I got a lot of responses about my last post, in many different ways: email, chat, Twitter, Facebook, and, shockingly, real life.  I had no idea that the subject would resonate so strongly.  There were suggestions to delete/deactivate my Facebook page.  To remove “friends” from social networking sites.  To take a break.  And all of these are valid suggestions, and I’m thinking about all of them and how to apply them.

“Waste not your time in idleness and sloth. Occupy yourselves with that which profiteth yourselves and others.” -Baha’u’llah

The media has been freaking out about privacy in social networking recently, but that isn’t my main concern, OTHER than the fact that most people who use social networks don’t know much about privacy.  I try to be careful about what I share, although I am probably not careful enough!

In my quest to become more mindful of my time usage online, I discovered some things, positive & negative.  I want to reiterate that I’m not hating on the internet, I’m merely trying to be more aware of my consumption.

1. I actually use Facebook to connect people and get information that assists me in my life.  In the last week, I introduced a friend to some folks overseas, connected with a few old friends, found out about a free concert, used it to figure out if friends were still living in the cities that I thought they were in, and introduced people to each other.  In other words, I spent more time acting as a small-scale connector than surfing mindlessly.

2. The glow of the screen at night is not helping me sleep, and it actually distracts me from reading!  My former habit was to fall asleep to a good book. In the chaos of moving so much, I did not have a library card or any of my beloved books with me, and my book consumption dropped.  I am still struggling to get back on track.

3. Being able to access other people’s lives so easily makes one susceptible to gossip & jealousy. It isn’t pretty.

4. I do not like it when people pull out a smartphone or laptop at a party, dinner, or even a casual social event, and start texting, chatting, checking scores, whatever.  Stop.  I stopped getting Twitter updates on my phone because the constant distraction was driving me (and my friends) crazy.  Whatever is happening on the internet or your phone is not more important than the people in front of you.  (I am sure I am guilty of some of this, and I’m working on it!)

5. Ramin gave me a great tip the other day: change your Facebook bookmark on your browser to go straight to your profile page.  My unthinking clicking doesn’t pull me into the newsfeed.  It has worked really well.

6. My real life has been so busy that I’ve not had much of a chance to process photos.  I’m about 250 photos behind right now, which is a lot for me and I’m struggling to catch up.  Honestly, it does not feel like a burden, which tells me that this is one of those parts of my technological life that makes me happy. I just wish I had more technical know-how!

Last night I rode my bike, went to the antique shop and chatted with the owner, got some books at the library, and spent the rest of the evening baking cookies and reading.  I highly recommend this sort of evening once in a while.

What is my action plan now? I’ve reduced consumption of Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds.  I try not to have my computer open in the evening.  Things are not usually so urgent that I can’t leave it for a little while.  My emails are being horribly neglected, but I am attempting a systematic response system.  There is only so much time in a day.  I would rather concentrate my energies on better things.

“Ours is the duty to fix our gaze with undeviating attention on the duties and responsibilities confronting us at this present hour, to concentrate our resources, both material and spiritual, on the tasks that lie immediately ahead, to insure that no time is wasted, that no opportunity is missed, that no obligation is evaded, that no task is halfheartedly performed, that no decision is procrastinated. The task summoning us to a challenge, unprecedented in its gravity and force, is too vast and sacred, the time too short, the hour too perilous, the workers too few, the call too insistent, the resources too inadequate, for us to allow these precious and fleeting hours to slip from our grasp, and to suffer the prizes within our reach to be endangered or forfeited.”  -Shoghi Effendi, Messages to America, p. 101

I spent some time working on my blog last weekend.  Even though it is April, it was still very much like winter here, and the idea of going outside was not very appealing.

I’ve added a plugin called “Now Reading”, which allows me to share books that I’ve read, that I am currently reading, and that I plan to read.  I’ve been having fun adding books to the list.  While by no means comprehensive, it does give you a taste of some of the books I like.  I have not included most of the fiction I have read, simply because it would contain hundreds of books and I’m too lazy to input all of that information. If you have any reading suggestions for me, please leave a comment!

Finally decided to add a search box to the sidebar below the links, which makes it easier to look for things. 🙂

I’ve also updated my links and about me pages in very minor ways, and added a few blogs to the sidebar: Sarah is writing about her adventures in South Korea, Tajalli talks about promotional marketing, and Lorenia is a strawberry. Also, check out the latest World Art Collective art installation…cute statues, powerful message.

I saw this a while back, but haven’t had a chance to post it.

This weekend is the beginning of winter. To celebrate the freezing cold weather in Chicago, I’m going to share a few things that I have been enjoying that keep my mind off the fact that the ice and snow are inundating my life.

A Short Love Story In Stop Motion – My friend Ana posted this on her blog, and I could not stop watching it.

Genius Dog – A few of my friends have started a webcomic, and it is funny. Go take a look.

Fleet Foxes: “He Doesn’t Know Why” – Fleet Foxes is a band from Seattle that my friend Navid introduced me to. They’ve been around for a few years now, and I am surprised that I had not heard of them before.

Ocean of His Words, by John Hatcher – I have just started reading this book, and while it can be heavy reading at times, it is very interesting to analyze the Writings from a literary perspective.

I haven’t spent much time working on my blog in the last few months, but for the last few days I was feeling like some small changes were needed.

1. I now have gravatar functionality set up. Go to this post…you can see pictures by some of the comments. Those individuals have set it up (very easy!) so that their picture shows up on sites when they comment.

2. I’ve also added the ability to subscribe to specific comment threads, so you can receive emails when someone adds a comment after yours. It is at the bottom of the comment box.

3. There is now a little badge in the sidebar that indicates that I’ve joined the Baha’i Web Development Network. As stated on the site: “The Baha’i Web Development Network is a social network for Baha’is to encourage and learn from each other about using communications technology to serve the Baha’i Faith.”

4. At the bottom of each post is now a button that allows people to share the post on a variety of sites.

5. Finally, I’ve updated my links page, About me page, and cleaned up the sidebar a little bit.

Any suggestions? I’m always looking for new ideas, so feel free to comment.

(Thanks to Ramin for helping iron out some of the bugs for me.)

In conversations with a number of friends, I have realized that while nearly all of us have multiple accounts on the internet for various reasons, very few of us have provided a way for these accounts to be accessed, maintained, or shut down in the event of our demise.

Some might say this is a morbid subject.  However, we leave wills for our physical assets, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t provide account information to our loved ones.  (If you don’t have a will…go write one!)

There are a number of types of sites that your loved ones may have to access: bank accounts, online bill-pay, utilities, email, social networking sites, your blog, photo management sites, forums, and instant messaging platforms.

This article mentions that unlocking an account after someone has died can mean having to get a court order, which can be a lengthy process.  Different companies have different ways of dealing with the death of a customer, and sometimes the family or executor of the estate will not be able to access their account.

You can handle this dilemma in a few different ways. Start by compiling all of the information you have.  Try using a spreadsheet if you are overwhelmed…but remember that digital information is easily shared, so be sure that it is secure.  Your column headings can be: website, login name, password (remember case-sensitive ones!), and “comments” (this area can be used to explain how you want this account handled after you pass away).

In the course of this process, you might discover a few websites where you have an account, but you really don’t need it…go ahead and get rid of those accounts.

One way is to have the information included with your will, and the executor will take care of these things.  Another option is to entrust your spouse, family member, or close friend to have access to those accounts.  For example…you might not want your grieving parents to have to go onto Facebook and tell your 830 “friends” that you have passed away, and so you might give that task over to a friend who would be able to take care of it.  But again, be careful who you give that information to…if you feel that they might betray your trust…perhaps you are better off leaving that information with a lawyer.

Any other ideas on other ways to solve this problem of account management?  I’m hoping that someday that the proliferation of usernames and passwords will be reduced, but for now we just have to manage with what we’ve got.

It was time. My old design was buckling under the weight of plug-ins, time, and over-use. I decided about a month ago that I needed something new for my blog. I treat it so badly sometimes. 🙂

It was like buying a new dress for a high school reunion (although I won’t have mine for another few years)…you want to make sure it looks good, because everyone will be seeing it, and probably judging it just a little.

So with the help of a few friends, my site has its grand unveiling. I commissioned a banner from Jordan, who made my last banner…he had very little to go on, and he did a fantastic job. There was much rejoicing when it was received in my inbox a few days ago.

Notice the new Links page on the sidebar!

If something is broken/needs work, please let me know.

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/070607/a-nerds-opinion-presented-a.gif

Look at the above link. Ok, so I admit that I use Wikipedia too, when I need a quick education on a subject. But really, I just get annoyed that it has become so accepted as a reference in some circles.

I love Skype, but my computer at home had a quarrel with my headset and now they aren’t talking to each other. It seems like the days get away from me recently, and I keep trying to get things fixed.

Ok, now for a few amusing links. How many of you watched “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” on TNT? I loved that show. My flatmate Sahar sent me this link to a little montage set to music.

Finally, if you haven’t seen Axis of Evil Comedy tour, you really should. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. Here is one video on YouTube, just do a search for other clips from them.

This article by Michael Rogers was brought to my attention a few days ago. It puts forth the idea that in the future the need to analyze and extrapolate a complex book will not be a skill that most people need.

It’s time to acknowledge that in a truly multimedia environment of 2025, most Americans don’t need to understand more than a hundred or so words at a time, and certainly will never read anything approaching the length of an old-fashioned book.

It is hard to tell whether the author is kidding…for example:

The nation’s leaders must be able to read; for those who follow, the ability should be strictly optional.

In any case, this is a subject that I am passionate about. I remember arguing with my high school English teachers over the choice of reading material, whether it was Grendel or Catcher in the Rye (not that my teachers had any control, it was set up by the school district).

(used book store back home)

I was raised to love books, to dive into a 600 page book with no thought to the fact that it was bigger than my head. I tend toward fantasy & sci-fi, but love everything else nearly as much. I would not have the ability to write as I do, the ability to edit documents and read as fast as I do if I had not been encouraged from a very early age to read anything I could get my hands on.

It isn’t necessarily that someone must be a “book-worm” to learn to enjoy reading. Kids are often given books that are boring in school, forced to read things in class that they can’t connect to, and thus the process of reading is turned into a chore.

Thoughts?

When cleaning out spam, I accidently deleted Leslie & Sam’s comments. um…sorry guys. haha. 😛

Help!

If you are one of my computer literate friends that lives nearby, I am asking for assistance. My computer refuses to connect to the internet, even though the other computers on the wireless network in the house can connect. It is a problem with my PC, and I’ve tried having folks help through the phone but nothing happens. If you are available to come look at my computer, I’ll bake you a cake. I’m serious.

Please excuse my silence over the last week, it was beyond my control. Server issues of some kind, which Paul kindly fixed. 🙂

There was an interesting article on blogging in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. I don’t normally read magazines that aren’t business related…simply no time. I’m only commenting on the article because I found it quite surreal to be reading about the latest dress fad, turn the page, and find an article on something I do (and have been doing for years).

Storage in the form of a duck. Finally people are doing useful things with this technology. Thanks to Shan for pointing out the link.

At sunset the Baha’i New Year (Naw- Ruz) ends. Eide shoma mobarak! (Happy New Year!)

Since I had time to kill before work, I fixed the links on my sidebar over to the right (I know some browsers have trouble seeing my sidebar, try scrolling down to the bottom of the page).

I reinstated my “People” links, with some new names (Jessica & Mahsa, welcome to this blogiverse!). Some more links, some taken out…

And guess what, y’all? BAHAIYOUTH.COM IS BACK!!! Starting Wednesday. So you have to wait a few more days…I assure you, it is going to be great. 🙂

I have an Emachine (don’t say bad things about my computer!) with Windows XP. My ethernet network card that I installed 2 years ago seems to have completely died, and no one knows how to fix it.

What kind is good? This is the one I have in my computer right now, should I just order another one?

There are bets going around on how long my computer will last, but I’m hoping another year at least. I need my internet NOW.

EDIT: Ordered the card. Should be here in the next few days!

I unplugged the computer, took off the case, cleaned out the dust, replugged it, and voila! It turned on!

Maybe it was having an allergy attack?

Now I just need to get the internet working…

My trusty computer has gotten very ill. It won’t turn on completely, the little cheerful green light in front is dark, and all I can hear is a sad little hum from the machine. The screen is black, nothing registers.

I hope it is the monitor…doubt it though. In any case, if anyone wants to fix it for me, I’d be quite happy. *looks around hopefully*

*sigh*

Some editing has been done, so if you can’t find something, that is why. 🙂

yup. That is about it. Life is busy.