Elaine Smith Writes

Anything She Wants

Tag Archives: Computers

No mercy?

“Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.”

That is a quote from the ever-brilliant Joseph Campbell.  It is both funny and true, as the best quotes are.

However, it’s Thankful Thursday, and while I realize most of you will think we’ve gone past this point by this time, I am going to talk about how thankful I am for computers.

I love computers.  I know, I know.  Two of the most dreaded words in the English language are “computer error.”  Almost as bad:  when the phone rep says, “the computer is down.”  We hate the computerized phone menus that seem to be malevolently blocking us from talking to a human being.  We are annoyed when the people we are with keep checking their smartphones instead of giving their undivided attention to our scintillating conversation.  We can’t understand how we come to waste so much time on Facebook.

But, oh!  The hours of entertainment.  The increase in productivity.  In my case, the leap from temporary secretary at $15-$20 per hour to computer programmer and over a hundred.  Even more important, I sometimes think, was the antidote to powerlessness.

There is no one who has less power than a would-be actor.  Almost all other artists can practice their craft in the absence of recognition.  If you are a writer, all you need is a pencil and a scrap of paper.  If you are a visual artist, you can draw anywhere.  A singer may sing in the shower.  If you play an instrument, you can play it any time (taking into account consideration for neighbors, of course).

The actor, whose instrument is herself, cannot do much without other actors.

It is the only craft I know where you need permission to practice it.  And another hundred people just got off of the train.*  The competition for that permission is fierce.  Opportunities can be few and frustratingly long in coming.  It’s easy to feel discouraged and incompetent and without power.

But. .  .you can sit down at a computer, and if you know the right keys to press, you can make it do anything.

I love computers.

* Stephen Sondheim, Company, “Another Hundred People”

Treasure Hunt

The holy grail of disk space

Way back when I bought this PC–which has provided remarkably trusty service over the years–it seemed like it had unlimited disk space. 140 Gb. How could anyone possibly use all that?

One lives and learns.

Programs get bigger.  I want more of them.  There is music to store.  There are graphics and videos to edit.  There is data to crunch.  And there is odd and esoteric research to hang onto because, who knows, I may write a book or a play about that someday.

And the next thing I know, my PC has only about 5 Gb left and has slowed down to something that would insult the speed of a baby if you called it a crawl.

I do have external drives, but there is a lot of data I like to keep on the local drive.  That’s the one Carbonite backs up under their basic plan, and while I love Carbonite, I am not quite ready to increase my backup budget just yet.

I am also not quite ready to install a new larger hard drive.  We won’t discuss whether this is out of the same frugal–i.e., penny-pinching–impulse or out of long and dismal experience of what happens when you start taking your computer apart .  (I will say that it will be a lot easier to get to it the way my office is set up in my new house than it was in the past–when there was a lot of crawling involved–and, once, a hacksaw–but that is definitely another story!)

So, I have reached a point where I have to evaluate what’s on this drive and make some decisions.  Some files can be moved to an external drive, of course.  Some files can be archived.

And, let’s face it, there are probably a lot of files that can simply be deleted.

To keep or not to keep.
That is the question

And that brings me to a couple of nifty little programs.

(Before I tell you about them, let me give you one other very important Tuesday Tech Tip.  Don’t just take my word for it.  Read other reviews before you use anything recommended to you in a blog.  ALWAYS have a current back-up before you start deleting files.  Use common sense.  Proceed at your own risk.  Remember–your results may vary.  I’m telling you what I’ve done.  I’m not guaranteeing it will work for you.)

About a week ago, I got a lot of disk space back using Easy Duplicate File Finder.  It’s a free program for both PC and Mac users that will compare files in selected directories and provide a list of those it has identified as duplicates.  You can view them, move them, rename them or delete them.

Almost 10 Gb had been swallowed up by dupes.

Today, however, another 5 Gb has disappeared.  More drastic action is needed.

So, I just found:  Directory List & Print.  It’s freeware–although there is a paid version that has a few more features–and it’s really simple.  It does exactly what the name suggests.  What I like about it, is that unlike Windows Search, I can easily copy the directory listing to Excel or Word for storing, sorting, editing, printing –and, unlike redirecting the output of a DOS dir command to a file, I can choose which pieces of information to include in my list.

I can then go prospecting for disk space.

It should be easy to find the major candidates for deletion:  the temp files and backup files that are outdated.  I’ll be able to scan the list for other possibilities as well as use it for the plodding, methodical check-list-y approach I just know is coming.

Amazingly, I’ve already gotten rid of over 8,000 files one program has generated in unsubmitted crash reports.  That’s half a gig recovered!  (That may not sound like much, but I’m pretty sure this is going to be a tedious process of knocking off little minnows of files nibbling away at my disk space and not identifying any Great Blue Whales swallowing Jonah-sized sectors on the hard drive.)

Those crash reports were just sitting out there taking up space for no reason.  I’m not sure I’d have noticed them if I hadn’t run this program and generated this list.

Every time I do something like this, I swear I’m going to be more diligent and disciplined with data storage as I go along.  This is what is known as a pipe dream.  Not having access to a personality transplant, I’m glad I’ve found these two programs.

I’ll let you know how the Great Disk Space Recovery Project is getting along.

Are we in a time warp?

Tuesday Tips

Here’s a tip for you on this lovely Tuesday morning: You probably want to avoid launching a blog in the middle of a business trip. Especially if you are using all of the wonderful but somewhat wacky free software that is available to make your life a living hell easier.

Now, to be fair, I launched this website last week. But I didn’t try to incorporate an email feed until—oh, somewhere around Wednesday. And guess what? Everything worked fine.

Except the part where it’s supposed to email blog posts on the day they post.

Because the email part of the blog is a day late and a dollar short. (Well, no dollars are changing hands—so that part’s not true. But it is a day late.)

That means that if you are reading this blog via email, you are wondering why I haven’t realized that it’s actually Wednesday and not Tuesday. The thing is, I know that it’s probably Wednesday where you are. Over here in blog land, however, it’s been Tuesday since Monday.

See, I wrote the Monday post on Sunday. And I scheduled it to go out on Monday. And, if you are reading this on my website or via RSS feed, all is well. But if you subscribed to get the posts by email, you are getting things the day after they post.

I don’t know why.

I’m using free software. Free software has a hidden cost. No help. Anywhere. All kinds of forums where well-meaning and sometimes surprisingly knowledgeable users try to help you, yes, with extraordinary generosity. But no actual tech support. And, for me, that rarely works. Because I am an odd mixture. I have a great deal of knowledge about a wide range of software applications—and pockets of ignorance that would swallow Montana. So, when I run into a problem, it’s usually something totally bizarre. If it were not, I’d have solved it.

So, please bear with me while I try to solve this problem (which might be easier if I were not in airports and hotels and play readings). In the meantime, if you’re getting this by email, the space-time continuum has not slipped its leash.

It really is Wednesday where you are.

Probably.

And. . .we’re off!

Welcome to my very first blog post!

It’s a little scary to launch a new endeavor–especially one so fraught with narcissism as blogging.  You know those voices in your head? The ones that like to shout–or, more often, whisper insidiously–Just who do you think you are?

Well, they are working overtime today.

Who do you think you are to start blogging?  To have a website? A bookstore? Who do you think would ever be interested in anything you have to say?  What’s wrong with you?

But I’ve decided to tell the Tyrannosaurus Chatterboxicus to sit down and shut up.

I would like to point out to that garrulous TC that I am interested in what I have to say, and that’s enough. If nothing else, this should get me writing a bit every day. And if other people decide to come along, that will be great.

There may be interesting things here.

I’ll be talking about writing and creativity and what gets in the way. I’ll be talking about theatre and what I’ve learned as an actor, a director, a playwright. I’ll be talking about computers and website design and the bruises I’ll be getting from beating my head against the brick wall of trial-and-error programming.

I’ll be talking about visibility–oh, the shame of poking your head up and saying, “Here I am. Look at me.“–and having to combine all manner of esoteric business-like disciplines (marketing, pr, research, compliance, data design, accounting, etc.) with all manner of other esoteric creative-like disciplines (plot, theme, structure, imagination) into the more or less coherent whole of an Artist Entrepreneur.

Sometimes I’ll be talking about how hard all that is, and sometimes I’ll be pointing out some tricks and tools that have made it easier for me–and might work for you. And sometimes I’ll probably just be talking, and we’ll all wonder what the heck I’m talking about.

I’m learning this blogging software as I go along. Weird things will happen. The TC wants me to wait until I understand it perfectly, but you know and I know that just means it will never get off the ground.

Leap, and the net will appear. — John Burroughs

I’m leaping.

Bookmark this site if you want to see what happens next.


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