I hope you enjoy these oldie, but goodies!
I am heading out to lunch with ma girlfriends and then spending the rest of the day with my lovin’ spouselet.

Here is to a great 2010.
I am so ready for you baby!

5. Friday Favorites-Restaurants

4. Sunday Scribbling-Art

3. Winter Blitz 2009

2. Chantel Hobbs

1. The 14 year old

And from looking at google analytics over the past year, there are some things I am gonna be changing and improving for next!  Funny the number one post on my blog is about my beautiful son…Think I can talk about him every day with out him disowning me forever?

Also, 2 of the top five are weekly participation meme’s.  For web traffic, if that is your motivation, it appears those are a good thing…

Until next year!

And this, takes the cake.

Yes, a basic set of information that looks like this:

Oh, heck no!

My picture and my name.  Heck, that is on google already so I really don’t mind that.
I do mind that it shows a segment of my friends.
I am also a little uncomfortable with it showing Celebrities and Public figures.
It isn’t anyone’s business what products, services and stores I like.

I had already stopped becoming fans of every business, group, product and public figure months ago, because I am not even sure I want my Friends and Networks to see that stuff.  So, if you sent me an invitation to your business and I didn’t join it, nothing personal.

It is a privacy thing.
Facebook Privacy Changes (part 1)

Facebook Privacy Changes (part 3)

In Facebook Privacy Changes (p1) I discovered my photos were compromised.  After that bit of unsettling news, I decided to check ALL my settings from top to bottom and everything in between.

Like I said, there went my morning.

These settings were not acceptable to me.  I do want everyone to be able to find me who are looking for me on facebook, that is the only way I would have been able to have coffee later this week with people from high school.  Some I have not seen in…well, a long, long time.

But, I don’t want everyone to know my current address, or my phone numbers or to even send me a message.

I also didn’t want applications that other people are using to have access to my information (those games and tests that compare me to you…)

See that “what your friends can share about you” after this morning, that is a big nothing.

Sorry folks.

and because I was feeling particularly violated after this ordeal…I deleted several applications I had previously given granted access.  Good Bye “family links”.  Goodbye “know it all trivia”.

After an hour of deleting and purging.

I felt much better.

To fix your application settings :

• Head to Settings
• Then to Application Settings (instead of privacy)
• Select Authorized from the drop down menu next to the word Show:
• Start deleting any application you no longer use
• After you have purged that list check through each of the remaining applications and adjust your sharing settings next to each one
• Also note that there is a photo and video  category in this menu as well
• Once this list is cleaned up proceed to “Granted Additional Permissions” and edit those items as well

I hope that helps clear up some of the mess that the changes have presented for several casual facebook users.
Frustrating!

Facebook Privacy Changes (part 1)

Facebook Privacy Changes (part 3)

This is at least a two parter, maybe more once I get going with it.

My day started simple enough, the only thing on my calendar was a blog post about a toy when I was a kid.
As I was checking my google reader at the office for my work related feeds (my personal feeds are on a different g-mail account so I don’t goof off in the office-most days) I ran across a blog post called “Is Facebook Really a Brand You Can Trust” and it got me thinkin’ about my privacy settings.

I had checked the basis when the “new” system was announced, but I didn’t dig deeper and I thought that I probably should…

and there went my morning.

See that last one, my wall photos were tagged for EVERYONE to see as were the folder where I shared images of my son and family.  Photos used to have one setting, now each folder has a different one.  Anyone on facebook at any time could see images of my family, my pets, OTHER peoples pets and children.

Oh, this was very bad!
But, luckily, also very easy to correct.

Here’s how:

• In the top blue banner next to your name is “settings” click that
• then click on Privacy settings from the drop down menu
• Then click on profile information
• While in this menu, I would verify all those settings are to locked down to your degree of comfort*
• scroll down to the Photo Albums and click on Edit Settings button
• change the settings on each album, there is now a custom option that would be great for sharing with just certian groups (more on that in a later post)

Oh and while you are on that Profile information screen, be sure you have this box checked IF you want people to be able to post comments on your wall (instead of only being able to reply to comments on your wall)

Now that I have those changes made, I feel better about the information I have on facebook.

Facebook Privacy Changes (part 2)

Facebook Privacy Changes (part 3)

More comments on my facebook account on this one entry than any other.  Funny thing-almost everyone of them:
“I See it”

Of course you do, the feature doesn’t work like I thought it would.
ALL of my facebook friend see it.  Heck my friends of their friends see it.  That is just two shakes of a lambs tail from the whole darn universe seeing it.

It appears to be another useless feature.

For the past 4 years part of my Halloween tradition has been log on to Guild Wars and get my “hats” or masks or whatever enhancement they were offering for that holiday.

This year was no different!
I got up at 8:30 so I could hit the event online at 9AM sharp.

From Guild Wars/Halloween

This year the two special items were the Skull Face Paint and the Charr Mask.  The Pumpkin mask and the Witch hat were from the second year.  The first year you only got one mask (because there was only one release of the game) and silly me deleted the character that got that mask, so, i have no record of it.

Here are a few screen shots of the “event”:

From Guild Wars/Halloween

This is where the king appears to give out the prizes. You can barely see all the “people” but there are hundreds that participate, some of them are even pretty nice

From Guild Wars/Halloween

More decoration, normally this is just a ship, but for Halloween, a ghost pirate ship. Sorry, no Johnny Depp on this one.

From Guild Wars/Halloween

This is my favorite. The Haunted Moon AND a Toilet papered tree. That is the back of my characters head in the shot. OOPS.

This is the first year that the 14 yr old is not going out to get a bag of loot for the day. He is on his way to the University of Kentucky football game. The spouselet and I are trying to decide what great food we are going to eat in his absence!

I was going to say, have to have to survive, but that is SO dramatic.
5 Internet Tools I NEED…seriously, food and air yes, internet crapola…mmm not so much. 

Maybe 5 Tools I need for online happiness! BLISS!
SCORE! 

Cause, I can be happy with out the internet all together, but if I am online sisters, THESE are the tools I seriously enjoy!

1. Facebook
   Molly McMahan’s Profile | Create Your Badge
   
   DUH. 
2. TweetDeck.
   Ok, granted, I have not tweeted since the begning of Lent, but honestly (and this is so sad) not a day goes by that I don’t miss it.  I had to remove the twitter icon from my blackberry, it was really sad.  I discovered that Twitter keeps me more on task than any other tool I use because I am constantly reminded of what I SHOULD be doing! 
3. iGoogle.
   The google desktop rocks.  First thing in the morning, I can scan my email, reader, news AND calendar.  I can customize my banner to reflect all sorts of things.  Right now I am sportin’ the ONE.org banner.  LOVE IT!
   
4. Flickr.
   For all the pictures I take a PRO account was necessary, but I am tryin to survive with a basic account for right now, I will let you know how long that lasts!
5. Livestrong.
   And not because Lance Armstrong is a cute little biker.  Nope, this site has tons of information on health and fitness.  The Daily Plate portion of the site is my favorite beause you can track food (must like the Weight Watchers site-but FREE).

What are your top 5?

I love google reader for always suggesting new items for me to subscribe and read.
Today, I found 4 new ones, and I am feeling generous in spirit, so I am gonna share!

Jenny Doh from Somerset Studios has a beautiful blog-Crescendo!
I am not sure why I haven’t found it before, but there is it, in all its artsy glory!

Secret Agent Mama-photography that makes me seriously jealous. Awesome stuff!

Jeff @A View from the Cloud has some great stories and pictures and general dad stuff.  I liked the picture of all the shoes, that did it for me!

Cote De Texas-I don’t even know what that means, but who cares, there are some awesome remodeling projects pictured on this site-great ideas and rich colors. I am sold!

What are your top three new favorite blogs?
Don’t be shy, share!

I found this nifty little option on facebook the other day, and I have no idea how long it has been there, could be since the start of time.  However, I know that if I JUST saw it, then there are others in the same boat.

I mentioned it in an update and a few other people asked me about it so I thought I thought I would do a little post.

When you are viewing your news feed, all of your friends and their posted notes and articles and pictures, links whatever show up.  Some of them are not things you necessarily want to see.  (people not acting their age, in either direction)

If you mouse over the entry, a little options box appears.  (see it on the right, in the image below)

When you click on that you can determine if you want to give that person a higher priority or a lower one.  If it is a photo or a note, you can also list if you want those items to have a higher or lower priority.

So, If  you are friends with me on facebook and I post to much (because I sometimes think I do) then you can click on Less about Molly and push me on down the list!

I was missing most of my spouselets entries, and since I changed his priority, now, they are visible and I catch them all!

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I love twitter, thanks to having a dual screen set up, I can monitor tweetdeck all day long while I work, no need to toggle windows.  I feel constantly connected.  But, I am happy to report that I can easily close the window when the chatter gets to be to much and I can not concentrate on tasks that need to be done.

I know there are people who don’t “get” twitter.  Most of them are local, non-net friends.  And I didn’t totally understand it until I started using TweetDeck. Now I can keep track of my conversations.  I know who has replied to me and who has direct messaged me (sometimes before my cell phone chirps).  I don’t have any of the people I follow set to notify my cell phone, so before TweetDeck, when I was away from my desk, I missed tweets to me.

How rude, it is like not returning a phone call!

I can also set up groups.  I can have one for business and one for personal.  OR just one that only contains people who actually converse.  I did have some trouble with my group dropping people I did want to see, so I have not re-done it.  I have some people that I follow that I don’t want to see their tweets.  Sure, the simple thing to do would be un-follow them, but at the same time, from READING their tweets for weeks on end, I fear they might jump off a bridge at the rejection.  This way, I don’t hurt their feelings and I don’t have to read the seriously depressing stuff (or constant sales pitches).

Heck, I consider myself to be mostly stable and a strong woman, but when I get a notice from Qwitter it hurts my feelings.  Especially if it was one of my better tweets!

Another tool that has been discussed for weeks is TweetGrid.  Beware, it is more addictive than TweetDeck and about as useful, especially if you are a current event’s junkie or twitter chatter.  I am fortunate to have two twitter buds who have recorded videos explaining how this tool works.  One by ResPres and the other by Noelle from Take Root. I watched them both to be sure I got it!  You really only need to use tweetgrid if you wish to follow all tweets on a various topic or hash tag (#).

Not following me yet on twitter? I will gladly return the favor!

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