Joelle said during happy hour on September 3, 2007
On this unofficial close of Summer, I’ve decided to speak openly about an issue that’s been bothering me for a while now. It affects at least 40% of the San Diego population and no one seems to be doing anything to fight it. I’m talking about the use of flip-flops as a decorative statement.
You know, flip-flops. Thongs. Sandals. Those things that go between your toes and smack against your feet, alerting everyone of your arrival. The things that leave the little tell-tale inverted V-mark in your tan. Flip-flops: the official footwear of Southern California.
It seems as though everywhere I turn these days, someone is decorating with flip-flops. Car decals, car air fresheners, car floor mats, chip n’ dip bowls, party supplies, car antenna toppers, note pads, doormats, drinkware, refrigerator magnets, bath decor, wall art...!?!?!
And this one, which I just don’t get: Flip-flops full of brownies. 
I love my flip-flops. I wear them all the time. I have several pair, but do I want to decorate my house in them? No, no, I don’t. Why? Because I don’t want to adorn my abode in decor that has to do with feet, that’s why! I don’t get it. I mean, I get it… I understand that flip-flops equal Summer and that whole “beach mentality”. I understand that. I love the beach. I love California, but you don’t see me walking around in a t-shirt that says “San Diego Native”, do you? No, only tools and posers wear those. I feel the same principle applies here. Unless you’re Jimmy Buffet, a Jimmy Buffet fan or live in a Corona beer commercial, there’s no reason for it. (Note: Parrotheads are only exempt from the flip-flop decorating protest, not painfully poor taste in music.)
In general, feet stink. They sweat. They get dirty in those flip flops! (Not mine, of course, but you know...) And you want to be reminded just how great that can be by admiring a giant fluorescent orange and green striped flip-flop mounted on the wall in your kitchenette? Nothing says breakfast like thoughts of toe jam.
As much as I love my flip-flops, this Christmas I think I’ll pass on the Flip Flop Christmas Lights.
Joelle said around lunch time on September 4, 2007
The other day I saw a woman wearing acid wash, denim-esque spandex bike shorts (with a short top, but that’s not the point). I can only imagine she bought them at a Wal-Mart or some other equally heinous place that offers low quality, unflattering “American” fashion sewn by Chinese girls for slave wages. But, I digress.
I had to wonder about the marketing and creative meetings that went behind those bike shorts. I envision a table full of right-wing Wal-mart yahoos, all men, throwing out ideas for the new women’s fashion line.
“We need a short,” some honcho gestures, “that makes our wives looks as sexually unappealing as humanly possible so we can justify sleeping with our secretaries.”
Another guy pipes up, “Right, Jim! They’ve got to be comfortable or else our wives won’t wear them. How about spandex?”
“Ok, but they should look like something she might wear in public, something she can run to store in. What if we made them spandex that look like jeans? Denim spandex!”, the first guy says, with awe at his own idea.
Some other low-ranking guy throws in his two cents, “We should make them look stylish. What about acid-wash denim spandex?!”
Meeting adjourned.
And lo, this woman’s unfortunate outfit was born. Of course, this doesn’t account for her choice to purchase them and wear them, but hey, that’s on her. I can’t even imagine a scenario for anything that twisted.
Joelle said in the early morning on September 5, 2007
Joelle said in the early afternoon
The building I live in was built in 1955. I was discussing the old wiring with my cable guy today and he found this under the building. He came back, flipped it over and said, “Yup! 1955!” and sure enough, there’s a ‘55 embossed on the bottom of the bottle. He said, “I thought you’d like this.” And I totally do!
I’m not sure how he knew, though…
Joelle said at some point on September 6, 2007
I read that Luciano Pavarotti passed away this morning from pancreatic cancer. I didn’t realize he was ill until yesterday and with the outlook grave, I thought perhaps he might not make it much longer. With cancer, when they say “grave”, they mean it. I know this from personal experience.
I’m saddened by this death, though, moreso than I thought. Obviously, it’s a sad thing when anyone passes on, so my sympathies are with his family and loved ones, but as a singer and musician, the passing of Pavarotti seems surreal. I’ve heard the name Pavarotti ever since I was a child, through my years as a classical singer and in my mid-twenties when I went through a brief opera phase, exploring it more from a listening standpoint than a performance aspect. Pavarotti is like the gold standard of opera singers. When you think opera, I think most people probably think of Pavarotti. Even if you don’t like or listen to opera, you know who Luciano Pavarotti is.
It always surprises me when celebrity deaths affect me outside of the usual, “Wow, that’s sad.” It’s not like I knew him or even listened to him very often. It’s the passing of a fixture, a legend that kind of takes me off-guard. While opera and his fans have experienced a great loss, his suffering is blissfully over and I can only hope his family receives some peace and solace from that.
Joelle said around mid-afternoon on September 8, 2007
Oh. Hello!
Went to the Weinerschnitzel Weiner Nationals this morning and took over 300 photos with my Nikon D80. I posted my favorites. I totally had a blast. I almost changed my mind about going because it was so early and I didn’t want to deal with potential crowds, but it was absolutely one of the best ways to start a day. Really sweet dogs, really nice people and all kinds of cuteness!
Joelle said in the early morning on September 10, 2007
While doing my morning rounds through myspace, Ross reminded me that his friends’ new single came out today. If you’re looking for something snappy, check out the new release by Dan le Sac VS. Scroobius Pip out today in the UK. I really liked their last one, “Thou Shalt Always Kill” (watch the video before you decide based on the title — irony is your friend), but I think I like this even more. It’s definitely got a good groove to it, it’s probably a bit more radio friendly and the lyrics, as always, are clever as hell.
This is my public service announcement for the week. I’m on some deadlines, so I’m going to go crawl back under my code now…
Joelle said around mid-morning on September 11, 2007
(Every year since 2004 I’ve participated in San Diego’s AIDS Walk event. The first year I did it, I personally raised over $3000, then joined forces with a friend of mine to throw a concert to raise an additional $1200, making me the #1 fundraiser in San Diego that year. I was so proud.
The next year, my friend decided we should do it “full-time”, she wanted to make it a huge money-making “non-profit” event. She wanted to take salaries and really blow it out into a huge thing. I just wanted to do something good for other people. I wasn’t interested in making it a major production or taking a salary or whatever. I personally enjoyed raising that money, it made me feel good and I was really proud of the fact that I’d done most of the fundraising on my own. This wasn’t what I wanted and I said so. Next thing I know, we’re a 501(c)3 non-profit, I was designing a logo and we were promptly in over our head. While our first concert in 2004 was such a success (mostly because I’d already raised quite a bit of money; the concert was just icing on the cake), the reliance on the concerts to raise the same kind of cash was a bit deluded.
Needless to say, I didn’t have time to work a non-profit full time. I didn’t feel right about taking a salary (though I don’t believe anyone ever did since we never had any money), so I relied on my friend to take care of it.
I really was so proud of what I had accomplished in 2004 and I knew in my gut when my friend wanted to “go big” with it that yet another thing I was proud of would be played with by her for about 10 minutes and then left for something shinier in a matter of months, and the Little Fundraiser That Could (that’s me!) would end up a joke. But, my friend is persuasive and I loved her very much, so I believed. I believed she wouldn’t let me down.
Unfortunately, we’re no longer friends, but I am still participating in AIDS Walk. I’m a little late this year, so I don’t anticipate that I’ll rake in thousands, but I’d be really honored to offer them whatever I can raise.
AIDS Walk San Diego is on Sunday, September 30, 2007. I’ve registered to walk and if you’d like to sponsor me, I’d welcome your donation. 
Any donation, no matter how small, is appreciated. And don’t forget! The Boobiethon is coming soon, so if you’re into breasts (and really, who isn’t?) get ready to get your give on.
Joelle said at some point on September 12, 2007
I just got back from Starbucks. I had to get in on the whole Pumpkin Spice Latte extravaganza. I wait all year for these to come out, then I drink about 4 and lose interest. By that time, it’s Christmas and I’m ready to move on to Peppermint Lattes anyway. It’s the circle of life.
I realized as I was gearing up to go out for this momentous occasion that there should really be a more discreet and efficient way to order your overpriced frou-frou coffee beverages. I propose business cards (or perhaps a badge if you’re feeling eco-friendly and don’t mind looking like you’re on a challenged kids tour at a museum). Better yet… stickers! Oh, I think I’m on to something here.
This way, when your order, you’re not that pretentious ass that holds up the whole line announcing your order like you’re calling bingo. While I secretly loathe those people, sadly, I sometimes am one of those people. Though, in my defense, I do try to be discreet purposefully so the guy behind me ordering a tall Americano doesn’t hit me in the head with his New York Times. They could look something like this:
It doesn’t say “crazy hot lady” because I think extra highly of myself. Nor is it because I’m mentally unhinged. It’s because I like my lattes “crazy hot”, so a few baristas at my local Starbucks have started referring to me as “the crazy hot lady”, which I find amusing.
Anyway, you just walk up to the register, give your pleasantries, tear off a sticker for them, they slap it on your cup and ring you up. It’s all there in black and white. Simple, easy to read. Sure, some stores have the little print-outs so when they punch it in the register, it prints a sticker that they slap on the cup. I think that’s a great improvement, but there’s still a bit lost in translation between the orderer and the barista punching it in. With your own labels, you save time repeating yourself, you don’t have to be “that guy” who orders the most complicated thing and I would imagine it might actually improve the accuracy of the orders. It’s less work for them, better beverages for you. If I’m paying $4.50 for a beverage, it damn well better be right.
Though, when you slip one across the counter at them, they might think you’re robbing them… or does that only work at the bank? Hm.
While I may look a little silly, I think I might try it at my local Starbucks and see if it helps speed things along any. Maybe get their feedback on it. It seems like a reasonable thing for people who go every day… the regulars. I don’t every day anymore… but I go about once a week (twice if the spirit moves me). Starbucks should also do some kind of punch-card thing where you get your billionth latte free.
I also think they should buy me a puppy, but that’s really a long shot.
Joelle said in the early morning on September 18, 2007 while listening to Art Pepper
C.Y.A. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Moxie Design Studios™ as a whole. Just me.... the girl ready to throw her laptop out the window.
Considering we just wrote a book about blogging, I don’t often smack talk about various blog platforms. I’ll rally around my fave, but diplomacy, professional courtesy and respect keeps me from being too public about my occasional irks with various software. Sadly, that ends right now.
When I first started blogging, I used Movable Type 1.something, like most others that weren’t on Blogger. I think I made it into the 2.0 version somewhere before Expression Engine graced me with one of a thousand free copies of their new software in May 2004. I used MT because that’s what was available and it’s what my friends used. It was the hot property at the time and while it frustrated me sometimes, it was “all there was” (sort of) and well… that’s just what people used. I liked it because I didn’t know anything different.
Since I started using Expression Engine and love it so much, I don’t work with MT as much as I used to. Depending on the client’s needs, we usually recommend Expression Engine or Wordpress. It’s rare that there’s a project that one of those platforms can’t handle. But if a client has MT already and wishes to stay with it, we will happily upgrade them to the latest released version and work with that.
Well, it used to be happily. This release of MT4 has been nothing but a pain in the keister. It seems quite buggy, it’s slow and we’re still “rebuilding”? Still? They’ve changed the term to “publishing” now so we don’t know that it’s the same thing, but it still takes up to 20 minutes sometimes to rebuild a blog that has over 1000 entries. Why? WHY are we still rebuilding? I know they’ve made it “more flexible” by adding static or dynamic publishing, but even doing what we do, the archiving and template functionality of MT seems extraneous and unnecessarily complicated. The new interface in MT4 is really pretty (kudos on that!), but there are WAY too many clicks to get to what you want and it’s just not very straightforward. You can put lipstick on a pig…
My other big beef is the community. I’ve never had a satisfactory experience with the MT forums, documentation or tech support. Once last year Kathy had an issue with a client’s MT install and she contacted MT’s tech support, who in turn, practically accused her of using unauthorized copies of the software because Kathy didn’t have that client’s license number in her Typekey “account”. Well, that would be because it was the client’s license number and that onus would be on them. It would be in their account — we’re just the ones hired to ask the questions. It turns out the client had a paid license and we probably should have had that at the ready, but there was no question of whether or not the license belonged to the client or any concern about whether or not their product was causing Kathy problems… their only action was to imply that we, professionals in this industry since 2003, skirted the system. Give me a break! The client ended up having a paid version of the software, but the license itself was not our responsibility and we were just inquiring about a simple challenge with the software for our client. Because Kathy wasn’t the official license holder, we were told to use the MT community forums, as though it were free.
Yeah. 
Now, I can totally appreciate that they don’t want to pay someone to provide tech support for their free products. I totally get that. But, compared to the EE community forums, the MT forums are ridiculous. There are so many knowledgeable, friendly and helpful people in the EE community, if I have a problem, my first stop is the forums and inevitably, someone helps me or at least tries. Most of the time on the MT forums, I’m completely ignored (and I know I’m not the only one — I’ve heard this from other designers, too).
I also feel that MT relies too heavily on 3rd party add-ons like plug-ins in a community that offers little to no support. In developing a site for my client, almost everything I wanted to do that EE (and often Wordpress) already had built in, I had to go hunt down a half-assed, outdated plug-in that someone wrote and may or may not still support. The plug-in also may or may not be compatible for whatever buggy version of MT they’ve released that day.
I am in the process of putting the finishing touches on really cute site (if I do say so myself!) for a very sweet client on a timeline that didn’t take MT4’s drama into account. What should have taken me a day (two… tops!) to develop took me almost three weeks and stripped me of my will to work with MT ever again. I moved her to EECore (the free version) like I should have done from day one. I hated not meeting my deadline and I hated that I had to make my client wait because MT released a platform that wasn’t ready for prime time (in my opinion). In the future, if I client mentions MT, I will do whatever I can to convince them switch to a more stable platform, one with strong community support, thorough documentation and no delays. Like Expression Engine.
Ok, ok, Lisa, like Wordpress, too. 
I really, really wanted to love MT4. I respect Six Apart and was honored to be a judge in their Style Contest last year. I really like the people I’ve worked with from Six Apart and/or people I’ve gotten to know via this blog that work there, like Lilia and others. I really, really like Vox (whose praises we sing in the book, by the way). But Movable Type and it’s occasionally more frustrating offspring, Typepad? I shake my behind-schedule fist at you! Both of them. Twice.
This may actually be helpful for our potential panel at SXSW. I know there are people out there who still love MT, so in the interest of professional curiosity, what blog platform do you use? Why do you use it? What do you like about it? Or hate? Do tell!
Joelle said around dinner time
There were two like this missing their little front legs at the Weiner Dog Nationals.
Joelle said at some point on September 19, 2007
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a Big Thinker. Or, at least, I consider myself a Big Thinker. I tend to get big ideas, even great ideas fairly often. This would be ideal if only I had the time, money and resources to execute them all. I also like to think outside the box, to use a tired cliche, which I guess explains what I do for a living. I’ve always been kind of a Jane of All Trades… good at a lot of different things, but not necessarily truly great at any one thing in particular. Not like say… a musical prodigy or a chess phenom. I’m secure with this… nay, I prefer it. It allows me a lot of flexibility and avenues to explore in my career. Fortunately, I’ve met someone who thinks similarly. Most of the time this is awesome, until we get into a tangent brainstorming session and talk ourselves completely out of one idea and into something else entirely.
Lately, I’ve been watching Ace of Cakes, a reality series on the Food Network about Charm City Cakes in Maryland. I have no idea why I started watching it other than it’s creative and I like cake. But now, I’m hooked. I do like to bake, but that’s not really where the draw is. This show speaks to me on an “Oooo, goodie! Project!” sort of level. The cakes aren’t just cakes. It’s a cake with a theme or movement or mechanics or spinning lights. The cakes are total works of art and their whole schtick is to take everything to the next level of unexpected with an incredible eye for detail. This… this is my porn.
Thinking back on my childhood, it’s really no wonder I’m like this. For school projects, I could never just write a book report. That would have been lame. If it was a scary book, I’d create an entire haunted house stage set out of refrigerator boxes, dimming the lights and recruiting classmates to use flashlights around the room, creating spooky lighting. Cue Dad with the bucket of dry ice and the fog machine and now, I was ready to read my book report.
Once my childhood best friend, Michael, and I totally redesigned his bedroom to look like the inside of Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, complete with working “fireflies in a jar”, stars on the ceiling and crates built in the garage. I even came over and recorded the lazy banjo music with frogsand crickets on my keyboard for him. It all kicked on at the flip of his light switch and looked a lot like this.
Hey, I wasn’t allowed to date, what’s a girl to do?
Joelle said in the early morning on September 20, 2007
Have you seen this new marketing push by Domino’s Pizza? Oreo Dessert Pizza. Dessert Pizza. Now, I realize that dessert pizza isn’t all that new. But seriously, people are paying for that? And eating it? And liking it?
I cannot believe this is a draw for people. You can make it at home in five easy steps.
1. Buy bag of Oreos.
2. Smash with hammer.
3. Dump onto round plate.
4. Eat pitifully in private while crying over re-runs of 7th Heaven
5. Check your insulin levels.
WHY DOES THIS PRODUCT EVEN EXIST? Who thought of this? Who? Imagine… you and your family have just gorged yourself on 2 large all-meat pizzas, a 2-liter of soda, some hot wings, breadsticks (and let’s not forget the dipping sauces!) and now you want to top it off with an Oreo Dessert Pizza? You may as well eat Crisco right out of the jar! Or hell, just walk around with an IV drip of partially hydrogenated oil. Just cut to the chase.
I take issue with Domino’s for other reasons, mostly political and social, but while the commercial was really funny ("It’ll fill in, give it time..."), the product is just sad. Where is the food in our food? Doesn’t anyone make food anymore? I can’t believe this is a selling point. Your crappy pizza isn’t enough to get people to order from you, you have to add insult to injury by adding a completely unimaginative, bottom-of-the-barrel attempt at “dessert”.
Don’t get me wrong. I like an Oreo once in a while. It’s an American institution! But a whole pizza? On top of everything else? And really… can you call that dessert? Creme brulee is dessert, people. Tiramisu is dessert. Even a plain bowl of vanilla ice cream is dessert. Oreo Pizza is just crap. I don’t care how good you think it is. Eat the creme brulee! At least it has real ingredients in it you can pronounce.
And again, I’m no saint. I love occasional crap (hello, lattes!) just like anyone and I’m on my own mission to live a long life. We are the fattest country in the world and 70% of that is because of the food choices people make. I’m sick to death of people blaming the fast food restaurants for America’s health problems. It’s on you, dude. If you don’t order it, if you don’t demand it, if you don’t consume it… they won’t make it. It’s supply and demand, just like you learned in 12th grade Economics. It’s like everyone is in some kind of numbed, flavorless stupor where they’ve forgotten what delicious, fresh, and complex foods can taste like.
Congratulations, America. This is what we’ve been reduced to… smashed cookies on a plate. Bon appetit.
Joelle said in the early morning on September 21, 2007
We’re planning on attending SXSW Interactive in 2008 together which will be the first time Kathy and I have attended something at the same time and the first time I’ve seen her in over a year. I think it’ll be only the 4th time we’ve ever been in the same vicinity, actually. Not only are we hoping to participate on a panel but we’re planning to hopefully have a Blogging with Moxie book signing at the SXSW Bookstore as well which will be both fun and probably the basis of some good comedy. Susannah Gardner of Hop Studios submitted our proposed panel this year for Blogging Tool Death Match where a group of us will “throw down” and battle it out over the best and the worst of blogging platforms.
Blogging Tool Death Match!
Every blog project starts with the same question: Which blog platform is the right one to use? Answering this question correctly can make or break the final product. Get the nitty-gritty on each platform from experts who will defend their software choice against all challengers. Will it come to blows?
Obviously, we’ll be defending Expression Engine and I will totally take it outside if I have to. If the panel is chosen, one of us will go up against our fine colleagues including the lovely Lisa Sabin Wilson (WordPress - she did write the book afterall), Peter Flaschner (covering MT and we all know how I feel about that), and Paul Chaney for TypePad. Susie Gardner will be moderating the panel in case it comes to name calling and hair pulling.
It hasn’t been chosen yet, voting ends TODAY, September 21st at 11:59 pm so we need your help to vote us into the mix this year! Go! Now! Please?? This is going to be a great panel, even if it doesn’t get violent… but with this bunch, who knows? Please go vote if you haven’t already. You’ll need to quickly register and place your vote (5 stars!!!) for the Blogging Tool Death Match panel. Search for “death match” if you lose your way. While you’re there vote for any other panels you think would make a great addition to the conference. Even if you’re not attending, you can still sign-up and vote for us. Do a girl a favor, won’t you?
Also, while I’m begging shamelessly, if you’ve not already sponsored me for AIDS Walk 2007, I would appreciate any penny you can give to help this cause. I’m up to $330 $380 $405 (through some very kind donations — thank you!) and have been holding there for about a week. I’ve only got until next Sunday to meet (or hopefully exceed) my goal of $500. Please help support AIDS and HIV support and services. Thank you!
Joelle said before her coffee on September 25, 2007
This is a tough subject and may not make me very popular. It could set off a rash of “But what about the children!?” which I’m really not prepared for, but my morning trip to Flickr left me absolutely flabbergasted. Yes, I’m talking about this photo. And let me just say before I begin that I mean no disrespect to anyone who has had their photos stolen. I can completely understand how violated you must feel.
I’m not shocked because of the theft of children’s photos. I’m appalled, but I wouldn’t say I’m shocked. If you put your kid’s photos on the Internet for the public to see, there’s a chance they will be taken. That is just a fact of life and I feel like some parents just fell off the cyber-turnip truck. This is not new information. The world is full of pervs. PERVS! Lots of sick, deranged, twisted, miscreant pedophiles out there. This is not news.
But, I am shocked that a fairly petty tactic like this is being used in an attempt to dissuade them. I may sound like a jerk here, but I don’t agree with this at all. It comes off more like a “turf war” and less like what it’s really about — the theft of kids pictures. The tags on the original photo say, “If I see this on Orkut, I will see you in court.” Well, why not take them to court for the photos they’ve already stolen instead of baiting them?
I’ve never been on Orkut. In fact, I’d forgotten it even existed until just now and let me just be clear: I do not agree with Orkut’s members stealing people’s Flickr photos. But what I do have a problem with is the way this protest was presented. It comes off more like a rumble in West Side Story than a fight against scam artists, pervs and photo thieves.
From the original photo:
THIS NEEDS TO STOP AND ORKUT NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN!!!!
CONSIDER THIS POST A PETITION AND FEEL FREE TO SPEAK YOUR MIND ON THIS SUBJECT ...
EVEN IF YOU DON"T SPEAK YOUR MIND PLEASE MAKE A COMMENT TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT ...
ORKUT USERS THINK FLICKR USERS ARE A JOKE… I THINK THEY ARE MESSING WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE… WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT????
WE NEED TO UNITE AS A COMMUNITY TO HELP PROTECT THE CHILDREN OF FLICKR…
PLEASE HELP US GIVE THESE CHILDREN A VOICE THAT CAN BE HEARD!
PLEASE REPOST THIS IMAGE OR CREATE YOUR OWN THAT SAY’S “SHUT ORKUT DOWN!” BE SURE TO INCLUDE A LINK TO THIS POST ... THE MORE PEOPLE THAT KNOW ABOUT THIS THE BETTER!!!
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AND FAVE THIS IMAGE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR FLICKR CHILDREN!!!
This is where they lost me. I was all good until the part about Flickr users being a joke and showing Orkut they’re “messing with the wrong people”. It’s not JUST Orkut that does this. MySpace does it, creepy mommy communities with Munchausen nutjobs do it, magazines, photographers and other websites besides Orkut do it. (I feel like I should say “Let’s do it, let’s fall in love” right here, but I’ll refrain). I just don’t see how this is effective. I was on board until it became a “Down with Okrut!” rally, you know? It’s not just Orkut.
I also take issue with the “help protect the children of Flickr” stuff. Do you feel the music swelling right here? Where’s Susan Sarandon when you need her? I have wonderful friends with gorgeous children and it absolutely makes me livid that their photos have been stolen, but (and I’m sorry to my friends with kids who want to kick me in the head right now) don’t put your photos publicly for people to view them. I know it should be a happy, shiny world full of bunnies and kittens and rainbows, where we can put adorable photos of our children on the Internet naked if we want with no repercussions, but sadly, that’s just not how it is. It’s not. Let’s use common sense.
This is the part where someone might say, “But, Woman with No Children! It doesn’t matter what your privacy settings are, they can just take a screen capture!” Well, you may be right, but how do you propose they even bring up your photo to take a screen capture if they’re not your “friend”? If your privacy settings are “friends” or “family” or both, the only way someone can take a screen capture is if they are your friend. They’re the only ones who can see it. Now, I do know that privacy doesn’t mean much because even completely private photos can be seen if you right click on the image and do “View Image” in Firefox. You can copy the link and send it to someone else and it can be seen just like it was public. But for you to be able to do that… well, you’d have to be someone’s friend/family first. See? You can’t take a screen capture if you can’t see the image. Change your privacy settings, people. Like I said, I know it should be a free and safe place to post pictures of your kids. It should, I totally agree. But it’s NOT, it’s the Internet and you knew that when you hit “post”. Let’s take responsibility.
Our designs are stolen all the time. Yes, it pisses me off and yes, I go off about it. I totally respect that this mom is hoppin’ mad. I would be, too. Sure, I’ll blog about it, but then I address the person doing the stealing and I don’t rally a whole damn community behind me to attack another community.
Now, some people are professional photographers and I do feel their pain. They’re in a tough situation as they need to show their wares publicly in order to get business. I love Robyn and I know she’s had to go through some major stuff to protect her images. But, in doing so, she fought to copyright her photos, she handled the matter in a legal and ethical fashion. She didn’t send a squadron of Flickr users to egg Orkut’s house.
I feel like I need to reiterate that I’m not defending these sickos who are stealing people’s photos of their children (or anything for that matter). Not at ALL. But can we be reasonable adults for a minute? What’s going to be the outcome of this? Why not start a proper petition, have your attorney draft a letter to the head of Orkut, solicit your local government, go to your local news (doesn’t everyone have a “troubleshooter” or some consumer watchdog type reporter in their town?), and focus on directing attention to the issue of your photos being stolen and the sickos stealing them and not just one of the communities that happens to display your stolen photos. I do agree that it should be addressed with Orkut, but I don’t know that this is the most effective way.
The way it’s positioned, I feel like the sign the girl is holding should read “Flickr RULES! Orkut DROOLS!” for all the point it’s really getting across.
Moxie Design Studios™