Archive for the ‘Computers’ Category

My secret(?) life

March 10th, 2010

My life is pretty much an open book. Anyone is free to read however much they like.

Case in point?

I’m a blogger.

Do I really need to say more?

But honestly, I share the events of my life, the thoughts of my head, the longings of my heart, and my journey with Christ within this blog. Body, soul, and spirit–you get it all right here on bekahcubed.

Well, mostly.

You can see quite a lot of me here. But I don’t share everything. Some things, I keep a little more hidden.

Did you know that I like stalking people online? Well, I do.

**Disclaimer: I don’t stalk in a creepy way, really!**

I like to read people’s blogs. I like to see what they’ve written and what’s been written about them. I like to see their Facebook pages. I like to see their wall-to-wall’s with their friends (even if those friends aren’t also my friends.)

**Disclaimer: I don’t do this all the time, honest. But when somebody comments on somebody else’s status and the comment intrigues me, it’s fun to click on the little wall-to-wall link and see the entire conversation.**

I don’t have any problem with people internet-stalking me right back. I have made no attempt to hide myself in the online world. Google “bekahcubed” and you’ll get me–a whole bunch of me. You’ll see my blog, yes, but you’ll also see the other blogs I’ve commented on. You’ll likely see old message board posts from my early high school days. You’ll see an awful lot.

But if you’re a friend of a friend but not my friend yourself, you won’t see any wall-to-walls on Facebook. I only let my friends see what I put on Facebook.

I love it when other people do the friend of a friend thing. I really enjoy reading my friends’ back-and-forths with others. But I’m keeping my Facebook life secret, thank you very much.

Why do I have this secret(?) life?

Actually, that’s kind of a funny question. I have it because I teach at the same University I graduated from. I have siblings and friends in the same University I teach at.

And undoubtedly, some of my friends are friends with my students.

I don’t have a problem with letting my students see my life–but something has to be private. I have to have somewhere where I can tear out my hair about grading or rage about something or the other related to the University without my students hearing.

I’m very cautious, even on my private Facebook account, to never share anything that would make someone else look bad. I’m not griping about students on Facebook. But it’s good to have just one place where not just anyone can access–where I can unload about my overflowing e-mail inbox or my embarrassment over a personal classroom bungle without crossing student/teacher boundaries.

Yes, it’s a small thing, but I’ve got to have SOMETHING that’s kept secret.

Category: Computers ◊ Comments (0)

What does your emoticon mean?

March 9th, 2010

Emoticons. We use them all the time. Some people like to have them converted to smileys (see above). I prefer that they stay as ASCII characters.

Even when they’re ASCII, we generally know what they mean.

:-) means happy face or smiling
:-( means sad face or frowning
;-) means winky face or winking
:-D means grinning
:-P means sticking out your tongue

Emoticons are supposed to help us express emotion. They’re supposed to add some non-verbal information to our text conversations.

And they do. But sometimes they don’t really give enough information. Because yes, the above descriptions are true–but what do you mean by them?

I use a limited emoticon library, but what I use has very definite meanings (and not really exactly what they look like.)

What my emoticons mean

:-) means I’m happy, content, all is well
:-( means I just wrote something that I find sad
;-) means “inside joke alert”, that not everybody will get this but I think you will
:-P means I’m teasing you

What do your emoticons mean?

Category: Computers ◊ Comments (0)

Life, Facebook-ified

January 8th, 2010

When you spend fifteen minutes discussing emoticons at dinner…
When you debate the relative merits of “Live Feed”, “News Feed”, and “Status Updates”…
When conversation includes telling everyone else what your Facebook status is…
When you learn of your friends’ friendships, dating relationships, and engagements via Facebook and consider a “Facebook official” relationship more real than one that is not “Facebook official”…

Life has become just a bit too Facebook-ified.

Do you remember the days before Facebook?
Do you remember when if you wanted to catch up on somebody’s life, you’d call them?
Do you remember when you used to spend hours talking with actual people without a keyboard mediating?
Do you remember when you didn’t know what each of your “friends” ate for lunch and (horror!) what color bra they’re wearing?
Do you remember when you used to actually laugh out loud, rather than just “LOL”?

I remember those days, and I miss them.

Remember when Facebook first came out and you spent hours procrastinating homework while spying on all your friends?
Remember when said spying meant you had to actually click on their name and visit their page, where you could read what they had written and write a comment?
Remember when you started to get tired of Facebook, realizing it was a terrific time waster?
Remember when you started checking Facebook less and less frequently?

I remember those days. But then Facebook changed.

Now the progression has changed. People don’t grow tired of Facebook and log off anymore. Now they’re inundated with constant stimulation in the form of a feed of some sort. They’re offered countless opportunities for procrastination through games and “boxes”. They don’t have to actively stalk their friends anymore–they can do it without even thinking. Just log in and stay on.

You don’t need to talk to people anymore. Just Facebook chat them.
You don’t need to write a letter. Just send a Facebook message.
You don’t need to catch up on the news. Just check your news feed.
You don’t need board games or card games, just play on Facebook.
You don’t even need to send gifts anymore, send a cow or a cactus or a cupcake on Facebook.

I miss my life before Facebook.

But I doubt I’ll ever get it back.

So I do what I can to take advantage of Facebook’s strengths while minimizing its negative qualities.

I get status updates but not “news feed” or “live feed” items. I don’t need to know what you’re playing or whether your relationship status has changed (unless you tell me).

I turn off e-mail alerts so I have to actually log on to Facebook in order for it to inundate my life.

I choose to not add applications or join groups (generally speaking).

I don’t do the “poking thing” (except for my little sister and my out-laws).

I don’t give people birthday greetings on Facebook.

I try to be judicious about “liking” things–and never write *dislike* under someone’s status update.

I don’t do the “copy and paste” status update thing. I love Jesus, I want a cure for cancer, and I support the troops, but I’d rather not post meaningless drivel on my status.

I don’t tag people in notes. If they want to read what I’ve written, they can come find it. If I really want them to read what I’ve written, I can take the time to let them know personally by sending them a link or telling them about it.

I try to keep Facebook from taking over my life.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t try just as hard to resist my defenses. Facebook is an everyday companion. It loads every time I open my internet browser. I don’t check it that often, but it’s open in a tab. Because it’s open, my friends see that I’m “online”. My tab starts blinking when a friend wants to Facebook chat. And while I generally ignore it, I’m still sucked in on occasion (thankfully, my friends know that I don’t like the chat feature, so they tend to NOT open up chat communications.) People still send me invitations to groups, causes, and games. Most of the time, I decline.

But like it or not, my life, too, has been Facebook-ified.

Tags: Facebook, life
Category: Computers, Everyday Life ◊ Comment (1)

Stereotypes…following the links

December 23rd, 2009

Don’t you just love the internet?

You check your twitter page to see who’s following you (You rarely use the main site for anything else, as you’ve got some fantastic twitter aps like TweetDeck and Share-a-holic.)

Turns out Matthew Paul Turner is following you (must have been that one time you linked to one of his articles using Shareaholic).

You decide to see what’s new on his site, Jesus Needs New PR and find a fun little article on “stereotyping Christians by their favorite Christian author.”

This article links to “stereotyping people by their favorite author” which quotes from “readers by author.”

Amused by the content found on this collection of linked articles, you decide to write your own blog post on the stereotypes–and link to each article respectively.

As I am a reader, I found this collection of stereotypes particularly interesting. And though I have LOTS more than just ONE favorite author, I thought these comments about some of my favorites rather interesting.

From the Jesus Needs New PR list:

Joshua Harris: Virgin (Yup.)
Beth Moore: Moms whose voices become breathy while praying aloud. (Okay, so I’m only a mommy wannabe–but the “breathy while praying aloud” is probably true.)

From the original list:

Jane Austen: Girls who made out with other girls in college when they were going through a “phase”. (Not even. I don’t know what Jane Austen this commentator is reading. More like, “girls with romantic fantasies of the strong and silent type”.)
Nathaniel Hawthorne: People who used to sleep so heavy that they would pee their pants. (Well, as a child I did. But I don’t really get what it has to do with Hawthorne.)
William Shakespeare: People who like bondage. (Actually, not everything is “Taming of the Shrew”–and even there, it’s not so much about bondage. Some of us just like the witty repartee and skilled linguistic jabs a la Beatrice and Benedict or Kate and Petruchio.)
C.S. Lewis: Youth group leaders who picked their nose in the 4th grade. (Guilty as charged–except that I stepped down from the youth sponsorship gig last December.)
Shel Silverstein: Girls who can’t spell “leheim”. (Had to look that one up because I didn’t realize the author was trying to say “L’Chaim”. I’m too much of a reader for this one. Spelling is usually easier for me than pronouncing–although I can pronounce this one thanks to “Fiddler on the Roof”)
Michael Pollan: The girl who just turned vegan to cover up her eating disorder. (Nope. I like food too much for that one.)

If I were to turn the stereotypes the other direction, I should find that I enjoy:

J.K. Rowling: Smart geeks.
Anne Rice: People who don’t use conditioner in their hair.
Sylvia Plath: Girls who keep journals.
Vladimir Nabokov:Men who use words like ‘dubious’ and ‘tenacity’. (except that I’m a woman)
Phillippa Gregory: Women who have repressed their desire to go to Renaissance Festivals (don’t know that I’ve repressed the desire–I just haven’t actually been to a Renaissance faire.)
Stieg Larsson: Girls who are too frightened to go skydiving. (Not going to lie, I’m about the farthest thing from an adrenaline junkie.)
Dean Koontz: People who would never dream of owning any type of “toy” breed dog.
Richard Dawkins: People who have their significant other grab them under the table in order to shut them up whenever someone else at a dinner says something absolutely ridiculous and wrong. (Okay, so I’ve never actually had anyone grab me under the table, but I’m sure some people have felt like it on occasion. I do tend to be a bit opinionated and can be overeager to share my knowledge and, erm, “wisdom”.)

So what about you? What do your favorite authors say about you? And who should be your favorite authors according to these stereotypes?

Category: Books, Computers ◊ Comments (0)

Version 9

September 26th, 2009

I have discovered php and it is AMAZING!

Too bad this web design stuff doesn’t really tie into my profession that much, ’cause I’m really building my arsenal.

I’m proficient in HTML and CSS, can do a smattering of xHTML and Javascript, and am in the process of learning PHP.

A classmate asked me on Thursday why I kept calling myself a nerd (apart from the obvious: annually celebrating Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday.)

I threw out a few things (copious reading, blog keeping, etc.)–but here’s another piece of proof: I just spent over two hours searching through the script for my new PHP driven web-design to find the bug that was messing up my formatting.

I found the bug–finally!–so now Version 9 is rolling out.

Of course, like with the many versions before, the roll-out may be slow. I only have so many hours in the day to work on things (and I shouldn’t GENERALLY be up at 2:45 am still working on web design!)

But the amazing power of PHP is that it should be a snap to adjust to version 10 if and when it comes out. (I wouldn’t hold my breath for that one!)

So, having shared the latest evidence of my nerdiness (and some really cute pics of me as a baby), I will bid you goodnight!

Category: Computers ◊ Comment (1)

And it’s up…

September 2nd, 2009

I’ve been wanting to get my little sib’s blogs onto the menterz.com website for quite a while now. It doesn’t seem reasonable to be paying for a domain with our own name on it and then using free hosting at a different domain.

Problem is, the kiddos (Joshua and Grace) are using Wordpress.com for their blogs. They like their blogging platform and don’t want to go through the bother of learning html and using it for their blogging (like I do.)

Thankfully, the blogging platform they are using is open-source from WordPress.org. Which means all I have to do is install WordPress on our web server, configure it for their blogs and get their blogs transferred over.

But I’ve never used Wordpress–and I’m not THAT comfortable with programming of the non-HTML variety. So it has taken me a while.

Actually, now that I think of it, maybe it hasn’t been all that long. Was it really just this last Sunday that Dad and I sat down together to install Wordpress on our web server? I think it was.

I’ve been spending every spare moment since learning how Worpress Themes work–by creating a them that matches my website. I am in the process of switching the blog portion of my site over to WordPress–as it will make it simpler for me to post from a distance (for example, while in between classes at school). I will continue doing my own html for articles, bible studies, book reviews, and the like.

It seems that this will have the happy effect of allowing me to post on my blog more easily, while maintaining my skills in html and css–and maybe even learning a bit of php and mySQL while I’m at it. I’m pretty excited about the prospect.

And, having worked out most of the bugs (I think) with the whole “WordPress blogging” thing, I am now ready to unveil the newest development in the life of “bekahcubed”. While messing around with our web server, we discovered that we could create a new subdomain for me with just a couple button clicks. So, instead of the old www.menterz.com/bekahcubed, you can now access my website at bekahcubed.menterz.com. This is a much nicer url to share. So, please update your bookmarks to bekahcubed.menterz.com.

In addition, you may want to update your RSS feeds or subscribe to my RSS for the first time. I now have two separate RSS feeds: one for the blog content and one for the (more) static articles.

Also, be prepared for an introduction to Joshua and Grace’s blogs–coming soon to menterz.com

Tags: blogging, computers, menterz.com, rss, Wordpress
Category: Computers ◊ Comments (0)

Evading Hypocrisy

June 24th, 2009

In a last ditch effort to avoid hypocrisy after proclaiming (to my online class) that nutrition professionals should get familiar with current media and social-networking type sites, I have joined Twitter.

Yes. It’s ridiculous. I know.

Ultimately, it’s an ethical dilemma. Do I do as I say and get familiar with all the crazy technology and (ahem) time wasters of the present day? Or do I maintain my heretofore expressed disgust for said time-wasters?

While decrying the foolishness of this generation whiling away their lifetimes on the web, I find myself sucked deeper and deeper into its morass. I excuse the blog and website because 1) it allows me to develop my (marketable) skills as a web developer, 2) it allows me to hone my writing skills, and 3) it allows me to connect with (actual) people. I excuse Facebook because 1) it helps me keep track of people when they’re moving all around the globe and switching phones and addresses all the time, 2) it allows easy access to my fellow interns for class-related stuff, and 3) it helps me to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the “CLAN” (my extended family). I excuse my blog reading because 1) it helps me connect with people I actually know, 2) it informs and entertains me, and 3) at least I’m reading ;-). I excuse occasional forays to YouTube in the name of staying culturally literate. And now I’m calling Twitter professional development?

I mean, seriously.

Next thing you know, I’ll be excusing online gambling or Match.com.

If you’re on Twitter too, add me to your (just a sec while I look up the lingo) follow me–my name(?) is “bekahcubed”. And don’t forget to leave me a comment with your name(?) so I can follow you.

Category: Computers, Everyday Life ◊ Comments (5)

The new and improved bekahcubed

April 18th, 2009

Despite spending almost every non-working waking hour on my computer, I have not posted since Monday.

That’s because I’ve been working on the newest version of bekahcubed: version 7. New features include a fresh new site design, more easily updatable links, and better compatibility with Internet Explorer (hopefully).

I began to see the need for a change when I viewed my site on someone else’s Internet Explorer. The main page worked fine, but higher up files were all out of whack.

I’m something of a nerd–and I do all my own html (hypertext markup language), css (cascading style sheets), and rss (rich site summary or really simple syndication). But I don’t have endless time to design and my knowledge is fairly limited (although expanding all the time.)

I worked up version 6 after I’d switched to Mozilla Firefox as my web browser. While I checked the main page once or twice on IE, I didn’t pay too much attention to trying to solve the IE bugs.

But, having seen the results in IE, I see the need for a change. So Internet Explorer is a buggy, decrepit browser that doesn’t even attempt to follow the W3C standards for web browsers–but just because someone has not taken advantage of the amazing, free Mozilla Firefox doesn’t mean I should exclude them from my site.

The new version has some additional properties that will make it easier for me to make changes quickly without having to open up half a dozen hundred files and meticulously add, delete, or rewrite code. That should decrease my stress quite a bit–and hopefully enable you to enjoy an even higher quality site.

Category: Computers ◊ Comments (5)

Women aren’t supposed to forget…

April 6th, 2009

Forgetting anniversaries is popularly reckoned as man’s domain. Women aren’t supposed to forget. But, in my case, I’m not sure I remembered in the first place.

I’m talking about my “blog-o-versary”–the day that marks the beginning of my blog. Of course, discovering the exact day that I started blogging is somewhat difficult since “bekahcubed” has existed in some incarnation or another for five or more years.

However, while participating in Becky’s Birthday Carnival, I discovered that it was a year and a day ago that I began posting on a regular basis.

So, in honor of my forgotten “blog-o-versary”, I would like to share a few fun facts about myself–and invite you to ask me some questions that I shall attempt to answer over the next month.

Fact: Paul Menter is my father, not my husband.
We were talking just yesterday about how people look at us strangely when we go shopping together–undoubtedly assuming that I am the “trophy wife.” Then my new preceptor assumed today that the “Paul Menter” on my emergency contact information must be my husband–since it was just a male name instead of two names together. So, just to clear up any confusion: I am unmarried, and my dad is happily married to my mom.

Fact: I do not believe in any such thing as bad food.
The first thing people say when they hear that I’m becoming a dietitian is some variant on, “Oh, I know I eat all kinds of bad foods.” I disagree. Food is good–and that means all of it. That means carrots and celery and fresh baked muffins and white bread and bananas and swiss cake rolls and potato chips. That means juice and fruit drinks and soda pop made with (gasp) high fructose corn syrup. I despise the kind of “nutrition” that puts endless rules on what people can and cannot eat and completely zaps the fun out of food. I abhor the philosophy that “food is just fuel for my body.” Food is not a moral issue–food is food. It’s something that fuels our bodies, soothes our minds, brings us together, imparts meaning into our rituals. Food is integral to early socialization, to language development, to family togetherness. Jesus’ first miracle was at a feast–and he chose a feast to forever commemorate His crucifixion. Food is not bad–it’s good. The question isn’t whether a food is good or bad, but whether we use it in an appropriate way.

Fact: I like sardines…but only if they’re packed in mustard sauce.
My family calls them fish tails in mustard. They’re a great source of calcium and Omega 3 fatty acids–in addition to tasting fantastic. One time, I accidentally bought sardines packed in olive oil. I took one bite and gagged. They were disgusting! I couldn’t eat more. I did learn, however, that uneaten sardines in olive oil should be disposed of in an outdoor trashcan rather than left in the kitchen. EEEEWWW!

And now that I’ve shared a bit about myself, what else would you like to know?

Category: Computers, Everyday Life ◊ Comment (1)

Job Day

December 27th, 2008

In case you’re not familiar with the phrase, a “Job day” is a day in which everything seems to be going wrong–a la Job in the Bible. One day as Job’s children were enjoying a feast at their oldest brother’s house, a servant came to Job to tell him that his oxen and donkeys had been raided. Then another servant arrived to tell Job that all of his sheep and shepherds had been killed by lightening. Another servant arrived to say that Job’s camels had been raided and their keepers killed. As a final blow, a last servant arrived to inform Job that his eldest son’s house had collapsed, killing every one of Job’s children.

I can’t say my day is quite as bad as Job’s–No one has died, at any rate. But today has still been a bit trying.

It began at midnight. I was still awake from yesterday, and my nose began to run. It ran for several hours–right down the back of my throat–keeping me from being able to sleep and enduing me with a magnificent sore throat.

I finally slept around 7 am. Waking up at noon to a particularly obnoxious song blaring from my computer, I noticed pop-ups appearing on my computer screen. I investigated a bit–and discovered that I had a Trojan. After several hours of investigation and tweaking, I think I removed it all.

But having been reminded that computers are intrinsically fragile, I thought to back up my files again. So I logged on to the family server to back up my files–and discovered that I didn’t have permission to make any changes within my own designated folder. I should have been able to make changes–I backed up the family photos onto the same drive yesterday. But even after a couple more hours of fiddling, I was having no success.

So I dropped by my parent’s house to see if I could adjust permissions from my mom’s computer (the same computer I’d backed up the family photos from the day before). But, to my surprise and horror, I no longer had permission to do anything on the server from there either. I fiddled a bit with no success, unsuccessfully tried to access the server in the basement directly, and finally decided to give up and have a piece of candy.

I was putting Mom’s full candy jar back when it slipped out of my hand and shattered all over her living room floor.

The post-nasal drip has continued. I put on my skirt this afternoon to find that the hem has ripped loose since I last wore it. My new thigh highs won’t stay at my thigh–instead one side slips down to below my knees. My nose is raw, my throat hurts, and I haven’t gotten even one item on my to-do list done today.

I struggle with Job’s response to his very bad day: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Instead of returning to praise the Lord, to often I turn to recount my grievances. Sure this day has been a bad day–but then I make it worse by borrowing trouble. I stew about my news from the eye doctor–I’d rather have been born blind than start going blind from glaucoma now. I stew over my singleness. I stew over everything.

The Lord gave me eyesight–doesn’t He have the right to take it back? The Lord gave me health–doesn’t He have the right to retract it? The Lord gave me time–doesn’t He have the right to “waste” it? I came into the world naked and helpless–and I’ll return to the earth in the same state. Is God not still worthy of praise?

So I will praise Him not for what He has done or not done for me, but for who He is. He is GOOD. He is FAITHFUL. He is HOLY. He is ALL-POWERFUL.

My circumstances have changed–but God has not. He is not broken like Mom’s candy jar. He is not swollen like my throat. He is not malfunctioning like my thigh highs. He is not infected like my computer (was). And I still have access to Him–even if I can’t access my folder on the server.

God, it’s been a tough day. But I’m going to praise you anyway.

Category: Computers, Everyday Life, Following Christ, Reflections ◊ Comments (0)