(Warning: Tech blog)

For this post, I’m using a new program that’s separate from my blog… Windows Live Writer, a free tool from Microsoft (in case anyone’s interested). I read a review of it, and decided to look at how it worked. Plus I was impressed with Windows Live Messenger 8.5. I can’t wait to get my hands on Vista… Anyways, the plus is that now I can add images much more easily and also have a built in spell checker and uber fast blog preview when needed.

Lately I’ve been in love with Windows. Kind of weird. Their new interface for everything and integrated Live system is just so nice. Plus in my computer class we’re learning about how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. And yes… it’s rather basic. But there are enough little secrets and shortcuts that I had no idea about that it’s interesting. So now I can be much more efficient in both of those programs. Yay! Not to mention that I have Microsoft Office 2003 and can really take advantage of it. 2007 wasn’t out when I went to Japan. Honestly though, 2007 doesn’t impress me that much. And compared to 2000, 2003 is awesome.

So yeah, it’s crazy. All this Microsoft stuff. I’ve also begun to use Outlook for one of my emails. Now WLW for my blog. And of course WLM is what I always use for my instant messaging… Firefox is (and probably always will be) my browser though. IE7 is nice, but, just deviated too much from the norm on the GUI and doesn’t have the community to back it up.

YouTube’s new ‘beta’ look is awesome for the videos, much improved. Microsoft’s Soapbox system looks really great, but it just doesn’t have the community behind it unfortunately. Maybe it’ll get there eventually.

Last tech thing: Safari for Windows. Once they patched the huge vulnerability they left in it, I downloaded it today. Why? Because some people I know are die-hard Mac fans, including my grandparents. So I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Was it worth it? No. Installer had some issues, not even a good start. Customization for it sucks… And the fonts are just too fuzzy for my tastes. Plus it breaks one of my sites when I look at it. Why? I dunno. Therefore I won’t be using Safari anymore. Sorry Apple.

Anyways, for some Japan related stuff… I’m sick today. Went to school, but left ESS an hour early because my throat was aching. Sunday I have ESS from 9AM - 5PM. It will be a lot of work, and I’m not particularly looking forward to it. This week I’ve worn myself out, and especially now that I’m sick, I just feel like sleeping.

Last thing. Music. I’m getting back into The Killers now. Debating whether to get their album Sam’s Town when I get back to the US. I also found that they did an awesome cover for Romeo & Juliet, originally by Dire Straits.

So yeah, I want to test a picture now. So…look at a scary picture of me:

And it can even watermark my images for me! Soooooo cool. Yeah, I like this little program. It’s nifty.