A Week with Windows 8

I have been using the Windows 8 Developer Preview as my main operating system for a week now. All in all it's not horrible. It has it's quirks, it's gotchas, as well as it's oopses. The Metro interface is annoyingly useful but extremely limited. My biggest issue (as with most operating systems) is it's graphical design.

As a small caveat, my daily operating system for the past twenty-some-odd years has been Mac OS. I'm waiting for it, and no, I am not a fanboy.

Though it has not been my household OS, I have used every version of Windows (since 3.1 for Workstations) for about as long. I have never been a big fan of the Windows User Interface, but I really loved Windows 2000. I used it until I made the choice to upgrade to Vista. I still don't know what the issue with Vista is/was. It was just as much of a headache as any other Windows complete rebuild has been. It was no Me. And neither is Windows 8.

Windows 8 is loaded with all kinds of headache-inducing oddities. Do you enjoy force closing applications? You'll love Windows 8. If you thought iOS and Android were bad, whoa buddy. I hadn't realized that I would ever have to contend with this in a desktop operating system. Can someone explain to me why Microsoft has decided that my applications must run in the background, indefinitely. If you close an application (and you want to quit the application), you must fire up the trusty Task Manager to quit said process. Seriously? Isn't it enough that I did exactly what I have always done with a Windows machine? Microsoft, why the change is something as stupidly simple as closing a Windows application window, quitting an application?

Another oddity is the way that Windows Update is run. It's not really an application in the sense that I've become accustomed to. It is hidden in a menu after you have logged out. They seem to install in a similar way, but accessing the application seems to be like jumping through flaming hoops while wearing leopard-printed polyester. It takes a bit of hunting to find anything within the operating system, but why must we hide the way we receive system critical updates?

Speaking of hidden things that probably shouldn't be, why is it such a maze to shutdown? If I really need to close down this machine, why is it a three to five step process to complete an action as usually as simple as clicking shutdown from a single menu? Really? Come on Microsoft. Just give me a little "O|" symbol. I really need something easier to get to than: User menu > Log Off, Enter key, User menu > Shutdown. There are a whole lot of unneeded steps in this mess. I understand the rebuilding of a mobile operating system for the PC, but man. There are some things that a normal user needs to do. You really don't need to shutdown a mobile device, but you sure do need to shutdown a notebook.

I can't forget about the Metro interface. I understand the awesomeness that this could be for a touch experience. Honestly, it isn't horrible for the keyboard-mouse interface. It's kind of cool looking at a group of application squares that have segments of information from social, weather, and news sites. You get small snippets of information without even having to open a given application. My main complaint about Metro has to less to do with Metro, itself, and more with the fact that nearly no application that I use on a daily basis can integrate within Metro. If an application cannot be integrated with Metro, the normal Windows Desktop has to be loaded. What is the point of Metro, if I still need to have the Desktop loaded to use things such as Google Chrome, or Microsoft Office? I am sorry, but that just seems half baked and half retarded. In my opinion, there needs to be a little more work on a unified experience before this thing is rolled out. The wrinkles definitely need to be ironed out of the shirt and the pants dry cleaned, because I am constantly looking at food stains.

 

I really do like where Microsoft is going with this, but I think they need to iron out unifying the experience on the multiple user interface levels that they have created. It really wouldn't be a bad idea to pick one, would it? Pick one, Microsoft.

Why do I have Hole's Celebrity Skin in my iTunes Library?

Seriously, where in the fuck did this one come from? I know I have really oddball shit in there but this is horrendous. I can't exaplin this one away. Maybe I can blame one of the "others."

I'm realizing that I used to be able to hide my quirks better when I was younger. It's as though I'm not even trying, anymore. The shits fully on display, iMax 3D, motherfuckers. 

Maybe incoherent ramblings are a symptom. 

I've been trying to get myself to write 750 words per day and I haven't come close in over a year. I always have something "better" to do, something more worthy of my time. Apparently, eating cereal, masturbating, and listening to Pink Floyd are all more important than the miniscule goal of writing a bit each day. 

'Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.'

'Shine on you crazy diamond.' - Pink Floyd

A Seven Month Hiatus

I have no reason for my extended absense. I can't excuse it, so we'll just have to work past it. 

I hate it when I start a post and have my mood change just after. I had delusions of grandeur of some kind of magnum opis, a pies de resistance, if you will. I was going to go on about liberties, rights, and other things that are being completely demolished by The Powers that Be. I had the whole deal planned out. But, as of right now, it is not meant to be. Knowing me, I will wake up in the middle of the night and scribble more notes on 3-by-5 cards, and that will be the end of it. For now. 

Raider's Progeny

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First of all, I believe I need to explain the lack of content on my site. The reason behind this is that I clicked a wrong button and deleted every fucking thing. This really sucks. I checked my Dropbox account, as well as my Documents folders and sadly things such as "Me and I," are gone. I had a lot of shit that I was proud of, and it's all fucking gone.

I have to let it go, I know this. I am accepting the realization of the current developments and moving on. This is why I am writing this post. The previous paragraph was for you guys, not me.

Let's move on.

My dog, Raider, gave birth to five puppies about a month ago. The day they were born, I got off of work and took charge in naming the little gremlins. Here are the near-future shoe chewers and little boy best friends.

WARNING: Their mother's name is Raider, therefore I felt their names had to be fitting.

Introducing RAIDER

This is Raider. She is Awesome Sauce with Mc Donald's Chicken Nuggets. We got her shortly after Veltie was born. No, you can't have her. 

MADDEN

This is Madden, taken from the greatest coach in Raider history. I really hope that you caught that one (John Madden). She is a loner, hates her siblings' company, but enjoys limited human attention. She is a chunky-little-shit.

TIM

Tim is my buddy. He is named after possibly the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, Tim Brown. He is fiesty and loves to play. He is also a bit of an escape artist. He has no problem climbing out of a quite tall box (for him). 

BO

Bo is our other little girl. Her name is taken from the great running back, Bo Jackson. She is probably the calmest puppy I have ever seen. She is the text book definition of Cool.

MARCUS

Marcus is really quiet. His name is taken from Marcus Allen, look him up. Marcus is very shy and quite timid. He isn't really playful, but he does seem to be the target of his siblings' torment. Poor little guy.

HOWIE

Howie is probably the loudest of the bunch. There is absolutely no question when Howie is unhappy, or wants out of the box. He will whine relentlessly until you give him what he wants. Howie's name comes from Howie Long, the great Defensive End and current media personality. 

Well, that's the puppies. Stay tuned for more updates. If you want one of them in a couple of weeks, feel free to email me. I will not ship, and probably only deal with people in the local area, or those that I know. Don't be creepy.

Me and I

     Who am I going to be today?

I don't think of myself as eccentric. On the other hand, I don't believe that I am in the same zipcode as normal. When it comes to sanity, I believe that I was absent when those credentials were handed out. The biggest issue in all of this is that I never really feel alone.

I am an asshole, and I accept that. It really doesn't seem to bother me. The issue that bothers me seems to be the fact that I come out any time that there is any kind of hostility aimed at me. I will also come out without any kind of warning, and I appear to do it to protect me. I seem to push me out of the way in these kinds of situations. In these situations, me and I have very little knowledge of each other's existence.

I don't like to think of myself as insane. To me, it's nothing more than a small, cute eccentricity. I believe that it's less a case of a disorder, and more of a disassociation of my characteristics. I could argue (and lose) by saying that they are all me. I is not me, just as I am never myself. Ian is not me, we don't even like similar things, as well as my Little one is not anything like me or any of us. They are all completely separate of me, but still share a mental living space, as well as an executing platform.

They cannot live without me, just as I don't believe that I could exist in a comfortable existence without them. I have dealt with them since I became a lucid child, and I think that I have gained a few along the way.

I know, you think that I'm nuts, and I'm okay with that. Fuck you for your judgemental nature. I've never liked that about you. If I don't think that people will have adverse thought processes to what I have written then I am nuts. One thing that is good in all of this is that anything adverse thrown my way is something that I use to keep my drive, to fuel my desire to progress.

Though, progress isn't everything.

All of this writing doesn't take into account that I only have names for some of them. I am sure that they have their own names, but sometimes it's just easier to say "I," "me," "myself," and such. Ian didn't have a name until my wife named him. The Little one is unnamed and will probably remain that way, purely because his name is more than likely a derivative of my own.

Is this all eccentricities or should someone in my position seek professional help? As I have said, it doesn't seem to interfere in my personal or professional life. I also think that it doesn't adversely effect the lives of those around me. I could be wrong, but no one has come to me, asking if I have ever thought of seeing a shrink (in recent memory). I have also never been forcibly commited into an asylum. I am really looking forward to having some questions answered and some opinions thrown at me. Any input is greatly appreciated and will be thoughtfully read and answered.