Dan Lipka Web Log

Out of pure curiosity, and because it was free, I upgraded my computer to VISTA Pro. I have a very powerful, new computer, which was made to handle all of VISTA’s memory and graphics requirements. I know that VISTA just came out and I should wait six months before I installed it, but I just wanted to see what Microsoft spent five years building. Here is my quick review: the install was easy and only took about an hour. After using it for a week, the new features seem to be mostly aesthetic. There are fades and transparencies, and new interfaces; however, I turned off most of the superfluous animations and effects because it slows the computer down (in the same way the XP did). Besides that, nothing seems better or faster, which is what I really wanted. There are a few small glitches, like the color scheme changes from the one I choose to the VISTA default when I’m in a program. A few nice things include better search (more like Copernic, which I love) and a nice little

This Saturday, three days from today, will mark the 30th time I have traveled around sun. In that time, the earth has travelled a swift 17,530,086,987 miles, over the course of only 10,950 days. I am having a hard time getting a handle on this seemingly large number, this number 30. It doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t seem possible. Growing up 30 seemed to be immersed in old-age, it was an age beyond youth, it was to be said in the same sentence as 40 or 50, but never with 20 or even 25. 30 year olds shouldn’t go out to bars, or play video games, or live in little NYC apartments, but although the number doesn’t seem right, I don’t do any of those anymore. I’m married and live in a house in Connecticut. I am a father. These are things in common with 40 year-olds, but not with 20 year olds. I have reached a weird stage of life where much of my future it already set, where some of the bug questions have already been answered. But I feel that I’m not ready, that it has happened too