Monday Musings: HALO, Shelfari, and Password Woes
"Happy Monday!" is not usually the phrase that springs to mind as we reluctantly lever ourselves out of bed and back into our workday routine. This week started out with a helpful reminder of how dependent I should NOT be on my computer to help me remember the 9 million (exaggerated, though only slightly) passwords that I use to access various work programs throughout my day.
I arrived at work to discover that one of our computer techs had performed a much-needed hardware and OS update on my work machine. He thoughtfully backed up my document files. However, he didn't backup my browser preferences. Not an oversight for which I blame him in any way. This did result, though, in me spending about half of my work day trying to remember all my lesser-used (but still important) bookmarks, downloading bookmarklets, re-downloading and re-installing programs . . .and, most frustrating of all, discovering that I simply don't remember all of those aforementioned 9 million passwords.
I realize that the world we live in requires us to keep track of a great many passwords. And that we be careful in HOW we keep track of those passwords. A word to the wise (or to those who wish to be so): DO find a way to keep track of them! Because if you don't - you may find yourself losing valuable time, and possibly chunks of hair - if, say, you lose your phone, crash your browser irreparably, or have to re-install a machine.
Last Week in Books:
This past week I found myself returning to some of my favorite authors, delving into some of their recent releases. Of course, there are always new authors to discover as well, and a few books of that variety also made it into the stack as I happily wandered the library shelves. Here, are a couple yummy literary morsels I discovered.
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn
Sharon Shinn is part of an admittedly-long list of fantasy authors who I greatly admire and love to read. While she has written one or two series that I haven't been able to muster enthusiasm for, her Twelve Houses series is among those I'm currently collecting for my own library - not least because my husband enjoyed them as much as I did.
Troubled Waters is young adult fantasy, and as such, didn't seem as hefty a read as many of the fantasy novels that I've picked up recently. However, unusually for young adult fantasy - I found the story to be refreshingly free of the usual teenage angst. Sharon Shinn introduces her reader to a world with a unique, and well-thought-out magic system. Though the country's politics play a key role in the story - Shinn slips an understanding of them into the story so subtly that I felt as though I were a citizen of the country - naturally aware of the undercurrents and living through them almost without thought.
I found Troubled Waters to be an easily engaging read, and I will likely be adding this novel (a stand-alone, to the best of my knowledge) to my shelves when I get the chance.
Love Letters by Katie Fforde
I first happened upon Katie Fforde's novels while looking for the latest Thursday Next book. A clever series with plentiful wordplay, the Thursday Next books are written by the author Jasper Fforde, so my first Katie Fforde novel didn't have to try all that hard to catch my eye. The cover had a whimsical design and looked like a fun, light read. (They say not to judge a book by its cover, but I do judge literary works by their cover art quite often - how else am I to find new reading material on a whim? - and it usually turns out pretty well!)
Katie Fforde is an English writer and it shows. Also, her novels are unapologetically romantic chick-lit. I mention Love Letters here, because it is the most recent addition to my online (and mental) "I've Read It" shelf, but I've yet to find a book of hers that I don't thoroughly enjoy. Katie's characters are fun and endearing. Her heroes and heroines are terribly well-intentioned - but prone to mishap. To me, reading a Katie Fforde novel feels as though I've sat down to listen to the best kind of gossip - the story of their life, with its unexpected dips and turns - without malice or artifice.
Other Things of Note:
I arrived at work to discover that one of our computer techs had performed a much-needed hardware and OS update on my work machine. He thoughtfully backed up my document files. However, he didn't backup my browser preferences. Not an oversight for which I blame him in any way. This did result, though, in me spending about half of my work day trying to remember all my lesser-used (but still important) bookmarks, downloading bookmarklets, re-downloading and re-installing programs . . .and, most frustrating of all, discovering that I simply don't remember all of those aforementioned 9 million passwords.
I realize that the world we live in requires us to keep track of a great many passwords. And that we be careful in HOW we keep track of those passwords. A word to the wise (or to those who wish to be so): DO find a way to keep track of them! Because if you don't - you may find yourself losing valuable time, and possibly chunks of hair - if, say, you lose your phone, crash your browser irreparably, or have to re-install a machine.
Last Week in Books:
This past week I found myself returning to some of my favorite authors, delving into some of their recent releases. Of course, there are always new authors to discover as well, and a few books of that variety also made it into the stack as I happily wandered the library shelves. Here, are a couple yummy literary morsels I discovered.
Troubled Waters by Sharon ShinnSharon Shinn is part of an admittedly-long list of fantasy authors who I greatly admire and love to read. While she has written one or two series that I haven't been able to muster enthusiasm for, her Twelve Houses series is among those I'm currently collecting for my own library - not least because my husband enjoyed them as much as I did.
Troubled Waters is young adult fantasy, and as such, didn't seem as hefty a read as many of the fantasy novels that I've picked up recently. However, unusually for young adult fantasy - I found the story to be refreshingly free of the usual teenage angst. Sharon Shinn introduces her reader to a world with a unique, and well-thought-out magic system. Though the country's politics play a key role in the story - Shinn slips an understanding of them into the story so subtly that I felt as though I were a citizen of the country - naturally aware of the undercurrents and living through them almost without thought.
I found Troubled Waters to be an easily engaging read, and I will likely be adding this novel (a stand-alone, to the best of my knowledge) to my shelves when I get the chance.
I first happened upon Katie Fforde's novels while looking for the latest Thursday Next book. A clever series with plentiful wordplay, the Thursday Next books are written by the author Jasper Fforde, so my first Katie Fforde novel didn't have to try all that hard to catch my eye. The cover had a whimsical design and looked like a fun, light read. (They say not to judge a book by its cover, but I do judge literary works by their cover art quite often - how else am I to find new reading material on a whim? - and it usually turns out pretty well!)
Katie Fforde is an English writer and it shows. Also, her novels are unapologetically romantic chick-lit. I mention Love Letters here, because it is the most recent addition to my online (and mental) "I've Read It" shelf, but I've yet to find a book of hers that I don't thoroughly enjoy. Katie's characters are fun and endearing. Her heroes and heroines are terribly well-intentioned - but prone to mishap. To me, reading a Katie Fforde novel feels as though I've sat down to listen to the best kind of gossip - the story of their life, with its unexpected dips and turns - without malice or artifice.
Other Things of Note:
- Kate and I finished playing through the HALO Reach campaign this Sunday afternoon. It was a proud moment for me, as a social console gamer. (I don't often play console games on my own.) Sunday marks the first time that I have played through an entire HALO campaign without any assistance from the trio of male gamers who were instrumental in my immersion into the world of gaming (my husband and his brothers). HALO Reach, for those unfamiliar with the HALO series, was one of the later releases, but is actually backstory to the creation of the Master Chief - the main playable in HALO: 1, 2, and 3.
- The issue appears to be fixed NOW, but . . . As you may have noticed, I have an account on Shelfari. Shelfari is a website for readers and booklovers, where you build a quick profile - as detailed or undetailed as you choose - and then start adding books to your online shelf. You can place books under categories such as "Plan to Read", "Reading Now", "Have Read", or "Wishlist". You can rate books you've read, note the dates on which you read them, and keep track of reading goals. It's fun to see what friends are reading, what books are trending, or to check what books others might recommend for you.
Shelfari is run by Amazon now - although when I first joined the site, I don't believe it was. So they have, handily, given Amazon users the option to link their accounts - using a single sign-in and making it easier for those with book-addictions to spend ridiculous amounts of money on books they like. I chose not to get an Amazon account, which means I get to search the landing page of the site for the tiny link to the legacy log-in. Which is fine . . .usually . . .until it wasn't. This weekend, from Friday all the way through Sunday night, I was unable to log in. I'd put in the required info and the page would start to load - I'd see my profile picture flicker across the page - and then I'd get kicked back out to the login page. It irked me. It irked me enough that I submitted a help request. I didn't get a reply, but I am happy to report that whoever broke the legacy login either was forced to fix it, or was soundly chastised (at least mentally) by someone else who then fixed it for them. - NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. I signed up again. Apparently I enjoy pummeling my brain with ridiculous expectations of coherent verbosity in prose form.
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