If you remember a few days ago, I mentioned that I was having an issue with Windows Update where it would force me to restart my computer if I didn’t tend to it quickly enough. One of my readers gave me a solution to my problem, so I decided to share another small issue I’ve been having in case one of you has a solution to this one as well.

If you’re not aware already, I use Notepad++ for all my text editing needs. I’m using Notepad++ right now to write this blog post, and I use NppFTP to automatically update all my edits onto my website.

There’s a spell checker integrated with Notepad++ called Aspell. The plug-in is preinstalled, but you have to install the actual Aspell program and dictionary for it to work. I already went to the website and downloaded Aspell and installed it, and added the .dll library file and dictionary file to the installation directory.

But, when I go to use Aspell in Notepad++, it says it can’t find the .dll file and tells me to insert a relative path to the .dll file. I typed in ..\Aspell\bin because that’s where the .dll file is stored, but it still can’t manage to find it.

I’ve pretty much tried every possible thing that anyone could come up with, such as using absolute paths, copying the .dll file into the local folders, moving files from the 32-bit Program Files folder to the 64-bit Program Files folder and vice versa, and reinstalling all corresponding programs.

If you have had this problem before and found a solution to it, then please share it with me because it’s very inconvenient not having spell check in my main text editor and having to copy and paste everything into Microsoft Word to make sure I didn’t make any typos. If you don’t know what’s wrong, please don’t send me suggestions like “did u try re install teh program” because I’m surprisingly not that stupid.

If you help me solve this problem, I will give you a shout-out and appreciate your existence on this planet for as long as I inhabit it.

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #179: If you could own one thing you don’t currently have, what would it be?

Well that’s easy.

A billion dollars.

Is it just me, or did Microsoft Update on Windows 7 randomly start forcing you to restart your computer if you don’t click the “Postpone” button for 15 minutes?

Before, if you didn’t notice the alert that told you to restart your computer, it would just stay open in the background until you tended to it. But now, whenever Microsoft Update wants you to restart your computer, it shows a little timer for 15 minutes; if you don’t click Postpone within the time limit, it automatically restarts.

That’s fine when I see the alert, because I usually click the Postpone button in time. But when I’m busily doing something else, sometimes the notice appears in the background because I’m typing, and I don’t see it. Then the timer counts down and it reaches 0, then it randomly restarts my laptop. And the worst part is that it only happens when I’m busy doing something, which also happens to be the worst time for my laptop to restart.

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #176: Find the nearest window. Look outside. What is the most interesting thing you see? What is the least interesting thing? If you don’t have a window, close your eyes and imagine one: what do you see when you look through it?

Seeing as it’s night right now and it’s dark outside, I can’t really see anything out my window, so the most interesting thing I see (and one of the only things I see) is a street lamp. The least interesting thing is the darkness that’s everywhere else.

When I close my eyes and imagine a window, I see grassy hills and a bright blue sky with clouds through the window. I guess I’m not very imaginative, so all my windows lead to a stereotypical child’s coloring book representation of what is outside every window.

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #174: Google recently released Google+, a new social network. Do you think you need another social network? Do you prefer real social networks (people you actually see regularly), or are you happy with the digital social networks you use? Or do you avoid them all on principle?

Even though I use (and like to use) the Internet frequently and take advantage of it to reach out to many people at once, I’m not a huge fan of interactive social networking. I used to be a heavy user of Facebook about four years ago, but I eventually got tired and annoyed of it; sure, you can use it to keep in touch with all your friends, but you also inevitably have to deal with the idiots that are on that website as well.

Then, a few years later, I switched over to Twitter and stopped using Facebook completely. Twitter allowed me to social network without worrying about other people annoying me. Sure, people could send me @replies, but none of those showed up in my timeline. When someone visited my profile page, they would only see stuff posted by me, not by anyone else (unlike my Facebook wall, which was filled with random stuff posted by my “friends”). This helped a lot with my obsessive-compulsive tendencies to keep everything formatted and organized perfectly.

A lot of people say that Facebook is a great way to share stuff you write and make (like blogs, photos, and videos), but I think it’s pointless to put them on Facebook when I have a website. My website is much easier to navigate than Facebook (at least I think so), the URLs are much simpler (they consist of words and numbers that make sense rather than randomly generated ID numbers), and it’s not shrouded in tons of other people’s content. Best of all, I get ad revenue for stuff I put on my website while I don’t get a single penny for anything I put on Facebook.

So now that we have the fact that I don’t like interactive social networking out of the way, am I excited for Google+? I’m definitely going to try it out like I did with Google Buzz and Google Wave, but I’m not sure if it’s going to catch on. It’s helpful that it’s made by Google and will most likely be integrated with the stuff I use everyday – if it’s right there, there’s a higher chance that I’ll use it than if I have to go to a different website. Another huge factor is how many people will end up using it – if not enough of my friends and followers get on it within the first handful of months that it’s open to the public, I’ll most likely get bored of it.

So back to the question – do we need another social network? No, I don’t think so, but if it’s able to bring something completely new and revolutionary into social networking (which I’m pretty sure Google will eventually be able to do), then yes, I think it’s worth creating. Similar to how MySpace is dying off, if Google manages to make a social network as revolutionary as Facebook was compared to MySpace, it’s very possible that Facebook could face the fate MySpace is facing now.

I’m fine with both real and digital social networks, but interacting via digital social networks tends to save more time and require less effort. I email and instant message a lot, and the number of people I’m able to communicate with is much greater than what is realistically possible in real life.

Quote of the Day

Ed Lam wanted to know where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad-cow disease) came from, so he asked:

“Where did mad disease cow from?”

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #173: Do you prefer the aisle or window when traveling? Why?

When I’m on an airplane, I prefer sitting next to the aisle rather than the window.

I’m not really a fan of sunlight, so if I were to sit next to the window, I would have the cover closed any­way.

I also tend to get airsick quickly and frequently, so sitting in the aisle would help me reach the bathroom in time to vomit in the toilet and not make a mess all over the airplane. Yes, I realize that there are disposable vomit bags available to use, but I don’t really like the idea of throwing up in one and holding onto a bag containing my vomit until I get an opportunity to dispose of it.

It also lets me go to the bathroom for non-vomiting purposes, both to use the toilet and to give myself something to do to pass the time. Yes, I randomly walk up and down the aisle when I’m bored on an airplane.

Tip of the Day

If you’re writing something and you feel something prickly in your ear, put down your pen immediately and find out what’s wrong.

If you don’t and you instead choose to finish your sentence, you will soon notice that the prick was actually a mosquito, and that you now have a mosquito bite in your ear.

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #171: Do you believe in free-will? Can you prove what you believe?

I believe in free will because I believe that everything that I choose to do is based off of my choice. But I think it’s impossible to prove that what I believe is true.

Someone who believes in fate more than free will could just as easily argue that we made our choices not because we chose to, but because fate made it happen.

I think this is a pointless topic to argue about because there’s no strong evidence supporting either side of the argument.