The Gurly Life

Hippo surprise

The only thing more awesome than this cute little hippo doodad (courtesy of Ms. Willow)

Is that it's actually useful.

Form *and* substance.

 

More iPhone fun

Now that I'm doing a lot of litigation, I'm finding that I'm just not as creatively inspired as I would like. I spend all my creative juices drafting briefs. Which are usually long. Whatever.

This is a photo I took on my phone and played around with, and then turned into a Polaroid. I wonder if over time the ePolaroids will turn yellow and/or fade.

This is me and Wendy, under the fluorescent lights. We look like ghosts. Kinda cool.

This is my friend/colleague, Kathya. She's getting married next weekend. Awwww!

This is Cricket. If you don't know this is Cricket, welcome to my blog!

Here is Maliboo Kitty, photographed with the Hipstamatic app. I don't know, I kind dig it. Note that I have the gall to tag this post with "art." Hah. Who's going to prove me wrong?

Fun iPhone apps

I discovered two fun apps for the iPhone. One is called ShakeItPhoto and it takes photos like a Polaroid. The phone actually makes that Polaroid sound, that KCHIK-Bzzzzzzt sound that many of us who are no longer teenagers are familiar with (who didn't have a Polaroid camera at some point in their lives?). The Polaroid effect took on an artistic flavor as more sophisticated and versatile cameras took its place.

While the sound plays, the Polaroid appears across the screen as if it were being spit up, and has that gray smudgy chemical look until the image appears. If you shake it, like a real Polaroid, the image develops faster. The only thing missing is the smell, but what huge fun! What's cool, too, is that I can apply the effect to photos I already have in my photo stream. Thanks to iCloud, I can now add any photo to the photo stream, so I can add the effect to any digital photo that I have.

Here is a photo I took this morning with the app:

And here is a photo I had already played with and made it into a Polaroid:

One characteristic of Polaroid photos is that they are unflattering and raw. I took one of my mom this morning that I really like, but she doesn't so I'm not going to post it. I will probably try some self-portraits later and post those so you can see what I mean. There's something deeply compelling about the harshness of the medium, it magnifies the humanity of the subject.

I also found another app which will be lots of fun, it's called Hipstamatic. I think the name speaks for itself, I mean, who doesn't remember Kodak's Instamatic cameras? If you don't, click on the link, it will all come flooding back to you. This camera was cheap and kinda crappy, but like the Polaroid, it provided a certain effect that can be artfully used. Here's a random photo I took with this app this morning.

I look forward to horrifying friends and family with pictures of them using these apps.

I just had a nerdgasm

Finally, Verizon gets the iPhone. I knew it. And I take full credit for them getting it, because every single time I have talked to Verizon since the iPhone came out I have demanded (demanded!) that they get the iPhone.

You don't believe me? Check it out. Go to this Verizon Wireless link that has a photo of the iPhone 4 on it. But try not to make creepy moaning sounds. Or to throw your panties at the screen. Or lick the screen. Eew.

I now have one of these

You know, I'm just going to go ahead and say. Again. You know that whole conflict between the Federation and the Borg? You know, "Prepare to be assimilated," and "Resistance is futile"? Frankly, I fail to see the point of resisting. In fact, my theory is that WE are the Borg, or will be in a couple of hundred years. We will have so much technology around us, on us, in us, in our purses (or murses) that finally we will just start getting it implanted in our bodies for convenience. I for one don't think I would strongly object to having a computer to supplement my brain. We are so heading to Borgdom!

To that end, I have received an excellent new gifty from my dad, the giver of cool electronic gifts: the Kindle. Yep. The electronic reader.

So far I have only used it to read the New York Times, but just today I was able to upload a pdf file (you can see pdfs, jpgs, docs etc) and 4 books that my dad got me to get me started. I have also figured out how to put things in collections so I don't have a massive home screen with every single book on there.

I have resisted the Kindle thus far, and am not sure I'm sold yet, but it is true that I simply do not have the room for books anymore. I am constantly giving them away, to friends, the library, neighbors, whoever will take them. This should make it easier to limit clutter.

So, a big thank you to my dad for my new gadget and I will keep you posted on how I do with it. I do like having the NYT on there, except that after 60 days I will have to pay to keep getting it, so not sure how that will go. But for now, I'm learning a ton about the world through the WikiLeaks articles. I will say this: it certainly looks like we're up shit's creek without a paddle. Fascinating articles, but oh my god are we knee deep in lawlessness and integrity is taking a big dive on its head into an empty pool.

Of course now I am thinking about a belated birthday/Christmas/another birthday gifty I can get him. The kind folks at Red Envelope have a great selection of cool gifts for men, and have asked that I embed a link to their site in this post. I am happy to do it - their website is chock-full of good ideas - go check out their men gift selection. And because you're totally awesome, if go to their site, you can get 10% sitewide, 15% off if you spend $80 or more, and 20% off for any purchase of $125 or more, with the promotion code PRESENTS10. Enjoy!

Pranav Mistry: The Thrilling Potential of Sixth-Sense Technology

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

The great blue yonder

Please welcome The Gurly Life to Facebook. Apparently, now that they have added these new "social optimization" gizmos to outside web pages, I am able to link my blog directly to its own page on Facebook. So, if all goes as planned, I should be able to post both on my personal page and/or on The Gurly Life page. Not sure why I would do that, it seems redundant, but why the hell not? I got nothing to say, and like to say it in more words than necessary, so why not more Facebook pages than necessary? But anyway, it seems that I am the only one who sees the FB page, you get redirected here. I know, huh?, right?

It is apparently now possible to click on the Like button on this page, in the left hand panel, just below my photo. When my insane rantings are posted, you will be notified on your newsfeed. Unless, of course, you Hide me/it, in which case, you will make me look good by having clicked Like, and you won't have to really bother reading.

We'll see what, if anything, now happens.

As a side note, it says on the page that I am responsible for making sure my page doesn't get published in the countries where the content would be objectionable. Um. There are, reportedly, at least 189 countries in the world, possibly up to 195, depending, I suppose, on who has claimed they are seceding and whether or not the rebellion has been quelled. Problem: the option that Facebook gives me is to list the countries where I want the page published, and leave out the ones where I don't want it published. Eh-hem. Does that sound at all feasible to anyone other than the New York Times?

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea? Or should I just stick to posting my updates on my personal page? Please respond before shady government agents from countries I dare not mention kidnap me in the night.

Resistance is futile

Late last week, I received a text message from Verizon Wireless alerting me to the fact that I was on my way to going over my monthly minutes. In truth, I paid little attention to it - last time I got such a text, I was about 150 minutes below my limit with only a couple of days to go, so I just didn't worry.

WRONG! (A word of warning, do not ignore those texts.)

Yesterday morning, I donned my cool yellah Jawbone bluetooth gizmo, and started making calls on my way to work. First call in, I get rerouted to Verizon Wireless. I was all, whoa! WTF! My first thought, since I'm a law abiding citizen, was that I mentioned C4 in my conversations a little too much. Dang it, I knew this would happen. The reason I've been mentioning C4 is that I filed a case in the Central Justice courthouse and it was assigned to Dept C-4, but those machine things that listen to key words don't know the difference between C-4 the courtroom and C4 the explosive. Incidentally, if Homeland Security got sucked into this post, sorry, dudes.

Natch, it had nothing to do with any key words in my conversations - Verizon saw fit to stop me from making any further calls because I had already incurred EIGHTY-SIX DOLLARS IN OVERAGES. Holy shit! If they hadn't stopped me my cell phone bill would have run me $300. Ouch. Verizon, bless their hearts, decided not to make me pay said $86, which was entirely within their contractual rights to do, but instead helped me find a new plan that would fit my minutes usage better. Instead of an extra $100+ this month, I'll be paying $10 less than I have been.

Of course, this got me thinking about privacy and the modern digital world. Don't get excited, I didn't have any particularly insightful or original thoughts, although it did not escape my notice that I was somewhat grateful for Big Brother Verizon's intervention. However, I must admit I was conflicted about having my call rerouted. On the one hand, I'm grateful that Verizon saved me from myself. On the other, it struck me that even though I am fully aware that there is very little privacy in this here digital age (especially since I blog and Tweet and Facebook and shop online and can't remember the last time I used my land line at home), I still have an expectation of privacy. My expectation of privacy is that what I write online is not private, but that my phone conversations and text messages are private, and they are intended to be so, and I don't think about it much beyond that.

The question I ask myself is this: is Big Brother already here, with our consent and at our invitation? Or is this simply the modern version of community? Is it an invasion of privacy, or at least a little creepy, that Verizon would hijack my call to have a conversation with me about not wasting my money, or is Verizon part of my community now, a community that is exponentially larger than it was 10 years ago, and that includes all kinds of people who I have never met and who I will never meet, but who contribute to my life in different ways? And does the fact that Verizon is ultimately in it for the money make any difference to the answer to the question? After all, everyone in my life has their own agenda that they pursue, as do I, and our agendas may or may not align, but that does not mean that we are not part of a community and that we do not contribute something to each other.

This query extends to the new privacy settings on Facebook. I read up on the changes, and they do not appear particularly threatening to me. (Incidentally, here is a concise and clear article about what the changes consist of, and how to adjust your settings, courtesy of Nicholas de Wolff and Fast Company.) I have adjusted my privacy settings, and am not particularly concerned about my FB friends knowing what pages I like on the internet, or for that matter about The Internet knowing what pages I like. My surfing and online shopping preferences are no secret to anyone. Besides, Facebook is free. There are trade-offs.

Which brings me to another point: are they really trade-offs? Facebook is a social networking site, emphah-sis on social. Its entire premise, its raison d'etre if you will, is for its members to be all up in each other's business. I mean, that's the point, right? And for folks who do not want to be public, they can simply avoid updates or really much activity at all and then they can choose to contact their friends offline or by email or whatever. The point is, is it fair or even reasonable to be on a huge social networking site, be active on it daily, and then expect to have privacy?

I do see that there is a distinction between privacy as to your friends, and privacy as to commercial establishments that want your business. However, I also think that we are smart enough to be able to treat our friends and businesses differently.

So I guess my point is this: that whether I feel that my privacy is invaded or that my community has expanded to fit modern life is largely a matter of perception. I for one lean towards believing that my community has expanded. But then, I don't have much of a sense of privacy, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask.

The future is now!

Parking meters in West LA/Beverly Hills now take credit cards. FINALLY, scrounging for coins is going the way of the dodo bird. Next: credit card slots for laundry.

 

Panic

Wherein I freak out because no one was responding to my Facebook updates FOR TWO DAYS!.

Last Thursday or Friday, I downloaded a photo upload Facebook app for iPhoto. If you don't really get what that means, don't worry. What's important is that I downloaded a Facebook application. I did not realize this at the time, but said application screwed something up for my Facebook account, so that no one other than me could see my updates. As far as all my friends were concerned, I'd gone stealth.

The first hint that something had gone awry was when I posted updates that I was on my way to the airport to pick up my mom, and NO ONE RESPONDED, not even a like. My first reaction was, you bastards! Not even a like? Fine. Then you don't get to come have dinner and eat my mom's delicious food. Hurrumph!

I posted a link, a couple more updates on Saturday, and again, nothing. Ummh. Ok, maybe I'm just suddenly really uninteresting and my updates are ending up at the bottom of the new news feed, which decides for you what is interesting and important. So I made myself wrong about being boring for a little while.

In desperation, I posted the following: "I sprouted wings and flew to Canada, where I learned to make goulash." That, I thought, will elicit at least ONE question, even if only something like WTF??

Again, nothing. I began to feel isolated, and ignored. I tallied all the people who I hadn't heard from in a while, trying to remember who hadn't called me back. Could this be a conspiracy? Something fishy is definitely afoot here. Then I tried to remember if I'd written something deeply offensive on my wall and this was retaliation, or the online equivalent of social ostracism, a virtual scarlet letter, if you will.

The anxiety began to creep in. What if all my friends have hidden my updates? I have hidden about half of mine, but I think that's normal, right? You keep the updates of your closer peeps, and occasionally check in with your acquaintances? But what if that is a major FB faux pas, and the word got around and now interwebby vigilante justice is unfolding?

This morning I woke up in a crappy mood and almost didn't go to yoga because I HAD TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS. Can you imagine? I'm literally going over the edge in less than 2 days.

I emailed everyone I could think of who might have had dealings with FB tech support (and figured out how to contact them, though they assured me they are not likely to respond), got tips and links from all kinds of friends and friends of friends, and finally, after breakfast and tea and while on my way to yoga I remembered that application.

And before you can say Bob's your uncle, I had removed the application and was again visible. I could have run nekked through the streets, I was so excited.

In case you hadn't figured it out from the painfully detailed account above, the whole experience left me rattled. I have only been on FB for a little over a year, but as I am a compulsive communicator, it has turned into a vital tool for me. (Drat!) I read up on what people are doing, put in my two cents, hear from them about what I'm doing, post my blog posts, look at people's pictures, make inane comments about things I find interesting, and so on. More importantly, I have reconnected with long lost friends from childhood. What a community!

In my fog of panic, I thought about the adjustment I'd have to make if for some reason my profile was hopelessly corrupt and I had to close down the account. It's like my cell phone: I'm not on it all the time, but I want to be the one to choose whether or not I'm available, and I want to be reachable in case of an emergency, whether that be a boyfriend misbehaving of someone in the hospital.

And isn't it funny how each level of technology enhances our ability to be connected with our peeps, and how addictive that is? Anyway, all's well that ends well, and you can all look forward to my insane ramblings, just as you did prior to Thursday.