Last Monday Lambda Literary went live. Tuesday, I rested. Wednesday, my computer got weird. Thursday, my hard drive failed. Utterly.
I run Carbonite, which backs up data (mostly; it doesn’t back up video or anything over 4 GB, unless you remember to tell it to do so, sigh). But I’ve been working so hard the last couple of weeks and my old computer was under such strain that I kept pausing Carbonite to coax extra performance and cut wait times. (Note to self: never, ever do this.) Most crucially for me, it doesn’t appear to back up settings and log-ins and all that fiddly stuff.
I swore that my next computer would be a Mac, so that’s what I’m typing this on. A naked Mac Mini: no software, no video, no settings, no customised keyboard (no printer, not even Carbonite yet, because it’s literally fresh out of the box).
And let me tell you, typing is hard. I’ve been using the same wildly customised ergonomic keyboard for nearly fifteen years: splayed, spread, curved, and raised. Using this thin and skimpy (quite beautiful) keyboard is like trying to speak another language. I think with my hands. My hands are currently inarticulate. That plus a brand new OS and none of my files (yet) and none of my settings (ever again) is making me feel a bit snappish.
I do not, not want to run Windows on this machine, so the next week or two will be full of hunting for serial numbers and negotiating with little software companies to get discounted Mac versions of their apps and.or figuring out how to pay for other software. And learning how to use it. And all I want to do is work on Hild. (I didn’t lost any Hild. I back that up obsessively.)
So, yeah, snappish. On the other hand, this machine is bee-yoo-ti-ful. And Lambda Literary is up and looking good. And Kelley made oatmeal and craisin biscuits. Doesn’t suck.
Nicola Griffith 
{{{hugs}}} on the drive fail and getting used to a new keyboard. Congrats on the new Mac. Been really enjoying the articles over on LLβ. You done good.
Good luck with the new computer! Technology can really put a strain on writing. But now that you have a Mac I can recommend Scrivener! The best part is you can hit the “full screen” button and it gives you a plain white piece of “paper” against a black background — blacks out all the desktop and surrounding areas. It really brings the focus back to the writing.
Dianne, thanks.
Malinda, that whoe screen thing is what I've always done with Word. I can't work any other way. What else is good about Scrivener?
I feel your pain! I don't know what I'd do without a computer, but sometimes I just want to toss it out the window in aggravation. I just got a new computer and while I backed up everything I could think of, as you said there's so much that doesn't get transferred over, even when sticking with the same OS.
First, my new computer had to spend a week in the shop because a card wasn't installed properly and they forgot to install one of the DVD drives. That left me without a computer all that time because I'd completely stripped my old (disabled and on its last legs) one before setting up my new one.
Now I'm spending hours and hours doing stupid, mind-numbingly boring stuff like importing and re-organizing browser bookmarks, getting Word settings and toolbars set up correctly, installing software, searching for software disks I haven't seen in four years since getting my last computer, and well… it just never seems to end. Seems like it takes me about 2-3 months to get a new computer finally set up the way I want it. Bleh.
Hope you're happy with the Mac. I actually stuck with Windows XP. I'm always of the mind to stick with what I know I like and what I know works and never upgrade anything I'm happy with until forced to.
all of that transfer stuff is painless on a mac. The first time you turn it on, you just tell it to transfer everything from the old mac or back-up hard drive and it's done. Bookmarks and all. Minor exceptios.
all of that stuff is pretty painless on a mac these days. Just tell it to transfer everything over from the old mac or back-up drive, and it does. Bookmarks and all with minor exceptions.
But you might have problems commenting on blogger blogs from Safari. :)
Ah, Robin. I am commiserating.
Jennifer, I don't use safari. Firefox is my friend.
I've found a guy who thinks he can fiddle with myold hard drive enough so that he can strip the data, which I can then put on my Mac. No settings though. No programmes.
It's all v. inconvenient but also kind of exciting: all fresh and shiny and new.
I use both. I have a bad habit of keeping them both open most of the time. I like the built in RSS feed reader on Safari, and it's faster. Firefox has other benefits and sometimes one of the other of them works better on websites that aren't mac friendly.
A clean start can be a good thing.
Despite best efforts, Dell has been unable to fix my laptop (fan won't run despite being swapped out twice and the motherboard being swapped out twice), so they're replacing it. I get the replacement in 3 to 4 weeks. It will either be the same model or an upgrade, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they send. In the meantime, I'm running with icepacks under my underfan :P.
I hope you can get the data off your old drive, and I'm super-glad you didn't lose any Hild. Yay for compulsive backing up :).
A couple of years ago I just plain got weary of dealing with MS Windows. The tens of thousands of virus infections laying in wait like hi-tech bushwhackers waiting for the slightest lowering of my guard. The … oh, never mind, I'm sure you already know all that.
I bought a MacBook and never looked back. I'll probably get a Mac Mini since my wife hates to let go of the MacBook.
Take a look here
http://davidhewson.com/2010/03/30/revision-notes-1/
for a writer's impression of Scrivener. Scrivener is one of the other reasons I bought a mac, it's not available for Windows. If you google scrivener software you'll find plenty of reviews, I won't attempt to duplicate them here.
I hope your switching pains have abated and you're able to get on with your writing.
Scrivener is definitely in my sights. I'm thinking it would be extremely useful for my next (Hild) novel which will be full of concepts I'm going to have to research, and the research will influence the story…
So thanks for that.