Joelle said in the early morning on June 13, 2007 while listening to Beck - I Think I'm in Love
Thanks to Tom at The Media Drop, I was selected to participate in the Nikon D80 Picture This Program recently. I’ve been coveting Kathy’s “Big Girl Camera” (also a Nikon D80) for a while now and couldn’t have been more pleased to be invited. I get to use this gorgeous piece of equipment for 6 months, then I can either return it, buy it or re-enroll for another 6 months. The only requirement is that I take photos, post them and discuss my experiences with the camera. It’s my understanding that if there’s something I don’t like, I am free to say so. So far, it blows my little Sony W50 point n’ shoot out of the water.
Don’t get me wrong — I love my wee pocket camera. I take it everywhere with me and it’s been great thus far, but if I’m going to try my hand at this “photography as a viable hobby” thing, a proper camera like the D80 is really what I need. If I were actually buying one, I might have chosen something less expensive, like a lower model of Nikon or perhaps a Canon Rebel (as my good friend Peter is so fond of his), so I’m glad I’m getting an opportunity to check out this camera I might not otherwise have been able to afford.
For those who have emailed me asking how they can get involved in this program — honestly, I don’t know. Tom emailed me through Flickr asking for my snail mail and then a couple weeks later I had a promotional box from Nikon arrive that I almost threw away. I thought it was just some marketing materials and promotional packaging, which I sometimes get in the mail. Sarah made me open it and inside was a letter inviting me to register online for this program. I wasn’t even sure it was from Tom, so I seriously had no clue about this program or how to get in it or what. In fact, I just read today on ProBlogger that they only chose 50 people. I consider myself quite lucky!
Anyway, I’ve made myself a promise that every weekend, I will take a minimum of 4 hours for myself to visit someplace different in this city for the sole purpose of walking and taking photos. I’ve recently discovered that I’ve fallen in love with this city again and there are a billion places right around my home that would provide incredible photo ops. So I’m looking forward to seeing what this camera can really do. Hm, I guess I’m just as interested in seeing what I can really do.
Joelle said in the early morning on June 12, 2007
Today is Kathy‘s birthday! Her 31st birthday to be exact. The best part about her being my business partner is that she’s my best friend. I have very few friends as close as she is to me. I definitely know that no one “gets me” quite like she does, in that way that only a close girl friend can.
This year I wasn’t able to visit her for her birthday, like I did last year when she turned 30. I can’t believe she’s 31 now and I’ll be 34 this year. I remember when she was 26! ...Not that it was forever ago, but given the Internet, I think it’s pretty awesome that we’re still friends. Not just friends, but best friends. And we manage to run a business together without beating each other to a bloody pulp. Now that’s friendship, ladies and germs! I couldn’t imagine the Moxie Girls without Kathy.
Like any perfectly normal, healthy relationship, we have a small argument every couple of months. Usually it’s around the same time of the month (and I think we all know when that is), but somewhere between, “Good morning” and “Dude, what are we even arguing about?” we realize that we’re hormonal. Cue the waterworks and the mushy sentiments. Then we laugh because out of all the things in the world we could fight about, it’s usually something completely ridiculous like… see, I can’t even remember now. haha! Probably something along the lines of whether or not that guy from Heroes is cute.
So, happy birthday, Kathy. Thank you for helping me install MovableType almost five years ago so that we could become friends. Thank you for making me laugh so hard I spit things on my monitor. Thank you for making me see that “asshole” can be a term of endearment and that champagne is a viable everyday cocktail. Thank you for putting up with my shenanigans and for being hands-down the very best friend I could ask for.
I love you, clam dip. Happy Birthday. 
p.s. I made you that cake right there. And then I ate some. That’s my gift to you. Gosh, I’m so considerate!
Joelle said at some point on June 11, 2007
That is the question today, kids. Do you www?
I don’t think I’ve actively used www in a URL since 2004 or so. I’m not sure how I figured it out, but one day I just realized I didn’t need to use it anymore. It was just extraneous typing. Whenever I see URLs on television or hear people read them on the radio and they actually say “dubya dubya dubya hot tech jobs dot com”, I think to myself, “How hot can they be are you if you are still using www?”
It’s my understanding and my experience that www went the way of the dodo somewhere around IE 5. And with the boom of Firefox and the anti-IE explosion of alternate browsers, www didn’t seem to matter anymore. A lot of people still use the term because a (sometimes) older, often less Internet-savvy crowd are still in wonder of the miracle that is the World Wide Web (and still use Internet Explorer). These tend to be the same folks who surf the Information Super Highway and have cyber-sex with their virtual girlfriends. You know, the girlfriends that look like supermodels, mysteriously ship electronics to your house and live in Nigeria. These folks may even believe the Internet is a series of tubes, I’m not sure.
Most websites I build these days are not structured to include www by default. I set up all the paths without it. You can access it by www most of the time, sure, provided the host has it structured that way (and if they don’t, I often arrange for it to do so). So, in essence the www still works, but it just seems superfluous. I used to think it was necessary, but during struggles with assorted hosts (usually of the Windows variety), I’ve been told that www is practically obsolete. I’ve even had sites deliver a 404 when trying to access them with www, but not if I access the URL without it. In fact, we’ve had hosts serve up a completely different site if you don’t include the www and vice versa (not Hosting Matters, though. They know what’s up!)
So, I’d like to know once and for all from all my fine readers and especially from those well-versed in geekery: Do you use www when accessing a domain and/or developing a website (if that’s your thing)? Is www a necessary prefix and if so, why? If it’s not, does it seem archaic to include it or just catering to the common denominator, since many people still believe it’s necessary.
I’d like to know if I’ve been misinformed or not. What say you?
Joelle said during prime time on June 8, 2007
Have you ever been standing at a checkout and had your debit card declined when you know there is money in your account? If so, you’re familiar with the feeling that comes over you. It’s a delightful emotional cocktail of embarrassment, annoyance and worry.
After a mad sprint to a bank kiosk where my card was also declined, the annoyance evaporated only to be replaced by flat-out fear. I called customer service and got stuck in a never-ending voice-activated phone tree. Oh, how I abhor those things! I managed to stay relatively calm (miracle!) and finally got customer service on the line. I thought perhaps the strip had gone bad on my card — I’ve had it for 3 years or so, though I did just use it last night. They told me there was a critical hold on my account and that I had to talk to their fraud division. At this point, I still didn’t really understand what they were telling me. I desperately hoped this was just some random charge I made that set off alarms — not a huge deal, more of an annoyance.
Boy, was I wrong. After reviewing my account and confirming my passwords and such, they told me that my card number had been part of an identity theft download. They quickly confirmed that my charges were legitimate, so it seems as though they put the hold on my account just in the nick.There are two small charges I noticed when I got home for under two dollars each. They came from some online billing service and probably lead back to someone teaching themselves a lesson in their mom’s basement. I’m going to call the bank tomorrow and ask them to investigate those charges. Seriously, who pays for it anymore?
I can’t begin to tell you how I love my bank now. I’ve had mixed emotions about them in the past, but this time, they get a cookie. I can’t believe they managed to block it before my account was drained — assuming anyone had interest in my pittance. Note to self: it can happen to you. I honestly can’t imagine where this happened, but I’m really happy they caught it.
I have to wait 5 to 7 business days to get my new card, so I’m kind of stuck until then — I should go into the bank in the morning and get cash, I suppose. I still feel a bit weirded out. Saying I feel violated seems a bit dramatic, but… I kind of do. It could have been so much worse, but now I’m a bit paranoid. At least my card is cancelled. I think I’m going to stay in the rest of the weekend — it’s just been an off week. We’ve got editing to do, anyway.
It’s all okay now, but I could still use a drink. Sheesh! 
I was talking with my friend Ross the other day about the origin of the letter Z (because these are the sorts of things we talk about). We were discussing how in England (where he lives) they say “zed” and we say “zee” and hey, why is that? So, we went on a Google hunt to find the answers.
After doing a little digging, we discovered that apparently all English-speaking countries say “zed” but us, the Americans. In your experience, is this true? As far as primarily English-speaking countries go, the only place I’ve been is England. Everywhere else I’ve traveled, I was mostly concerned with ordering more cerveza and finding the closest baño. My etymological interests tend to taper off after a few Negro Modelos.
Here are the basics of the letter zee:
- Both the British and American versions are derived from the Greek zeta, which makes sense.
- The French apparently use ‘zed’, as well.
- The Germans use ‘zed’, too.
- The first uses of ‘zed’ in British English is in 14-something or other.
- The first use of ‘zee’ in American English is in 1677, in a text book.
This leads me to wonder if this is your typical American snafu. If the primary Anglo population here in that time period was from England and that is really from whence our language stems, if the majority of the English-speaking world uses ‘zed’, and we most likely did as well until 1677, is it possible that zee is merely a typo? Some overzealous typesetter just plopped in the wrong letter? Assuming typesetters of that era didn’t use a QWERTY format and set their type using letters lined up alphabetically, doesn’t it stand to reason that he (or she, but most likely he) grabbed an extra E instead of that D right next to it? Seems reasonable to me!
Of course, if things keep going the way they are, in 500 years we’ll have de-evolved to the point of watching shows like “Ow! My Balls!” and won’t be able to form a complete sentence anyway, let alone worry about the etymology of one letter.
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