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February 20, 2012

How Long - Ace

Was going through my mp3 jukebox and listened to this song I hadn't thought of in a long time. Always loved the melody and the lyrics which surely came from a heartbreak of the songwriter. I read a little about it while searching for the video; I was surprised to see it wasn't as big a hit in the UK as it was in the US.

February 14, 2012

Mystery Ingredient

One of my favorite recipe sites is Recipe Lion. It offers a newsletter, a recipe box to save your favorites in, specialty and holiday recipe collections in downloadable pdf format and many other features.

In today's newsletter, one recipe caught my eye: (because I'm a poor man) Poor Man's Steak. I clicked on the link in the email and went to the site, hoping that it would be a recipe worthy of saving. It seemed easy enough and sounded like it would be a tasty and inexpensive dish to prepare.  I saved the recipe, then had a closer look at the ingredients. Here's what I saw:


One of what? A can of some other soup? A diced onion? The finger you lopped off slicing up the loaf? A mystery ingredient, indeed.

I worry about "mystery ingredients" when I get fast food at places where it looks like just teenagers are working

Holidays for the Lonely

Laura Kightlinger: Holidays for the Lonely:

It goes: Christmas, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. Is that fair to anyone who's alone? Those are all days when you gotta be with someone. And if you didn't get around to killing yourself at Christmas or New Year's -- boom! there's Valentine's Day for you. I think there should be just one more holiday after Valentine's Day, just for the stragglers -- and it should be called, Who Could Love You?

February 12, 2012

auscultation

From the Word of the Day:

auscultation - aus·cul·ta·tion [aw-skuhl-tey-shuhn];noun

Medicine/Medical .

1. the act of listening, either directly or through a stethoscope or other instrument, to sounds within the body as a method of diagnosis.

I'm sure this would be a great technique for diagnosing heart or lung problems, perhaps even something to do with the circulatory system,  but since I'm no medical expert, I can't think of any other problems that could be figured out by sound. When my bones creak and pop, I know that's just a sign of old age.

I guess having a chronic gas problem could be diagnosed by sound, but I figure smelling it would be the first clue.

February 10, 2012

Vaguebooking

Since I'm ranting about Facebook.... (see post just below this one)

I ran across a great new word the other day: Vaguebooking

From Urban Dictionary: An intentionally vague Facebook status update, that prompts friends to ask what's going on, or is possibly a cry for help.

Mary is: "wondering if it is all worth it"


Mark is: "thinking that was a bad idea"

I used to get those from a couple of my younger family members who are Facebook friends. Even though I didn't know what they were talking about, I chalked it up to teenaged angst. I'd message them "What's wrong?" and usually get a vague reply. "Oh, just life isn't fair." or something similar.

Yep, teenaged angst.

I've got a Facebook friend, a grown woman only a couple years younger than me, who does it too, though. That's when it's annoying. Her vague Facebook posts almost always are something like: "Don't judge me! You don't know what I'm going through!" or variations on the same theme. At first, I and other of her Facebook friends would ask her what was wrong, tell her we were there for her, etc. I've quit responding and most others have, too.

Frankly, it pisses me off. If you're angry enough with someone to post something like that, name them! Hell, I'd enjoy some drama and dissension far more than I do these vague threats.

It's my humble opinion that she craves the attention.  Maybe she thinks a majority of her Facebook friends should reply to each and every one of her posts and this is the way to see who reads her wall.  She's one of those people, however, who shares a dozen or more things each and every day.  I share stuff, too, but try to keep it at a minimum - to share things I find really odd or funny. 

(I belong to a group whose owner posts at least two dozen times/day. It's almost overwhelming.  The worst thing is she constantly re-posts things.  She does change them up some, though.  Some weeks it's bluebonnets, others it's George Strait photos.  Enough! I enjoy the group otherwise. I just wish she'd focus more on quality than quantity)

Since finding the new word "vaguebooking", I've been trying to think of one for the posts people do far too often; the "if you're my friend" type, the ones that implore you to re-post and share that post.  I'm thinking something along the lines of "disgracebooking" because of the way they try to shame you into re-posting.

Stop It!

If you use Facebook - as do many of my friends and family who follow me in this blog - you've probably received a request to play a game. Now, I spend far too much time online as it is and already have too many addictions websites I visit every day and don't need to spend even more time playing games. I recently had a games request from a long-time online friend's son and hated to turn it down, but felt I had to. I probably should have messaged him to say why I didn't want to play the game.

It's not just that, though; if you use Facebook, you've probably noticed strange messages on friend's walls, saying they've entered a contest and you should too, or you need to view some video or visit some link where you'll see something "Shocking!". Sometimes it's even posted on your own wall. Those are the "rogue" applications that can take over your account. What's worse, if you click on the link and your computer isn't completely protected, you stand a good chance of having some nasty malware installed.

For example, I just got a request from a Facebook "friend" to install an application - it was a game called "Messages From God". Now, if I want a message from God, I'll pray for one. He's seen fit to send me messages before, some I didn't want to hear.

Anyway, here's a screenshot of the request. I cut out the application name while I was deleting my personal information.(I wasn't going to name it, but since they don't care about MY privacy, why should I theirs?)

Click graphic for larger view


As you can see, the application wants permission to access your basic information, even when you're not using the app.  If you accept the app., you also grant it permission to send you email...IOW, to spam you.  Since it can access your Facebook friend's information, that means it can also spam them. Since using Facebook, my email has had a ten-fold increase in spam.  I'm certain that some of the applications my "friends" have installed are responsible.

That's not all;  as I mentioned earlier, you're also giving the application permission to post "on your behalf".  That's not only annoying to me, it infuriates me. (I post enough stupid stuff as it is - I don't need an application doing it for me.)

I've blocked the application and blocked any more application requests from my Facebook "friend".  (to paraphrase an old adage: "With friends like that, you might as well have an enema")  I've posted on my wall several times that I don't play games, don't want to be sent requests.  *Some* people don't care - or read - what you post, seems like.  If I get one more request from her, I'll just unfriend and block HER.

Facebook - other than that - is a great social media, but they sure need to do something about the security issues. It would also be nice to be able to just go into your settings and block ALL application requests.