I never realised how nasty it could be until an unsuspecting Irishman decided that his email address was in fact, a mirror image of mine.

The lesson of the day: DO NOT PUT A RANDOM EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION LINKED TO A CREDIT CARD! You’d think this is obvious…

Here’s where another problem lies- you can either choose to have a password reset link sent directly to your email address, OR select your date of birth/secret question… My question to Apple is, why not make all of the above mandatory? It’s just lazy!

Now I could have been all naughty and run up a massive bill, but that’s not my style. I’m currently trying to get in contact with Apple, but this is harder than you think!

So the question is- who is at fault here? The user? Apple? Me?

*Update: I’m trying to email Apple, but can’t find an address or form to actually speak to a real person*

This is highly disturbing.

The ad was served from DeviantArt.com, as I was doing my daily browsing. I wasn’t even logged in to Facebook at the time, so I am also concerned about how the ad agency is identifying me. I have very tight privacy permissions on my account.

The ad itself was styled to appear very similar to a standard Facebook ad. It is likely that many are even unaware of the extent that their personal information is being utilized. The image on the ad was not of the same quality of a regular facebook ad, suggesting that images may be being stored elsewhere.

The ad redirected here: http://rockyou.com/

Here’s what it looked like:

And then it finally clicked. We’re all being used and are totally unaware of the control others have over our personal information. Of course, I knew this- we all do. But it doesn’t actually fully click until something like this happens.

But Facebook is like a drug. They hook you in by offering services unrivaled by others, they weave their way in to the fabric of our very social beings so that we build up a dependency, driving us further forward despite obvious security concerns. Even if I was to stop using facebook as a tool, images of myself would still reside on their servers from friends. So why fight it?

Because if we don’t, then there’s no hope that consumers can take back control of their own lives on the Internet.

What you can do: 

Crank up your privacy settings as much as you can: http://www.facebook.com/privacy/?ref=mb

Talk to Facebook about their ads: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=ads_general

It was cold night here in Adelaide, so, naturally, I went to go and put my ugg boots (slippers) on. As I did so, I told my boyfriend I was going AFK to get warmer.

2 minutes later, I opened up facebook, and what did I see an ad for? SLIPPERS! That’s right- Facebook advertising has gone as far as reading my mind / MSN conversations and determining that I am in fact in need of a pair of new slippers. What Facebook doesn’t know is that my ugg boots are far superior to any slippers that their target advertising can deliver. Of course Facebook can’t actually read my MSN conversations… or can they? I’m becoming somewhat skeptical.

So over the next few days, I kept track of the ads I was being served, taking note of any activities which may have lead to them being served:

Ok, so you know my IP address and can therefore determine that I probably live in Adelaide- congrats.

This is where it gets bad. This first appeared after joining a “Guitar Hero” group, but its appearance has become more frequent since my status and application updates have included something to do with it.

Now HOW do they know that my boyfriend snores?

Ok, so it’s a user agent string- nothing freaky about that. Or so I thought- until my mac needed to go in for repairs a week later. Is the AI behind this so intelligent that it can predict the future? No doubt it’s not far off.

Little does Facebook know, I’m trying to fool their system to present myself with ads that have absolutely no relevance to me whatsoever so I can get on with my life. This isn’t that hard.

For example, according to Facebook, my birthday is on the 18th of October, 1911. Now I realise that this is why I’m getting ads to tell me that I can get FREE SAMPLES for women over 50! Wow! Old age is going to be sweet if this is what’s in store!

I know target advertising is nothing new (just look at how specific Google AdWords is), but when it’s targeted to my whole LIFE as opposed to a simple search term, I feel invaded.

Still, it’s my own fault. Or is it? When does information gathering cross the line? Personally I feel as though information that I used to consider to be public has become quite personal.

I’m back in Adelaide

Now before you jump to conclusions, yes things with David and I are going very well. I made the decision to temporarily leave Sweden, and my awesome job at Opera after only a few short months of being there, to further my studies back in Australia. That was by no means an easy decision- Opera was without a doubt the coolest place in the world to work, so there is no question that I’m going to do everything I can to get my job back when I return to Sweden.

I still question whether or not I made the right decision; however knowing that I’ll be back in a year comforts me Also, seeing family and friends again after my (longest) time away is fantastic. I wonder if I’ll be able to maintain the same contact if I’m gone for a longer period of time. Time will tell, I guess

I also left “Life. Be in it”, where I have been working in some form ever since I was in year 6. That’s… 11 years! I’m sad about that, but have filled that void with some tutoring work at UniSA, which should be more rewarding.

That was the most emo blog post I’ve ever made. Now back to the familliar silence of inactivity

I couldn’t wait for my ugly/cute green weird little laptop to arrive.

Unfortuantely I missed out on the OLPC “green theme” party in Norway:
http://howcome.gotdns.com/img/2008/05-07-olpc/
http://www.idg.no/video/article97675.ece
http://www.digi.no/php/art.php?id=527841
So, we had our own party in the office when they arrived.

Here it is coming out of the box:

Here’s my very excited co-worker unwrapping hers:

And here I am with my new favourite toy:

Unfortunately we were in the middle of a release, so in reality the OLPC sat rather neglected on my desk amongst the mess for a few days:

When I did get time to take a look at it, my attention was drawn to the safety instructions:

Now these are the sorts of instructions I can relate to!  Thank god. Here I was about to do a rain dance on top of my laptop.

Opening it up, it’s pretty sturdy, very green, and overall a very interesting piece of hardware. The keyboard is small, but easy enough for my fingers to type on (two finger typing).

What interests me the most is the user interface. I deliberately didn’t read many reviews about the UI so I could keep an open mind when formulating my own first impressions.

To be honest, my first impressions were “WTF”.

As the OLPC loads, you are presented with a screen with the familiar XO logo. Then something weird happens. Part of the X splits off and proceeds to spin around the O, leaving a trail of dots as it goes. Was it a clock? Was it some strange loading screen? Was it a progress “bar”? What on earth was happening?

I know that this is meant to be designed for kids, but honestly, I think I’m a bit of a big kid, and I found this to be cumbersome and weird. It took me and a developer 5 minutes to work out how to shut the damn thing down! And come on, kids are stupid, so how can they possibly work this stuff out? We eventually worked it out, turned it off, and the world was safe once more.

After being slightly frightened and concerned for my general health and wellbeing, I decided to open it up again. This time at home with the added safety of kitchen knives within reaching length in case of any freaky shit. Connecting it to our wifi was a breeze. My boyfriend decided to check out the “chat” functionality:

“Hello Africa!”, he typed, eagerly awaiting a response.

Alas, Africa did not respond. This was possibly even more of a disappointment than an inability to step on the laptop and leave it in the rain.

One thing this machine does is raise questions. There was a lot of hype surrounding its release regarding design decisions made to suit the needs of its users (being kids in third world countries). I don’t care so much about the hardware side of things (although an ability to have high contrast in direct sunlight and batteries powered by human thought is nice). I’m interested in the UI.

After much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that it’s cumbersome. The reason why it is designed this way is because the users don’t know any better, so therefore it “suits their needs”. It has been widely publicised that adults are not meant to enjoy using this machine to reduce the likelihood of these machines being sold on. Apparently children think differently, learn differently, and have different user behaviour. I can agree with these notions.

One thing that I simply cannot agree on is that the designers of the sugar interface have tailored the interface with this in mind. I think they’ve used these ideas as an exucse to be completely whacky and do something “outrageous” because they’re bored and need some entertainment. I honestly think that this was the result of some sort of “truth or dare” game that the UI designers had when drunk.

So there, my completely non-academic, unsubstantiated opinion I could back it up with facts and screenshots but to be honest I’d rather spend my time trying to uninstall the Sugar interface.

Peace out

It was an epic battle. We played 6 games in total spanning about 3 hours. Against all odds, we lost 6 out of 6 games, coming dead last on the ladder. After attempting to play regularly and fail, I decided to go for a sneaky ninja style of defence- creeping up from behind when they least expected it:

After a while I knew the race was over, so my mind became un-focused and started to wander as I was playing. Here’s my “I wonder what I should eat for dinner tonight” expression:

The great thing about still photos is that you never can tell what happened after it was taken. Luckily I never have to worry anyway, because all of my shots obviously go in because I always wait to take a clear shot:

Now you can’t see the bottom of this next photo, but you’ll have to believe me that the other guy is 9ft tall and I totally out jumped him:

And I can’t think of anything amusing to say about these next photos, but I know you’ll want to see all of them Mummy

Many thanks go out of my good friend Jon for taking these great photos to document the day! The full set can be found at http://rifotech.se/

That’s right! I no longer sit on the couch all day playing Nintendo and surfing the Internet, and occasionally teaching! I now work at Opera Software as a test monkey. Not sure how much I can tell you about the job without first reading their blogging policy, but I can tell you that it’s a lot of fun and involves daily ping-pong tournaments

I’ve been very busy adjusting to my new way of life as a working girl here in Sweden. I love having structure in my days, but miss watching television and being horizontal for most of the day.

I’m planning on visiting England in May to go and see my Auntie Lyn and Granny at the same time. Should be fun!

I bought some Sea Monkeys to put on my desk to make it look more professional I’ll take a photo when they’re up and running.

As you can see, this job has left me with little creative energy to write amusing anecdotes, but rest assured that my life is still one amusing story. Like, this morning, I woke up and ate toast for breakfast. Oh boy.

David is working like a mad thing, studying for his exams. Clever little thing.

Anyway I’m sorry this entry has been so boring. To compensate, here’s a picture of me pointing at some masking tape:

Lots of love to you all,

Marian

Well, I’ve been here a while now. Aside from wondering why it hasn’t snowed yet, I’ve been keeping myself busy with lots and lots of stuff.

Somehow I scored a job as a teacher at the International English School here, substituting their PE teacher who went on parternity leave. Having only worked with year 1’s before, teaching years 7-9 is somewhat different. Instead of them crying for their mummies, they cry if their makeup runs or if they have to do too much.

I really like it there. The kids are nice, the food is good (and free!), and the sports equipment isn’t that bad. I’ve only had a few little shits to deal with, but all in all I think that my teaching style works. That is, if they want to talk back to me, I just smile and laugh at them. This really confuses teenagers. I like to be confusing- keeps them on their toes

One amusing story was that a poor girl didn’t want to play floorball one lesson- to the point of actually climbing up a ladder to the top of the gym and refusing to come down. Poor little thing was really scared of balls. Oh well- I didn’t like PE when I was a kid either, so I figured I’d leave her there and she’d be getting good arm exercise clinging on to the ladder.

The “bad” kids of the school really like me for some reason. They have a really abd reputation among most of the teachers, but like me to the point of coming and sitting with me at lunch time. It’s really cool that I can let them enjoy a lesson or two without getting yelled at.

Anyway, so that’s PE, and my last day as a substitute is tomorrow. After that I’ll be in whenever they need me.

I’ve got a second round interview with Opera coming up on Friday, which I’m really looking forward to. I don’t expect to be hired, but a free pen and t-shirt is enough to make me go and put on a good show! I would love to work there more than anything. I’ve got the skillset to qualify for consideration, so we’ll see how that goes. My first interview was with one of the guys who developed the Nintendo DS browser… that was really cool.

David and I have been playing a lot of board games lately. He gets really angry when something goes wrong, so my plan is to play very regularly to condition him in to thinking that winning isn’t everything (hah!).

I bought some daffodil’s today. They’re very pretty but I am unsure about how long they’re going to last.

Anyway, until we next meet, take care.

Marian

Well here I am sitting in McDonalds in some random ski slope in Sweden. My aim for today is to not get kicked out of McDonalds, without buying any food. I don’t like McDonalds, but there isn’t anywhere else here that’s warm and nice enough to sit down in. Every time an employee walks past me, I’ll mutter something in English and take a sip of my delicious 10sek hot chocolate like any other paying customer would. I figure that so long as it’s still warm, I can still be here.

I’ve got a pretty nice view here. If I were a homeless person, I think that sitting below the golden arches in Sweden would be pretty sweet. You might have to go from one McDonalds to another though. It could be known as “McHopping” or something equally as witty. You could eat other people’s leftovers and not have to do any dishes for the rest of your life… not that I can imagine homeless people having any dishes to do anyway, but it’s a good idea in theory.

Anyway the reason why I’m sitting here is because I took a pretty decent fall on day 2 of the skiing extravaganza. My “good” knee is no longer my good knee, or at least for a few more days. In all honesty I probably could get back out there (we had a day of rest yesterday), but I’m pretty scared to hurt myself good and proper.

On day 1 of the skiing extravaganza we woke up at 6am, I slept in the car and David drove for 4 and a half hours to Stoten in Salen. We were greeted by some rain, which at first seemed fine because it was pretty light. So we courageously decided to venture to the top of the mountain. Jumping on the t-bar, David asked, “should we get off here?” half way up the slope where lots of other people appeared to be dismounting. I was feeling adventurous at the time, so suggested that we wait until reaching the very top.

And that was a bad idea. By the time we reached the top of the mountain, the wind and rain was getting more intense. Let me rephrase… the howling blizzard and ice-shard storm was beginning to make small holes in my face. I thought at the time that that was the most frightening thing I had ever experienced in my life. That is, until the wind started to force me down the slope. I was clinging on to that snow like a cat with sharpened claws on a newly purchased sofa. Or at least I was trying to, but my success was more like a mountain goat on a slippery dip. David went off ahead, not batting an eyelid. He turned to face me to see if I would follow. I think he must have seen me mouth “F*ck this!” in the howling wind, or words to that effect, and shake my head vigorously, to which he replied, “Come on! You can do it!”. Like hell I could do it, the slope was like this steep → \

Come on- I come from a country that is 99% desert. We’re not designed to be able to ski. I couldn’t see where the slope went because it was so steep. After about 5 minutes of outright refusal to budge, the wind was winning the fight. So, I figured if I died I would at least be preserved in the ice and snow so that my body may be cryogenically preserved and re-thawed one day to rejoin the human race.

I can’t exactly recall what happened after that. What followed was probably a combination of screaming expletives and squealing high-pitched sounds of fear, not that anyone could hear. By this stage my “waterproof” clothing had well and truly failed, and I was drenched to the bone. Somehow I made it down that slope, only falling once if I recall. I remember laughing when I fell, but secretly wanting a flamethrower to melt the snow and anyone who got in my way, or a high-powered jet pack to get myself off of that god damn slope as quickly as possible.

About half way down I discovered that I wasn’t very good at turning. So, the last part of that run was really efficient. I overtook David and rocketed down the slope at a hundred miles an hour. I somehow managed to stay upright (similar to my last skiing experience in Sweden (I was known then as kamikaze Marian)), and David was very surprised and relieved to see me still in one piece at the end of the slope. He later told me that that was a black slope (or avenue of death as I will know call them)- if only we’d known before taking the t-bar right to the top we might have still had the same happy Marian as we did a few hours beforehand.

The shower that I had when we got back was one of the happiest moments of my life. I could once again feel my face, which luckily, was still in once piece. The next day we decided to take green and red slopes. I still wasn’t very happy with the red parts, but only fell once, which was a case of crossed skis, somehow landing on my knee before rolling face first on to my hip and looking somewhat like a duck who didn’t quite learn how to do water landings properly as a duckling. That one really hurt, even David said it looked impressive, and I have some killer bruises to show for it. He then proceeded to teach me how to turn properly, with encouraging comments such as “OK that was great, now try one without looking so freaked out”.

Neither of my knees are particularly strong at the moment, so today I have decided to not risk things, and instead sit here in the warm and secure confines of the golden arches and enjoy the slopes from a spectator’s point of view. It’s lunchtime here at McDonalds, so quite busy. The only table next to a power point also happens to be one of the biggest, so I’m enjoying watching people debate whether or not they dare to sit next to the strange looking girl with the laptop who appears to have no interest in skiing whatsoever. So far the only winners have been an elderly couple that didn’t appear to be extremely conversational. If I just sit here and keep my eyes fixated on the screen, then no one tries to talk to me, which is a good thing because I wouldn’t be able to understand what they’re saying anyway. Hmm now I have 5 Swedish guys sitting next to me, which is slightly weird but hey it’s not like I can move. David might come back for lunch soon and scare them away.

The best thing about not understanding people is that you get to create your own dialogues. I think they must be having a heated debate about the differences between sensitive and regular dishwashing detergents, and their subsequent environmental impact. Ah here comes David now, so it’s almost time for hot chocolate #2.

Hot Chocolate #2, 1:30pm
Well I’ve had some McDonalds and it was pretty gross, but I figured that I owed it to the almighty Ronald McDonald for allowing me in to his fine establishment. Time to entertain myself somehow now… perhaps some solitaire.

Here are some random ski pictures:

Let’s also celebrate with some home made sushi!

… and no Christmas would be complete without a gingerbread igloo- complete with penguins (to scale of course)