Finally an operating system that is reliable to upgrade to! Widnows 7 picks up where XP left off and improves that – and much more – a lot! I’m very impressed, especially with compability issues; I use a lot of 3rd party peripherals with outdated drivers, and installing them was easier than XP, and the results… they simply work as they should, which can be quite surprising, if you take into account that win7 is actually a new system “all together” (ok, no entirely, but still). Backwards compability rules! On top of that great improvement, windows 7 is more practical and user oriented – it doesn’t just add fancy graphics to dazzle the audience, but that doesn’t have any real purpose and slows the machine down – it runs actually pretty smoothly and all the new functions add to ease of use. The improved taskbar — well, now that is surely an improvement over the last few versions of the OS. Sure, it was quite a breakthrough from 3.11 to 95, but upon 98’s arrival, it was becoming already a little… well, “old.” Then we had XP with a cosmetic improvement on the start menu and Vista with a little bit more of it, but the taskbar seemed to have staggered in time.

now the taskbar is clean, the usage of space is very smart – the small tabs that show up beside the icon of a program to show multiple windows of it open was really ingenious – and the integration of that annoying “quick bar” with the taskbar itself was a clever move. I mean. Why separate one bar from the other? Very clever. When you want to open a certain program, just click it and its icon will be highlighted, not occupying any extra space on the bar.

the new show desktop buttom, windows shake (it’s amazing, just shake a window to push all the others away) and new hotkeys as well as “drag to resize” with visual cues show a concern for user needs and a better computer experienced with enhanced proctudivity. just these little things have improved in about 20% productivity when typing text, proofreading and applying changes to documents when writing. The new windows explorer also makes it so much easier to handle files, especially graphis, since you can keep track of all your documents with easy to distinguish icons.

so far, i haven’t experienced any system lockups, which is quite surprising, since I’m using some outdated drivers, especially for my tablet and headset. with windows xp i would usually experience odd driver conflict errors, and these are virtually gone from 7. Network setup is absurdly simple, and those annoying screens asking you to allow instalation and changes to the system are not so annoying anymore, and they are actually quite pertinent. It’s very easy to dismiss them or shut them down as well. All in all, it seems that they really took the time to organize tasks and present the user with the most common functions we really use.

the new context menu on certain itens on the taskbar (another great move, i hope many more programs will support it) expand functionality and allow you to manage files (and preferred files) much easier and quicker, with less hassle and less clicks. the search bar integrated on the start menu works wonderfully fast too.

real time thumbnails of programs currently running make it a lot easier for you to find the windows you really want, and to me that was surely one of the best new features of 7, since i work with many windows open. I have to have many word processor windows open for text reference, many folders to get pictures reference, image editors to work on concept images and design, and, of course, web pages for research & further reference. the 3d view is also sweet in that regard. the “highlight” option also is good for you to check contents on each window without actually switching to them, so you only do it when you are sure that is the window you want to have the focus on.

the windows key on the keyboard finally has a good purpose for existing, after all, there were just a few commands you could perform with it on earlier versions that really made you wonder why did they have to create a key especially for that (even though the hotkey for windows explorer has always been priceless to me). you can now manage windows (maximize, restore, minimize, fit it on the right side of the screen or on the left) and quickly access programs you pinned to the taskbar by pressing the windows key plus the number relative to the position of the icon of the program on the bar. For instance, firefox is right beside the start button. if I press windows key + 1, it will open firefox for me.

Another great thing I had the chance to try in this version was speech recognition system. I only had access to Vista in Portuguese, so I couldn’t try it before, on earlier versions, but it is actually soemthing that can be quite useful – and that works pretty well. I must confess I was very skeptical about it in the beginning. I mean, speech recognition sytem? Come on. I would be lucky enough if I said “close” and it closed the window I was in. Thing is, it expands much more than that, and gives you some sort of control that sometimes leaves you baffled. The sweetest aspect of it is that you can open any program by just saying “open” plus the name of the program. You don’t even need to say it entirely, for instance, Mozilla Firefox. If you go on the start menu, you will find Firefox listed like that, but if you say “open firefox” it will already know what you are talking about. the same thing works, for instance, when you are browsing for files on explorer. you can just say “double click” and the name of the file, and there you have it. you can pretty much do anything you could do with a mouse and keyboard by just talking to the computer. and I mean it. even dictation works like magic. You talk and the computer writes – with great precision. I still can’t believe it works so well. And it gets better. It learns from mistake to adapt itself to your voice and way of speaking, so words that sound similar will actually be recognized with better precision in future uses after you use the “correct” command – and it’s all on the go, you don’t need to leave applications or start special procedures to teach the computer how to better understand you… it does it all automatically, silently, as you work and use it. It couldn’t be sweeter.

Of course, there are still many problems with it, and I wouldn’t recommend using it for heavy duty tasks, but it can improve windows experience quite a lot, especially if you have to handle with so many different things at any given moment and keyboard and mouse are not quick enough (switching applications, starting programs, going to certain areas of the screen or reaching for needed elements. The dictation feature is great for english users (my native language is not english, so I still prefer to write it down than speak it out because i have to think a lot before I can make a coherent sentence), too. Writing e-mail and blog posts have never been sweeter. Unfortunately, it eats too much memory, and using it with heavy prograns such as firefox can be quite a painful experience, since it also slows down keyboard response time. so you need to constantly switch off and on if you want to use other input devices. it has also crashed on me once too, when it took too long to give me feedback and I decided to enter the command by keyboard. it didn’t allow me to use the program, so I shut it off manually, which must have caused an exception and the speech program just crashed. Not a big deal, but it is when it starts being practical and starts being annoying. Quite often it wouldn’t understand what I said and would say “what was that?” which was annoying, specially when I was saying the command out loud, in a clear voice and with good pronunciation. Sometimes you don’t know if a certain program supports the command you want to use, and instead of saying that, it keeps saying “what was that?” when I said the command. Sometimes, when there are text fields, it also writes down the command instead of executing it, and that was what actually made me decide to use it only in very specific tasks that made the use of keyboard very uncomfortable: you say the command, the computer recognizesit, but it STILL writes it down instead of performing it!

another annoying aspect is that windows explorer actually changes its name to the name of the folder you’re in, and sometimes there were so many different folders open that I couldn’t remember the name of them, and it wouldn’t simply switch to any of them or show me the list with all available options (which is usually what it does when there is more than one option to something with the same name). If I said “switch to windows explorer” with would answer me with “what was that?”

but it’s actually pretty good. you can press keyboard keys – any of them – and you can also control the mouse by bringing up “mousegrid”command, and telling where the cursor should go and what sould it do. if you want to click image buttons or things you don’t know the name of, you can tell it to “show numbers” and it will fill your screen with numbers and you can then tell it the number of what you want to click. it is really that easy.

back to win7 features, the new gadgets are great too, you can now put them anywhere on the screen (more practical this way) the customization options are a little better too, but I’m not much into that kind of stuff anyway, and integration with other microfost products (msn, sitcky notes, windows media player, etc) enhance the experience. the best things about the new system is organization, stability, practicity, ease of use and, of course, sleekness. I must confess I wasn’t surprised by early versions of 7 because I was thinking it was going to be something similar to Vista – heavy, clumsy and disfunctional in many fundamental ways. It was visually alluring, yes, but seemed to be too heavy!

In this regard, I was wrong. It is nothing close to vista, and in fact, surpasses all the expectations. finally a good reason to upgrade from xp for sure. it’s a bit pricey… but it’s worth it. you can have 7, photoshop and free applications like google docs and picasa to handle documents and images and you’ll have anything you need to accomplish regular tasks (and many other professional ones too – I do all my word processing on photoshop too; I know, it’s not what it is for, but it does it so well as well!). the picture viewer could be a lot better in my opinion, but maybe I only think that because I am such a big fan of picasa’s.

thanks for reading, and sorry for all the gross mistakes. I just felt like I should write it, but schedule has been so tight lately! I had to squeeze it in.

So yeah, I’ll be taking part in this year’s nanowrimo again. Last year I completely blew it. I think I didn’t write even 5k words, but I plan to change that this year. I won ‘07 competition with “Harbinger” volume 1 which was close to 200K words, an astounding result, in my opinion.

This year, though, I am writing in portuguese. I don’t think I’ll ever write a book in english again. I get a lot of negativity, especially from americans. I think they are outraged by the fact of a brazilian guy writing in their language or something. Most of them react well until they realize I’m from abroad. Well, until they realize I’m from Brazil, which is weird. I have been mistaken as australian, english and some other crazy nationalities – all english speaking ones -, and they seemed to guess it was fine as long as I belonged to these countries. Something about Brazil just sets them off.

So it’s a little pointless to write in english if no english speaking people will read it. and I have to admit it was a little stupid to want to write in a foreign language anyway. What was I thinking? Advertisement is easier to do out there, for sure, but promotion is almost impossible if you’re not there so angry readers can punch you on the face.

the working title is “o guepardo” (the cheetah) – well, well, so original! – and will be actually my first fantasy book of sorts. there will be magic and all sorts of impossible things, contrary to all my previous works that, ,to a certain extent had fantastic creatures, but their abilities were all common and within the realm of physical possibilities  we’re all used to. it will be a furry novel and I won’t make a real book out of it. my last furry book “por um abraço seu” was a fiasco and that was enough for me to learn I shouldn’t market furry stuff to the general audience.

i got a fancy new microphone (okay, it’s not that fancy, but works better than the ones I had previously) so I might be doing some podcasts of readings of excerpts and whatever… perhaps, I don’t know. if I can figure out this podcast thing out.

i’m aiming at the 150k words goal, but if I manage to meet the quota of 50k I’ll be already glad.

on other exciting news, i set the date for my first human novel release. july 13th 2010. i know i always set release dates to fall on my birthday, but this time i mean it. i wanted it to be somewhere in march, but there’s still so much to do regarding physical production (illustrations, formatting, etc) and i would let myself down because i wouldn’t be able to finish it all by then. [O QUARTO CAMINHO] is also in portuguese and tells the story of a brazilian guy that goes to africa to fight for the conservation of the wild cheetah. he is able to communicate with animals, and he believes this ability will make all the difference in this fight, only to learn that some things are bigger than whatever we can do about it. but it ends in a positive note. i see it as a classic, because it has a classic feel to it. it is unlike anything i have ever written  before, but it was kind of the book i have always wanted to write, but wasn’t mature enough to do so.

anyway. wish me luck.. for I’m gonna need it.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/201626

I’ve been wondering…

are we replaceable? What makes each of us unique? Are we unique, really? What makes us like one another? To what extent liking others is just a reflection of how much we like ourselves?

Hmm.

I’ve been receiving a great amount of negative feedback on almost anything that I do. It comes from pictures, mostly, since I haven’t been publishing new works for half a year already. It’s easy to understand why people get upset at negative comments, after all, there’s a lot of hard work behind most things we do, and people seem to ignore that fact and just judge by what they see, without taking some time to think about the collection of efforts that resulted in what they are seeing at the moment. It doesn’t take a great effort to realize that, but people are quick to judge and slow to think.

I’m not the one to talk about my personal life, after all it’s personal and we all have our crosses to bear, but this year has been by far the most difficult of my life. It seems like a probation, and I don’t complain about the hard times. I think it’s funny, though, that most people seem to take it out on us exactly when we are down, because this way they know they’ll truly hurt our feelings. It makes me sad to be surrounded by such selfish and fiendish people. But there’s always the bright side of life, and I’m trying to focus on it, despite all the bad things that have been happening. I’ve got truthful friends, and I’ve got my will and strength. I won’t give up on my dreams and beliefs just because the times are dire and people are giving me the cold shoulder. I gave up believing that all the good efforts and good deeds we do will come back to us some time in our life, and it actually makes me feel better because now I can do good things without expecting anything in return; from life or anybody.

I want to apologize to friends, fans (if I still have some *laughs*) and everyone who usually stays in touch with me for my lack of response and constant silence lately. I’m not the one to talk much about problems and bad things, and I prefer to be silent and be on my own when I have very personal and serious things to deal with; it’s the way I am. My grandfather passed away last week too, so me and my family are going through that sensation that we usually have when someone dear to us dies. He had been fighting against a collection of different diseases for 10 years, so now new ways are opening to all of us. We will have to learn to thread new paths too, and rediscover purpose and inspirations for life.

I think it’s a bit sad that I have seen so many people die when I am still so young. It seems that, lately, people are dying so easily. I’ve lost a few friends too, and it makes you wonder why usually the good people die younger. I’m not saying that someone who lives long is bad, but there are so many very bad people around, and these seem to live forever. Must be because they are always up to no good and makes us feel bad, so it seems that they live longer just because of that.

So, my friends, I need you to know that many things are changing in my life right now, but I won’t give up on my dreams. I’ll keep going on trying to find a way. Even though we make our own destinies, there comes a time when life takes us by surprise, and we have to relearn everything to be able to become someone better, wiser and more understanding. I know some of you could never tell I was going through difficult times because I hardly ever complain or discuss about bad things unless they are really painful and unbearable, but please understand I don’t want to bother you with my problems because I know you also have your own difficulties to deal with.

Thanks for reading and understanding.
I wish us all a happy life because we all deserve it. Let’s always look at the bright side of things because there is one even on the darkest of days.

See you around, hopefully sooner than later!
Vagner

#01 – The Greater Maze

Where? Talk to the pigs in front of the courthouse.
Needed to go on? YES.

Hint 1
A higher number means that its value is greater than the previous number.
Hint 2
Start horizontally rather than vertically.
Hint 3
Change direction when you cross the numbers 32, 79, 98, 138 and 149.

#02 – Four Queens

Where? After talking to the pigs, talk to the wolves. Then talk to every sheep, starting with the one of the first screen of the fountain until you reach their leader, the white one in front of the courthouse.
Needed to go on? YES.

Hint 1
There are two solutions.
Hint 2
The corners are not used.
Hint 3
The center is not used either.

#03 – Safe Travel

Where? BEFORE TALKING TO WOLF’S MOTHER IN JAIL (after you talk to her this puzzle is no longer available), but after beating puzzle #02, talk to the wolves and tell them “the sheep aren’t coming.” Then go to the first black sheep and talk to him.
Needed to go on? NO.

Hint 1
The blue wolves are connected by a path along the perimeter.
Hint 2
The green wolves are also connected by a path along the perimeter.
Hint 3
The black sheep are connected by two lines only.

#04 – Tetraminous

Where? In Wolf’s mother cell screen, find a group of three bricks on the wall and click them.
Needed to go on? NO.

Hint 1
When two identical numbers are juxtaposed, there lies the limit of a form.
Hint 2
There are not many options here. Try different shapes and you will find the solution.
Hint 3
Think of a “T” shape in the upper section.

#05 – Painless

Where? Still in the same room as Wolf’s mother, just check the torture machine.
Needed to go on? NO.

Hint 1
What a chaos! But who designed this machine?
Hint 2
Begin with the end: you’ll arrive at the solution.
Hint 3
Just follow the lines!

#06 – Hanoi Stack

Where? Go back to the first screen of the prison, talk to the swat guy and tell him the message. Then check the patch of water on the ground just in front of the closed cage.
Needed to go on? YES.

Hint 1
It takes 15 steps to reach the solution.
Hint 2
You must form a small pyramid to access the base piece.
Hint 3
When the bottom piece is removed, repeat the previous movements in reverse.

#07 – One, Two, Three

Where? Check the control panel beside the cage after you finish puzzle #06.
Needed to go on? YES.

Hint 1
That’s interesting… the progression is not linear.
Hint 2
The answer has eight digits.
Hint 3
Try to say out loud … a 1?

#08 – Genie Sets

Where? Check the empty open cage on the third prison screen (the one Sarah’s at).
Needed to go on? NO.

Hint 1
One set has three hats, that’s too unbalanced!
Hint 2
You must choose a total of four sets.
Hint 3
You must choose both lots of the second line.

#09 – Magic Wand Squares

Where? Check the remote control on the table after talking to Sarah.
Needed to go on? YES.

Hint 1
The exterior perimeter is not modified.
Hint 2
The middle square is not modified.
Hint 3
The squares don’t necessarily need to have the same size.

#10 – Toggle Puzzle X

Where? Check the metal detector in Charming’s HQ (make sure you click on the gray part of it, not the red light). Talk to Hook, then go to the left screen of the HQ (the one with the dragon) and check the open locker.
Needed to go on? YES.

Hint 1
The problem can be solved in eight steps.
Hint 2
Start by the corners.
Hint 3
Finish in the middle.

#11 – Knight Stroll

Where? Check the horse on the first screen of the Charming’s HQ.
Needed to go on? NO.

Hint 1
You must start in a corner.
Hint 2
Cross the board to the opposite corner in two moves.
Hint 3
Return to the center and try to double all the positions you already have. Now you have already solved half the problem; remember that the unused square is a corner.

#12 – Direct Mate 101

Where? Talk to Sarah on Charming’s HQ and ask her if she has a minute.
Needed to go on? NO.

Hint 1
Do not hurry. To set a trap, you’ll need to place your strong pieces in a good position.
Hint 2
The strongest piece here is the queen!
Hint 3
You must block the rear exit.

Wolf’s house

click to see real size

1 – Smart Drink (click here to see solution)
You must click on Wolf’s chemistry set in the first screen of his bedroom.

2 – Shining Star (click here to see solution)
The tutorial will point this one out for you.

3 – Ace Shuffle (click here to see solution) - ESSENTIAL
The tutorial will also point this out for you.  >>You need to check the door first.<<

4 – The Fridge Note (click here to see solution)
Check the fridge.

Elven Pub

Click here to see full size

5 – Upside Down (click here to see solution) – ESSENTIAL
Talk to the bartender and ask him to give you the passphrase. >>You need to talk to the leprechaun first and ask him if he misses Ireland.<<

6 – The Broken Pyramid (click here to see solution) – ESSENTIAL
Just check the speakerphone after having the passphrase.

Square

Click here to see full size.

7 – Toggle Puzzle Stripe (click here to see solution)
Talk to the fox and ask him where is he going.

8 – Switching Places (click here to see solution) – ESSENTIAL
Check the courthouse door.

9 – Magic Square (click here to see solution)
Check the tiles on the pathway.

Courthouse

Click here to see full size

10 – Pull My Finger (click here to see solution) – ESSENTIAL
Talk to the dwarves.

11 – Lamp Challenge (click here to see solution)
Check the lamp that’s precisely in front of Red Riding Hood.

12 – Pixel Swivel (click here to see hints [couldn't solve this one, my bad ;P])
Check the second emblem on the wall.

After solving the last essential puzzle, Pull My Finger, talk to Pinnochio, then to Wolf’s Mother and leave the courthouse to finish Chapter One.

See you on Chapter Two!

Puzzle #11 – Lamp Challenge

Let’s recall the hints:

Hint 1
One number remains in the same position.
Hint 2
The number 3 is placed on the right.
Hint 3
The number 2 is placed in the middle.

They practically give you the answer. =P But here’s the final result:

Here we go! We almost got all the puzzles from the first chapter! The last one I still can’t solve by myself, so I guess I owe you that one. =P

Puzzle #10 – Pull My Finger

Let’s remember the hints:

Hint 1
The answer is not zero. Suppose that the diamonds will stay close to the rope.
Hint 2
Count all the diamonds on the top of the rope.
Hint 3
There are more than 20 diamonds.

Well, there isn’t anything else to say, so here’s the anser: 23

With this one, we are free to proceed to Chapter Two! Talk to Pinocchio and then Wolf’s mother, leaving the courthouse afterwards. There are still two remaining puzzles though.

Puzzle #08 – Switching Places

Let’s refresh our memory:

Hint 1
The problem can be solved in a minimum of eight clicks.
Hint 2
Start with the green square.
Hint 3
The red square should be the last piece to find its area.

So, let’s start with the green square:

Then we proceed to the red one:

Then the blue:

And then the green square again:

And repeat the red one too,

Finally we place the yellow in its final location

Then push the green to its destination as well

And finish by sliding the red square.

Congrats, you’re done! The path to the courthouse is open!

Puzzle #09 – Magic Square

Let’s refresh our memory:

Hint 1
Start with the diagonals.
Hint 2
What happens if you put 5 at the center?
Hint 3
And if you place 8, 1 and 6 on the first line?

Here’s the solution. I, instead of making it in a line like the hint suggests, I placed the 8, 1, 6 sequence in a column. Seemed more logical to me to put the numbers that way. Go figure.

Here you go,