Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Tools Of The Trade?

Posted February 25, 2010 under Technology, Writing | 3 Comments

In October, just before NaNo began, I did a little Q&A. One question was about what I use to write: my answer was that I use OpenOffice Writer because I find a lot of programs have a lot of bloat.

I have tried a lot of stuff since I started writing novels (such as yWriter) but it just had too much. For every thing I felt I could use, there were ten things I did not need. I just wanted something where I could bullet point my characters and the like.

So you can imagine my delight when I discovered Kabikaboo, which basically just makes a collection of linked text files. It puts them in order, with children and grandchildren and stuff like that. It might not let me add styling and hyperlinks (which I would love) but that’s okay for now, as that stuff is supposed to come out in future versions. It’s simple, and it’s exactly what I wanted.

I love it when you find something after much searching and get it. It’s like when I found Write Or Die. :)

So, writers out there, what are some of the other tools you use? I’d love to see what else people are using, and maybe find something else to use too.

I’m Out Of Lives

Posted June 9, 2009 under Personal, Technology | 4 Comments

It seems all I am blogging about here is computer trouble, and neglecting it for everything else. I have been posting somewhat regularly at On The Nightstand though.

This is not me apologising for not blogging, as this post has an actual point to it.

My laptop has used up another life, and it’s choking and gasping and, well, not doing anything, really. And after all of the problems I have had with it, I have finally had enough. Actually I had had enough long before now; it’s just taken me this long to save up enough for the parts to build my own PC. (We have decided to call it Torchwood)

So now I’m looking at Linux installs, since I don’t want to spend 150-200NZD on Windows (XP or Vista) with Windows 7 coming out in October. More specifically I am looking at Ubuntu and its many derivatives. Does anyone have any suggestions versions that would be good for someone who has used Windows most of her life, or ways to make the changeover easier?

Expect a lot of blog posts about my venture into Linux and building a PC in future. But don’t worry – there’s some more writing ones hidden up my sleeve. Especially now that I am working on Lionheart…