I feel like I should be standing in Time's Square or somewhere that has a large lighted ball on a pole with confetti at the ready.
The clock on my last semester is ticking - so loud, it's keeping me awake at night. This is when it all really comes together, I guess. I've learned so much since the last time I checked in that *I* need a reboot!
My work at the NYSD has been amazing. I've come to embrace the Mac OS and I am enjoying experimenting with the iPrograms, for lack of a better term :-) Right now I'm in the midst of finishing a project that uses iChat to link 2 deaf classrooms. It turns out that Occam's Razor is a pretty useful after all! I've also been working with the SMARTBoard gallery & even made my own screencast - a first for me! I'm sure the farther out I get from it, it will sound terrible, but right now I am reveling in the fact that I accomplished my goal and trying to ignore all the "ums" and weird noises I make! I know my next time I will be working hard to elimate these flaws.
Hardware-wise, I haven't done too much. I'm sure my PC could use a tune up, but I wanted to wait until the semester was over before I started fooling around under the hood, or perhaps even looking to trade up to a new model. The one thing I AM sure that I will do is make sure I *DON'T* have Vista installed. I've been hearing so many people complain as of late, and that helps the shiny new system envy go away.
On the software side, I have been doing a bit of experimenting. I downloaded a trial of the new Microsoft Office (2007) and have to admit I really like it. Some people are unhappy with the new look, and while I agree, it can be a bit confusing at first, it's grown on me. Perhaps that is because I am still running Office 2000 at home (!!) - this free trial is definitely making me a convert. So, I am trying to decide if I should just pony up for a new system with Office 07 installed on it - yes, I know I'll still be paying for it, but having a nice new system will make it better.... I think.
I also have a little software detective work to do once the semester is over as well. It seems my web browser of choice (Firefox) is slower than molasses on a winter's day all of a sudden. Granted, I have about 8 windows open with 2-3 tabs in a few of them, but opening a new window is taking FOREVER. I am looking forward to having the time to troubleshoot this problem. I'm also having trouble updating my Ad-Aware, so I have to uninstall, reinstall, that sort of thing. Time for an overhaul.
Even though I am graduating, I'd like to keep this blog going to share my experiences with others who may be just starting to understand what's keeping your PC going and why. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
