I got the newest version yesterday and installed that to my own Applications folder. It is just so nice, functionally as well as visually. The options are presented in an intuitive way, and there are lots of them. They have them arranged in an easily handled fashion, and the editing "ribbon", the edit toolbar actually, is removable as is the ruler. Pretty standard in a word processor, but none does that all so beautifully, and the customizing of the toolbar is also easy. You will be up to par with Mariner Write in a very short time - like for instance - ten minutes, if you have used WPs in the past. The PDF manual included could have OS X illustrations, since OS X has been around awhile now. But as a manual it is great. I will register Mariner Write.
This program is elegantly styled and just very lovely to look at as well as fast. Did I say that last time? Well, it is, and it opens WORD docs too, from version 6 on. Mariner will save in rtf, and has also got a save as PDF right in the save dialogue. All in all, Write is heads above Nisus now for my needs, and although Appleworks does so many things, Write has the WP game wrapped up on the Mac, if you don't need WORD.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Repair Permissions...
In the year and a half since I bought my Mac, I have only done "Repair Permissions" twice. I think it was last winter the first time and then last night was the second. In both cases it was after the Applications folder wouldn't let me put something in it that I wanted on the system for all users. I was told the folder was locked. Well, the Disk Utility repaired permissions nicely. I really must get up the energy to research why this happens. I know I had a few programs in trial mode in and out of the Mac, and in fact just two nights ago I was trying out Mariner Write and I put that program in the Applications folder. So perhaps the tossing of that trial demo and the associated files was my problem. Who knows. I do know that the advice offered every time an update from Apple comes is to do Repair Permissions before and after the installation. So, perhaps once in awhile I should do this routinely.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Doing good far away...
I have to collect my thoughts in order to write about people who go to great lengths to "do good."
So many times I read in our newspaper or see a feature on television about someone from the area who has gone to India, or Bangladesh, or Latin America, and even Selma, Alabama in order to do works of charity: to hold orphan children, to succor the ill in Africa, to bring a few days of order to a primitive hospital, and to, in general, get in touch with the seamier side of human existence, while at the same time some of these people show a certain amount of scorn and distain for those around them in the normal daily routine of life in Puddletown, USA. I am often amazed because the same spirit of generous and spiritual giving could have been accomplished right in town. I often hear that such experiences give a "groundedness" even a "spirituality dimension" to those to whom the luxury of travel to a faraway place can give a feeling of being in some way superior to those who go about their daily routines and may give in other ways as best they can but without the publicity. I know many people who have never had a newspaper spread nor have they gotten public notice for what they do every day to bring some comfort into the lives of others.
I believe that doing good faraway is another incarnation of the "White Man's Burden" sort of thing the Europeans were so chastised for in another era. Is holding and comforting a baby in India somehow better than holding and comforting a baby in the local clinic while his Mom is being seen by the nurse? Is it better than holding and comforting a child whose family has to depend on the local food shelf because of the unemployment of the family - or to help out with time talent or treasure at the local shelter, food shelf or school? Is it better to travel to another continent to do a few days or a week of comforting people whom you are going to leave in the lurch again? In order to change something, time has to be invested. Better to invest it locally and hope the rest of the world will do it to. We won't be able to make a difference unless we do it one person at a time where we are. As the old hymn says, "Brighten the corner where you are..."
So many times I read in our newspaper or see a feature on television about someone from the area who has gone to India, or Bangladesh, or Latin America, and even Selma, Alabama in order to do works of charity: to hold orphan children, to succor the ill in Africa, to bring a few days of order to a primitive hospital, and to, in general, get in touch with the seamier side of human existence, while at the same time some of these people show a certain amount of scorn and distain for those around them in the normal daily routine of life in Puddletown, USA. I am often amazed because the same spirit of generous and spiritual giving could have been accomplished right in town. I often hear that such experiences give a "groundedness" even a "spirituality dimension" to those to whom the luxury of travel to a faraway place can give a feeling of being in some way superior to those who go about their daily routines and may give in other ways as best they can but without the publicity. I know many people who have never had a newspaper spread nor have they gotten public notice for what they do every day to bring some comfort into the lives of others.
I believe that doing good faraway is another incarnation of the "White Man's Burden" sort of thing the Europeans were so chastised for in another era. Is holding and comforting a baby in India somehow better than holding and comforting a baby in the local clinic while his Mom is being seen by the nurse? Is it better than holding and comforting a child whose family has to depend on the local food shelf because of the unemployment of the family - or to help out with time talent or treasure at the local shelter, food shelf or school? Is it better to travel to another continent to do a few days or a week of comforting people whom you are going to leave in the lurch again? In order to change something, time has to be invested. Better to invest it locally and hope the rest of the world will do it to. We won't be able to make a difference unless we do it one person at a time where we are. As the old hymn says, "Brighten the corner where you are..."
Monday, August 09, 2004
Mariner Write compared...
Ah HA! Yes, indeed. Now the ads up top are for the reunion sites. An odd thing to me was to find that many schools have people with the additional duty of coordinating alumni information, and herding the collection of older yearbooks. These initiatives might increase the number of gifts to schools from alumni, an idea that may have filtered down to the high school from the college level. Interesting.
I should mention that I am in the early stages of a trial of Mariner Write for OS X. It is a very pleasant software package indeed. I love the intuitive elegant interface, the swift response to all commands, and the very nifty capability of surrounding a graphic with text without the usual several level preference screens one has to go through in most word processors. As far as I can tell the only drawback is the price. Since I already have Appleworks and Nisus Express, I can hardly validate the need for Mariner Write, but Nisus is rather a cumbersome beast in some ways, especially the default save mechanism...a dedicated folder with Nisus documents. I always feel I should back them up in a folder of my own making. Appleworks is very capable but rather slow. The varied capabilities of the program itself are probably what make it so ponderous. I do like the look of both Nisus and Appleworks though.
Overall Mariner Write looks the best, moves the fastest, and just might get my money in the end!
I should mention that I am in the early stages of a trial of Mariner Write for OS X. It is a very pleasant software package indeed. I love the intuitive elegant interface, the swift response to all commands, and the very nifty capability of surrounding a graphic with text without the usual several level preference screens one has to go through in most word processors. As far as I can tell the only drawback is the price. Since I already have Appleworks and Nisus Express, I can hardly validate the need for Mariner Write, but Nisus is rather a cumbersome beast in some ways, especially the default save mechanism...a dedicated folder with Nisus documents. I always feel I should back them up in a folder of my own making. Appleworks is very capable but rather slow. The varied capabilities of the program itself are probably what make it so ponderous. I do like the look of both Nisus and Appleworks though.
Overall Mariner Write looks the best, moves the fastest, and just might get my money in the end!
That website editor software...
Need I say I really don't like "you-know-who-Frontpage" web editor? I like the clean simple html coding of yore. I like to do it simple and do it myself. I have to use Frontstuff at work to edit my site there. Well, I probably could entirely rework it, but then when I brought it into the server it would be Frontpaged anyway. It isn't the prettiest stuff when you look at the source code. It is actually a hideous mess in that view. If I didn't have another site created with a simple editor - TACO for Mac OS X - I would probably spend more time on the work web. Since THE BLOG, I can't really see the point of the strictly personal web site anymore, unless some content which will remain static is housed therein.
Again, the ads at the top of the page are becoming a fascination for me. What text will Google like next? Part of the fun...but you have to be careful what you say because you could end up advertising "you-know-who-software." >;)
Again, the ads at the top of the page are becoming a fascination for me. What text will Google like next? Part of the fun...but you have to be careful what you say because you could end up advertising "you-know-who-software." >;)
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