Monday, July 18, 2005
Yesterday I forgot to mention I stopped using a trackball and started using a mouse. Don Don had gotten me hooked trackballs years ago when he bought me a Logitech one. I had since switched to the Microsoft Trackball Optical, which I liked using a lot. Eventually, however, the ball became stickier than when I first got it, even if I cleaned out the socket repeatedly. I kept checking Microsoft's web site to see if they had updated it, but for years they never did, so I bought one of their inexpensive mice, the Wheel Mouse Optical, which is a basic mouse and suffices for my needs. I still avoid Logitech mice to this day because of the awful experience I had with their driver software. Everywhere in their software it seemed they tried to sell me something or make me visit their web site when I didn't want or need to or give me features that clearly benefited only the Logitech marketing department. This morning, while checking to see if Desperately Seeking Susan taped properly from ABC last night, I accidentally caught Janelle Wong on the 6:30 AM news on ABC KGO. Janelle and I had gone to college together at Santa Cruz, and she was a friend of a friend. I didn't know her well, but we'd met on several occasions. Although I had heard from friends that she was on the early morning news (see January 11, 2004), I'd never actually watched the show until today. When I recall knowing Janelle in college, I remember her strong self-confidence, her natural beauty, and her super sweet disposition. Pre-breakfast: a banana. Usual breakfast at the cafeteria. Updated the supp app for 11-digit PharmCAS ids. Helped a student with VPN for Mac. Helped a student with problems logging in to Outlook Web Access. Set up my (second) test Xythos account. Prepped class schedules. Helped Chris with an imposition and print job. Lunch with Joel at La Fonda (712 Irving St). It was our first time to La Fonda, which was a bright and cheery burritoria that a few months ago had replaced Pancho's Mexican Grill, a bright and cheery burritoria which had closed not long after it opened. Our visit to La Fonda was disappointing because the chicken in our food was gristly. So much so that I lost most of my appetite after encountering the first piece of gristle. (Yes, there were multiple pieces of gristle in my small taco.) Joel sent his plate back and requested (and received) the same thing with no meat, but who knows if they got the hint? Later Joel sent me e-mail: "I'll never be a vegetarian but it's meals like today's lunch that can really gross me out on meat." His nickname for this place now: La Vomit. If you come here, order vegetarian only or risk losing your appetite like I did. One nice thing: better-than-average, real silverware if you eat in. Other choices nearby: Gordo Taqueria (415-566-6011, 1239 9th Av) on 9th between Irving and Lincoln, or, our reigning favorite, L'Avenida (415-681-1246, 511 Irving St) near Irving and 6th. Helped Joel troubleshoot a problem with IE changing font settings inexplicably. Helped a student with a problem using Safari with Outlook Web Access. Set up Stacey's computer with a bunch of software she'll be needing. Dinner at home with Patrick: tortellini with chicken red sauce. Watched The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror 2. I discovered today while trying to install Acrobat Reader 7.0 that Adobe automatically installs Adobe Download Manager 2.0 in the process of downloading and installing Reader. Did I consent to that? I don't think so. If you're on a 300 baud modem, I guess Adobe Download Manager might be worthwhile, but to me it's simply Crap Which Probably Slows Down My Computer And Which I Don't Need. Simple workaround: Disable Javascript before visiting adobe.com. The filename you download will be something like AdbeRdr70_enu_full.exe instead of something like AdbeRdr70_DLM_enu_full.exe. Note: DLM means Download Manager, and enu probably means English Universal. Adobe also forces you to uncheck Adobe Yahoo! Toolbar and Adobe Photoshop® Album 2.0 Starter Edition if you don't want them—how lame is that? Just about as lame as Apple forcing people to install iTunes just to get QuickTime. I'm so embarrassed for my former employer that they've had to resort to these bordering-on-malware techniques in order to make money. Another workaround: if you know the naming scheme for the files, just use ftp: e.g., Visit ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/7x/7.0/enu/ . Same great taste without all the fat! I thought the worst was over until I started up my trusty Startup Manager to discover that Adobe Reader 7.0 also adds an unnecessary startup item to slow down your computer: Adobe Reader Speed Launch. This Adobe Reader Speed Launch is new with Adobe Reader 7.0, as far as I know.