"Drop back and punt" technology troubleshooting - End of the Day for June 18, 2014

Originally published a part of the End of the Day series on My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Through the years I have always been thankful to not have addictive traits or personality. Sure, I can get focused on things sometimes, but nothing that even comes close to clinical OCD. That said, today I seemed to be flirting with it. A small technical issue with my computer has occupied my mind for hours and I just can't escape it. Thankfully, I actually noticed what was happening and was able to force myself to step away from it for a while. Even then, though, it drew me back in a few hours later.

Smoking keyboard

Now, one of the best traits of an troubleshooter, regardless of what they are troubleshooting, the ability to be tenacious when faced with an issue. Over the years, I have face some very difficult issues, with only a few beating me. Unfortunately, there have also been times when I "went down the rabbit hole" on a problem and made myself rather miserable. It is always a danger when you are so focused on finding a solution and I have seen other with bigger issues than I when it comes to this.

I think this might be one of the many reasons I have stopped doing computer support. Over the last several years I have faced more and more problems that couldn't really be solved. The only expedient solution was to rebuild the machine entirely. For me, this really isn't a solution, more of just a "drop back and punt" method of getting the computer functional again. This started to disturb me more and more -- and left me feeling a bit of a failure. Of course, spending countless hours trying to locate an esoteric problem -- one that even stumps the manufacturer, is worthless to everyone involved. Unfortunately, it seems that computers and their software are now so complex that "drop back and punt" is the only true method to solve the problem. This goes against my own personal wishes and desire so much, that it is better I remove my self from these issues than try to deal with my own emotions about them.

It looks like, right now, I'll be having to "punt" my machine as soon as finish up a large project I just started. You don't want to change horses in mid-stream, as they say, and the problems I am experiencing now are pretty small. Once those videos are done, though, I will clone this drive to protect all the data that is there and then re-format, re-install, etc and start over with a fresh machine -- something I haven't done in quite some time. It will probably make things run better in the long run, but the time involved makes me whence to even think about it.

Now it's time for me to try and find something to distract myself before I waste any more time on this issue.

Previously on End of the Day:

Microsoft release Outlook.com email services to replace Hotmail

Today Microsoft released its new email service Outlook.com to replace its Hotmail brand. This new streamlined Metro interface design looks good and functions well so far. You can use your existing Microsoft account to log in and then choose an email alias (i.e. douglaswelch@outlook.com) for your new email address. Here are several articles that discuss Outlook.com... Goodbye, Hotmail; Hello, Outlook.com [REVIEW] Outlook Is a Completely New, Feature-Filled Webmail Service from Microsoft Go Get Your @Outlook Email Address Quick Before Someone Else Does I will post links to more articles and reviews as they appear.

Shared calendars are one part of an organized family

by Douglas E. Welch , techiq@welchwrite.com 206-338-5832 Reader/Listener Line As a parent with a school-age child, I often hear other parents bemoaning their disorganized existence. Along with the busy schedules of two working parents you might have art classes, karate classes, Little League, soccer and more. Add in more than one kid and organizing your life can quickly become a nightmare. This is exactly why one of my most important organizing devices is a shared calendar that reflects all the activities and events for everyone in the household...and I do mean everything. If someone -- is required to be somewhere -- at sometime, it goes into the calendar. If we are given a calendar that reflects all the events for a particular activity (say, Little League), all these events immediately go into the calendar, along with notations on whether we are providing the team snack, working in the snack bar, etc. Even events that occur anytime during the day, like family birthdays, and other rem...

Google Docs adds templates

I have started to move away from using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc) in favor of online tools like Google Docs . Even as a computer consultant, I find that I use probably less than 10% of the features in any of these projects. One feature I really like in Google Docs is the easy, online file sharing that also allows you to edit simultaneously with someone else. Today, Google Docs added some templates including business cards, brochures and more. At the moment, it looks like they are rolling out this feature over time, so you might not yet see the templates on your account. When available, you will find the templates under the New... menu item. From Open Loops ... Today, Google quietly rolled out a new feature for their Google Docs Applications: Templates! It's so new that it isn't even listed on the new features page at this time. When one opens their Google Docs account and chooses to start a new document, a new "From Template..." command is pre...

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