The new Facebook changes. Hate them. Now, I know it’s a free service and they can do what they want and at least there’s a work around if you hate the new news feed but I am getting close to jumping ship. Google+ is looking mighty good right now. If I could just get all of my Facebook contacts over there.

Had to get that off my chest. What I really wanted to talk about were things the people who use social media do that annoy me.

1. InkCanada – ignore this one, it doesn’t apply to you. If you’re inviting me to an in person Facebook event make sure I’m at least in the same province as the event. You can imagine how ridiculous it is to be invited to something that isn’t in my province but I get ones that aren’t even in my country.

2. Friends who turn off their wall functionality.

3. A gazillion posts a day, every day, promoting your book. Keep it up and I will unfriend you.

4. Protecting your tweets. If you don’t want people reading your tweets send an email. I won’t request to follow you.

5. Using a service to verify I’m a person. I won’t click on that link either.

6. People who aren’t celebrities who have hundreds (or thousands) of followers and only follow a select group. If you have 4000+ followers and you only follow 100+ who do you think you are? I won’t follow you.

7. People who aren’t celebrities who don’t @ reply if you tweet them. I’m lucky that most of the people I tweet to do reply.

8. People who use a service to find people to follow and then auto unfollows them if you haven’t followed them back in X number of days. People are busy. They have lives, families, vacations, work. Sometimes it’s not possible to follow you back within three days. I don’t follow back until at least the fourth or fifth day to weed these ones out.

9. People who follow just to get followers. You know the ones. If you don’t follow them back they unfollow you. FYI, not everyone is going to follow you back.

10. People who aren’t celebrities who don’t follow you back. It’s just good Twitter karma to follow back. There are ways to filter tweets, mute people, if you get too many tweets in your stream.

Okay, here are some celebrities who have been known to @ reply or retweet. Keep in mind they don’t ALWAYS reply or retweet:

Jason O’Mara, Angie Harmon, Gordon Ramsay, Eric Johnson, Alyssa Milano.

Until next time…

Cindy

I thought I would give an ebook a try because my friend Danielle Gavan has a few out. She’s a great writer with interesting takes on some of your favourite princesses from your favourite fairy tales. I’m reading Tarnished Tiaras right now, an ebook of short stories that answers the question – what happened to the fairy tale princesses that the fairy tales didn’t tell us? You’ll never look at fairy tale princesses the same way again. I’m liking the stories. I’ve always loved fairy tales. And I’m not minding reading it on my iPhone either. I can read in bed with the lights off while the boyfriend is sleeping. You can buy her book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Smashwords.

Until next time…

Cindy

Remember the post two weeks ago about website pet peeves? Meetup went all out. Not only did it fix something that wasn’t broken but it isn’t listening to the organisers, who pay dues, about just how bad the new site is. They flat out refuse to change things back to the way they were, or at least keep the new and allow organisers to use the old format instead of the new.

Rumours are flying that they are banning members for speaking out and deleting their posts. They of course say they aren’t doing that. And to be fair I’ve seen posts that are still on the site that, if the rumours were true, would have been removed. However, they are closing topics instead of allowing further discussion forcing organisers to create another thread.

I have moved my groups to GroupSpaces. Now, GroupSpaces doesn’t have everything I want. I HATE that partial email addresses are visible in a person’s public profile. I don’t like that I can’t choose the background colour for my page. I’m not thrilled with the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a way for RSVPs to show up with comments on the home page. My welcome email isn’t being sent out to new members. It’s going to be a chore to move all of my discussion topics and messages from Meetup to my group’s GroupSpaces forum. And it’s very hard to search for groups near you. GroupSpaces didn’t start out as a place to find groups near you but rather a place for groups where people already knew each other. That’s fine. They’re working on a lot of the suggestions coming from former Meetup organisers.

If you’re a writer in the Milton, Guelph, Kitchener, Action, Hamilton, Waterloo areas you should pop over to Guelph Write Now’s new home and join! We offer lively discussion about writing, some critiquing, writing exercises, a website, write ins, weekly on-line writing sprints, a short story challenge loop and coming very soon, a goals loop.

Now, I’m off to work. The GroupSpaces page is still a work in progress so tonight I’ll be tweaking that.

Until next time…

Cindy

Layout:

A confusing layout, one that is hard to navigate, hard to find what you want. For crying out loud have a streamlined layout with the main menu navigation clearly visible. And if you do have a pleasing layout don’t change it. Why fix what’s not broken? I HATE the new Chapter’s layout. And I can’t stand the new Facebook profile page. Also not fussy on the new Twitter.

Colours:

Please, please, please, pick colours that are not only pleasing but don’t make me strain my eyes to read them. Bright colours with a funky font will guarantee I won’t be back to your website. Ditto for dark backgrounds with white or light writing. It’s too hard on my eyes. And make sure the font isn’t too small. My preference is to have black writing on a white or nearly white background. Go nuts with the rest of the site, the header, the outside background, even the sidebars to a degree. But keep the main content easy to read.

That said about bright colours and black backgrounds, there are a few that work for me, but again, the actual content is on a white (or light) background with black writing.

Karin Tabke

Melanie Atkins

Delilah Devlin

The Break-Up Diet

Comments:

Most bloggers love getting comments. And a lot of web surfers love to comment. So, some tips for you:

Allow readers to comment. If you have a blog and you’re spilling your guts about something let people comment. I’ve stopped going to blogs where all the person does is talk about stuff but won’t let people comment.

If you are moderating comments to filter out spam get a spam filter and turn off moderation. It’s annoying to comment on a post only to have the comment not actually appear until hours later. Sometimes the next day. If you’re worried about spam there are plugins you can use. If you’re worried about what someone might say, most blogs notify you that you have a new comment. Check it right away and if you don’t like it, delete it.

Make it easy for people to comment. Don’t make them have to become a registered user of the blog. Or make them have to have a Google account (Blogger people, I’m talking to you). If I try to comment on a blog and the only way I can comment is to sign in using my Google account ID I don’t leave a comment. And usually I don’t go back to the website. And yes, I do have a Google account. I shouldn’t have to use that though to post a comment. There is a place in Blogger where you can change that to allow anyone to comment.

Add a plugin so readers can be notified of future comments. It’s annoying to have to keep going back to the site to see if there are more comments. Let them get notified so they only go back when an email pops up saying someone has left another comment.

Contact:

Whether your website is a personal one or a business one have a contact page. On the contact page list all the ways people can get in touch with you. For businesses that means phone numbers, address, Twitter, Facebook, email address. For personal sites at least an email address. I went to a business site and there was no way to email the company. Sure I could call but during their business hours I’m at work. I went to a personal site because the person had on Twitter asked for guest blogs. I went with the intention of sending an email to express interest. No way to contact them through email on the site.

Of course all this is just my opinion. Some people may like the funky colours. The black background with bright lettering. The not being able to comment unless you jump through a million hoops. So, what are some of your pet peeves when it comes to blogs and websites?

Until next time…

Cindy

For some I get it. The Disney fellowship for screenwriters. I get you have to be a U.S. citizen to enter because if you win you will essentially be an employee. To be an employee you have to be able to legally work in the U.S. Got it. And I understand.

For others I don’t get it. Publishers that normally would publish authors from other countries suddenly opening a contest – where the prize is publication – but only allowing U.S. residents to enter.

Contests to win a walk on appearance on a TV show that is filmed in British Columbia only being open to U.S. residents just boggles my mind. You film the show in Canada but Canadians can’t enter your contest? How does that make sense?

iPhone apps that only allow you to download them if you live in the U.S. Again, if it was a local app I would understand. What would a Canadian want with an app that tells her all the hot places to go for getting a manicure in Phoenix? But an app by a bestselling author to only be available to U.S. residents makes me rethink buying his books now. He was a favourite author. Now, well, not so sure. I’m extremely disappointed.

Okay, rant over. Sorry it wasn’t actually writing related. Well it sort of was. I did mention writing.

Until next time…

Cindy

Gargoyles have been around for a long time. A very long time. They can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Rome. But they are more commonly associated with the middle ages as well as gothic architecture. The gargoyle is actually the hollowed out stone carved grotesque used as a water spout. The carvings not used as a water spout are simply called grotesques. Commonly found standing guard on top of churches, they were believed to ward off evil. So how could they ward off evil? Well, they’re hideous and can frighten off almost anything. They come alive at night and can protect you while you’re sleeping. They return to their perch when the sun comes up so no one is the wiser.

I like some of the guesses for the origin of gargoyles on the Gargoyle Etymology & History page. The rainwater plumbing is practical. But some of my favourites include the idea that they were carved out of mischief, retribution for not paying the stone carver, caricatures of local townspeople.

I’m not going to go into all the history, religious and architectural. There’s way too much out there for this little post. But check out some of the links from the post is you want to know more. Looking into gargoyles has nudged my muse and got the creative juices flowing. Not that my muse needed any help of course. I already have enough to write about. But now I’m thinking there might be a gargoyle story in my future.

Well, off to get some work done.

Until next time…

Cindy

On the way home I had to get groceries. Which also cost me less than I had budgeted for. I love when that happens. It helps to have a list. Of course I don’t always stick to the list, especially if I’m hungry. This time though I rushed in and out with very few extra items. I did grab a package of pecan tarts they strategically placed in front of the check out aisle.

I learned Saturday while making dinner that I need to have an aloe plant in the kitchen. We decided to have pork chops with gravy and scalloped potatoes. I brown the pork chops first of course. I make sure the oil is hot before putting the pork chops in the pan. That part was fine. Turning them over however caused a little splash of grease. Grease burns don’t hurt right away I discovered. But when they do start to hurt they hurt like hell.

Sunday morning was a good morning. Relaxed in bed for a while cuddling with the boyfriend, watching Myth Busters, sipping coffee and having Tim Bits. Then got up and dragged myself to the bathroom for the weigh in. One whole week back on the points and I was worried what the scale would say. I did slip a number of times during the week. But I lost a pound! I don’t know how I did it but I’m going to do the same this week.

Off to work. If I get there earlier enough I can leave early. Then I can go swimming on the way home.

Until next time…

Cindy

Saturday I was supposed to take my car in for an oil change but Friday night it felt like I was coming down with something. My throat hurt and I felt very tired. So Saturday morning I called to reschedule. I slept in. When I got up I made breakfast. Then the boyfriend and I watched marathon TV. We finished watching The Amazing Race season 13. I was happy Nick and Starr won. Though I would have been happy with any of the teams who made it to the final three.

We alternated TAR with House. We’re part way through season four of that. Watching the old episodes reminds me how really good the show was. The writing was great. I love House’s character. We just finished watching the episode with Mira Sorvino as a guest star.

We’ve also started watching TAR season 6. We haven’t seen many episodes of that yet. I think we’re on episode four. I already have people I definitely do not want to win. Jonathan and Victoria. She needs her head examined for not only dating him but actually marrying him. I don’t think I’ve wanted to actually hit anyone before but I wouldn’t mind giving him a few good jabs to the face. I’m not fond of the actors either. Can’t remember their names. Aaron and Hayden I think. Also, the engaged models aren’t doing it for me either. Well, they were okay until I heard that Kendra reveals herself to be racist in a later episode. I like the father/daughter team. Could have something to do with the fact he said he used to work for the CIA.

This week will be the usual. Except I’m hoping to get to the hotel to swim. I bought a membership to use a hotel pool and I’ve been once so far. I’d like to go at least three or four times a week. I’ve also started back on the points so I need to exercise as well.

That’s it for me. Not a very exciting weekend this time but it was a much needed lazy one.

Until next time…

Cindy

Pink Fuzzy Slippers

Cindy

Tuesday was Day 9 and covered community policing support. For the community policing to be effective they have a number of the programs, all volunteer, to help members of the community.

The C.O.A.S.T program that helps people in the community over 16 years of age with mental health issues. The plain clothes officer is teamed up with a social worker. The number of calls they got last year was staggering, to me. Mental health issues are a huge and no one likes to talk about them.

There was an officer talking about education services which includes the D.A.R.E. program. Officers are assigned to schools and can actually get to know the students. The D.A.R.E. program starts in grade 6. I never had it when I was in school. Then in grade 8 they follow up with the MOTIVE 8 program.

A member of the auxiliary police service spoke as well. The volunteer police service helps out in the community a lot. They get training just like the police do. They also have to go through the background checks, interviews etc. It’s a two year commitment but most of them end up staying longer.

The last two speakers were from the victim services unit and elder services. Victim services is there to help anyone who has been the victim of a crime. Any incident that could cause the person trauma. Elder services is of course there to help the elderly when they can’t always help themselves. Or they don’t know their rights in order to help themselves.

Next week we get to check out the judicial system. Can’t wait for that.

I’m off to work.

Until next time…

Cindy