Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Writing software

Fingers tapping, program frozen, time for an update

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Recently, while writing a scene that I had been thinking about quite a bit (fiddling with the details, what I wanted revealed and what I wanted to just hint at), I came to a stopping point and rolled down to the end of the page so only a portion of my hour’s writing was visible.  I was still thinking through what I had typed and thought it a good time to save before I made any more changes.  I gave a quick roll of the mouse and a click on save.  The program froze with a hand tapping its fingers on my screen just above the save button.  I waited several moments, left my desk and returned to find those tiny fingers still tapping.  Ultimately, I had to force-close the program and accept that my recent work was gone.  I restarted, began the scene again having convinced myself that most of what I had written was still clear in my mind, my work at phrasing things just so still drifting before my writer’s eye.  I wrote a while, moving through the scene quicker than the first time.  It didn’t feel that I had caught all that I had worked so hard to recapture, but it was not bad.  Again, a roll of the mouse and a click.  The hand appeared, fingers tick, ticking along.  Frozen again.  I waited an hour in the hope it would come to whatever conclusion it was set on, but no luck.  This time I had not rolled the page down, so all of what I had written was still on screen.  I pulled out a sheet of my daughter’s line paper and copied.  It took a while, but I had my work written down at least.

I have pondered the problem a bit.  I use WordPerfect and have for more than 30 years. This particular version of the program is more than eight years old and does not work well with Vista unless it is set up to be run as an older version program set for Windows XP.  It has not been a problem as I set it up properly years ago.  However, Windows keeps updating, and I think my poor old version of WP has finally met the point where it cannot function with my Vista.  I tested it repeatedly, causing the program to freeze every time.  I even reset it again as an old version program, but the problem persists.  So for a week now I have not been able to write, which is frustrating as this will probably be the last couple weeks that teaching doesn’t take up all my time.

Some time next week my Vista compatible version of WordPerfect will arrive.  In the meantime, I ponder the next scenes I hope to get down and will be ready when my chance to write comes again.  I know I could hand write, but I have become so comfortable with the ease of editing in mid-stride that the thought cramps my thoughts up too tight for such slow drafting.

A Nondescript Little Program: NoScript

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Occasionally, I blog about software programs I have recently found that I think are useful for writers.  Well, this next program is by no means limited to writers. Anyone who spends time on the net researching, shopping, or just wandering about the internet, will find NoScript a useful program.  Like the other programs I have talked about, this is another freeware program, which, of course, won’t turn away any donations.  I actually have been using it for many years, and it’s one of those things that you only know you need it when you don’t have it, kind of like parents or breathing or an opposing thumb.  That’s what NoScript is.  It’s an add-on for Firefox.  (I have only used it with Firefox and cannot say if it will work with Opera, Linux or Explorer.) 

This nondescript (no pun intended, well maybe it was intended) program hides behind your activities and only becomes apparent when you go to a new website.  Then it stops all the script activity from loading until you give permission.  When this happens, I just click on which permissions I want to give the site I am visiting. So I don’t get those annoying advertising boxes popping up over the page I am visiting. And no other little activities are going on that I am unaware of.  I can even give a site temporary permission and exit out immediately if I need to, knowing if I go back again, NoScript is keeping everything under control.

Sure, I occasionally find myself wondering why something isn’t working on a site I have gone to numerous times, but I come to my senses, click on the NoScript icon right next to the web address at the top of my screen and add whatever permissions are needed to get it all back to normal. It is not NoScript fouling up.  The site must have changed a process and added another script.  For example, there is an online vitamin site I go to every three or so months to get new supplies. One day I found I could no longer arrange payment. They had changed their payment process.  It was the first time I had been going to a site on a routine basis and couldn’t do what I was used to doing. It took me a few days to figure it out. I went back, checked NoScript and sure enough had to add a permission.

Sometimes, I have had to experiment a little giving permission for this and not for that until the right things are active and only what I want is active at the site.  Having the option to temporarily allow something comes especially in use then though you can disallow any script at any time. Sometimes I am uncertain what the item is used for, but over the years of using this program, I have learned a lot and usually recognize what needs permission and what I would rather not have active.  The program updates regularly without issue.  Overall, it is pretty simple and just like breathing, something I only think about when I need it.