Well, I never expected to read that headline...

Japanese YouTuber's Pet Fish Commit Credit Card Fraud Against Owner While Playing Pokémon

*Facepalm*

Sigh. My roommate worked as a CNA for years. I have learned today that 1) I was wrapping my ACE bandage wrong, and that's why it was slipping and 2) I sat on the shower chair (which is backless) the wrong way when I showered. (Should have YouTubed that one first). Once he showed me how to properly do the bandage, it occurred to me that I didn't do well in the shower and that was probably wrong, too, so I did, indeed, look it up on YouTube.

How is it that I had THREE nurses in the family and no one bothered to tell me? And I sprained my ankle approximated four times a year. I guess that's on me for apparently not paying attention, but still.

As I have said on numerous occasions, I realise that I'm book smart, and I may have once been in a Gifted & Talented programme, but my common sense leaves much to be desired. Which I know, which is wisdom, I guess. But man, I feel dumb right now. [And just in case you need it, here's the video that comes up when you Google 'how to use a shower chair']:

When I got home this evening

the first thing I did was fire up the laptop for the purpose of working on the game notes, as Brenda can play tomorrow after all. I have eaten, caught up on the news, checked Facebook, and now realise that I am actively avoiding doing them. So it'll probably be my standard late night typing frenzy again this weekend.

I'd brought the computer with me to my friends' house today, but with taking A to get his haircut, visiting with YKWIA, going to the grocery store, going by Gumbo Ya Ya's, and watching an episode of 'Lost Girl' and some YouTube videos, I never even opened it. I didn't seriously think I would, but sometimes it happens. For example, yesterday I got over there, and YKWIA let me in, then went to sleep before I even put my stuff down, having gone back to the bed. So I read some Aristotle he'd suggested (on the four causes) and some of Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. A had been working late, so we woke YKWIA up when he got home. When I got home last night, I was pretty sleepy (yesterday was an early day at work), so I went on to bed myself.

I've been a little out of sorts all day. I love A, but he can chatter, and that annoyed me more than usual. The TV was way too loud for me. That sort of thing. I stopped at a stop light with A in the car and then started to go like it was a stop sign, with a car starting to go through the light from the other side. I stopped in time, but I was just not quite together today. Eating helped, but not entirely. I'm not sure what the deal is; I've felt like I was in a fog, and when we got home and went to eat, I checked my blood sugar and it was fine, so it wasn't that. I guess it was just an off day, and I think according to my calendar it's almost time for my menstrual cycle to start, so maybe that was part of it.

Okay, now I'm just delaying when I shouldn't. Those notes aren't going to transcribe themselves. :)

Over at my friends' place

After McDonald's, I went home and propped my pillows up against a study pillow, and managed to sleep somewhat over the next couple of hours. A called, and I went ahead and got a shower (somewhat warmer than lukewarm on 'hot', but better than I thought it would be), and took him to the pharmacy. Then I got him back home so he could go over to a friend's house and watch the University of Kentucky-University of Cincinnati game. Now I'm hanging out at their house listening to YouTube videos (Human League's 'Don't You Want Me Baby' right now) and charging my phone and laptop. I have to admit, I'm feeling the sleep derivation, but hopefully I'll have my electricity on before I get home. Technically it could be as late as 11 pm, but they assure me that it should be within 24 hours of when I paid the bill. So I should be able to use the CPAP tonight.

This evening we're going to go to the grocery store after the game, and then tomorrow we're going to do the kugel and matzo ball soup, since there is no Cthulhu game. Brenda's meeting her future daughter-in-law's family for dinner. I wish them luck, and in the meantime we'll celebrate my birthday (early) with happy Jewish food.

A productive yet beautiful day

I don't think we quite made it into the 60s this afternoon, but it came very close, anyway. This morning I went to the pharmacy and got some medicine. Then I took a friend by his tax preparer, a woman who works out not too far from my apartment. While he was in there, I sat in the car, parked there on the street, and listened further into my audiobook. I stopped by Tire Discounters and they topped off the nitrogen in my tyres, and then we stopped over by my apartment so I could pick up something. We went back to his house, where I installed their housewarming gift (ten years late, but hey...), and then we made a grocery list, and headed over to the Euclid Kroger, where we parked on the roof and shopped, going down the escalator on the way down and the large elevator for the carts on the way back up. We put the groceries away, and then YKWIA watched some videos on YouTube and the movie we had out from the Netflix DVD queue--Inception, which I very much enjoyed. I didn't find it difficult to follow at all, and it seemed fairly consistent within itself. YKWIA and I agreed that the ending, which was deliberately shot to leave a question in the mind of the viewer, nevertheless is not ambiguous at all, given very clear clues to indicate whether the ending takes place in dream and reality. Anyway, I really liked it. The next one up is technically Lucy, but that is not actually released until Tuesday, which is the day Inception should arrive back at Netflix, so it may bump to the next one, Maleficent.

After the movie, we watched a few more YouTube videos, and then I headed home. Now I'm listening to the radio and just hanging out at home, trying to fix a sticking keyboard. (The Y and U are depressing at the same time, and sometimes the H or 7. I have an ergonomic keyboard, and unlike regular ones, apparently you can't just pop off a key to fix it. Usually the more I type, the better it gets. But I'm doing a lot of backspacing as a result.) I'm burning a lavender and cedar wood candle because my apartment smells like the cigarette that's seeping in through the bathroom somehow from upstairs. It's so strong I sprayed some lavender room and body mist in there. I hope it helps. I hate cigarette smoke. At least it's not cigar smoke. That makes me physically ill and when I'm near someone smoking a cigar I want to just puke on them. Of course, I feel the same way about people who wear strong musk perfume. :)

I also heard from my mother tonight right after the movie ended, and we chatted for awhile, mostly about our shared klutziness (she hurt a finger badly recently). I told her about my upcoming trip and a little bit about work.

Tomorrow we're not playing the Call of Cthulhu game because Brenda has a Society for Creative Anachronism Shire function instead. But I'm going over later than normal to my friends' house and doing the normal housework and then I think YKWIA has some things in mind to do, but I haven't been let in on the plan yet.

I don't have anything particularly exciting lined up this week at work or after. There's class on Wednesday, of course. The week after I'm off work for Presidents' Day, class, and a doctor's appointment.

Okay, I think I'll work on something for awhile, then maybe do some reading or book-listening before bed. I have several 14-day books due on Monday, non-fiction ones, and I'd like to go through them before I return them. Good night, if I don't write again tonight.

How odd

So someone commented on a post I made some time ago alerting me to the fact that a person was using my likeness on YouTube to make comments that were upsetting people, aka, trolling on the comments system, with my face. The person included a link, which I followed, and lo and behold, my face was, indeed staring back at me. Apparently the person who alerted me had done a reverse image search. I put a comment on the channel to the effect that the channel owner was using my image without my permission, and she (yes, she does say she's female--although really it could have been anyone, male, female, whatever) responded saying that she does occasionally read my blog, that she apologised for using the image without permission, and had been using it for satire, and had acquired a following, but would leave it up to me. I responded that in the interest of avoiding a case of mistaken identity, I would appreciate it if she would remove the image and any others on YouTube or other sites she had been using them on. That's up to her, of course, but I had already contacted Google and explained that someone was using my image without my permission, not only impersonating me that way but also it was a copyrighted image, and that I had asked them to take it down and was waiting on a reply. The form required a scan of a photo ID, so yes, Google now has a copy of my driver's licence. So it's really in Google's hands at this point.

Now I'm not going to get into whether she was using it for satire or trolling--people often don't get satire, both those who read it and at times those who write it, and I didn't see her actual comments on other channels. The thing I don't get is how anyone could see no trouble in taking another person's image and using it as if it were a picture of herself, and not see why anyone might object. I mean, I know a lot of people use celebrity photos in their profile pictures and the like, but I'm not a celebrity. People know such-and-such isn't the real celebrity, or at least realise that it's highly unlikely, especially on sites that verify such things. But if you steal some unknown person's image and use that as your own, no one knows. I did read some of the comments on the channel where the people, annoyed with her comments, were making very crass comments about her appearance and more, based on my image. Even though I know they were aimed at her, I know people often make judgements based on appearance and frankly, even though they should take nothing online as gospel, believe what they see. So they were in part responding to my picture, and it was a little disheartening.

So maybe the moral of the story is to keep a weather-eye out for such things, not just 'Googling' your name, for example, but doing a search to find similar images based on one you have. Don't use other people's likenesses as your own, and please, for God's sake, don't believe everything you see and read online. I must say, it has been an educating experience.

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised

Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S IV to Include Eye-Tracking Tech

The rumored Samsung Galaxy S IV may be a sight for sore eyes, literally. According to a New York Times report, the company's "next big thing," to be introduced later this month, will include eye-tracking technology that turns your eyeballs into page scrollers.

Citing an anonymous Samsung employee, the Times explained that when the software detects that someone has reached the end of visible text on a smartphone, it will automatically scroll to reveal the next graf.

Even my Samsung Galaxy S III has a nifty feature called Motion that allows for various gestures and movement of the device to do certain things, like placing a call to a contact just by putting it to your ear, or taking a screenshot by putting the hand perpendicular to the screen and passing it across. I haven't really used it much, but it is meant to save time. Apparently Samsung did apply for a patent that would cover the above technology. And on my phone, the front-facing camera is used to see if someone is looking at the phone to stay lit longer, according to the article. I didn't know that. A bit creepy, but it makes sense.

We'll know more March 14th, when Samsung is supposed to have a great unveiling of a new Galaxy in New York. Here's their teaser trailer:



On a totally unrelated note....some fun with YouTube.

I have managed so far to avoid the Harlem Shake thing, but if you go to YouTube and type in the search box: do the harlem shake and then hit enter, watch what happens. Make sure your sound is on (but maybe not really high.) It's kind of funny. Thank you, folks at Google, for making me laugh. And thanks to Vanessa Irvin Morris, who shared it on Facebook.

Okay, that's enough for tonight. I'm going to bed. Good night. :)

Sometimes the comments on YouTube

crack me up. Consider this:



And the winning comment?

Finally a bug zapper for Japanese monster movies. Mothra is Toast!

michalchik 1 week ago

Speaking of laughing, I just laughed myself silly over the following 'de-motivational poster':



Thanks to George Takei for sharing the latter on Facebook. :)

:)

Coming Out to the World on the Web

LIKE a lot of people who post videos of themselves on YouTube, Kristina Cecil wants the world to know a few personal facts:

She is an avid hiker.

She is a Minnesota Vikings fan.

She is a member of the United States Air Force, which is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to serve in the military.

And she is gay.

“It’s really nice to say that now, because the whole ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ has been repealed,” Ms. Cecil, a 22-year-old with short-cropped blond hair and a tattoo on her right arm, said excitedly to the camera. “I’m just really happy to say that I’m gay, and I’m an American airman.”

More power to them. There are definitely some advantages and disadvantages to coming out in such a public arena as the Internet, but it has to be freeing, especially after years of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.

Some creativity is going on at YouTube in the name of charity

Here's my favourite (hey, it has Doctors Without Borders and Doctor Who, how can you go wrong? Go, Heather!):



Then there's the guy giving away 150 Star Wars books to people who donate to Make-a-Wish.

Look on YouTube. Surely one of the Project for Awesome videos (and their charities) will appeal to you.

I'm not alway in the loop in terms of viral videos

YouTube has issued it's Top 10 Videos of 2010. My favourite (which I of all things had not seen until today) are:



because it has a giant Rube Goldberg machine (I love those--I've been in love with them since I first saw one on Sesame Street) that was done all in one take. (Well, they obviously had to do it several times, but I mean they didn't splice takes together for the effect.) A Rube Goldberg machine is an overly complicated process that does a simple task. I tend to overthink things. Maybe that's why I like them.

I also like the Old Spice guy. I'd at least heard of him. But the commercials were entertaining and fun. I particularly like this one (much better than those stupid Axe commercials):

Two videos YKWIA showed me, both of which at least mention librarians

Dear Abby has nothing on Evil Genius...


How to abuse your power as a librarian...

A life cut short

John Lennon would have been 70 today, had he not been shot to death by a very troubled man (no one seems to be able to agree as to whether his murderer was insane or not, but he remains safely imprisoned, having recently been denied parole for the sixth time).

I'm not a big fan of Lennon, or the Beatles, for that matter. I like, not love, their music. But you can't argue that his music didn't have an effect on an era, though. Of Lennon's songs, this is my favourite (and probably it's most other people's, too), not just because of the message, but the haunting music as well.



Google is celebrating with a video logo (the first it has done). Kudos for their creativity. Here is a screencast of the logo, the animation, and the music someone captured, also incorporating 'Imagine':

Okay, one more animal-related post

This from Wired.com:

Why Can’t We Be Friends? Top 10 Interspecies BFF Videos

What is it about interspecies friendship that makes it universally cute, hilarious and heartwarming?

I don’t know the answer, but if you tell me there is something better on the internet, I won’t believe you. These videos of friendship between a tortoise and a hippo, a gorilla and a kitten, and an elephant and a dog are all the evidence I need.

There are some interesting similarities among many of the videos. Many involve domesticated animals, not only dogs and cats, but apes, elephants and pigs. Many also result from freak accidents, like a tsunami that washed the baby hippo to shore, where it was raised by the tortoise. Or the baby squirrel that fell out of the tree, was rescued, and raised by a mother cat.

Many of these animals seem confused about their identity. My guess is the hippo thinks he’s a tortoise, the baby squirrel thinks he’s a kitten (it even learns to purr).

The elephant and dog I wrote about the other day are there. I was so glad to see Koko and her kitten All Ball as well, as that was back in the 1980s. But she's had several cats over the years she's been very close to. For more on Koko, check out koko.org.

Okay, it's not that I condone violence

but an old elementary school friend who still lives in the Shreveport area shared this video (now a couple of years old) on Facebook, and the thought of an entire beauty school full of women beating a robber with curling irons and anything else that wasn't nailed down was...well, I hope he thought better of a life of crime. And they never let you live that down in gaol. The police officer was really trying not to laugh, you can tell.



Thanks, Jody.

'Course, Rowan Atkinson (an odd little man) is pretty darn funny, too

Here is his story of Jesus and the water turned to wine:

Interested in learning Latin?

Evan der Milner has been podcasting Latin lessons for quite some time, but now he has a channel on YouTube that includes videos which start out slowly and provide viewers with oral Latin lessons. Check it out at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/evan1965

The course is provided for free, but you can also support Evan's work with donations, as well as tap into his other resources at his website.

Here's his description of the course:

Suitable for beginners, this unique course teaches Latin slowly from the ground up, using spoken Latin, while keeping a firm grip on grammar. The first 2 lessons have some English. The rest are only in Latin. You will need to study the course in sequence, as each lesson follows the preceding one in a progressive order.
As the course is taught totally in Latin, you need no other language.
The course will teach you to read and write and speak Latin.
Dictation and writing exercises will be introduced later on in the course.

Please visit latinum.mypodcast.com, for the audio only version of this course (with English.)

This course largely follows Adler's "Practical Grammar of the Latin Language" (1856), and various Renaissance grammar texts, such as Comenius (1656). These may profitably be consulted by the student (see Latinum for links).

Here's the first lesson, where he goes over questions involving a pen, a ribbon, and a hat, and whether he or the viewer has each item:

A video that makes me happy :)

Rob Thomas, 'Someday'


I like every song on 'cradlesong'. My two favourites, 'Fire on the Mountain' and 'Natural' haven't been released, as far as I know. But this is one I like that has been.

Maybe someday
We'll figure all this out
Try to put an end to all our doubt
Try to find a way to make things better now
And maybe someday
We'll live our lives out loud
We'll be better off somehow
Someday

(Lyrics by Rob Thomas, Matt Serletic, and Shy Carter)

I think we all should live our lives out loud. :)

Natural disaster meets man-made one...what will happen

I'm thinking of the Russians dealing with drought, fires, and smog--and the possibility that fires will pick up contaminants left over from Chernobyl and make them airborne...



Thanks to Occasion for sharing the video. We don't have a lot of beliefs in common, but concerns for the environment and the people dealing with them are something we both share.

I saw this the other day at YKWIA's, but it's in my subscription list, too

It's quite excellent (well, it is the BBC, what do you expect?) Particularly riveting are the gazelle protecting her fawn and the wrath of the buffalo. The cinematography is just wonderful; it's well worth a look: