So, I spent a couple hours getting my new laptop configured last night. They always install a bunch of junk I don’t need – things like demo versions of anti-virus programs, crippled office products (Microsoft Works), and hundreds of megabytes of AOL crap. So, the first thing I did was uninstall tons of junk, and then put on the basic tools I need – Mozilla Firefox, Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security, and TightVNC.
Oh, here’s what the new laptop looks like, by the way:
At Beth’s wonderful suggestion, I’ve named it “bluefin”. All PCs in our house are named after aquatic creatures, you see. Beth’s old PC was “starfish” and her current one is “seahorse.” My old notebook was, of course, “ahi.” My music PC is “ebi” and my main desktop PC is “barracuda.” Well, now we’ve added “bluefin” to the mix.
Speaking of fish, we’ve finalized our vacation plans and budget for the year. Sadly, there’s no room in there for any scuba diving. We’ve got 2 weddings, a family reunion, 2 graduations, and a trip to the Grand Canyon. No money left over for the Caribbean.
Oh yeah, now I remember why I titled this blog entry “Weird Keyboard.” One of the first things I noticed about my new laptop is how strange the keyboard layout is. It’s definitely going to take some getting used to. The TAB key is really tiny, as small as a regular letter key. There is no CTRL to the right of the spacebar. Instead, they decided to put the DEL key there, right next to my thumb. And they key with the ` and ~ symbols also down low, in line with the spacebar. I sure hope I don’t have to do much Unix stuff on this laptop, because you use that key a lot more in Unix than in Windows.