Cookies can be evil too ...

Cookies.

Cookies are delicious. Whether they come with choc-chips, or macadamia nuts, or simply smothered in Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, cookies are my friend.

But not all cookies are appealing. Some cookies – liked iced vovos and tick tocks, are a waste of my time. Others, like ginger snaps, are simply disgusting. And then there are cookies on the internet, and they’re another story all together. Cookies on the internet, whilst I can’t say they are the devil – merely because they are still under investigation for satanic involvement (yes, that’s code for “I’m not quite sure what they are yet”) – are evil.

Especially as they are misleadingly named after such a delicious snack food.

Yesterday I did a virus search on my computer – something I should probably do more often, as I am on the internet quite a lot – and I came up with the disturbing news that there were tracking cookies on my computer. Instantly thrown into a panic by the image of chocolate royales stealing all my banking passwords - and then my identity, before moving to the south of Brazil – I had a crisis of confidence in my computer.

I know, right, like it wasn’t bad enough before!

To make matters worse, I then couldn’t open my novel manuscript because it said someone else was using it. How can someone else be reading a book that’s on my hard-drive???

I was devastated!

It had to be the cookies. And the idea that someone else might have hacked in to my computer was very alarming. I immediately did a full anti-virus update and blasted those things quicker than the cookie monster (who’s now into vegetables apparently – loser) could have counted them.

Actually, it took two hours. Not quick at all. Computers are so not as fast as the world thinks they are.

So now, I’m not only moving to Namibia because of ICT; I’m going there because when people talk about cookies, I only want the kind I can stuff in my mouth.

The Windows 7 Horseman of the Apocalypse

Ok, so I’ve been fairly quiet on the teaching-technology quandary, mainly because I haven’t really needed to use it – so I’ve had a blissful week in which teaching is a joy because I get to do the things I love:

1. Talk about books.
2. Get students to do activities on butcher’s paper (ok. No I didn’t – but it was a fantastic activity and I am going to do it again one day soon. NEVER using Inspiration again!!!)
3. Talk some more about books.

There was other stuff to, because am a multi-faceted teacher even without stupid technology, but my point is: No technology = no desire to move to Namibia!
But, it would seem I don’t even need to teach in order to hear the call of the wild. I have another dilemma.

Introducing the third horseman of the Apocalypse: Windows 7, come on down (with all of your upgraded programs! To be fair, I’ve just this moment been told that Word 2007 isn’t actually a blood relative of Windows 7 – he’s more of a groupie).

I hate groupies.

I ask you, why does everything have to change just when I’ve worked out how to use it the first time? I’m no computer genius, obviously, but I’ve been typing since Grade 5, took – for all intents and purposes - typing as a VCE subject (ok, it was more than that but that’s all I remember how to do of the subject I got an A+ in when my Indicative Grade was a C+).

Word 2007 is just a labyrinth. Where in the hell are text boxes, for example? It’s true, I wasn’t adept at using them with Windows 2003, but now I don’t even know where they are! And when I open a document and it’s split into 2, or 4 – yikes – and there’s no clear option of consolidating, then I just want to break things.

Seriously. This Laptop with its Windows 7 and awful Groupies better have some serious health insurance.

Maybe the computer version of HBA will pay for me to go to Namibia?