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0706 - Complexification

Life, even life on Anguilla, grows inexorably more complex. As the principal computer at The Objective Observatory aged, it was time for a fancy new one, with more memory, more storage, more everything. That's good, but what isn't good is that the new box comes with the new Microsoft Windows system, called "Vista". OK, OK, a new system, no use moaning for the good old Etruscan days, the Staff here has to learn how to use it. So, cleverly, a how-to book is ordered from Amazon.com. "Windows Vista Secrets" by Livingston and Thurrott duly arrives. It is large format, and runs 647 pages. List, $39.99, but less at good ol' Amazon. Well, this one tells us more than we want to know about making movies (we don't do that), but it's hard to know how to set up files and such. True, there's an appendix showing all sorts of symbols (spider, anybody?), but that's not what we need as innocents. OK, back to Amazon and look at the long list of Vista books. There is of course "Windows Vista for Dummies" but our Staff rule is not to buy any books calling us "Dummies" – we don't take no lip from publishers. So, we order "Windows Vista In A Nutshell" by one Preston Gralla. This is a rather fat nutshell, running 732 pages with five appendices. Again alas, it has all sorts of topics, but the index is largely useless. Pause while we go back to Amazon. Now here's a title: "Windows Vista Ultimate Bible" (Durham), list $34.99, Amazon sells for $23.09. Ordered. A thought strikes – pause while we check out our copy of the King James Bible. It's 987 pages (Old Testament) and 285 more (New Testament). Huge Concordance. Checked for "Windows Vista". No entry.

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