First, please let me know if this isn't the right section for this, but I was hoping I could get some recommendations or advice.
My computer at my job does NOT have any USB ports. I brought in my flash drive with some pictures to use as wallpapers, and nothing. My computer is old, I knew that, but I didn't know how crippling no USB would be until I thought about NaNo! In No Plot No Problem, Chris talks about how you should never let your work touch your work computer. I definitely don't want to save any of it to my desktop, so what do you think I should do?
I have a Google account, so I was thinking of just typing in Google Docs while I'm at work, but I don't know if there is something else you guys may be able to suggest. I love my Microsoft Word, I really do. I bought it for my Mac too because after writing so many papers and I can't part with it. Any way for me to write in Word and keep it as a word file without saving to the desktop and without a USB? Probably not, but if anyone would know how to do the impossible, it's you guys!
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NaNoWriMo 2006: Untitled - 59,280 - WINNER!
NaNoWriMo 2007 & 2008 - massive failures, but not this year.
http://www.twitter.com/cindiepal
http://thesubwaydiaries.wordpress.com
58,431 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 16 45
Do you have internet access? You could email it to yourself and only have it on the desktop while typing and then delete it.
How about buying a bunch of cds? (Expensive... and if your computer doesn't have USB, it probably doesn't have a burner.)
How about firewire? (Too old? You could use a cheap hard drive if firewire is OK.)
Is it networked to another computer that was manufactured in this century? (I am not insulting you or your workplace. I am bitter that MY computer at work is so old I can't open .xlsx or .docx even with a converter. So don't mind me.)
Apollo16
53,005 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 17 23
Apollo16
You can install Open Office which can open .*x files and save in the regular MS Office formats.
----------Chet's NaNoWriMo Experience (updated)
58,431 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 17 32
Ssshhhhh! Don't tell the boss. I'll never get a new one! Thanks for the tip! ;-)
Apollo16
1,343 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 19 49
This is not a recommendation, it's just something I know exists Microsoft Office Live Workspace. I don't use Microsoft, so I have no opinion, but their front page invites you to ditch your flash drive. It sounds like it's right up your alley. :D
----------http://zvi.dreamwidth.org/ blog
http://zvilikestv.net/ website
23,159 / 50,000
oct. 22, 2009 - 21 52
Yeah I'm okay with the e-mail idea. Just write yourself a perpetual e-mail and save it as "Draft" as you work on it and send it when you're done. Use a browser with spellcheck and you're decently set.
----------66,666 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 11 25
Floppies? Have they been forgotten?
----------'8: Interface Culture - Selbst die Zukunft ist nicht mehr das was sie einmal war (won!)
'9: Ytin'he'ny - those who are changed (won!)
Back up your novel, now!
50,167 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 11 42
Careful with the email idea. If you're using a work email, especially if it's one that uses your company's domain name, there will likely be a copy of it kept on the server for a while.
Web mail is better. I would recommend Gmail, which uses a secure site (https) and therefore no firewall would be able to see exactly what it is you sent in the email. Google Docs is also good. Yahoo Mail is an example of one that uses an insecure protocol (http) for everything other than logging in.
Do not save the file on the computer to send as an attachment - type or copy/paste it directly into the email or on Google Docs. Do not use software with automatic backup at work, as it will create temporary copies of your writing on the drive. (Do not use Word or OpenOffice. Instead try WordPad -- that gives you all the basic formatting features like italics and centred text and should paste okay into WYSIWYG email editors and Google Docs.)
If you use anything web based, make sure to clear those entries from your cache, cookies and history. Also use a vague subject line -- those get saved by autocomplete if it's on -- or go back and delete it from autocomplete after.
And yes, this is "paranoid level" stuff, but I figured I'd give you all the info so you can decide just how safe to play it. Odds are either way that you won't get caught by the techies, unless you've already given them some reason to keep an eye you, but if you want to be safe, make sure it's all done on a secure (https) protocol. You're far more likely to be caught by someone watching over your shoulder than by the local tech guys.
----------2008: Painted Souls
2009: The Black War
50,065 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 12 53
"Floppies? Have they been forgotten?"
With any luck, yes. I only use them for raid set ups. Otherwise screw those unstable pieces of junk.
23,094 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 16 09
Check out the app in my sig. It was created for the exact situation you describe - writing from work and home without worrying about a thumb drive. If you want to, you can download a doc as a simple text file that can then be opened in Word.
----------Looking for the perfect NaNoWriMo writing app? Try My Writing Nook. Great for netbooks!
0 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 18 03
If you already have a Google account, then, by all means, go with Google Docs. I'm probably going to use it to write my novel.
----------NaNo2009: Meta
10,276 / 50,000
oct. 23, 2009 - 19 16
Have you checked out Dropbox? I used it last year. Basically just saved my document right to the dropbox and it synced on my laptop and my work computer. there's a free 2GB account that I use (plenty for a novel), and it gives you peace of mind regarding backups. Not to mention dead-convenient for working on other computers. There's a web interface you can use to download the file if you ever need to and aren't on a computer synced up. I believe they've got an app for every OS/platform (I'm a Mac guy, but I believe I saw windows and linux on their list).
Hope that helps!
https://www.getdropbox.com/
----------Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx
twitter
blog
5,856 / 50,000
oct. 24, 2009 - 09 51
I would suggest giving zoho a try. It has a suite of different web-based apps that are useful, but specifically for nano i would suggest http://notebook.zoho.com It's like an online notebook accessible from anywhere you have internet access. :D
I use this at work for to work on all of my writings or if i have a brainstorm at work i pop it in there for later consideration.
- jk
----------Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly
The trouble you have is that you think you have time. - Zen Master
74,223 / 50,000
oct. 24, 2009 - 17 14
I use http://www.zoho.com (Zoho Notebook) instead of OpenOffice. Similar but just as good, worth checking out! I work in the military too, and zoho is not blocked by their ever-so-secure internet site blockers! Good luck!
50,160 / 50,000
oct. 24, 2009 - 17 21
Google Docs is probably the easiest and best solution.
50,127 / 50,000
oct. 25, 2009 - 01 18
I do some of my best writing while at work :) I don't feel guilty either - I see the occasional 10 mins of writing as the same as the people that take 10 min cigarette breaks during the day!
I do my writing in a draft email that I save constantly (some may say obsessively!) and just re-open to work on when I have a few minutes spare. I then just email it to myself at the end of the day and copy/paste it into my word document at home.
Here's hoping for a quiet few weeks at work! LOL!
----------Using his unexplained ability to read people's auras, Kayce hunts a serial killer, discovering that his own genes may make him the next target.
52,088 / 50,000
oct. 25, 2009 - 04 52
*is just stunned to think that you are working in a place with equipment so old it doesn't have USB?*
I'd do EVERYTHING online through google docs. Your work computer is a walking time-bomb of potential viruses and trojans. It gives me the creepie-crawlies just to think of it (I am a tech-geek).
----------"The act of writing is an act of optimism. You would not take the trouble to do it if you felt it didn't matter." Edward Albee
Join the NanoWriter's Yahoo Group!
5,706 / 50,000
oct. 25, 2009 - 10 45
Google Docs is cool, and I also just discovered Buzzword from Adobe Acrobat. Just go to http://www.Acrobat.com.
----------my mom says i'm Quirky. you can just call me Weird.
~
http://starsunite.blogspot.com/2009/10/nanowrimo-in-beginning.html
4,971 / 50,000
oct. 25, 2009 - 14 35
I second the suggestion for my writing nook. It's been great for me cuz it syncs with my iPhone!
----------NaNo 2009 - Lost Buttons & Smeared Make-Up {working title}
NaNo 2008 Winner - Sugarland
Fanfiction: http://fanfiction.zoewatsonnovels.com
Fiction: http://zoewatsonnovels.com
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/pbmaxca
4,971 / 50,000
oct. 25, 2009 - 14 38
The last place I worked at still had the old school printers with the paper with the holes on each side to feed through the printer!
----------NaNo 2009 - Lost Buttons & Smeared Make-Up {working title}
NaNo 2008 Winner - Sugarland
Fanfiction: http://fanfiction.zoewatsonnovels.com
Fiction: http://zoewatsonnovels.com
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/pbmaxca
3,370 / 50,000
oct. 26, 2009 - 05 41
Evernote: http://www.evernote.com/
50,051 / 50,000
oct. 28, 2009 - 10 25
I have been known to email stuff to myself, you might want to try that.
50,667 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2009 - 11 03
Dropbox is perfect for this. You can put anything in it you would put on a flash drive, and have access to it from any computer with web access.
I have the PortableApps suite on mine, plus Liquid Story Binder, Keynote, and various other portable software. Plus a copy of my writing folder.
----------Bethany
My Blog
70,356 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2009 - 11 44
Rewritable CDs (CD-RW) are great for this, and you can run portable apps off of them just like a USB drive.
----------37,917 / 50,000
oct. 31, 2009 - 17 12
1) email it to yourself. Good for backups, anyway.
----------2) start a reply. Type the next section in the reply's body, not in the document. Copy to the file when you're done. Since you use google, it should be easy enough to keep it all together--just a long string of replies in a conversation.
2009- Give Up the Ghost (shy of 38k and pretty much done.)
Muse status: Has surrendered to the pressures of school-related deadlines.