Tag: MSN

bookmark_borderOut of whack

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Ouchy
My back isn’t mega-sore if I keep it moving. That makes sitting down at a computer to do work a little annoying… hence the reason I’m still awake at 1am doing some work. Thankfully it’s improving every day.

Happy Birthday!
Visited my Gran tonight on the occasion of her 87th birthday. She’s finally out of hospital and in a local sheltered housing unit. She has a room to herself, and seems to be adapting well to all the changes. She’s still sharp as a tack, just slowly going deaf, blind and is unable to walk without her zimmer. But hey, she’s 87.

Ohh and she’s now got a mobile phone. Today she sent a text message. My Gran. 87. My head is still spinning.

THANKS
A quick thank you to everyone who has sponsored me for the upcoming 5k, I’m pretty sure my back will be better by then (week on Sunday). Our numbers came in the other day. I’ll be wearing number 13. Seriously.

And finally…

Two questions

1. Why does my screensaver (Flurry) seem to log me out of Yahoo and MSN Messenger? Is it killing the internet connection? The screensaver doesn’t connect to the internet but I don’t know how to run any tests because doing so will stop the screensaver!

2. Know anyone that wants a website designed? I’ve just finished my last ‘job’ for the year and whilst I’ll be taking December off, I will be free in January. My rates are very reasonable you know…

Update: I’ve left a few comments on various sites this morning. None of which, I think, have come out right. Just can’t get the words to flow properly and end up fudging things and … meh. Please do not take a fence.

bookmark_border15 years

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Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of when some bloke, sorry SIR some bloke, published some files on an international network. Since then a lot has changed. Some of it good, some of it bad, some of it mediocre, some of it, er, unmediocre.

I first stumbled across the internet in my first job. After being introduced to Windows for Workgroups, my first ever experience of Windows after years of Macs, I was shown an application called Netscape, a search engine called Yahoo!, and six months later I created my first web site. Email was still limited to a handful of people, mostly in the same company, and spam was something you didn’t buy at the supermarket. I quickly found newsgroups and websites that followed my interests, and struck up some email friendships with people across the globe. OK, so mainly with people in the USA.

Since that day the internet has grown to be an integral part of my life. On Thursday last week I lost my broadband connection for a couple of hours and I was stumped. I couldn’t look anything up, I couldn’t email or MSN anyone to ask a question, I couldn’t surf the web idly, and it was all a little disconcerting.

Now I take some care not to rely completely on my computer or the internet. I’m aware that my computer may die, and the internet might not always be there, but it was a stark reminder of just how it influences my personal and professional life. Startling.

bookmark_borderLunching with the diva

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Of the pixel variety.

Always good to meet a fellow blogger, and as we’ve “known” each other for several years (before she was a diva in fact) it was extra special to spend a pleasant lunch in the company of pixeldiva herself. We chatted about all sorts, as us eclectic bloggers are known to do, and my lunch hour (and a half) came to a close all to quickly.

One topic we did discuss was you lot. Not ALL of you, obviously, but the core group of bloggers that I’ve been visiting for years, commenting, and emailing (with the occasional IM thrown in for good measure, you do have my MSN details, don’t you?) and, as I stated as we headed out into the Glasgow rain, I should really try a little harder to get “dahn sarf” to a blogmeet or two. I was toying with putting together a list of “bloggers wot I’d like to meet” but that may turn into a vanity exercise and I’d hate to assign an order to such things. Suffice to say that all of them are listed on the left (down a bit) and they probably know who they are.

Other topics covered: how to spot a room full of geeks, the flats they are building which will have a view over one of the most hideous roundabouts in Scotland, the joy of having parents read your blog (and no I’m NOT gonna expand on that one!!), weird flatmates, the amazement of being recognised by your peers, and … knickers (not mine, and I just realised that I forgot to ask what colour Ann was wearing, presuming she was wearing some of course…).

Top stuff, a pretty good lunch and all in the company of a lovely, smart, bubbly lady.

bookmark_borderFriends will be Friends

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One simple fact is indisputable; I don’t see my friends often enough.

Granted one spends a large amount of the year in other countries and one lives in London, but the other two live and work nearby and there is no excuse other than the usual “time flies” nonsense… which isn’t as much an excuse as a weird rip in the time versus priority continuum.

What a great word continuum is… continuUM conTINuum contiuummmmmmm…

Every time we meet we promise to meet sooner next time, to not leave it so long, to call on the off chance of each other being free rather than worrying about pre-arranging a dinner, or if one person can make it whilst the other one can’t. Yet we never really do and there’s no excuse for it. We are all grown up (mostly) and responsible adults (barely), we can handle buying houses, holding down jobs (two of my mates run their own companies fer chrissakes) yet we can’t seem to get the whole ‘friend time’ nailed down properly.

Now I’m not saying that this is a problem, it’s more a slight annoyance, and I’m certainly not laying blame, – if I was I’d have to start with myself – but it is something that bothers me. Especially at this time of year as resolutions are made, the slate is clean, a new dawn breaks over the horizon, a calm pond awaits the pebble, a blank canvas dreams of colour, a [Ed: GET ON WITH IT!]…

So I spotted my two Glasgow based friends on MSN, got in touch and made arrangements to contact them when we get back from Spain. Life is just too short to let these times pass, to neglect the people I care about, and I’m determined that this year will be different. It’s almost like that mature feeling that occasionally sweeps over me when I’m driving… it may sound odd but it’s almost the sudden realisation that I’m an adult, I am married, I can afford… well I can drive a car… it’s like seeing myself through a stranger’s eyes. Just another middle-aged married couple going to the garden centre, or to visit their family. Odd that. Anyone else get that? Just me? Right.. as you were.

Friends are important, they help remind you of who you are, where you came from, and keep you grounded. They can share old jokes and reminiscing that no-one else can, they know you better than you ever realise and when you need them they are there for you without question or hesitation.

You can’t choose your family, and sometimes you can’t choose your friends. Not really at any rate for the true friends are the ones that just develop, flourish and stick. Those are the ones to value.

And I do.

bookmark_borderYou can tell..

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… it’s Friday afternoon when talk turns to what functionality a “who’s turn is it to make the tea” .Net app would have.

So far we have something that would send an email or MSN message to the next person in the rota, still arguing about the ideal amount of time between the rounds of tea though.

Thank feck I drink coffee.

Apparently we’re not the first people to think of this, TeaBuddy may be the answer!

Update: we have now moved onto to a discussion on English language. Namely what you get if you add “-ian” to a word/proper noun. For example: “anythingian“. No I have no idea either…

bookmark_borderJets

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A note to “Benny”. I ain’t gonna add you to my MSN contact list unless I know who you are – drop me an email please.

On that note, I’ve had a veritable spate of emails recently from all sorts of different people and places. Fascinating. In my head I have a notion of what/who my audience is, but these emails are proving that I’m much more widely read than I realised. Feel free to massage my ego a little more!