Category: Computers

#963: Be helpful on Nextdoor

I think it’s common knowledge that the Nextdoor community is a cesspool made up of neighbors hiding behind the relative anonymity of the internet to endlessly speculate about anything that slightly annoys them. Around January, that tends to be whether the snow plow will ever come. In summer, it’s why people won’t mow their lawns consistently. Perpetual topics include the age-old puzzle of “gunshots or fireworks?” and whether it’s okay to let your dog poop in other people’s yards (that somehow escalates into a debate over whether others would or should care if a stranger pooped in their house).

Suffice it to say, you don’t go on Nextdoor to feel good about humanity.

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#949: Use VLOOKUP

Some facts about my dark spreadsheet past:

  1. I had learned to use VLOOKUP before.
  2. I had vowed to use VLOOKUP before.
  3. Whenever I had an opportunity to use VLOOKUP, I forgot how and didn’t want to spend the time or energy re-learning, so I just used a different formula or function.

But yesterday, I had an Excel task I couldn’t see an alternative solution for that wouldn’t require an hour of extra work, so I took the 5 minutes to re-learn how to use VLOOKUP yet again, and then I actually used it.

And it worked.

Continue reading “#949: Use VLOOKUP”

#943: Try Amazon Prime

I don’t think I’m the last person in the country to use Amazon Prime. There are probably 9 or so others who can afford it but don’t currently have it.

Here’s the thing: while everyone raves about the service’s convenience, I just don’t think I shop online enough to justify paying for it (I’m currently on a free trial subscription). And yeah, you can find most of what you already buy in stores from Amazon. But even with 2-day shipping, that means you have to know 2 days in advance you’re going to want or need something.

That’s some pretty advanced planning there. Continue reading “#943: Try Amazon Prime”

#866: Paste without formatting

Yesterday it was announced that gravitational waves have been discovered in the universe. If you are reading this in the far future, or if you have a better grasp of the fascinating time/space stuff I’ve always been interested in but never had the patience to learn fully about, you may know both how remarkable this is and also what it means for science, and human knowledge in general.

I, however, only know what I skimmed in this article.

So all I can tell you is that the people who discovered this incredible science thing, which it does truly pain me to admit I don’t really understand, probably felt something like I did when I learned there is a keyboard command to paste text without formatting. Continue reading “#866: Paste without formatting”

#706: Skype

If it seems strange to think I’ve never done this before, well, just think about how I didn’t even know if my laptop had a camera on it until I tested out Skype.

That doesn’t make it better, no, but it gives you more to think about.

The verdict: it’s cool.  People should use it.  I think it may become popular.

Continue reading “#706: Skype”

#705: Accidentally “reply all”

For years–as many as I’ve been working in an office–I’ve wondered how someone can do this.  How do you accidentally respond to an email meant only for one person to many more people?

They’re 2 completely different buttons!!!

Continue reading “#705: Accidentally “reply all””

#644: Get an emoji screenname

Technically, I got 3.  But it wasn’t because I couldn’t decide which pictogram-type symbols best represented me.  I was just being smart, in case emoj.li turns into the next AOL Instant Messenger.  I mean, from the day I first created mine based on the nickname my high school boyfriend called me and my freshman year dorm room number, it stuck.  I was forever salsa813.   Plus, I wanted to make sure I got every variation of my first and last name just in case all of the good pictures were taken by the time I got around to actually wanting to use an emoji-only messaging system.

You never know, right? Continue reading “#644: Get an emoji screenname”

#643: Use a webcam

Sometimes you work really hard on a presentation, and once it’s over, you realize you shouldn’t have put so much effort into it.

I spent 12 hours at work the previous day and another 2 hours at home that night–not to mention the countless hours before that–prepping for a half hour presentation delivered via webcam at work yesterday.  I got little sleep for 2 nights since I had to use all possible waking hours preparing slides and practicing.  It was exhausting; I was exhausted.  And it was all over in 30 minutes.  Actually, 25 minutes, 44 seconds, and 25 whatever-the-next-increment-on-a-stopwatch-is, to be exact.  It seemed like it could very easily turn into one of those high effort, low reward situations that tend to accompany work projects.

But then, something weird happened. Continue reading “#643: Use a webcam”

#636: Damage a hard drive

This was going to be a very different post.

It was going to be about how yesterday started off like a regular Sunday.  I played kickball–oh wait, actually, I played really well offensively, so not quite like a regular day.  Well, it ended like a regular Sunday, with me, alone, polishing off around 15 mini brownies because otherwise they would get stale soon and we couldn’t have that, could we?

It was going to be about how, after I got into bed and wasted valuable sleep time confirming people on online dating sites are incapable of responding to my messages, I set my computer down next to my bed, and it wobbled a bit as it hit the floor.  I thought practically nothing of it, other than to whisper an apology to the downstairs neighbor who probably didn’t even hear the noise but I’m paranoid like that.

It was going to be about how when I woke up today I discovered my computer didn’t recognize the hard drive, which meant, I found after a quick search on my phone and a test of the computer, the hard drive was most likely damaged to the point that it could cost up to $1000 to retrieve the data on it, if it was even possible. Continue reading “#636: Damage a hard drive”

#622: Raising the Bar

Maybe a philosophical talk about whether computers could ever become conscious wasn’t the best choice for someone already worried about that prospect.  But it was the only science-related talk of the Raising the Bar event that wasn’t sold out (though I later found out “selling out” didn’t mean anything and every talk was first come, first served).

I knew I was in for trouble when the first speaker told us that we all know what’s going on in our own minds.  Uh, do we, really?  That’s a generally accepted premise?  Okay, I’ll play along…

The talk continued on to focus on what separates a conscious being from an unconscious one.  And, surprise, there’s not exactly agreement within the philosophical world on this point.

Continue reading “#622: Raising the Bar”

#557: Try Google Glass

From the first time I saw the trailer for Google Glass where the guy is waiting for his friend to show up and GG tells him, “She’s right around the corner,” I was terrified for this to become a real thing.

Maybe I’m being too paranoid.  Maybe I’m being too delusional to assume anyone would ever care enough about me to want to know my every move.  Regardless, I’m scared to live in a world where someone can ask a ridiculous looking headpiece where I am and be told the answer. Continue reading “#557: Try Google Glass”

#534: Attend a yelp event

I’m still stalled at one yelp post ever.  Luckily, my friend is an elite member and therefore gets special perks.

Like a crowded bar full of people even more frantic about passed appetizers than I am (I didn’t think this was possible, but it is–I’m nowhere near as intense as these yelpers were about swooping in on a tray as soon as it appears and devouring everything on it within seconds).  Like a bar that runs out of alcohol in the first half hour.

I know it may be hard to tell, but I’m not actually complaining. Continue reading “#534: Attend a yelp event”