Windows Sucks

Thank you, once again, Microsoft, for proving that your software is crap. I wouldn't trust your new Windows 7 farther than I could throw it. My next computer will most definitely be a Mac.

This week I've had both my Windows computers fail on me. The first was my Windows XP computer which has had a long standing issue with antivirus programs. First was AVG, which every few weeks would fail and need a complete re-install. I switched to Avast, which seems more stable, but lately has developed an "RPC error" that requires me to go into the Control Panel and do a "Repair" function. That's the kind of stupid annoyance that you choose to live with when you have Windows. This week, the computer kept restarting over and over, never letting me get the Control Panel open, nor open up the Manage > Services window. I don't remember what I finally did that stopped the crap long enough for me to totally uninstall Avast, but I did it. Five or so hours wasted.

Addition to the Outline

Boy, my new job has kept me so busy and worn me out with so much overtime that I can't get much done. I was able to make a change to my DIM outline, though. I've inserted a new chapter 22 into the outline, between the previous 21 & 22. (The final chapter is now chapter 23.)

Fitzroy and Darwin

Wow. Daily Kos occasionally has such brilliant posts that it makes me all the more sad when they have crappy, repetitive posts about trivial topics like Sarah Palin or Governor Sanford's scandals.

In an extremely thoughtful essay, Devilstower describes the Beagle voyage that led to Darwin's evolution theory, and how his former friend Robert Fitzroy came to be opposed to Darwin's theory. Rather than merely setting up the usual conflict between science and religion, Devilstower talks about gradualism vs. catastrophism. Some ironic history of Georges Cuvier is thrown in too, along with the eventual modifications of evolution theory to include extinction periods and more rapid transitions. It's really wonderful writing, although there's a section about economic catastrophes to make it relevant to today's politics. I find it a little bit awkwardly placed, but overall the essay is insightful and informative.

More Jessamyn West

An insightful quote from Cress Delahanty:

She had more feelings than she knew what to do with, more emotions than her tranquil life permitted her to discharge. She had to invent sorrows and concoct dramas. She would stoop down to rejoice with a daffodil that had pushed a stone aside in its upward thrust, or would loosen a butterfuly from a spider web with wailings that brought her no sympathy from any listener. As if she cared for sympathy! She was capable emotionally of a woman's tragedies and, up to now, she had been unable to overtake any of these. Now, however, she loved and was not loved in return.

A succinct way to sum up the confusion of adolescence, and the melodrama in every momentary crisis. The process of emotional maturation can be painful and overwhelming at times.