I absolutely love my Microsoft Office Assistant, Links the cat. I think he is completely adorable and I love having him in the corner of my screen keeping me company. The first Microsoft Assistant I ever was acquainted with was Clippit the Paperclip, and the first time I ever heard about him was in a letter from my sister Erin. In the letter, she said she started writing and a little paper-clippy guy with big eyes popped up and said "it looks like you're writing a letter... can I help?" When I first read it, I pictured a geeky computer lab assistant with googly eyes peering over people's shoulders and wondered why she was so excited about something that was kind of creepy. But when I read on, I realized my error. When I started spending time with Microsoft Office writing papers of my own, I always like having Clippit pop up and watch what I was doing. But his antics did get old after a while. Which made me look to see what other Assistants there were. That was when I first met Links. He is, like I said before, absolutely adorable. He purrs and meows and sleeps and prounces around just like a real cat but much less annoying because he doesn't block the keyboard or try to get you to pet him when you're trying to type. Miriam likes him too. If she comes in when I'm working with something on Word or Excel, she points and says "KITTY!" We then go through all of his animations and meow along with him. Yes, I could go without an Assistant and just hit "help" when I need help, but it's really not the help that I'm looking for. It is the companionship and humor that I most appreciate. If I don't close the Microsoft applications, then Links hangs out when I write emails or do searches on the internet. While I've never kept them open purposefully for this, I do like his companionship at this time too. And when I close the applications, he leaps into the background until the next time I am ready to spend some quality time with him. Now that I'm writing this, it sounds like I'm in desperate need of interaction as displayed by my idolization of the graphic of a cat. But I prefer to think of it as enjoying the small things in life. If you've never tried an Office Assistant or are tired of Clippit, I highly suggest you meet my good friend Links. He won't let you down!
3 comments:
Oh LOL! I always did love Clippit and am happy that you got over your first impression of him based on my obviously insufficient description. I was entirely unaware that you could choose a different assistant! Sadly, I no longer have Microsoft Office as I have switched to being a MAC user and did not keep Office for MACs. Now I will have to wait for my next opportunity to use Microsoft office before I see the antics of the cat or the other assistants. Perhaps, however, it might be better that I don't have access to them on my computer. You see, I seem to like consistency more than I thought. Have you ever seen the Sleep Country USA commercials? (Think of the song, "...why buy a mattress anywhere else?!"). Well, I don't know if you noticed, but a few months ago, they changed actresses in their commercials. I never felt a particular affinity for the "old" actress, but upon seeing the new actress in her first commercial, I could not help but feel that the first actress had been unfairly ousted and that she was now out of a job because some unfeeling person in the upper levels of the Sleep Country company made a decision that looked good on paper and got rid of her. Now actress number two gets all the accolades and all the paychecks, and the first actress has been left out to dry. Yes, I will concede that it's possible the first actress chose to leave for perhaps a chance to star on Broadway, or maybe even the opportunity to stay home with her children. But when I look at the new actress, my brain goes to the unemployment line with the old actress and my heart goes out to her. Hence, I don't think I would be able to fire Clippy. Every time I saw the cat or any other adorable office assistant I would wonder if Clippy felt sad sitting there in the unemployment file wishing that someone could recognize the talent he once brought to the screen. Or... maybe I could just say that he is the mentor for all the new assistants! YES! He is not unused...he is the vital foundation to their success and is still in use even though his face isn't the one seen! Ah, that makes me feel better. Okay, that decided, perhaps I can now make the decision to go ahead and get Microsoft office for MAC. It's always a good thing to expand my brain and make room for new things:)! Nevertheless, I don't think I will ever be able to purchase a mattress from Sleep Country.
Have a great day!
LYL
Erin
I am goig to look into this...I love cats...but not in the strange, "cat-lady" neighbor way. Well maybe, I do have 3 cats. Is that excessive? Thanks for the tip on Links.
Erin: I laughed right out loud when I read your posting. No, I didn't fire Clippit. He's still the default (in a good way) and I don't change him when I'm working on Brent's computer. And to tell you the truth, he's my second favorite after Links. They have others, including a wizard and a dog, but they just don't tickle me like Links does. I think that I first found out you could change your assistant was when I went to turn Clippit off for a bit. I right clicked, and besides the "turn office assistant off" option, there was a "change office assistant." Also, we must not have Sleep Country USA here. Good thing, because I certainly wouldn't shop there after they put a perfectly good mattress lady in the unemployment line. Where is the loyalty these days?!?
Tyna: No, I don't think three cats is crazy cat lady status yet. Keep working on it! And good luck with Links. As you can tell, I quite like the little guy.
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