Still Job Hunting

Looks like I got passed over again.

What's in a name?

harrymccracken I love the fact that Windows Blue’s official name is Windows 8.1. I hope there’s a Windows 8.11, too. But not for workgroups. Tue, May 14 12:43:17 from Tweetbot for iOS

Excel Pins Disappearing

I have a problem. Every once in a while, my Excel 2010 "Pinned" and "Recent" documents disappear from the Jump List in the Start Menu. I'm an Excel junkie, so I like to keep my favorites pinned and access my most recently used files with the Jump List.

Others have had this or similar problems, too. (here, here, and here.)

I have a guess about why mine disappear. I use a dual monitor setup at work. Sometimes I need a second instance of Excel running, so that I can compare files using both displays. So, after opening one Excel file, I click on the Start Menu and type "Excel" to start a second instance.

When the second Excel instance starts, I get a "File in Use" messagebox. It says:

"PERSONAL.XLSB is locked for editing 

by %Username%.

Open  'Read-Only or click 'Notify' to open read-only and receive notification when the document is no longer in use.

The buttons give me the options of Read Only, Notify, or Cancel.

I've not gone through and documented each case, but I can replicate the problem where it will delete the "Pinned" items and only the last files I was using show up in the "Recent" list. All it takes is opening the second instance of Excel and then closing them in a certain order. It may also require that changes be made and saved to one or both files. I don't have a fix yet, but at least I know how to avoid the problem.

This does not affect the files that are pinned inside the Excel application under File | Recent. In fact, that is where I go to recover my Jump List pins. I scan the list and open the files I want to re-pin.

Mixed Message

Oprah tweets about her love for the Microsoft Surface from her Apple iPad.

Microsoft is Pivoting

Is Microsoft going to buy the market? From TNL.net:

"Let’s remem­ber here that Microsoft has over $50 bil­lion in cash. What if it com­mit­ted one fifth of that to the new plat­form ($10 bil­lion) and decided that its attack on the mar­ket would be on build quality and pric­ing. Doing so could push the tablet in the $100–200 range and the PC into the $400–500 range, mak­ing it sub­stan­tially more com­pet­i­tive (mes­sag­ing: you can get a tablet from Apple or you can get a PC AND a tablet from Microsoft)."

Via

andrewchen Microsoft is pivoting. bit.ly/MQKRdIThu, Jul 12 15:40:09 from Timely by Demandforce

No More Start Button Drama

Drama in the comments on the Slashdot post... don't move my cheese! But then you get clever ideas like this:

"Maybe they'll develop a single field where you can type in whatever you want the computer to do. Wouldn't that be great? Let's see, you type in a line of commands, so you could call it a 'command line'. You wouldn't need all those icons! That would be the ultimate evolution of Windows."

Microsoft Tablet Names

harrymccracken Possible names for Microsoft tablet: Tablet PC 2013, WinSlate, iWindows, Metro One, UnPocketable PC, Bing to Go, ZuneTab, TabZuneFri, Jun 15 11:25:03 from Tweetbot for iOS

And my suggestion:

brickolore @harrymccracken The New uPad HD 3.Fri, Jun 15 12:27:53 from web in reply to harrymccracken

What is cool?

I agree, but, of course, I don't recall many high school kids focusing on the "enterprise" either.

SammyWalrusIV Microsoft reminds me of that kid in high school who thinks “cool” is something totally different than what society thinks is “cool”.Mon, Jun 11 07:58:07 from Tweetbot for iOS

Windows 8 Logo

Pogue I love the new logo for Windows 8. Ties in well to the "tiles" concept. ("Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?") bit.ly/AakTVdFri, Feb 17 17:31:22 from TweetDeck

Windows 8 + Kinect

Some Windows 8 laptops will include the Kinect sensor system (similar to the Xbox, but tweaked to work at shorter distances). I may have to work some magic and get one at the end of this year. I think the Kinect is the "what's next" beyond the now ubiquitous touchscreens.

Word of the Day: Panoply

I was trouble-shooting an Active Directory/DNS problem at work today and was using my google-fu to find a resolution. My search lead me to Troubleshooting DNS - which did not help me solve my problem, but did expand my vocabulary:

"Windows supports a whole panoply of naming services: DNS, WINS, HOSTS, LMHOSTS, and more."

And thus, I present "panoply" - a wide-ranging and impressive array or display.

So Microsoft has an impressive array of naming services. Who knew?!?

QotD

One of the accountants at work just recently got his new Windows 7 laptop. Upon hearing that Windows 8 is coming out and will have a new interface, he wondered why they couldn't just release a Windows Classic, so we don't have to keep learning new operating systems.