Luminar 3

Proof that the previous version is more versatile for me. Now I know so many people whined about Luminar having no Digital Asset Management, but that was never an issue with me.  I would always make folders on the day, by category etc etc. 

Don't get me wrong, Luminar 3 is a powerful editing tool, but I find it's layout, slow and clunky. The DAM slows the program down to a crawl.  I guess you could point where your images are to an empty directory so there’s no gallery to build, navigate to the photos you want to edit,  THEN do your edits.  I'd rather know where my raw file is, and open it that way, than wait to slog through Luminar 3, or wait 5 minutes for it to be re-indexing the gallery! 

However,  using Luminar 3 as a plugin in either Photoshop or Lightroom is a a lot quicker than trying to use Luminar 3 FROM Luminar three, but it seems to take an unduly long time for the splash screen to go away.

I haven't seen any real difference between Luminar 2018 and Luminar 3 when being used as a plugin, so if you're happy with Luminar 2018, stay with it, because the cobbled together DAM built into Luminar 3 is more a pain in ass, than as asset.

Well, that sucks.

I have been using Cyberfox in place of Firefox for years. I wanted to check to see if there was an update, only to keep getting errors trying to get the the website.

With a bit of Google research, I found out that the programmer of Cyberfox, due to illness, has suspended all work, indefinitely (maybe forever, maybe not). Understandable, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

I don't like what Firefox has turned into, it's become an Echo of Chrome.  And if I wanted Chrome as as my primary browser I'd use Chrome.  After FF's huge overhaul, 90% of my tried and trusted addons/extensions no longer worked.  And there was no longer a way to use Nightly Testers Tools to make them compatible, so really Mozilla, why do you even bother to have than neutered version of Nightly Testers Tools as an addon?

Chrome is ok, but this crapola with Flash ...  really?  I had disabled updates to prevent the issue with flash, but Google forced an update regardless.  I want to customize my Browser, not have the browser customize itself.

I have managed to download the latest and last version of Cyberfox (52.9.1) and am currently backing up my profiles on both Win 7 and Win 10, just in case of a screw up. (ie extensions suddenly no longer working sort of screw up)

Holiday Cheer?

I'm trying to get into it, I really am. But it's more stressful than cheerful. I miss being around family. I know I have Wing and Alan here, but there's Paul and the children, my cousin Mark, Marilyn and Rob... I miss my Aunt Elnore, and Uncle Al.

I probably wouldn't be feeling as bummed out if things had gone differently this year, but for me, I can't wait until it's back to business as usual. And business wasn't so great, but there wasn't all this saccharine smiling going on all the time.

I had a good long talk to my GP

I had a good long talk to my GP regarding my upcoming MHTP. Baring's one soul and life is an exhausting process. I had Wing there, with the pre-warning to NOT take any of it personally.

After explaining childhood, and how I was treated and raised, it was surprising I'm as well adjusted as I am (that should clue you to the f**ked up childhood I had). I told him about my 6+ month drunk I went on after my sister died, and how after one morning, I woke up with a pounding head, a nasty taste in my mouth, and my sister was still dead... and I just stopped. I took alternating hot and cold showers, up-ended the booze bottles into the sink and just stopped.

Took me a few days to feel entirely human, but I managed it. Dr H said it showed just what a strong personality, and person I was, and I have a very good chance of beating this.

I talked about how I felt guilty, angry, and then guilty for being angry regarding Wing. Guilty because of all he has had to take on that I can't do, then angry because and I can't do it, and the depression part of my brain tells me he showing off, then guilty for thinking that. It's truly a vicious cycle.

So, Ignore the feelings, and think: Is it really a good idea for me to be handling sharp cooking knives, or being around boiling water at this time? Oh HELL no, so THANK you Wing for doing the cooking. (this is just one example)

I have been giving, and been using, tools and methods to put the brakes on the cycle. Doesn't always work, but of often enough to make a difference.

#depression

After much key pounding

And experimenting with different programs, I have managed to boot back into Windows 7.  I will have to go back into the bios and make sure that the NEW boot configuration is selected. 

Now, I will be deactivating certain programs on Win 7, so they can be installed on the Win 10 drive. Yes, with the press of F8  at start up, I will have a dual boot system.

It has been several days of frustration and things just not working right. Mega Thanx to Alan for all his patience and assistance.

The Great Phone Re-Contracting!

Alan's phone was dying, it was also a waste of money to spend on portable Wifi devices, and Wing ‘s phone and my devices were out of contract.

Went to Telstra Shop in Garden City, and it was quiet. Got seen to right away. Wing's phone had ownership changed to me, canceled the portable Wifi devices, gave Alan my Galaxy S7, and so he and Wing signed up under the BYO plans. I got the Galaxy S9. By doing this, we have decreased total Telstra billing a month by almost $160.

Galaxy S9. Not too thrilled with it, but that could just be teething pains/getting used to a different set up. So far 11 of my tried and true apps and tools no longer function. ADW, and LauncherX Pro, were two of them that I used to customize my phone. You can make these tiny 'folders' (bubble) and label it, and add what apps you want in it (example A folder called "Astronomy" and all my astronomy apps go into it), but it's SMALL, even at the lowest resolution. It would be great if you could elongate the folder and make the app icons more visible. The Edge app is good but could be better. App Edge only allows 10 apps, or People Edge 10 people. No scrolling it up or down like I did with app on the S7.  Also, the Favorites bar on the bottom, you're restricted to 5 icons only. No more scrolling left or right. I don't know what bright spark at Samsung thought making these thing NON scrollable was a good thing, should be flogged.... or at least demoted.

Smart Switch was a semi-failure, as it did NOT transfer all data as it was supposed to have done. So if you get one, back up your app settings and data, even if you have to copy and paste.  I lost ALL my bird spotting records from my trip to Broome. 

On the positive side, what they've done with the camera and camera controls is amazing. I'm trying to get accustomed to pressing the power button twice to bring up the camera, rather than the home button twice.  This is causing me problems because of the scaphoid fracture I got 3 years ago. My thumb doesn't always press fast enough.  Put camera icon on the screen, problem solved.

Bixby: This reminds me of that excellent Assistant App I had with my S5 and S7, before Google bought it, took what parts they wanted from it, and the original programmers shut it down.  Been playing around with it, and it's not too shabby.

More later when I’ve had it more than one day.