Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. My family got me "The Great Muppet Caper" as a gift so we sat around and watched that last night. Good times. The chicken was good, finger lickin' good you might say.
I did manage to rough out part of chapter 5 of my new piece yesterday. At the rate I am going (about a chapter a day) it shouldn't take too long to get this pounded out in a first draft.
I am using new software for this project, OpenOffice 3.0 from Java. It is free and I am all about the free. I had been using Abiword as my reader for Word (.doc) files but I am switching over. Both are free programs but I am finding the Java program to be far superior. Previously, I had used Microsoft works word processor, which is fine. It types, it has spell checker, it is easy to use but I am liking the sophistication of this new software. It reminds me of the old days in college when I used Correll's Wordperfect as my writing software. I guess I am just too cheap to buy Word.
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10 comments:
I got Microsoft Word free with my first computer, and I just reused the disk when I bought this one. It's so expensive to buy new.
I have never had the privilege of using the program so I don't have a frame of reference. It seems to be the gold standard but I figure as long as I can save it as a Word file and read it after the fact (even if it is with a free program) then I have done my job. I just have to keep telling myself that some of the masterworks were written on manual typewriters or with pencil or pen and paper (often quill and inkwell) and then set by hand at the printers. (ugh)
Just stay away from NeoOffice. Far, far away : P
I like OpenOffice--that's what I use on my laptop. I have Word on my desktop computer and it's pretty easy to switch in between the two. My version of OpenOffice isn't great, but if I wasn't so lazy I could download a better version.
Great Muppet Caper is the awesomest! I'm glad you had a good birthday!
Um... happy birthday late. I am a bad, bad person.
Although I too love the Muppets. Is that a redeeming factor?
Any fan of the Muppets is a friend of mine. :)
I think I know why I have never heard of NeoOffice. OpenOffice.org is free. All it will cost you is precious minutes on the internet (wait a minute. . .)
The Muppets are awesome! We have all the films and available TV season sets. As a kid, I watched that show simply because they were muppets. In later years, I discovered how funny the show was for adults.
I have seasons 1 & 2 and several of the movies. They seriously rock. (Actually we have a season of the fraggles on disc as well.)
I used OpenOffice years ago on Linux, back when it was called StarOffice...it was scary unstable back then, but that was before Sun bought it and put some money behind the project. I've read that it's a solid package now...I'm always scared to death of a publisher or agent not being able to open a doc because of some obscure conversion issue, that's really the only reason I've stayed with MS Office (which I don't really like).
I guess I'm lucky I get Office 07 through work. I've been spoiled that way for the last 10 years or so. Now I don't know any other way.
Muppets rock - especially Animal!
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