LJ clients (I hate computers)

Probably the most frustrating thing about computers is the way that, once you've gotten something working the way you want it to, and it's working fine, it will just stop working.

Earlier today I discovered that my Firefox Session Saver was not working, when I accidentally closed Firefox (I hit Alt+F4 instead of Ctrl+F4) and when I restarted it it came up blank. A couple of other things were not working right. I decided that, since my install seemed to have gotten gorked, perhaps it was time to update, since my version of Firefox is fairly old. So I did that, and discovered that none of my extensions were working. I managed to find a new version of Session Saver and it seems to work. Duplicate Tab now seems to be working, and its coalesce windows feature seems to be working. But I can't find any version of the Snapback Tab extension (which kept track of like the last 10 tabs that you closed in a menu that let you bring them back, and in the same position in the tab bar list to boot, a great feature for someone who frequently manages to close the wrong tab by mistake). And worse, I can't find Deepest Sender, my LJ client, through either the Mozilla site or the LJ page. For the first time in approximately forever, I am using the standard web interface to write an LJ entry.

So, do people out there use the standard page (http://www.livejournal.com/update.bml), or do you use a client? If you use a client, what client do you use, is it compatible with XP and Firefox 1.5, what features does it have to recommend it, and where can I get it? This default web form is wimpy, the rich text version doesn't seem to allow any text entry at all, and in any case, I started using Deepest Sender because I found it was less likely to make my posts suddenly vaporize after a long time writing.

(Update: I tried to post this, and when I clicked on "update journal", instead of posting the entry, it dropped me into the rich text editor with all of my paragraphs mashed into one.  At least I can type in the rich text editor now.  Not confidence inspiring; I do hope someone can recommend a client.)

ConFusion

Since this has come up in my own negotiations with birder2, I guess I should ask it here:

Of people planning on attending ConFusion this year, who's planning on staying over and making music Sunday night?

Also, the web page says some things that seem vague to me about having an Art Demo Room; does anyone who reads me know if this is in addition to, or instead of, a normal art show? (I would expect it to be in addition, but the web site seems to suggest that it is instead.) I need to figure out if I (a) could and (b) would want to participate in that, especially if it is in place of regular art show sales.

Book review: Night Train to Rigel

Today's book review is Night Train to Rigel by Timothy Zahn.

This is a fun, fast-paced space opera, the sort of story that would make a great movie. Zahn limits the information available to the reader in a way that creates some surprises as the story unfolds, but he does it in a way that makes the plot twists and shifting perceptions of who the good and bad guys are make sense, rather than just the author abusing his power so he can say "ha ha, fooled you again!" Railfans should also be pleased to know that he's created an interstellar railroad that actually makes sense. It all hangs together well, but I'm a bit disappointed, because Zahn stories usually have at least one really novel idea at their core. This book has some novel twists on ideas that other authors have explored before; from almost any other author it would be quite original enough to satisfy me. But the idea that's so unexpected that only Zahn could have written it is missing.

I am somewhat concerned that Tim told us at Chambanacon that this is supposed to be the start of a series, because he tied things up in this story pretty well, and doesn't seem to have left himself a whole lot of room to write more in this universe and keep it fresh. But with a whole galaxy to play in, there ought to be some surprises left.

Overall, a solid book and a fun read; good, but not, I think, outstanding. 8 out of 10. (It would be an awesome movie, though, so all you Hollywood moguls out there take note!)