Web browsing - not just for Celerons anymore

Whew. When I bought this moderately cheap laptop, I skimped a bit on the processor and memory.

The conventional wisdom was that if your computing needs were light (e-mail, web browsing, word processing, etc.), you could be quite happy with a lightweight machine. If your needs were heavier (3-D gaming, movie editing, sound editing, etc.), you'd need a phat Pentium with buckets of memory to be happy.

Eventually, the day came when my laptop would bog down under the simplest of tasks, like e-mail and two web browser windows. First, I figured the hard drive suffered from the clutter of having too many programs installed/uninstalled on a Windows OS. Then, I assumed it was the grinding mechanical failure of the hard drive itself, which I replaced.

With my new, uncluttered hard drive, I'd open two Firefox windows, and time would stretch inside-out. Paging down would occur in jumpy fits and starts; switching windows became an exercise in patience, not an eye-blink. I realized that almost any window I'd open in Firefox would pour sand into my computer's gears, and wouldn't relent until I closed it. Not Firefox! I can't go back to IE, I just can't!!

I furthered narrowed down the problem to Flash doo-hickeys in web pages. Rarely are Flash components simple anymore - they aim for fast downloads, moving the bottleneck from bandwidth to processor, and dragging my machine to a crawl.

It was good news, though. Finally, a manageable point in the process! I slipped over to Firefox's website, and downloaded an extension that disables Flash components. Nice! Now, an icon sits where a cycle-gobbling Flash app would normally sprawl its fat ass, and if you want to enact it, just click on it!

Huzzah! Now I can load several pages of text and images, just as God intended it, without slowing my laptop to a time-lapse photography version of a normal PC operation. I am functional again!

Don't spank it in the county jail

Giving you more of what you read blogs for, I'd like to point out some trivial but humorous news:

Man sentenced for spanking the monkey in county jail.

My nomination for quote of the week: "During jury selection, McHugh looked at 17 prospective jurors and asked how many among them had never masturbated. No hands were raised."

What a great news day...

Papa's got a brand-new bag

I have a job, starting tomorrow. The money's not the best I can do, and the commute is a drawback, but it's a gig.

I look forward to having a regular schedule, putting some money into the kitty and dusting some chaff into the unemployment coffers, as well as the other positives regular work involves.

I remain on the market for superior gigs. I am proud to say that I have been honest with the current employer about the job's drawbacks and my abiding availability. This honesty thing just might work out. Now, to figure out the best way to tell them I already have an interview for another gig next week.

Awkward...

I support Bear Grylls - link to other blog

See my new post on the brewing Bear Grylls/Man Vs. Wild brouhaha. It pricked open a pustule of thought that I have been nurturing for a while now. I'm happy with what I've written about it.