Wednesday, April 28, 2010

BITS OF TECHNOLOGY


Lugging my MacBook was a labor in and of itself yesterday morning. I am used to just carrying my iPod Touch which I have learned to use as a savvy mini computer. The urge to buy it came when I wanted to work on NaNoWriMo, and I figured I could use it to write on. I would say about three-fourths of the story was written on the train with the Touch. I would not have been able to finish it without it. But the MacBook was needed because I was planning to post a new Bits and Pieces today--which will appear here in two weeks--and I cannot edit well on the Touch because it is hard to position the cursor among other things.

But sitting in my favorite ubiquitous cafe, I could not get WiFi on the MacBook, only the Touch which I could not edit on and found out much to my dismay that I was not going to be able to do edits the way I had planned to. I was so frustrated this post was born right then, as I ordered a decaf soy cappucino. As much as we are able to enjoy mobile writing, Internet and social networking, there are downfalls to those very things.

I hate when I am on Twitter and I want to retweet something and it is too long to retweet on the Touch, but if I was on the MacBook it would be a non issue. Or when the network drops and you do not even realize it has dropped and then realize that you have been offline and missed out on a lot of things that you thought you did. Or when you have WiFi in some apps and not in others--the others that you want like Mail or Twitterific!

If I had not had the weird WiFi issue, here would have been my newest Bits and Pieces, instead is my rambling about the downside of a good thing. Believe me it is a good thing when technology goes right, when I am able to work offline in Mail and type a story or blog post and it updates as soon as I have WiFi. The current story I am working on I have never even written on a computer, it was all written on the train on the Touch. Once I was talking to a guy who told me he could tell I was a native New Yorker because I told him I could only read on the train. Now I read and write best on the train, cafes are reserved for social networking. Usually it is a very good life until technology reminds me with all of its advances it is not infallible. Sigh.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, no! Sorry you were having technological woes yesterday, Fidencia. I'm incredibly grateful to be married to my husband. He is a Certified Apple Consultant and runs our business that helps small businesses with all their Mac needs...obviously, I benefit greatly. If I need internet on the go, he has multiple ways of getting it for me. If I'm having trouble syncing books to my iPad, he walks me through it. If I forget how to update my website, he shows me. You get the picture. I am one lucky girl :) Though, clearly, he's a crutch and I never actually remember anything!! LOL!

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  2. I'm getting ready to take the plunge on an iPad myself! Anyone know how well it works for writing/editing? Seems like the perfect device to take to Nationals... maybe Jerrica can bring her husband along to help us out! LOL!!

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  3. If I am away from my desktop, I just write with a pen and paper. I use anything--steno notebook, blank page in back of my dayminder--and tend to jot outlines or a couple key sentences and then outline the rest...sometimes I'll write a whole scene. I am in and out of my car on most days, driving through the incredibly scenic and inspirational mid-Hudson valley. I have to park to write, and try to pick a place like the Vanderbilt Mansion parking lot overlooking the Hudson. When I get home at night, I sit at my desktop (Dell Dimension 2400 circa 2004) and incorporate my jottings into a real manuscript. I get a lot done this way, and then don't have to stay up so late at night. Elizabeth Palladino

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  4. I still use whatever is handy--usually my favorite pen, the Pilot Easy-Touch fine point (with ink, not the gel stuff) and a steno notebook or the back blank pages in my Dayminder. I drive all day through the scenic mid-Hudson valley, so have to park to write. I try for a gorgeous location like the parking lot of Vanderbilt Mansion, which overlooks the Hudson. I usually just jot a few key sentences and rough-outline the rest--might possibly do a short scene--then at home at the desktop do real manuscript pages. I get a lot done this way without interrupting the "day job" too much, and also I don't have to stay up so late at night. I'm thinking about getting a Kindle or other ereader to download my epaperbacks. I get tired of reading them on the computer screen--and sometimes I want them Right Away and don't want to wait for real books to come by mail. (I like technology, but pick and choose what I want to learn and use.) Elizabeth Palladino

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  5. Fidencia, I feel your pain and agree. When everything's working, the gadgets, whether they be iPods/Pads, laptops, whatever are amazing. And, when they don't, I myself have wasted hours trying to (ha!) fix computer-type mishaps.

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  6. Beatriz, my hubby will definitely be at Nationals, and I'm sure he'd be willing to talk shop with you :) As for the iPad, I LOVE mine! I've created presentations on it and as long as my nails are cut short, I can type pretty quickly on it. I highly recommend getting the Pages app. Everything can convert to .doc from there :)

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  7. Sorry for the two posts. The blog "ate" my first one, and I couldn't remember what I said--so I tried again. I can't believe they both appeared. Glitchy technology. Sheesh. Elizabeth Palladino

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  8. I have the Alpha Smart. It weighs a few ounces and runs on 3 double A batteries and I don't have to wait for it to boot up. On and off with a press of a button. Then when I finish I hook it up with my USB to my Mac and download. Voilia! I have my work there.

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