Minor Annoyances That Are Majorly Annoying

Okay, now I have Word installed. That Google Docs thing was okay, but this is more familiar.
I’ve run into a few irritations so far with Vista, most notably the UAC (User Access Control) thing.
The idea behind it is that you don’t necessarily want programs (or other users) being able to modify settings or install programs wily-nily. In particular, you don’t want pieces of malware installing themselves or executing remote commands.
So basically whenever you or a program do something, a window pops up and asks you to confirm that it’s kosher.
If you’re a user without administrative privileges, you will not be allowed to do it, period.
But, if you are an administrator, all you have to do is click confirm.
While presumably better than nothing, it’s not exactly ideal security, in that it requires no validation of your credentials beyond the fact that you’re logged in, so conceivably there’s a pretty easy way around it (malware does something, UAC window pops up, malware clicks confirm).
Also, it’s kind of annoying.
Kind of really annoying, especially when you’re in the process of setting up a new install.
In fact, once incident was positively infuriating me (What are the odds?).
As should surprise no one, I have a lot of downloaded pictures. A lot.
Keeping them organized can be a hassle, particularly since the pictures come from so many different sources and so there is no sort of universal naming convention.
The solution to this problem that I’ve found is a program called Picasa from Google. It’s got a great “batch rename” feature that lets me select a group of pictures of, say, Scarlett Johansson, which have names like “18.jpg,” or, “sjoh11.jpg,” or whatever. With all of the disparately-named photos selected, I can then give them all names that adhere to the same convention. In my case, the convention is [name][image date][image size].
So, in the case of Scarlett you might end up with something like Scarlett Johansson 2-4-2007 3-30-10 AM 376x490. Each picture would follow that convention, with a difference in date and size to distinguish them (it appends a number to the name if all the other data is the same).
Anyway, I had a bunch of disorganized photos sitting around in different directories that needed to be renamed before being moved over to the main folder, so I figured that now was a good a time as any to go in and get them all renamed. So I reinstalled Picasa, went into the folders, renamed the pictures, then moved them over into the big picture directory…only to discover that they still had their old disorganized names. WTF?
I tried renaming them again. No dice. And yet, some pictures I could rename.
WTF, indeed.
After some investigation I realized that the pictures that I could use Picasa to rename were pictures I’d downloaded since upgrading.
So it was a permissions issue.
If I went into the folder and chose to rename one of the pre-upgrade pictures, I got the UAC window. This was not being invoked inside of Picasa, so the changes I made weren’t being applied.
To solve the problem I had to change the permissions on the folders to allow everyone to modify the contents, not just the “owner,” which was no longer me because those folders were created by a different version of Windows, and not just by the administrator on a case-by-case basis.
So yeah, irritating.
Anyway, on a non-Windows topic, I should mention the experience that led me to go out and by Vista: my root canal.
(I’ll get to how the one led to the other in a bit)
My appointment was originally for 10:10, but on Monday afternoon the Cute Girl With Big Boobs Who Can’t Say Massachusetts (CGWBBWCSM), whose name I should really find out, called to ask if I could come in a little earlier, so I agreed to show up for 9:30.
When I showed up CGWBBWCSM once again greeted me with great cheer, asking, “Are you prepared?”I said, “Sure.”
She said, “Did you eat anything?”
I said, “No.” After all, I’d slept as late as possible, allowing myself only enough time to shower and dress.
She gasped, then said, “You’re gonna starve!”
I said, “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” she said, dubiously.
Most people get rather nervous about root canals.
I don’t, but that’s just because I’ve had so many of them.
(Hey kids! Here’s a tip from Jon to you! Take care of your teeth!)
It went pretty much like all the others, and after about an hour or so I was ready to go, with a Valentine’s Day appointment to start work on my crown.
As I was checking out, CGWBBWCSM was puzzled by the instructions as to how to bill me and asked the dentist for some guidance. He explained it to her (I’m not sure I understood the issue), and she said, “I’m always kept in the dark.”
I think I thought something dirty at that point – in fact, I’m sure of it – but I can’t remember what it was. Instead I just sort of smiled sympathetically.
And then I was on my way.
Because I was already out and about I decided I’d head to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. The thought then occurred to me, “While I’m there, I should pick up a copy of Vista.”
They were actually sold out, so I opted to hit the Best Buy near there on my way home, which is where I bought it.
And that pretty much brings us up to date (though I should mention that my mother called to see how my tooth was doing yesterday afternoon; I wasn’t especially talkative, as I was in the midst of my second upgrade attempt).
Anyway, now my time off is nearly at an end and soon I’ll be back in the three-day grind.