SageCrispin

So, ok, I have some minor issues. Well, I guess I have a bit of a problem with FRUSTRATION. I understand differences of opinions and all that. I understand that all the people in the world who disagree with me are entitled to their wrong ideas. But JEEPERS-CREEPERS, there are some things that are just so patently obvious that, well, why can't everyone just SEE it?

Ok, sorry, I'm better now. I'm ready to quietly and patiently discuss the Windows Taskbar with you. Its not my fault that both Microsoft and Apple got it wrong. AND, I can't believe I'm saying this, but even the absolutely brilliant guys at PCMech. PCMech has to be my favorite newsletter, but this one: Always Show Date In Taskbar, just made it clear that even they don't have it.

Have a look:

Yes, my Taskbar is on the left. WHERE IT BELONGS.

Look guys, you read left to right, outlines are short pseudo sentences left to right, lists almost always begin on the left side of the paper, the page icons in PDF's are on the left...need I go on? When I got my first look at a GUI interface that used some sort of window list, it was immediately obvious that once you had only a few windows open, the list became unusable as the titles became too short to be intelligible. An ever growing batch of icons in the notification area just compounds the problem. In fact, now that I think about it, the problem goes all the way back to text interfaces, where lists of commands were squeezed into the bottom line or two or three of the screen. Some of these lines were not only 80 characters long, in the very early days, they were only 40 columns wide. Monochromatic too. I'll never forget the envy and awe I felt when seeing my first 80 column wide display with actual COLORED text. ASCII graphics RULED.

Ok, back to this century. Drag your Taskbar to the left edge of the screen and leave it there. Hover over the right edge and drag its width to something comfortable based on your needs, taste and display size. If you have a wide display like my screen shot, the icon plus 20 or 30 characters is plenty to know what each line is for. If you have a small display, right-click, choose properties, and select "auto-hide", and "...always on top". The Taskbar will move neatly out of the way until you need it. Then tap the left edge of your screen with your cursor and POP, there it is.

Now go back and look at my screen shot. Those lines just below the center are "toolbars". Create a folder somewhere and put some shortcuts in it. Shortcuts to other folders (My Documents, My Pictures, Downloads, etc.). Make another folder with shortcuts to your drives, card reader slots, drives on your network, whatever. Now right-click again on the Taskbar and choose "Toolbar/New Toolbar...". Point it to your shortcut folders and BANG, you've got your list right where you need it, when you need it. Do the same for your drive folder. Don't put program names here. Stick them in "Quick Launch". No names, just the icons. These are your most used programs, so the icon should be sufficient. If it isn't, you aren't using the program enough, so get it out of Quick Launch.

Really. This is the ONLY way to set up your screen.

Unless your name is Wozniak or Gates.

Sage

     So, this actually started off as an e-mail to someone who shall remain nameless to protect the totally guilty, but I got to thinking that I would post it since I had a perfectly good, and essentially empty blog on which to put it.  It also, I expect, will generate some thoughts (and comments) from readers, which may in turn keep me from leading the aforementioned guilty person down the wrong path.

      In a nutshell, a certain person I know (yes, a blood relative no less), lost his camera. In all probability, it was not stolen. The important issue is that the camera had whole bunches of pictures, from multiple trips on it, that were NOT downloaded. This person should have known better. (Hence my ire.) I should have known better. You see, in fact, I had the memory card in MY computer just days before, oohing an aahing over the pictures. (More ire.) I used a combination of Windows Picture and Fax viewer, and Adobe Bridge to preview the pictures. All I had to do was use Bridge to actually keep the pictures. But, as it goes, the picture viewer does not keep a cache, and I have Bridge set to keep its thumbnail file in the folder in which the pictures reside-the lost memory card in this case. (Still more ire.) So the pictures are totally gone.

     The question then becomes, what to do for the next time. Besides emptying the card after every event. And, at this point, lets not get into one big card vs. multiple little cards. I'm thinking more along the lines of what to do to get lost pictures back. For instance:

     First I would suggest writing your phone number on the memory card. Next, I would use Wordpad/Notepad to make a text file, and save it in the root directory of the card. I would name it "If_Lost", "If_Found", "Please_return_me", or some other clever, attention getting thing. Depending on how important your pictures are to you, you could even title the file "Reward_Offered". Yes, you could take a picture of your return information, but it is all too likely that you will delete it along with the others when you clear your card. Putting it in the root directory may prevent that, but would still require the finder deliberately looking for it, so why not just use a (much smaller) text file?

     So now the obvious question about all this. How much risk are you willing to take to get your pictures back? Personal security, identity theft and all that now come into play. What phone number do you use, and what goes in the text file? At the moment, reverse lookups don't work for cell phones, so that is probably a safe bet (for now). If you work in a small enough place you could use your work number, and let everyone who might answer the phone know that you lost your card (sympathy to your face, snickers behind your back). The text file could likewise have your work address, rather than your home address. Less obvious possibilities are your camera store (if you are well known), your lawyer, or anyplace of business that knows you. Business phone numbers and addresses are quite public. The idea is to allow the person possessing your card find you, without giving up any more personal information than necessary. While we'd like to think that the person that has your card is more benevolent than nefarious, you need to cover yourself if your camera is stolen, rather than just lost.

     So there you have it. What about you guys? Has anyone ever lost pictures and actually gotten them back? Does anyone know of any statistics that say what the odds are of losing a camera (or anything for that matter) vs. having it stolen? Do you think the above might work, or am I all wet?

Sage

Just trying out Live Writer, Windows live new Weblog thing and so on. I expect to move on to WordPress as soon as I get my feet wet. I may post something else again (pictures?) just to experiment. Maybe someone can leave me a comment so that I can see what that looks like.

Thanks, Sage

2/22/08