

I've come to accept this about myself:  When faced with certain types of it, I like bunny food.  It used to be that the fattier, meatier, more carb-enriched, the better.  I'd eat the skirt steak and wrinkle my nose at the green stuff on the side.  That was until I met a skirt steak sitting atop this wonderful bed of mixed spring greens.  It wasn't iceburg lettuce in there, oh no.  It was something called a "mesclun" mix.  And each leaf was somehow special.  One was reddish, another was all curly and funky-looking (even if bitter), and then there was this lovely, pointy green thing.  It tasted of pepper and mustard.  I found out it's called "arugula."  Now I've got it growing all throughout my gardens and cannot live without it.  Skirt steak salad is not the same anymore.  Now I don't care about the steak.  I want my arugula!!

I found this bagged salad mix recently that contains romaine, tango, green and red oak lettuce, Lolla Rosa, Green Leaf, Butter Lettuce (who knew), Mizuna, Tatsoi, swiss chard, spinach, frisee, radicchio, and yes, arugula... which of course is augmented frequently with a few extra leaves from my garden.  (Did you know you can even eat the flowers and seeds?)  It's a wonderful mix, not a single fragment of iceberg lettuce anywhere in sight, not for miles around.  I had *NO* idea that salad was actually TASTY.  Otherwise, I'd have had a lot more of it these past years!!

So I looked up common salad types and found this.

http://www.listmyfive.com/9be85a06/The-Top-Five-Healthiest-Salad-Fixings

I cannot say that I agree with everything on there... I've noticed that I have naturally gravitated towards fresher, yummier, more "raw" stuff than I do crap.  I go out to lunch from work a lot, but that's more social than it is a real desire for the crap I consume and sometimes I even ditch the burger and fries for a salad and baked potato (Wendy's is good that way).  But even Wendy's salads aren't nearly as good as the ones I make.  One thing I absolutely will not budge on, though, is meat.  I throw salami on my salads for the extra fat and salt, as well as a bit of extra protein.  I also throw on some slices of avocado and very little tomato.  Sometimes fruit works, but as I've mentioned to numerous peeps, fruit is generally bad for me, so I don't eat a lot of it anyway unless it's in a muffin or small quantities.  I do nuts from time to time but don't really like them all that much... other than brazil nuts, anyway.  And cheddar cheese - exactly for the fat content - is awesome on my salads, as is the peppercorn ranch dressing!!

My only point other than to ramble during the last few minutes of my lunch break is that everybody is different.  I hate coffee and love tea, and some people can't live without coffee and think tea tastes like leafy water (it is, by the way, so my insult of coffee tasting like the sludge at the bottom of a lake is better than yours).

I used to take some perverse pride in my tastes - I wasn't a typical woman who ate salad to lose weight or anything like that.  I pigged out on hot dogs and chips and soda whenever the mood struck me and never gained an ounce.  Granted, the years are starting to hit me - but that's an oddball one if you ask me.  Considering I've been FAR less active than I used to be, I think I'm in damned good shape for someone of my age.  My foot issues from four years ago have kept me sitting around more and more over the years and only now am I starting to perk up again from its finally-getting-there recovery.  If it weren't for an every-other-day mountain dew and a 4-5 days per week average of Wendy's and Taco Bell, my sitting around probably wouldn't have turned into the weight gain it has.  Likewise, if my activity level hadn't dropped a few years back, the Wendy's and TB probably wouldn't have found a place to settle into, either.  My metabolism is still there.  I'm just being very mean to it.

Anywho, all that aside... I felt funny at first, eating salad, because it was like I was giving in to "healthy" eating habits.  No way!!  I don't eat what I don't like... at least, not typically.  This stuff is freakin' AWESOME.  It truly is.  In fact I'm drooling on myself right now, wishing I'd bought another bag over the weekend, and I'll probably snag a few extra arugula leaves on my way back to work... straight from my garden, as a "treat."

Speaking of headed out, it's time... I've gotta get back!!  :D

~me!