MS Office has long been the gold standard when it comes to office productivity software. In terms of both marketshare and the software itself, Microsoft has achieved complete success. The problem the company faces is becoming a victim of it's own success. How does one keep making money from a mature product in a saturated market?
Microsoft's primary strategy is moving customers to a subscription model, which I've written about subscription models before. Another way to keep customers at the table, though, is to improve one's product, and any product can be improved (or so the company wants you to believe!). To that end, the current version of MS Office has a whole host of changes. Most are utterly meaningless (UI flattening, conditional formatting improvements, etc). One has the potential to be very useful, though.
"Apps for Office" are small web applications that run inside MS Office. The idea is to allow developers to use the flexibility of web technologies to help improve information world flow inside an Office document. Some cool examples would be interactive maps in Excel, live stock price tickers, and a Flickr image search box.
With these in mind, I began exploring the Office Javascript API, which is the layer of javascript that lets my Office App talk to Office itself. My initial app idea was called Quick Contacts. The idea being that you'd store your contact information in Excel. Last Name, First Name, Phone, Email, and then as many custom columns as you'd like. (Projects, Location, Company, Title, etc). The app would be a sidebar app which would contain a simple textbox on top. Upon typing from the user, the letters in the textbox would be instantly searched for in the sheet, matching and finding contacts.
What I failed to take into account is that the Javascript API doesn't work. You can't tell the address of the currently selected cell (A14 for example). You can't even tell the currently selected sheet. That means that if a user has multiple sheets, then they can no longer use the app, because it'll pull from the sheet that was mapped, not the current sheet. I questioned the official support forum and was told about some complex hacks, but I have zero desire to spend a large amount of time on something that should be a simple if statement. The idea of Apps for Office is great. Maybe in Office 2016 they'll include a working version.
Showing posts with label Frustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frustration. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Murphy's Ridin' My Shoulder
What a summer this has been. Applied for 11 engineering internships. Interviewed for 2. Got 0. But also had a verbal offer from a guy wanting to start a big website, hiring me and another guy to build it.
Problem is that he's dragged it out for weeks now, delaying over and over. And today when he finally sent me final terms ... he cut the cash compensation by 60% from what we'd discussed. No explanation as to what had changed. Needless to say it's frustrating.
At the same time, yet another client for Catstache who initially contacted us is no longer responding to calls/emails. I'm starting to consider just stopping the web stuff altogether. I started it as a hobby, because it was enjoyable. But it's no longer enjoyable. We'll see how the next few days go. I'll make one more attempt to contact the client, and if I hear nothing will assume that she's no longer interested. As to the main full time web job I mentioned above, we'll see how things go over the next few days.
Suffice to say I'm right on the edge of going to Walmart and putting in an application.
Problem is that he's dragged it out for weeks now, delaying over and over. And today when he finally sent me final terms ... he cut the cash compensation by 60% from what we'd discussed. No explanation as to what had changed. Needless to say it's frustrating.
At the same time, yet another client for Catstache who initially contacted us is no longer responding to calls/emails. I'm starting to consider just stopping the web stuff altogether. I started it as a hobby, because it was enjoyable. But it's no longer enjoyable. We'll see how the next few days go. I'll make one more attempt to contact the client, and if I hear nothing will assume that she's no longer interested. As to the main full time web job I mentioned above, we'll see how things go over the next few days.
Suffice to say I'm right on the edge of going to Walmart and putting in an application.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Thailand Government Kidnaps US Citizen
I read an article last night about an American citizen who visited Thailand, and got arrested because he had earlier posted on this blog a book that had been banned in Thailand. He posted it when he was in the US, and he was a US citizen. Yet he was arrested an convicted under anti-defamation laws. And the US doesn't seem to be doing anything about it.
This is clearly a violation of free speech. Other counties might not protect that freedom, but the US does. The person in question is a US citizen, and the action in question happened while in the US. Where are the threats from our Government to Thailand? Where are the seal teams? By the very definition of the word, a US citizen has been kidnapped and is being held hostage by another nation, and we aren't doing a thing about it.
I say kidnap rather than arrested because to be arrested, you must be a legitimate police force stopping violations of laws. There is no US law protecting Thailand's king from US citizens saying bad things about him. And Thailand's laws don't apply when they violate the US constitution, at least when it comes to a US citizen. So says me anyway. Obviously Obama doesn't feel the same. He'd rather no offend Thailand than protect the Constitutional rights of US citizens.
I guess kidnapping US citizens isn't in the same category as bombing a building.
This is clearly a violation of free speech. Other counties might not protect that freedom, but the US does. The person in question is a US citizen, and the action in question happened while in the US. Where are the threats from our Government to Thailand? Where are the seal teams? By the very definition of the word, a US citizen has been kidnapped and is being held hostage by another nation, and we aren't doing a thing about it.
I say kidnap rather than arrested because to be arrested, you must be a legitimate police force stopping violations of laws. There is no US law protecting Thailand's king from US citizens saying bad things about him. And Thailand's laws don't apply when they violate the US constitution, at least when it comes to a US citizen. So says me anyway. Obviously Obama doesn't feel the same. He'd rather no offend Thailand than protect the Constitutional rights of US citizens.
I guess kidnapping US citizens isn't in the same category as bombing a building.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Black Friday
This year, retailers decided to do something different. Instead of opening at 5/6 am, most stores opened at midnight. I'm not a fan of this, for several reasons.
It's bad for store employees because they are required to work from Thursday evening through Friday morning. Example being Gamestop, which required employees to work from 10pm Thursday to 10am Friday. 12 hour shift, all night and morning. Not only does it kill their Friday, it kills their Thursday as well, and so Thanksgiving.
It's bad for consumers as well though, because of the increased number of them. More people are going to go to a store at midnight than at 5am in the morning. That means that A, stores won't be able to offer deals as good, and B, it's harder to grab the deals that are offered. Example, Best Buy this year sold a 42" HDTV for 200 dollars. Each store only had 10 though, and when I called the local store on Wednesday evening, I was told that there were already customers lined up outside. That's over 24 hours ahead of time for those of you who don't like math.
I ended up not going at all, because everything I was interested in was selling at midnight instead of 5am. What I'm looking at now are the Cyber Monday sales coming in in a few days.
It's bad for store employees because they are required to work from Thursday evening through Friday morning. Example being Gamestop, which required employees to work from 10pm Thursday to 10am Friday. 12 hour shift, all night and morning. Not only does it kill their Friday, it kills their Thursday as well, and so Thanksgiving.
It's bad for consumers as well though, because of the increased number of them. More people are going to go to a store at midnight than at 5am in the morning. That means that A, stores won't be able to offer deals as good, and B, it's harder to grab the deals that are offered. Example, Best Buy this year sold a 42" HDTV for 200 dollars. Each store only had 10 though, and when I called the local store on Wednesday evening, I was told that there were already customers lined up outside. That's over 24 hours ahead of time for those of you who don't like math.
I ended up not going at all, because everything I was interested in was selling at midnight instead of 5am. What I'm looking at now are the Cyber Monday sales coming in in a few days.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
We Just Lost The Game
Back last Spring during Cinco De Meyo, students in a public school in America (Not Mexico) were sent home for wearing a shirt with an American flag. This raised all sorts of public outcry. Whadya mean I can't wear have a picture of an American flag on my shirt in an American public school? It went to court.
Today, a judge ruled that the school did in fact have the right to sent the students home, based on the idea that the students were in danger because of said shirt. [Washington Post].
The school is basically saying, that if you show patriotism to America in this school, we can't protect you. First, you shouldn't have to be protected. Second, if you do, the school should be doing it's job and protecting you. THIS ISN'T FUCKING MEXICO, IT'S AMERICA.
Sorry, but this just pisses me off utterly, beyond which is just boggles my mind. We've gotten to the point where we have to be so politically correct that we can't wear an American flag because it might offend Mexicans? IN OUR OWN COUNTRY? WTF ...
Today, a judge ruled that the school did in fact have the right to sent the students home, based on the idea that the students were in danger because of said shirt. [Washington Post].
The school is basically saying, that if you show patriotism to America in this school, we can't protect you. First, you shouldn't have to be protected. Second, if you do, the school should be doing it's job and protecting you. THIS ISN'T FUCKING MEXICO, IT'S AMERICA.
Sorry, but this just pisses me off utterly, beyond which is just boggles my mind. We've gotten to the point where we have to be so politically correct that we can't wear an American flag because it might offend Mexicans? IN OUR OWN COUNTRY? WTF ...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
My Second DiffyQ Exam in the Style of Henry V
Before an exam I always update my Facebook status with the quote, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends", a line from the Shakespeare play Henry V. Henry uttered the words as he and his men were beginning another battle, breach referring to a break in the defenses he was attacking. I just took my DiffyQ exam, and so this morning I again placed that as my status. This time, I'd like to continue it into a story of the exam itself, in the form of that quote. So I present, My Second DiffyQ Exam in the Style of Henry V
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends", I yelled, and we charged. My troops were trained as if to a polished sword from weeks of drilling, and I was confident my ability to win the day. We swept through the breach and into enemy territory, but things were eerily quiet, and I felt a nagging sensation in my gut. It lasted only a moment before the first arrows swept through the fog from our right, slicing mercilessly into our unprotected flanks. "Damn", I muttered, as we'd trained over and over for a front facing assault, and now things were being thrown at us from the side, completely unexpectedly.
I called out orders and we tried to react, but movement was sluggish as we were still shocked from the first blinding losses. One thing I've learned though is that no matter what, always keep moving. If you get bogged down facing one problem, the rest will close in and you'll never finish off the enemy before time runs out. We kept moving, barely.
Suddenly we ran into their forces, and our training started to pay off. 1, 2, 3 ranks we ploughed through almost easily, my spirits started to rise. The keep was before us, the last large bastion of resistance. And then suddenly the whole world exploded in flames. They'd laid pitch [pitch is oil that is laid on the ground and then lit on fire] all over the inner courtyard! We troops didn't break, but were stalled, spending time trying just to stay alive, all forward progress stopped.
After what felt like forever but was probably only 15 minutes, I ordered a retreat, we skipped past that keep and on to less important areas. Slowly painfully we worked through them, and finally ended up at the keep again. Our losses had been terrible and still the keep resisted us. With timing running dangerously low, I called a general retreat, and with heavy heart we fell back, leaving so much meaningless death.
Will they call it a victory? We leveled most of the place, but couldn't finish the job as time ran out. And we debatably didn't even do a good job on the parts we did complete. It was all the unexpected challenges that kept getting thrown at us that really caused the problems. Nothing in the earlier smaller battles could have prepared us fully. So will they call it a victory? We'll have to wait and see.
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends", I yelled, and we charged. My troops were trained as if to a polished sword from weeks of drilling, and I was confident my ability to win the day. We swept through the breach and into enemy territory, but things were eerily quiet, and I felt a nagging sensation in my gut. It lasted only a moment before the first arrows swept through the fog from our right, slicing mercilessly into our unprotected flanks. "Damn", I muttered, as we'd trained over and over for a front facing assault, and now things were being thrown at us from the side, completely unexpectedly.
I called out orders and we tried to react, but movement was sluggish as we were still shocked from the first blinding losses. One thing I've learned though is that no matter what, always keep moving. If you get bogged down facing one problem, the rest will close in and you'll never finish off the enemy before time runs out. We kept moving, barely.
Suddenly we ran into their forces, and our training started to pay off. 1, 2, 3 ranks we ploughed through almost easily, my spirits started to rise. The keep was before us, the last large bastion of resistance. And then suddenly the whole world exploded in flames. They'd laid pitch [pitch is oil that is laid on the ground and then lit on fire] all over the inner courtyard! We troops didn't break, but were stalled, spending time trying just to stay alive, all forward progress stopped.
After what felt like forever but was probably only 15 minutes, I ordered a retreat, we skipped past that keep and on to less important areas. Slowly painfully we worked through them, and finally ended up at the keep again. Our losses had been terrible and still the keep resisted us. With timing running dangerously low, I called a general retreat, and with heavy heart we fell back, leaving so much meaningless death.
Will they call it a victory? We leveled most of the place, but couldn't finish the job as time ran out. And we debatably didn't even do a good job on the parts we did complete. It was all the unexpected challenges that kept getting thrown at us that really caused the problems. Nothing in the earlier smaller battles could have prepared us fully. So will they call it a victory? We'll have to wait and see.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
I'm Sorry, Murphy
I must have offended Murphy, because so far today everything has gone wrong.
It was all great yesterday. I spent 9 hours working on homework. I got my math homework done, my math project done, and a good start to my soils homework. I went to bed late, but I set two alarms to wake up at 8am, get to office hours at 8:30 for soils. I'd work through the rest of it there in case I needed help, get it done, then go to math at 10:30, turn in my homework and project. Finally I'd have work from noon to 5pm to do my souls lab report for next week.
Everything went fine up until this morning. First, I slept through both alarms. I woke up at 11ish, instead of 8. Missed the office hours completely, and when I woke up, math was half done. I got dressed and biked over to math class, which is about 10 minutes ride away. Got there at 11:25. (Class ends at 11:45). Then I realized, I didn't have my backpack. I checked my steps back to my bike and it wasn't there. So, I got back on and rode all the way back, made it in just over 5 minutes. Awesome, right? Well, I got to my room, and realized I didn't have my keys. But I had had them when I started the last bike ride. Which meant that they were lying on the ground somewhere between here and there.
I was undecided on what to find, backpack or keys. Since I was at Cary though, and the keys could be anywhere between it and math class, I went for the backpack. Luckily my suitemate was in his room and heard my knocking. He let me in and I grabbed my backpack. I then rode down back towards math class, looking for my keys.
Turns out, they'd slipped out of my pocket right in the middle of a bloody intersection. But, I finally got a break. No one had run over them (or my flashdrive attached is the most sturdy thing imaginable.) Either way they were unharmed. I rode back to math class, got there at 11:40. Turned in my homework at the end of class and got told that it was due at the beginning, but this one time she'd take it. Which is good, because if after all that she didn't and I got a zero on project 1, I may have just quit.
It was all great yesterday. I spent 9 hours working on homework. I got my math homework done, my math project done, and a good start to my soils homework. I went to bed late, but I set two alarms to wake up at 8am, get to office hours at 8:30 for soils. I'd work through the rest of it there in case I needed help, get it done, then go to math at 10:30, turn in my homework and project. Finally I'd have work from noon to 5pm to do my souls lab report for next week.
Everything went fine up until this morning. First, I slept through both alarms. I woke up at 11ish, instead of 8. Missed the office hours completely, and when I woke up, math was half done. I got dressed and biked over to math class, which is about 10 minutes ride away. Got there at 11:25. (Class ends at 11:45). Then I realized, I didn't have my backpack. I checked my steps back to my bike and it wasn't there. So, I got back on and rode all the way back, made it in just over 5 minutes. Awesome, right? Well, I got to my room, and realized I didn't have my keys. But I had had them when I started the last bike ride. Which meant that they were lying on the ground somewhere between here and there.
I was undecided on what to find, backpack or keys. Since I was at Cary though, and the keys could be anywhere between it and math class, I went for the backpack. Luckily my suitemate was in his room and heard my knocking. He let me in and I grabbed my backpack. I then rode down back towards math class, looking for my keys.
Turns out, they'd slipped out of my pocket right in the middle of a bloody intersection. But, I finally got a break. No one had run over them (or my flashdrive attached is the most sturdy thing imaginable.) Either way they were unharmed. I rode back to math class, got there at 11:40. Turned in my homework at the end of class and got told that it was due at the beginning, but this one time she'd take it. Which is good, because if after all that she didn't and I got a zero on project 1, I may have just quit.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
RAWR
I'm working on a project for DiffyQ right now, that's included in this homework this week. During the class, we have 3 such projects. They consist of opening Matlab and writing programs to solve differential equations. Sounds fine.
The problem is that we haven't done anything with Matlab in 3 years, back in FYE. And this isn't basic Matlab, it's pretty complex stuff. That too would be fine, if they taught us how to do it. But, they don't. At all. It's not even mentioned once in class.
On the website with the assignments, there are a few tutorials. The problem is that they deal with different types of problems that what we have to do. Office hours are the only solution. But, my teacher has two office hours each week. One is in the middle of the day when I'm in class, and the second is from 6-7 pm at night, when I'm at work, which doesn't really help. Damn you School of Mathmatics of Purdue!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Blogger ...
I just finished typing out a solid 3 paragraphs about my day and the dentist trip. I clicked preview and Blogger said FUCK YOU and gave me an error and deleted the data. And I don't feel like typing it all out again. Suffice to say, I went to the dentist, it sucked, but it's done, and that's good. You can imagine the 3 paragraphs and yell at blogger for deleting them on you.
Paragraph 2, deleted by Blogger. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph.
Paragraph 3, deleted by Blogger. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph. Blogger sucks and doesn't want you to read this paragraph.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Murphy Strikes Again
Now that Gen Con is over, I should be sitting at home, relaxing and enjoying my last 2 weeks off. Nothing to do, no work, no class. Vacation! And then Murphy shows up.
Started last night around 9 or 10pm, my throat started hurting. Felt like something was caught there and stuck? But nothing was. Then it started getting constricted, swelled up a little and began to hurt more. My dad last year had an alergic reaction to a bee sting and had to be rushed to the hospital because his throat swelled and closed up, so he was worried about a similar thing happening with me (possibly a bit too worried as it turned out). I drank a few cups of really hot tea and took some muscle relaxant and that helped a bunch. Fell asleep and woke up with it not constricted anymore, but just really really sore.
But since then I've been sinking into a general bad cold. Head and jaw aches, stuffed up nose, coughing, etc. On my nice 2 weeks off, of course.
Started last night around 9 or 10pm, my throat started hurting. Felt like something was caught there and stuck? But nothing was. Then it started getting constricted, swelled up a little and began to hurt more. My dad last year had an alergic reaction to a bee sting and had to be rushed to the hospital because his throat swelled and closed up, so he was worried about a similar thing happening with me (possibly a bit too worried as it turned out). I drank a few cups of really hot tea and took some muscle relaxant and that helped a bunch. Fell asleep and woke up with it not constricted anymore, but just really really sore.
But since then I've been sinking into a general bad cold. Head and jaw aches, stuffed up nose, coughing, etc. On my nice 2 weeks off, of course.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
4th of July Weekend - Recap
So as I mentioned in my last post, when I got home on Friday evening, my website decided to disappear. When I called tech support, a very nice lady on the phone told me that sucks, but too bad, everyone is gone for the 4th.
Saturday rolled around, website still down. Good news though, Earth Defense Force decided to release itself 3 days early! I spent 2 hours playing with a friend before he had to leave for work, then went home and took a nap before hanging out with the parents.
Sunday rolled around, I was planning on spending the entire day with my friend playing EDF. However, he decided just to cancel without letting me know, which was sort of annoying. I spent some time trying to figure out why my website wasn't working, couldn't do anything. Depressing day.
Monday was better, I went to several Independence Day parties/cookouts and saw several people that I'd gone to high school with. I ended up even playing some Halo Reach with some of them, before finally returning home and going to see the Fireworks.
Tuesday rolled around, I had to get up early to go to lunch with yet another high school friend that I hadn't seen since we graduated. Then straight from lunch to a hair cut appointment, and finally to a dentist appointment. The dentist was depressing because even though I've been working harder than normal on brushing, I still have 2 cavities. At least though both are small, I couldn't feel any pain when the little metal thing pushed down. Should be a pretty quick drilling session. Then went home, ate dinner, and played some EDF over Xbox live.
Today rolled around and it's been relaxing. I got up, worked on some CESAC issues, none of which actually got solved because people didn't seem interested in returning my calls. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive on that end. In about an hour, I'm going to try a second time to see Transformers. I tried on Saturday night, but it sold out before we could get tickets ... after we had driven a half hour to the IMAX.
Tomorrow I'm heading back to Purdue. I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday was canceled due to Independence Day, and Thursday I don't work until the afternoon. So I was able to call off one day of work and get a 5 day mini-vacation, which has been decent overall. Even productive.
Saturday rolled around, website still down. Good news though, Earth Defense Force decided to release itself 3 days early! I spent 2 hours playing with a friend before he had to leave for work, then went home and took a nap before hanging out with the parents.
Sunday rolled around, I was planning on spending the entire day with my friend playing EDF. However, he decided just to cancel without letting me know, which was sort of annoying. I spent some time trying to figure out why my website wasn't working, couldn't do anything. Depressing day.
Monday was better, I went to several Independence Day parties/cookouts and saw several people that I'd gone to high school with. I ended up even playing some Halo Reach with some of them, before finally returning home and going to see the Fireworks.
Tuesday rolled around, I had to get up early to go to lunch with yet another high school friend that I hadn't seen since we graduated. Then straight from lunch to a hair cut appointment, and finally to a dentist appointment. The dentist was depressing because even though I've been working harder than normal on brushing, I still have 2 cavities. At least though both are small, I couldn't feel any pain when the little metal thing pushed down. Should be a pretty quick drilling session. Then went home, ate dinner, and played some EDF over Xbox live.
Today rolled around and it's been relaxing. I got up, worked on some CESAC issues, none of which actually got solved because people didn't seem interested in returning my calls. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive on that end. In about an hour, I'm going to try a second time to see Transformers. I tried on Saturday night, but it sold out before we could get tickets ... after we had driven a half hour to the IMAX.
Tomorrow I'm heading back to Purdue. I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday was canceled due to Independence Day, and Thursday I don't work until the afternoon. So I was able to call off one day of work and get a 5 day mini-vacation, which has been decent overall. Even productive.
Friday, June 10, 2011
IE 8, How I Hate Thee
I've been putting the final visual touches on my schedule creator, which works in tangent with my Purdue ICS webspace templates. It looks great on Firefox, Chrome, and Opera. IE doesn't like me though. On IE 8, the directions popup box refuses to give a darkening effect, because IE 8 doesn't support rgba. On IE 9, my buttons are out of place because their absolute position is constant, while parts of the page that are relative are different on IE 9.
I could probably find and fix the IE 9 error, but the problems with IE 8 and previous are just innate problems in the browser. At this point I'm calling it quits. Upgrade to current browsers, IE 9, Firefox 4, or Chrome 11. Or hell, even Opera or Safari. If you cling to IE 6, then it's your own damn fault the page doesn't work.
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