Subject: "Thinking, fast and slow"

I started out thinking (fast) that Daniel Kahneman's book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" was a book about the thought processes of two different types of people: one type which thinks "fast" and the other type which thinks "slow."  It turns out that everyone thinks both "fast" and "slow." 

"Fast thinking" is basically an automatic reaction.  I.e., you jump when hearing a loud noise.  "Slow thinking" is done when you need to figure things out or need to be very careful.  I.e., someone asks you what the last four digits of your social security number are.  Everybody does both types of thinking, but we don't always do them under the same circumstances.  An English teacher might automatically correct someone's English without thinking.  It's a habit resulting from years of teaching.  It's also an example of "fast thinking."  A person who is not an English teacher might not even notice the grammatical error unless they were trying to figure out something about the person talking.  Then they might utilize "slow thinking" to conclude that the grammatical error is an indicator of minimum schooling, or basic carelessness, or a fascinating mistake by someone whose native language is not English.

One very interesting aspect of fast and slow thinking is that fast (automatic) thinking might be totally wrong, and you might KNOW it's wrong, but you have no control over it and cannot prevent thinking that way.  You can only accept and acknowledge that you are thinking incorrectly and shift to "slow thinking" to avoid doing the wrong thing as a result of your uncontrollable "fast thinking."  The illustration of this used in the book is the famous Muller-Lyer illusion:

The "fast thinking" part of your brain will continue to tell you that the top horizontal line is longer than the bottom horizontal line even though you've measured the two lines every possible way, and the "slow thinking" part of your brain knows beyond any doubt that the two horizontal lines are the same length.

Biases are generally the result of "fast thinking."  No matter what the facts and evidence say, we may stick with our biases and ignore the facts and evidence.

Of course, I had to start wondering if this could somehow help explain why Truthers and conspiracy theorists of all types routinely accept their biased beliefs as being true and correct, and no amount of facts and evidence can change their minds.  Is some automatic part of their brain seeing things that a little bit of "slow thinking" would very quickly show to be nothing but misunderstandings?  Or are they so accustomed to making decisions using biased "fast thinking" that they are no longer capable of realizing that they could be wrong?

Truthers, of course, feel the same way about me.  They argue that I am so biased toward believing everything "the government" says, that I mindlessly accept every claim and statement - without any thought of any kind.  And then, of course, a moment later, they'll criticize me for disagreeing with the FBI's testimonial evidence that Dr. Ivins somehow disguised his handwriting when he wrote the anthrax documents.  They argue I accept everything the government says while at the same time arguing that I do not accept everything "the government" says -- which they probably see as evidence that even I do not trust "the government," proving that the "the government" should never be trusted. 

No matter what the facts and evidence say, they'll spin everything to fit their "fast thinking" biases.  They are not incapable of "slow thinking."  They use it every day to figure out how to twist things to make them fit their "fast thinking" biases.

To figure out what is true and correct, you have to evaluate and compare the EVIDENCE for ALL SIDES.  I constantly try to get others to do that.  But Truthers and conspiracy theorists absolutely REFUSE. Instead, they argue that they do not BELIEVE the government's evidence and that the government's evidence doesn't meet their personal standards for evidence (or it isn't really evidence and only people who have been brainwashed think it is).  There seems to be no way to get past such "fast thinking" biases.


Ed

The Touch Pad Mystery - Part 2

Yesterday afternoon, I discovered an option in the Control Panel Mouse settings that I hadn't seen before.  I wondered if it might solve my touch pad problems. 

Below is a section of my Control Panel screen which I can access by first accessing the "charms," then clicking on the SETTINGS "charm," then clicking on "Control Panel."  The settings of immediate interest in the Control Panel are for the Mouse and the touch pad (ClickPad), circled in red below. 

When I clock on the Mouse option, I get the window shown below (clicking on the image should give you a larger version):

It was a puzzle to me why a settings window showing "mouse properties" would show buttons that relate to the Synoptics ClickPad.  However, I wasn't concerned with the mouse.  I was concerned with the ClickPad.  When I clicked on the "ClickPad Settings" tab at the top of the window, I got the window shown below:

The option of interest is in the above graphic where I can put a check mark before "Disable internal pointing device when external pointing device is attached."

Clearly, that option solves one problem I'm having with my touch pad (ClickPad).  It allows me to turn off the touch pad when I'm using the mouse. That's a minor problem because I might accidentally touch the touch pad while typing.  When I do that, it can change the place where the cursor is located.  Instead of continuing to type at the bottom of the page, I might accidentally suddenly start typing in the middle of a word in the middle of the page.

But my main problem is still that I am unable to use the touch pad when I do not also use the mouse.  And that makes the touch pad virtually useless, since the only time I would generally want to use the touch pad is when I'm traveling or in some situation where using a mouse is inconvenient.

It appears that if I do not turn on the mouse before turning on my computer, the touch pad will not work.  Go to part one of this topic (click HERE) for a history of the problem.

When I clicked on the box before the "Disable internal pointing device" option, it immediately disabled the touch pad.  So, I know I can solve the minor problem I have with my touch pad.

But, when I detached the mouse, the touch pad did NOT turn on.  Nor did the touch pad turn on when I closed my computer and restarted it again without the mouse attached.  The only way to effectively use the computer was to connect the mouse again.  Then I can use both the mouse and the touch pad.

The purpose of this blog entry is to describe the current situation.

I've demonstrated about ten times in a row that the touch pad will turn on if I turn on the mouse before turning on the computer.  For the record, when I click on Device Manager in the Control Panel, then open the folder of "Mice and other pointing devices"and click "Synoptics PS/2 Port Touchpad" it always says the touch pad is "working properly":

     
Next, I'm going to see if the touch pad will turn on if I turn on the computer first and then test to see if the touch pad works while the mouse is still turned off.  In the past, it did NOT work.  But I didn't make sure to go through the same steps every time I tried it.  I'll also try it with the mouse completely disconnected.

Instead of updating this text to reflect test results, I'll add the test results as comments below.

After several sessions, it was clear that the touch pad will NOT work if I do not turn on the mouse first.  So, it's time to try some other switch change.  My touch pad settings have been set as shown in the image below:

They were set that way because it appeared that the "two finger scroll" option was causing the problem.  (On the Internet, there seem to be hundreds of people discussing problems with the "two finger scroll" feature.)  So, that option and related options were turned off.  I just turned them back on again.  The settings as of Friday evening will be as shown in the image below:

I'll continue leaving the mouse off until I've turned on the computer and tested to see if the touch pad works.  The only change will be the change in the switches as shown above.

Everything seems to be working okay now (Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015).  The problem is: I'm not sure exactly what caused things to work.  I learned that disconnecting devices while the laptop computer is "asleep" (i.e., the lid is closed) will have different results than disconnecting the same device while the laptop lid is open.

Examples: Switching monitors (i.e., switching from the 23-inch monitor in my office to my TV in my living room while my laptop is "asleep" will cause the colors on the TV to be totally wrong.  I have to disconnect the TV and reconnect while the laptop is open to get the right colors.

Also, simply pulling out the mouse transmitter from the USB port will not always automatically turn on the touch pad.  I may have to close the lid and reopen the lid to get the touch pad to work.

It seems that there are just too many options and too many ways of doing things to be certain that everything will work no matter when you turn something on or off.

But, as of this moment, my touch pad works and so does the "two finger scroll" option.  The switch is set so it will ONLY work when the mouse is turned off.  And that is fine with me.

End of story ------- for now.

CORRECTION: "End of story" for a few hours.  When I tried use the touch pad in the afternoon, there didn't appear to be any way to make it work.  Pulling out the transmitter tab for the mouse before closing the lid didn't do it.  Pulling out the transmitter tab for the mouse after closing the lid didn't do it.  Closing and opening the lid on the computer while the tab was removed didn't do it.

I went to the control panel switches for the touch pad, and none of them work -- probably because the touch pad is supposed to be off while the mouse is working.

So, I went to the control panel switches for the mouse and turned off the switch that says the touch pad should be off when the mouse is off.  It changed nothing.

I turned that switch on again, pulled out the mouse transmitter tab, and nothing changed.  The touch pad still doesn't work.

I tried turning off the computer using the power switch after disconnecting the mouse.  It affected nothing.  I couldn't get the touch pad to work.  

At the moment (4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22), I cannot think of any way to get the touch pad to work again.

I'm back where I started.

Or so I thought.  But, on Monday morning, I pulled the mouse transmitter tab out of its USB socket and the touch pad was suddenly working again.

Now the question is: What did I do differently on Monday morning than on Sunday?  Why is the touch pad working (including the "two finger scroll" functions) today, but not yesterday afternoon?

The only things I can think of are that there is either some set of events that have to happen in the right sequence, or that time is a factor, i.e., leaving the computer off overnight is somehow different from just shutting off the computer for a few minutes.    

Ed

The Touch Pad Mystery

I bought my new HP Pavilion 17 notebook (laptop) on October 1, 2014, and I've been having problems with the touch pad ever since.  In a previous thread (HERE) I wrote about the problems involved in converting to a new computer.  All problems have been resolved, except for one: the touch pad on my lap top doesn't work properly.  Initially, the problem was the touch pad would simply stop working.

I've taken the computer back to the store several times, and each time the touch pad problem appeared to be fixed, but then the touch pad stopped working again.  The last time was on November 24, 2014.  The touch pad was working fine when I tested it in the store.  However, the fix only lasted until I got home and turned on my computer again.  When I did so, the touch pad wasn't working.

At one time, the problem appeared to be that the "two finger scroll" functions were at fault, since it seemed that things would work fine when those functions were turned off.  That might still be true, but the touch pad stopped working even when I had the "two finger scroll functions" turned off. 

I bought a mouse on November 2, 2014, so as of that time I was no longer dependent on the touch pad.  And, it was clear that I much preferred using a mouse to using the touch pad, so I just used the mouse from that time on.  The only "solution" at the time seemed to be to reload the Synaptic touch pad driver every time the problem occurred.  But, that didn't seem like a viable solution, since it wouldn't help me when I was in an hypothetical situation where I couldn't use the mouse.  I could probably learn how to to reload the touch pad driver to get it working again, but why do so when I still won't be able to load the driver unless I have the mouse connected?

Then a discovery.

On the morning of January 29, 2015, I brushed away a speck of dust from the touch pad and the cursor moved.  Checking further, I found that the touch pad was working "normally," but without the two finger scroll function.  The touch pad had apparently fixed itself!

I was so excited that I posted a message to Microsoft's user forum with the subject "My touchpad suddenly started working."  (I thought Microsoft may have applied a fix.  When I noticed the touch pad was working, I'd also noticed that someone was updating something in the "background," because there was a significant delay between me typing and the letters appearing on the screen.)

But, it only lasted until I turned the laptop off to go to lunch. When I returned from lunch and opened the lid on my computer, the touch pad was "dead" - totally nonfunctional - as usual.

Meanwhile, someone on the Microsoft forum has asked me if, in the Device Manager area, under "Mice and other pointing devices," it says the touch pad is not functioning.  I checked, and it said the touch pad was "working properly" even though it wasn't functioning at all.  That was the end of the discussion.

Then, on the morning of February 1, it happened again.  I brushed away a speck of dust on the touch pad, and the cursor moved.  The touch pad was functioning again (without the two finger scroll function).  It lasted until I closed the lid on the computer to go to lunch.

When it happened again on the morning of February 4, I decided to do some research and to start being more scientific about the figuring out the cause of the problem.  I did a Google search for "touchpad on-switch" and found a discussion HERE about such a thing on a HP notebook. I found that some HP laptops have an on-off switch for the touch pad.  You either tap the upper left corner twice to turn the touch pad on and off, or you press the upper left corner and hold it for a few seconds to perform the same functions.  But, that doesn't work on my laptop.

Something is turning the touch pad on, however.  I was becoming certain that closing the lid on the laptop was what turned the touch pad off, but when I did a test on Feb. 4 while the touch pad was working, only closing the lid for about 30 seconds, the touch pad was still working when I opened the lid and signed on again.  However, when I closed the lid to go to lunch and run some errands for a couple hours, the touch pad was no longer functioning when I returned.

I also did another test while the touch pad was working.  I swiped my finger in from the left side to see if it would turn the touch pad off.  It didn't, but while my finger was still on the touch pad, the cursor wasn't moving.  I had to lift my finger and put it down again to get the cursor to start moving again.  So, it had temporarily turned off the touch pad - sort of.  (The reverse doesn't work.  I.e., when the touch pad isn't working, swiping my finger in from the left side does nothing.) 

This morning I went through the pdf file of instructions for my laptop to see if it says anything about any switch for turning the touch pad on and off.  It doesn't.

So, now I'm waiting for the touch pad to start working again.  And I'm keeping a record of what tests I did when the touch pad starts working again all by itself.  It hasn't escaped my notice that the touch pad seems to start working around every third day.  We'll see if it starts working on the 7th.  If it does, I think I have an idea where the problem comes from.

Hmm.  When I returned home on the afternoon of the 6th and turned on my laptop, the touch pad was working again.  So, it wasn't quite three days.  But there is still some kind a pattern to it.  The touch pad kept working after I closed the laptop lid a couple times for 10 minutes or so.  But, on the morning of the 7th it was no longer working.  And then on the morning of the 8th it was working again.  And when I turned on the laptop in the afternoon it was still working.  And it was still working on the morning of the 9th.  In the afternoon, it wasn't working. And, for the second time, it worked 2 days in a row when it worked all day on the 11th and was still working on the morning of the 12th.  Here's a summary of the times the touch pad worked:

Jan. 29: worked in the a.m.
Feb. 1: worked in the a.m.
Feb. 4: worked in the a.m.
Feb. 6: worked in the p.m.
Feb. 8: worked in the a.m. & p.m.
Feb. 9: worked in the a.m.
Feb. 11: worked in the a.m. & p.m.
Feb. 12: worked in the a.m. & p.m.
Feb. 13: worked in the p.m.
Feb. 14: worked in the a.m. & p.m.
Feb. 15: worked in the p.m. - sort of
Feb. 16: worked in the a.m. & p.m - sort of (see comments).
Feb. 17: worked in the a.m. & p.m.
Feb. 18: worked in the a.m. & p.m.
Feb. 19: worked in the a.m.

On Saturday, Feb. 15, I noticed that the touch pad was working but then stopped working.  It stopped when I moved the computer into another room, where I turned on the computer first, and then the mouse.  Experiments on Sunday the 15th and Monday the 16th seem to confirm that the touch pad works ONLY if I turn on the mouse before turning on the computer.

Of course, that means I need the mouse in order to make the touch pad work.  That makes the touch pad worthless, since the only time I would need it is when I'm in a situation where I can't use the mouse.

What I'm going to do for the next five days is turn my computer on and off the same way every time as follows:
 
1. Turn on the mouse.
2. Turn on the power to the large monitor.
3. Open the computer.
4. Use the mouse.
5. Check to see if the touch pad works.

When I shut down for lunch and in the evening, I'll do the following:

1. Close the lid on the computer.
2. Turn off the mouse.
3. Turn off the power to the large monitor.

When I've done that for five days, if the results are consistent and the touch pad always works, I'll try switching some element to see what the effect is.  I'll write the results in comments below, instead of here.

I need to confirm everything.  But, I think I'm getting close to having enough information to use when I discuss the problem with HP or with Microsoft or with the people at the computer store.

Ed

Facts and Evidence

I created the top cartoon in May 2013 to illustrate how an Anthrax Truther looks at facts and evidence.  Now, I realize that if the Truther were a lawyer presenting his case in court, he would not say or imply that facts are evidence.  He would argue that the highlighted A's and T's are evidence which he believes should establish a "fact" for the jury.  Whether the jury believes his "fact" is another matter.

Personally, however, I think the top cartoon is funnier.  And there would be nothing wrong with that wording if the presentation were being made outside of a courtroom.

The copy of "The People's Law Dictionary" in my personal library contains these definitions:

FACT: n.  an actual thing or happening, which must be proved at trial by presentation of evidence and which is evaluated by the finder or fact (a jury in a jury trial, or by the judge if he/she sits without a jury).

EVIDENCE: n.   every type of proof legally presented at trial (allowed by the judge) which is intended to convince the judge and/or jury of alleged facts material to the case.  It can include oral testimony of witnesses, including experts on technical matters, documents, public records, objects, photographs, and depositions (testimony under oath taken before the trial).  It also includes so-called "circumstantial evidence" which is intended to create belief by showing surrounding circumstances which logically lead to a conclusion of fact.

Ed

Learning how to use my new laptop computer

 

The Scientific Method

This morning I found a link HERE which explains how to fix the "two finger scroll not working" problem.  There's a different solution HERE.  The technician I talked with on Tuesday spent a lot of time looking at the solution described on the web page HERE.  Other possible solutions may be found HERE.

My experience has been as follows:

I bought my laptop a month ago, on October 1, 2014.  The instructions on how to use the touchpad included two finger scrolling, right-edge swipe to show the "charms," left-edge swipe to switch between apps, and other features.

I had a LOT of difficulty adjusting to the touchpad AND the fact that if the cursor landed on some link and remained there for more than a fraction of a second, the link would activate.  Or if the cursor was on a link when I completed a scroll motion, when I touched the touchpad again to complete the scroll it might be the same as activating the link that was currently under the cursor.  Within a few days I somehow clicked on a link or did something that filled my computer with malware.  So, I had to take it back to the store to have it cleaned out.  They restored all the software to its original state.  The two finger scroll was still working fine.  (I was also having MAJOR problems figuring out the best way to copy and paste.)

So, that was how I used my lap top from October 1 to November 2 when the touchpad suddenly stopped working altogether.  I couldn't even move the arrow around, because there was no arrow.

I took the laptop back to the store, and they seemingly fixed the problem.  However, when I got it home I found that, while I could move the arrow around, the two-finger scroll didn't work, nor did the left-swipe, etc.

The next day, November 3, I contacted the store's on-line site and they restored the two-finger scroll function in about 20 minutes.

But, on November 4, while visiting http://www.thesuperficial.com/, I started getting "unresponsive plugin" and "unresponsive script" messages over and over, like it was in a loop.  And, I think the cursor arrow changed to a small hand for awhile.  When I managed to get out of that web site, the touchpad on my laptop was once again totally dead.  It didn't work at all.  (I think it's possible that the first time the touchpad went totally dead I'd been either on that same site or on www.tmz.com.) 

So, I again contacted the store's on-line site.  This time, the technician spent two hours prowling around trying to find a solution.  He finally restored some functionality to the touchpad, but not two finger scrolling.  When it was clear he was just doing the same things over and over and over without any change in the results, I told him I was going to take the laptop back to the store technicians so that they could see what I was doing on the touchpad.  (The on-line technician had type into a communication box when he wanted to ask me to use the touchpad to see if some fix had worked or not.)

So, on November 5, I took the laptop back to the store.  And that's where the situation is at the moment.

But, I'm concerned that there may be no current workable solution to the problem. And, I'm thinking that the store technicians just can't say that it is a " currently unsolvable problem."

Plus, it had taken me a month to discover that I probably shouldn't be using the touchpad anyway, since the mouse is VASTLY easier to use.  I just need the touchpad for the rare occasions when I might take my laptop out of the office to some place where it isn't convenient to use a mouse. (That's why I bought a laptop and not another desktop computer.)

Some history:

I started working with computers in 1964 as a programmer.  Later I became a systems analyst and systems manager for major corporations.  I think I got my first home computer sometime in the 1980s.  I use my current home computer all the time, but I don't keep up to date on software changes.

On my old computer, I'm currently running Windows XP.  I use my old computer to maintain my web site, which I update on average once per day.  I use Netscape 7.2 (which I think is from 1998) as my email software AND as my web site composer.  I use Lotus-123 (1998 version) for my spreadsheets.  I use Word 2003 to write my books.

I'm having problems with emails.  It sometimes takes a half-dozen tries to send an email, and it may take five minutes or more to receive/download an email.  

So, I decided I needed to upgrade.  But, I can't switch to Windows 8.1 on my old computer without reloading all the application software, and I'm not sure how much of my old software will work on 8.1.

So, I bought a new laptop.  The plan was to switch everything over to the laptop, and then convert to Windows 8 or 8.1 on my old computer.  And one of the two computers could be used as a backup.

It took me nearly a month to realize that I shouldn't be using Firefox as my web browser on my laptop.  (I had been using Firefox for many years on my old computer, but the "current" version on my old computer with Windows XP is NOT the same as the current version of Firefox on Windows 8.1.)

I didn't think it would be a good idea to try to continue using Netscape 7.2 as my composer.  So, I tried finding a composer in Windows OFFICE 365.  But, they don't have one for Windows 8.1.  I did research and found out about Firebug.  I downloaded it, but I couldn't do anything with it.  It's a totally different kind of composer.  Talking with people on the Firebug forum, I was told that I should be using SeaMonkey.  I'd never heard of SeaMonkey, but when I downloaded it, it looked to be PERFECT for my needs.  Of course, someone else quickly said that a different program, Bluegriffon was better. Maybe so, but first I'll have to see if SeaMonkey does all I need it to do.   

I also use my computer to argue with conspiracy theorists on my blog HERE.

I haven't even tried to switch my two email accounts to the laptop.  My old computer still uses "pop servers."  (I have an archive of 50,000 emails that would probably need to be switched over, too.)

But, mostly I want to use my computer to write books.  I just need to get this computer changeover completed first.

If the two-finger scroll and other features on the touchpad can't be made to work, I need to find out how to get to the "charms" functions some other way, along with finding a different way to do all the other things that don't work.  There would only be a "serious" problem if the touchpad could not be used to visit web sites because I might visit one that triggers a total shutdown of my touchpad.   

Ed          

About Writing

I've been writing for a hobby since I was in my teens, which was a lonnnnnng time ago.  Initially, I wrote short stories.

Of course, I also tried to sell my stories.  But, all I did was collect a heap of rejection slips.

While I was serving in in the U.S. Air Force in Japan, I became interested in oil painting.  That more or less took me away from writing for about ten years.  After I got out of the Air Force, I continued with the oil painting and actually sold quite a few of them.

But, gradually I lost interest in oil painting.  My true love was writing.  Plus, I was writing every day as I worked as a computer programmer, and then as a systems analyst.  It was technical writing, as it was part of my job to explain how business systems currently worked at my place of employment, and how a new system would do things differently, thereby solving problems that had plagued the company for years.  At home, I wrote a non-fiction book about how difficult it was to convince some people that computers were not magic and it was the systems designer and programmer who made the computer do things, computers didn't just do them automatically.  (This was in the early days of computing, when the average person had no idea how a computer worked and the idea of a "home computer" wasn't even imagined yet.)  The book was evidently too self-serving, and I couldn't get an agent interested.

Then I started writing novels.  And somehow I got the idea of trying to write screenplays, since I was a BIG movie fan and had been all my life.

I managed to get an agent interested, and he arranged for a producer to option one of my screenplays.  But, none of my scripts was ever actually bought and produced.  I entered screenwriting contests and did fairly well.  That went on for years, and I had a half dozen screenplays in circulation.  (They're described on a page on my web site HERE.)

Meanwhile, I again returned to writing novels.  I wrote a novel about the early days of World War II, which at various times I called "That December," "Dangerous December" and "Clipper."  A well-known agent became interested in the novel and tried about 50 different publishers, but it was no sale.  (One of the publishers liked the idea of an adventure on a Pan-Am flying boat and mentioned it to one of his writers, Ken Follett.  Follett then wrote a novel titled "Night Over Water."  It had nothing to do with my novel, other than that the story took place on a Pan-Am flying boat.)

After the terrorist hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, I became interested in the anthrax letter attacks that occurred shortly afterward.  I created a web site and began discussing (and arguing) the case with people on the Internet.  I was fascinated by arguments between "experts," where it was clear that one "expert" was arguing his personal beliefs, while another expert was looking at the facts and evidence.  I enjoyed figuring out which was which. 

In 2005, I wrote a non-fiction book titled "Analyzing the Anthrax Attacks," which was my analysis of the information known at that time.  Since I had no "credentials" for writing such a book, I couldn't find an agent or a publisher. So, I published it myself (a major adventure and learning experience for me).

The experience in self-publishing "Analyzing the Anthrax Attacks" convinced me that I should self-publish a Kindle edition of "Clipper," which I did in September 2010.  Since there was no publicity for the book, no one knew about it.  However, I did sell a few copies from time to time, particularly when ABC television aired a series titled "Pan Am" in 2011 and 2012.   

In 2012, I self-published a second non-fiction book titled "A Crime Unlike Any Other: What the Facts Say About Bruce Edwards Ivins and the Anthrax Attacks of 2001."  Once again, because I had no "credentials" for writing such a book (other than examining and discussing all the information about the case for over 10 years), I hadn't been able to get any agents interested.   Even though it also had no publicity, it has sold enough copies to off-set my costs in self-publishing the book and make it profitable (albeit only slightly so).

In October 2013, I started work on a new novel - a science-fiction novel which incorporated and expanded upon an idea from a screenplay I never finished, which was called "Gizmo."  I finished the third draft of the novel in January 2014.

Once again, I had problems getting an agent.  This time, however, the reason was different.  It appears no agent wants to work with a 77-year-old wanna-be novelist.  (Some agents even say on their web sites that they do not handle writers over 65 or so.)  Also, the book business has changed.  The big thing in novels these days is "series books," i.e., books where a character or group of characters have adventure after adventure in a series of novels.  Examples: Lee Child's 19 novels featuring "Jack Reacher," Janet Evanovich's 21 novels featuring "Stephanie Plum," James Patterson's "Private" series, and the "Nikki Heat" novels by Richard Castle (which are real books by real writers posing as a fictional author from the TV series "Castle.")

But, I was undeterred.  Since I truly enjoy writing, I decided to work on a second sci-fi book involving the same characters from the book I had finished in January 2014. I finished the first draft of that second book in August 2014.  The plan is to have three books in the series finished before I once again try to find an agent.  And, if I can't find an agent for the three books, I'll self-publish.

I think I understand why I haven't been more successful with my fiction.  I have good plots, but my main characters do not excite the reader.  Readers are interested in following what happens to some interesting character, even if the story is kind of far-fetched or dopey.  It's certainly better to have a good story AND interesting characters, but it's almost impossible to get a novel published if the characters are not interesting.

Knowing what the problem is doesn't automatically make the solution easy.  I'm working on it.  Hopefully, agents and readers will find the characters in my three sci-fi novels to be interesting and exciting.

Time will tell.

Ed

Converting to a new computer

Last week, I bought a new Hewitt-Packard laptop computer.  It works fine, and I'm totally pleased with it.  But I was stunned to see how many differences there are in the way things are done on new computers versus how I've been doing them on my old computer for the past 10 years or so.

It's like I've entered a different world.  Nothing works the way I've been accustomed to doing things.  I'm going to have to learn new skills.  And, while learning, I have to try to avoid disasters.

The main problem seems to be the differences between Windows XP and Windows 8.1.  But there are also major differences in using a touchpad versus using a mouse.  It's as if everything has changed.

1.  Most times, it seems that just holding the cursor arrow over something is equivalent to clicking on it.  That means if I see an icon and don't know what it is for, and if I hold the cursor over the icon to see what information pops up to explain the purpose of the icon, I may also activate some function.

ADDED NOTE:  It appears that this could be a difference between Internet Explorer and Firefox.  The problem seems to only occur with Internet Explorer.  I've switched to Firefox where the problem doesn't seem to happen.

2.  I'm having a serious problem figuring out how to copy and paste things.  It seems to be different with each application.  On my old computer, clicking on the right button on the mouse would bring up a menu that included "copy" and "paste" and other functions.  Clicking on the touchpad equivalent accomplishes nothing. And there doesn't seem to be any way to copy many things. 

ADDED NOTE:  I viewed some videos on how to use the touchpad, and from one of them I learned that copy and paste is a two handed operation. You have to press the lower left corner of the touchpad with the finger of your left hand while using a finger on your right hand to move the cursor over the area you want to copy.  With a mouse, it's all done with one hand.  Learning it was a two handed operation was a major discovery for me. 

3.  There are no longer any manuals on paper to refer to.  You have to find things on-line, like help videos which never seem to address my current problem.  Somewhere there may be an explanation, but it's not like looking things up in an index and flipping to a page.

ADDED NOTE:  This is still an issue.  But I'm becoming accustomed to it.

I didn't have any problem creating this blog - ON MY OLD COMPUTER.  I shudder to think what would be involved if I tried it on my new computer.

ADDED NOTE: Apparently, it would be no problem at all.  I found I can access this blog as easily on my new laptop as I can on my old computer.

While looking for something else, I discovered Microsoft Paint.  This is a MAJOR find for me.  I had it on my old computer and didn't even know it.  It means I can do most of my graphics work without the need to buy Corel Draw.
  
Ed