Friday, July 04, 2008

Frustrations

I'm having my headaches with my computers the past couple of days. Doesn't that sound slightly stuck up. Computers. Some people can't afford even one and I am complaining about my two... But truly, my aggravation point is rising.

So far I haven't been able to get connected to a wireless router though I thought it was going to be simple. Nope. I've ordered one but there has been a delay and in the meantime I'm using wavelengths that I guess aren't secure nor very reliable because they die in the middle of use or are very slow.

I tried connecting the new computer by wire, which was also supposed to be a simple process, but neither Takumi nor I can figure it out. I mean if he can't then there is no hope for me. I had my Japanese friend come over to help me out but since the computer is in English... Other things like connecting to a computer server (I thought they only brought meals in restaurants) and installing printer and scanner... Nope, those two machines seem to be too old to make use of any more. Takumi is going to give some focused attention to my computers this weekend but as for now I'm going back and forth between the two. Internet and blogging stuff on the old one, (and it crashes every few minutes. Definitely not well.) picture viewing and organizing in the new one.


This too causes some inconveniences. Did you know that key boards are different in different countries. I have heard that even the placement of letters is different in some countries which make it impossible to touch type. In my case, there are just a couple positions that are different, but they hold up my typing speed and I often have to go back and correct spelling errors. If I just use one computer than my head adjusts in a day or two but it is the going back and forth that is confusing.



Let's see. The key that gives me the most problem is the apostrophe. On the American keyboard it is a couple keys over from the L. On the Japanese keyboard it is over the 7. Another key that I always mistype is the quotation mark. It is above the 2 on the Japanese computer and on the American computer it is above the apostrophe. This means that the @ which is above the 2 on the American computer, is next to the P on the Japanese... Hmmm. That's where the brackets are on the American computer I see. There are a few others like the ¥ sign of course (and that may not even show up right on this blog! and the $ sign. : and ; are in different places too.

What all this means is that I am making lots of typing mistakes, minor frustrations but frustrations nevertheless. I try to go back and correct but if you see an odd mark on this blog or in an e-mail from me then you know why.

5 comments:

Quilt Pixie said...

every computer I get has a few characters in different spots -- I think there are greater differences going between languages, but the new laptop I have has all the "home" "end" "page up and down" keys in different spots. While I went between computers I too found it very frustrating as a finger would errantly touch the mouse pad and I'd be somewhere else.... It'll get easier. Hang with it the pay off is well worth it :-)

artfilstitch said...

Tanya,
Hope your computer woes soon pass. I have a wireless laptop and my husband has a PC, we use a Westell VersaLink for networking which works well with no problems. Maybe Tetsu will get everything up and running.
Good Luck!

Elaine Adair said...

Here is another of your wonderful explanations/clarifications to a question I've had ... I always wondered about keyboards in different countries. You have always been such an excellent source of information. Thank you again. Very clever of you to know what people are wondering about? 8-)

Good luck with those danged computers.

G'G'ma said...

Oh, I feel your frustration. Last fall in Mexico I couldn't even type in @ for my email address. No one in the computer room seemed to know what to do. Finally, after a couple days a guy showed me how to use ALT and the numeric keypad. Now I can even type Swedish words correctly.
I'm sure Takumi will be able to solve your problems.

Marilyn R said...

I never thought about different keyboards in different countries. I had a very difficult time adjusting to my laptop keyboard. I still hit the caps lock key by accident all the time. Ugh!