Allan Bell Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 12 hours ago, Doc said: Good, thanks Ed; got away with a mild version fortunately I think. Looking forward to freedom day soon! Kumar The little b's must have realised you were a doctor and let you off lightly. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 (edited) I may have mentioned this bad thing in the past, if so put it down to old age etc. Years ago I purchased a copy of Microsoft Office, which I have installed on our two home use computers. Over time, due to disc failures and upgrades, I've had to reinstall it a few times. That is until I ran out of reinstalls. I still have the original disc but it will no longer allow me to use the software. I feel that this is sharp practice by Microsoft. I don't need the latest version of the software, my copy did everything that I wanted. There is a law of diminishing returns with software upgrades, generally the earlier versions do what you need and upgrades are nice but far from essential. So what to do? Microsoft will no longer supply a stand alone version of the program, you have to buy a yearly lease, and that is something that I am congenitally opposed to. Fortunately there is a German company that supplies a look alike product, and while they steer you towards a lease, they also offer a one off purchase with the possibility of discounted upgrades. I've bought a copy, there is a learning curve, but it appears to do all that I need. What I need now is a means of backing up this software so that I am protected against future disc failures etc. I have the means to back up data, but programs, registry etc is quite another ball game. Any ideas? Edited January 25, 2022 by Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Ore Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 I switched to LibreOffice. It's available for MS Windows, Macs, and Linux. It's Open Source, comes in a two different releases: one is for non-adventurous users and the other is for the adventurous. I'd heard good things about it from trusted friends before switching. MS Office isn't that expensive for what it is, but LibreOffice is pay what you want or not, or help them with testing, or not. It's got all the bells and whistles of MS Office as far as I can see. MS Office also had a potential gotcha -- if I sold a book, then I was using it professionally for the version I had. Nothing like this with LibreOffice. (Another project, Open Office, seems to have died or is now not maintained well). You (and anyone else) can try Libre Office for free. If you like it, help them in some way. I use Macrium Reflect to make Windows backups; and use Carbon Copy Cloner for Macs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 I haven't used MS Office for years, maybe even decades at this point. Currently I'm using Apache OpenOffice, also open source. Very happy with it. LibreOffice looks good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb photos Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 3 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said: I switched to LibreOffice. It's available for MS Windows, Macs, and Linux. It's Open Source, comes in a two different releases: one is for non-adventurous users and the other is for the adventurous. I'd heard good things about it from trusted friends before switching. MS Office isn't that expensive for what it is, but LibreOffice is pay what you want or not, or help them with testing, or not. It's got all the bells and whistles of MS Office as far as I can see. MS Office also had a potential gotcha -- if I sold a book, then I was using it professionally for the version I had. Nothing like this with LibreOffice. (Another project, Open Office, seems to have died or is now not maintained well). You (and anyone else) can try Libre Office for free. If you like it, help them in some way. I use Macrium Reflect to make Windows backups; and use Carbon Copy Cloner for Macs. I've personally used LibreOffice for some time now, it does everything I might require, and isn't bloatware as MS Office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Harrison Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 I've been using Open Office also, for one thing by accident or design I find it the easiest way to open the Alamy csv without getting character translation problem (use the UTF-8 option). However although it does what I need I suspect that Libre Office is better because that, unlike Open Office, is still developed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 9 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said: I switched to LibreOffice. It's available for MS Windows, Macs, and Linux. It's Open Source, comes in a two different releases: one is for non-adventurous users and the other is for the adventurous. I'd heard good things about it from trusted friends before switching. MS Office isn't that expensive for what it is, but LibreOffice is pay what you want or not, or help them with testing, or not. It's got all the bells and whistles of MS Office as far as I can see. MS Office also had a potential gotcha -- if I sold a book, then I was using it professionally for the version I had. Nothing like this with LibreOffice. (Another project, Open Office, seems to have died or is now not maintained well). You (and anyone else) can try Libre Office for free. If you like it, help them in some way. I use Macrium Reflect to make Windows backups; and use Carbon Copy Cloner for Macs. Thanks, Macrium Reflect free claims to do disc cloning which is probably what I need ! Too late for freeware office as I've bought Softmaker Office, should have asked the question earlier 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Bryan said: Too late for freeware office Not at all, I ran them in tandem on my previous machine, OpenOffice first, them Word when I, ahem, came by a copy. There are probably forums to tell you how to back up what you've bought. Incidentally, but not very, it may interest you to know that there's a free version of Softmaker. Or, since you've paid, annoy you. Sorry. https://www.freeoffice.com/en/ Edited January 25, 2022 by spacecadet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Ore Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 My helper, Luis, found a dead cat in my upstairs studio over the kitchen. I gave him all my spare issues of La Prensa, a plastic bag, plastic gloves, and he bagged it, then double bagged it. Then he said he knew someone who could take it away now for 100 cordobas (around $3.50), so I gave Luis that and the cat corpse is gone. Luis thinks the cat was poisoned. I know that's happened around here at times. The cat was fairly rotten (Luis took a cell phone photo of it). Luis did a cleaning job and opened the ventanas (glass slat windows also called jalousies) so the place could air out. Cats can get in through space between the roofing metal and the masonry walls. Luis cleaned up and brought all the photographic stuff down stairs. I now have a SK400 II on a C-stand in my living room by a little glass table, also from upstairs, plus all the other stuff in two plastic shelving units that got shoehorned into the passage way where I have a bookcase and clothes drying racks. The big plastic table and a plastic chair are still upstairs. I will be even more careful to get my two cats indoors at night and make sure Siry, the time shared cat, goes to his other home appropriately. My sense of smell was bad even a few years ago, not a Covid thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 7 hours ago, spacecadet said: Not at all, I ran them in tandem on my previous machine, OpenOffice first, them Word when I, ahem, came by a copy. There are probably forums to tell you how to back up what you've bought. Incidentally, but not very, it may interest you to know that there's a free version of Softmaker. Or, since you've paid, annoy you. Sorry. https://www.freeoffice.com/en/ Cheers Mark. I started with the free version, but it was too limited for my purposes. In particular it seemed to lack some basic commands when using the spreadsheet - although they may have been hidden away in various menus. The full version has more bells and whistles than I will ever need, and it does things differently to MS Office, so there is a learning curve for those deserting MS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Chapman Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) On 25/01/2022 at 03:18, Bryan said: Years ago I purchased a copy of Microsoft Office, which I have installed on our two home use computers. Over time, due to disc failures and upgrades, I've had to reinstall it a few times. That is until I ran out of reinstalls. I still have the original disc but it will no longer allow me to use the software. I feel that this is sharp practice by Microsoft I had the same thing happen with my copy of Office 2010 but I managed to get the number of activations reset by calling MS. It was a few years back now, so not sure if that's still possible. Anyway, following that I installed Office in a Virtual machine which allows me to reinstall with ease by copying the VM. Mark Edited January 27, 2022 by M.Chapman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 5 hours ago, M.Chapman said: I had the same thing happen with my copy of Office 2010 but I managed to get the number of activations reset by calling MS. It was a few years back now, so not sure if that's still possible. Anyway, following that I installed Office in a Virtual machine which allows me to reinstall with ease by copying the VM. Mark Didn't think of that Mark, but good to hear that they allowed you extra installations. Things may have changed as they move to service contracts and trying to push people onto cloud storage etc. I'm have the good intention of to making a mirror copy of my SSD C drive so that I can reinstall everything from that should it fail. I just need to motivate myself to do it ! My data is stored and backed up separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) We survived the last storm with minimal damage, but yesterday I arrived at the allotment to see broken glass surrounding the greenhouse. The roof is OK but 10 panes are missing from the walls. I think that the door parted company and that allowed the wind into the structure. In the garden next to ours the polytunnel cover has been destroyed and elsewhere on the site roofs lifted from sheds. The previous, more severe, storm brought down trees and fences, but didn't affect the greenhouse. Luck of the draw perhaps. There's another, hopefully lesser, storm blowing this evening, fingers crossed it doesn't cause more damage. Compared to what some people have had to endure I guess that this is relatively trivial, an expensive inconvenience, but no danger to life or limb. Edited January 31, 2022 by Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Waiting for boiler (water heater) engineer to come and fix the central heating. Fortunately it is a bit warmer today. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 7 hours ago, Bryan said: We survived the last storm with minimal damage, but yesterday I arrived at the allotment to see broken glass surrounding the greenhouse. The roof is OK but 10 panes are missing from the walls. I think that the door parted company and that allowed the wind into the structure. In the garden next to ours the polytunnel cover has been destroyed and elsewhere on the site roofs lifted from sheds. The previous, more severe, storm brought down trees and fences, but didn't affect the greenhouse. Luck of the draw perhaps. There's another, hopefully lesser, storm blowing this evening, fingers crossed it doesn't cause more damage. Compared to what some people have had to endure I guess that this is relatively trivial, an expensive inconvenience, but no danger to life or limb. When I first moved to Liverpool, I thought I would be getting some very rough weather off the Irish Sea. Instead, it's you guys east of me in Yorkshire who get most of the killer storms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 11 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: When I first moved to Liverpool, I thought I would be getting some very rough weather off the Irish Sea. Instead, it's you guys east of me in Yorkshire who get most of the killer storms. . The prevailing winds come from the west, and pick up moisture from the Atlantic ocean. First the emerald isle gets it, then the aptly named lake District, followed by the Pennines. By the time it reaches us, there's not much dampness left. However global warming turns things on their heads, who knows what will happen next. I was a student in Liverpool while later we lived in the north west for 5 years. I recall it being warmer and wetter than the NE Edo. I think I marginally prefer the cold and sunshine. I had a colleague who moved to the lakes, but found the winters to be too depressing, and scuttled back east. That said the lakes can be heaven on earth when the sun does shine 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 Had two refunds today that wiped out my one sale and then some. So now in the hole for the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 (edited) Sad to hear Michael ! A very bad thing happened today, my wife left me. Fortunately for only a week, as she is visiting her brother's family and various friends on a tour of England. We've hardly been apart in the last 50 years, so this is very strange, but I need to stay here as the builders are still at it building our extension (plus I hate long distance motoring). Next week, if all goes to plan, the house wall will be breached and chaos will reign. I might be driven to take up residence in our little caravan. There are some positives, this will be a vegetarian week, as I get to choose and cook all the food. Looking forward to a home made pizza washed down with a glass of red tomorrow night, then a nice creamy onion/mushroom pasta etc . For some reason she has taken against my pizzas, they are still relished by our sons, and I remain very partial. Edited February 4, 2022 by Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 8 minutes ago, Bryan said: Sad to hear Michael ! A very bad thing happened today, my wife left me. Fortunately for only a week, as she is visiting her brother's family and various friends on a tour of England. We've hardly been apart in the last 50 years, so this is very strange, but I need to stay here as the builders are still at it building our extension (plus I hate long distance motoring). Next week, if all goes to plan, the house wall will be breached and chaos will reign. I might be driven to take up residence in our little caravan. There are some positives, this will be a vegetarian week, as I get to chose and cook all the food. Looking forward to a home made pizza washed down with a glass of red tomorrow night, then a nice creamy onion/mushroom pasta etc . For some reason she has taken against my pizzas, they are still relished by our sons, and I remain very partial. Sorry to hear that you your wife left you. Hopefully she'll miss your pizzas and come back. Do you deliver to Vancouver? If so, I'd like to place an order. 🏍️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 On 02/02/2022 at 10:09, Michael Ventura said: Had two refunds today that wiped out my one sale and then some. So now in the hole for the month. Hope you climb out of the hole soon. Haven't had any refunds this month, but I just noticed two sales invoiced today that will net me $0.46 each. This after a month of decent prices. Swings and roundabouts as our UK friends say. 🎠 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 On 02/02/2022 at 14:09, Michael Ventura said: Had two refunds today that wiped out my one sale and then some. So now in the hole for the month. Michael, i had that happen in December, but the sale then re-appeared in mid January (with actually a sale date on the December day when it was refunded- still no explanation on that), so i'll hope same happens to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 2 hours ago, John Mitchell said: Sorry to hear that you your wife left you. Hopefully she'll miss your pizzas and come back. Do you deliver to Vancouver? If so, I'd like to place an order. 🏍️ Veg only mind, no pepperoni. Only one offering. Pizza base, tomato/basil sauce, some finely chopped onion, grated mozzarella cheese, a ring of thinly chopped mushrooms and a few slices of tomato. Then drizzle with olive oil infused with freshly crushed garlic. Probable side salad, and maybe 2 glasses of Merlot. Can't wait !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 4, 2022 Author Share Posted February 4, 2022 Bryan, absence makes the heart grow founder -- with or without pizza. And Michael -- we still have most of the month ahead of us. You'll catch up. Tio Edo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 1 hour ago, Bryan said: Veg only mind, no pepperoni. Only one offering. Pizza base, tomato/basil sauce, some finely chopped onion, grated mozzarella cheese, a ring of thinly chopped mushrooms and a few slices of tomato. Then drizzle with olive oil infused with freshly crushed garlic. Probable side salad, and maybe 2 glasses of Merlot. Can't wait !! Sounds good to me. My place is quite easy to find. Turn left at Cache Creek, head down the Fraser Canyon and then hang a right at Hope. Would appreciate your tossing in a Caesar salad (with croutons). Thanks. 😎 Bon appétit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 4, 2022 Author Share Posted February 4, 2022 (edited) A very nice Neapolitan guy at Rudy's fixed me this Pizza Margarita with buffalo mozzarella. I can't believe I ate the whole thing! Edited February 4, 2022 by Ed Rooney 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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