I’ve used almost every version of Adobe Illustrator, save for version 1 and version CS4.

I hate the departure from the Botticelli Venus.

The backup battery issue I mentioned several weeks ago has entered a new chapter. The beeping finally stopped, all on its own, only to return three times, in an even quieter chirping sound.

Last night, with full lights blinking (a new twist to get my attention), the beeping started up again, and I lost all patience. I killed power, robbed it of all its friends plugged in the back end, and am now using a $14 strip.

“It’s dead, Jim.”

I will replace the battery in a few weeks when I have more time. In the meantime, I will be more proactive in shutting-down my system during thunderstorms and freak hailstorms. Not that the latter are very common.

What I don’t understand is why there is no switch to silence the alarm. Ok, I know why: they really want to sell more batteries. But really, I’d pay more for the model that had a silencer. It could even read with some legalese:

By pressing this switch, I will silence the alarm that’s alerting me that the battery in this device is no longer operational and requires replacement for this device to operate normally. Running this device with this switch turned on will not protect my computer from power failure (although surge protection is still enabled).

Better yet, throw the switch, and the device has auto-ordered you a new battery from Amazon.com. Everyone could be happy.

Today I had two great TechTune Up sessions at the CO with teachers, and one question that came up during both sessions was around RSS.

What is it? What’s it good for? How can I use it?

After offering an explanation, I found this site, which I first thought of as “good for someone who didn’t like RSS.” What it does it give you a view of the front-page of websites as if they were newspaper front-pages. You can surf around, read articles, and be totally overwhelmed by what’s being published by the minute, all the time.

It’s kinda cool. Useful, you tell me.

Check out this new video contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

My interest in programs to write in on the computer is a small hobby and interest.

Then I ran across this photo, a nice little Mac Color Classic, and then find out the guy is running it as a writing station.

When I used to write on my Mac Plus (first Mac), you didn’t run a lot of programs all at once, so yeah, I could understand his point: devote a machine that’s less likely to distract you.

On my computer at work, I may have 10-30 windows open or minimized at any one time, and sometimes finding the focus to write is difficult for reasons beyond so many windows (constant stream of e-mails, iChats, etc.).

At home, it’s almost worse: I have web surfing windows, work windows, windows for various projects I’m engaged in, and e-mails for all sorts of responsibilities I have. In addition, I use iTunes a lot, and yet it seems I’m not terribly efficient at anything.

I’m thinking of buying a bigger screen, but maybe what I need is more focus. I won’t be buying a vintage Mac to get that focus, but… there’s a variety of ways to find focus.

I found this guy’s Mac Color Classic via this website, that extols clean, and simple Mac living. There’s a recipe behind almost every photo or screenshot.

• a lack of visual clutter;
• the sense that your work becomes the focus;
• you don’t have to have 15 programs running at once to get work done,
• there’s an obsessive behavior to rid your menubar of its little icons.

The icons don’t bother me, but the resistance to multitask and wherewithal to focus are bothersome pursuits. For writing, I’ve tried a number of full-screen editors. I like Ulysses and I bought (and really used) Scrivener. But what about focus for other applications?

Does every program need to take full screen control just to write, or get an idea down?

I think the full-screen writing applications are good for hard-core writing. But most tasks (like writing this blog post in MarsEdit) don’t need a full-screen experience (for one, the screen is too big). What would be nice is a shuffling of all the windows (Spaces, or using the minimize widget) to only leave one for focus, and a clean, simple desktop.

That’ll be this week’s project.