Spatter

Restored

As you can see, my preferred theme has been restored.  Maybe they heard me musing about leaving them :-).  My latest correspondence with them did hint at doing just that if they didn't turn their attention from Vox long enough to fix Typepad.  

The blue/pink look was an OK substitute, but I never could quite get used to it.  I'm a happy camper now that things are back to normal. 

Lets see how long it takes them to fix the image quality issue.

Typepad

Well, I'm still waiting for Typepad to fix my preferred theme.  It's literally the only version of the only theme that became dysfunctional when they changed their compose editor.  And in the meantime, I've been noticing that my photos are looking a little...well...flat as compared to how I see them in Lightroom, or even in the Windows.  I wrote up a help ticket about this and today I got my reply:  they're working on it.  This "improved" version is proving to be a real bust as far as I'm concerned.

All of this has made me think again about relocating to Wordpress, but frankly, the thought of it overwhelms me.  It would mean a whole new learning curve and while I am somewhat computer savvy, I don't relish the thought of going through it.  And then, there's the cost.  My blog is a great source of pleasure for me, but it's not a business.  Any relocation is going to have to wait not only for me to be in the mood to take it on, but also, for me to feel like splurging on this hobby.



Post Note
Typepad is part of Six Apart, the company behind Vox - a blog platform that's free like Blogger.  It's got a lot of featured designs...including some I recognize from Typepad. After taking a look at it I think I might understand why Typepad's issues are being a bit neglected. 

Technical Difficulties

I'm sure you've noticed that I no longer have any design showing.  I don't know what's going on but this is pretty annoying.  I'm waiting for a response, and hopefully, a resolution from Typepad.

Asking For Input

I've been using Firefox as my web browser for some years now. I left IE for Opera, mostly because of its tabbed browsing, but soon started using Firefox because more web sites worked with it.  And there I've stayed. By and by IE came to using tabs, but I never liked its interface  and I had heard Firefox was more secure.

Now, thanks to my new computer, I've been reintroduced to IE...version 7. I like it a lot better than its predecessor: they've improved the interface with a sleek look and a pleasing font; it's more secure (so they say), and it's got some nice features, including tabbed browsing.  It also behaves and interacts very nicely with MS Office.  Of course it does. 

So why all this discussion? Right now, linking to the internet from an Outlook email brings up a pop-up error message when opening up Firefox - my default browser.  I ultimately get to the site, but it's annoying to have to close this pop-up every time. I've researched forums and I've found it's happening to others.  Unfortunately, the solution offered didn't work for me. Can I live with it? Yes. But do I want to? I'm debating the matter.

I'm curious to know what browser you're using. I already know Leanne's feelings, but what about you?

And while I'm asking...I've been wondering about the font of my posts...Its size is larger than most blog fonts I see.  I think it's easier on the eyes, but sometimes I wonder if readers like it or if they think it "shouts" and would prefer it smaller. So I'm making this paragraph's font smaller for comparison. What do you think? 

I appreciate the input.

Up For Air

Having spent the past day or so configuring both my new laptop computer... and my new DSL wireless connection...I've come up for air. Actually, I've come up for a stiff drink!  But it's a celebratory drink, not one for needing it to forget my troubles. The installations actually went well...almost painlessly. There were a couple of bumps here and there, but I came out almost entirely unscathed. 

Even so, it required time and more time. Some tools like Microsoft's Easy Transfer helped. There's still a few tweaks yet to do, but by and large I'm up and running.  And (dare I say it) I'm a happy camper.  Finally some speed!

Back On Track

Since I wrote about my computer woes, I think it's only right to give an update and report that all is back to normal. It was a week of angst, but now I'm a happy camper again.  I'm up and running and I saved my money...no computer medic paid for...no wiped out hard drive.

I decided to call Adobe tech support once more before taking it in on the chance that the technician I happened to get this time would be able to figure it out.  I had nothing to lose.

And that's exactly what happened.  Oh, at first, it looked as though this technician was going down the same path as the first...but wait...he finally took me into the computer's registry for a bit of cleaning.  That did it. Hooray!

I did have to reconstruct my photo catalog in Photoshop, which meant going through thousands of photos to tag and stack them.  But it was work I did with a smile. As long as that took, it was still better than having to start from square one.

And...in case you're wondering...I did buy Acronis True Image software and a portable external hard drive, and I did take a "picture" of my C-Drive...just in case. 

Arrrrrrrrgh!

Anyone who owns a computer recognizes this feeling. You can't escape it.  As sure as the sun rises, it's going to happen.

It happened to me yesterday.  I was minding my own business uploading photos from Photoshop Elements 6 to my galleries at Smugmug.com - something I've done many times before.  All of a sudden, there was a burp of some sort. The program froze and uploading stopped.  My first thought was that I lost my internet connection and I'd just start over. The only problem was...I couldn't re-open the program.  After a few attempts by various routes, I decided the simplest thing to do would be to do a System Restore.  That didn't work.  I racked my brain and when I couldn't think of anything else to try, I went to the Adobe site and re-downloaded the program - thinking that reinstalling would do the trick.  Hours later, I found out that it didn't.

This morning I got right back to it and called Adobe support. Together we went into the parts of my computer where you don't travel alone. She had me change this and that and this...all to no avail.  Finally, when she could think of nothing else to try, she had me create a second user account.

Lo and behold, when logged into the new account, I was able to open the program again.  Ms. Tech basically admitted she didn't have a clue as to why the problem occurred or how to fix it. This second user account solution was, she admitted, a work-around.  In the meantime, she changed things that didn't get reverted back.  The changes haven't seemed to affect anything, but  it leaves me feeling uneasy. I should have made her do it, but you have to understand that by now it's been almost 24 hours of dealing with this and my brain was fried.   

So now I'm left with three options:

1. I either have to switch to the second user account whenever I want to use Elements

or

2. I can use the new user account exclusively...which would mean reconfiguring everything: Outlook, Favorites, Preferences, Verizon Access Connection, etc.  It can be done, but it's a major undertaking.

or

3. I can execute a "Letter of Destruction" (sounds ominous!) for the downloaded program and fax to Adobe.  Once done, I'd make arrangements to get a boxed disk version.  For some reason  I'm thinking it might make a difference.  I'd uninstall and re-install and see if that  does anything.  If it works, it means major maintenance too since I'd have to configure the new Elements and re-tag all of my photos.

Right now, none of it sounds like anything I want to do. I think what I want to do now is go in front of the TV and become an idiot.