the illusion of privacy and the reality of theft

All of the recent buzz about the latest phone hacking scandal has got me thinking about the internet and privacy. It seems to be common knowledge that anything posted online, or on a device that has online access, might be fair game for a hacker, yet we seem to be constantly surprised when something like this happens. And it keeps happening more and more often.

I think everyone has been looking at this situation the wrong way. Many people are sharing their unasked-for opinions that if the hacked celebrities involved didn't want their nude selfies shared with the world they never should have taken them to begin with. Thank you, Captain Obvious, but apart from that being textbook victim-shaming and blaming, it misses the point. The victims involved had items that belonged to them stolen. This argument is about as nonsensical as saying if you didn't want your car stolen, you never should have had one to begin with. Hacking is a crime, pure and simple.

There are countless know-it-all articles popping up on how to super-encrypt your email and Facebook so that this sort of thing couldn't happen to you. But after trying to double-authenticate my email I couldn't get in the next day via my phone, no matter how many times I tried the new code. How many people are going to go through all those extra steps to just check email (numerous times a day) on their phones, iPads, laptops, etc.?

Six years ago, after I had my daughter, I knew I wanted to have an expressive outlet, and toyed with starting a blog. But I was concerned about the privacy issue. A colleague who worked in the IT department told me that if anyone really wanted to get information about me, they could, blog or no blog. I decided to go for it, and I don't regret having an online presence, but I also don't kid myself that I can preserve any true sense of anonymity.

Regarding the morality of this particular situation, I can't help but feel for Jennifer Lawrence and all of the other celebrities. Not only are they going through the embarrassment of having intimate photos stolen and then shared, against their will, with the world, but they have been subject to the false morality and criticism of the same people who are eagerly viewing said photos while clutching their strands of pearls. There is nothing wrong with someone taking a nude photo of themselves, for themselves, or with the intention of sharing with a loved one. But having a bunch of them stolen and then posted on the web is another matter.

It's interesting to note that in the same week a member of a teen boy band, Calum Hood, of Five Seconds of Summer, had his own mini-scandal when he posted a video of his privates to a female fan on Snapchat, who then promptly uploaded it for the world to see. There is a big difference here, as he at least chose at first to share (if not overshare) his nude body, but the results are the same. Someone thought they were sharing an intimate photo with one person, and soon the whole world was the audience.

I have no doubt that Lawrence and others will weather this storm just fine. But it does call into question the morality of the internet and the hacker(s). This is not a Julian Assange sort of hacking. If one wants to peruse naked boobs and butts on the internet there are many, many sites that cater to those desires. But to grab photos of a famous person, against their will — there can be no other reason to do this except as a trophy or humiliation.

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black diamonds and dr. seuss

First published as Book Review: Black Diamond by Martin Walker and Book Review: The Dr. Seuss Bookshelf from Oceanhouse Media on Blogcritics.


Black Diamond

Black Diamond is the third book in a mystery series by author Martin Walker. Dubbed a mystery of the French countryside, the recent paperback release from Vintage once again features Detective Bruno Courrèges, the only policeman in the small town of St. Denis, in Périgord, a former province of France, now called the Dordogne.

Detective Bruno is not just a smart cop, but a connoisseur of fine wine, food, and the inestimable local black truffles – black diamonds. Perigord truffles are a multi-million euro business and are at the heart of this entertaining mystery. Walker takes readers behind the scenes of the truffle trade, where one may be surprised (or not) to learn that there is a lucrative black market for substituting inferior Chinese truffles for southern France's local gems.

A murder, a father-son feud, and Bruno's own romantic complications with British girlfriend Pamela (and a woman from his past) keep the charismatic detective quite busy throughout this mystery. Black Diamond starts off at a leisurely pace, and although Walker includes some exciting scenes and intrigue, the overall feeling one gets from the book is similar to one of the long, multi-course dinners that Bruno is so fond of enjoying or preparing. The mystery and supporting characters are intriguing, but what really makes the story is its love and indulgence of the local setting, and especially its appreciation for fine food and wine.

Walker is the senior director of the Global Business Policy Council, a private think tank based in Washington, D.C. He lives in Washington, D.C. and the Dordogne. In Black Diamond he writes eloquently about such diverse topics as "green" cuisine, local politics, ethnic struggles, and organized crime. Readers familiar with the Dordogne region of southern France or dreaming of a future visit will enjoy following Bruno around St. Denis and its environs (and restaurants). His clever crime-solving is just an added bonus. After reading Black Diamond readers will definitely want to check out or revisit the first two installments of the series.

The Dr. Seuss Bookshelf

Oceanhouse Media released an exciting new app this week, the Dr. Seuss Bookshelf. A free download in the App Store, iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch® owners can now access and organize all of their favorite Dr. Seuss books, games, and camera apps.

An aid for both parents and their children, the opening screen is divided into four sections. "My Apps" highlights any Dr. Seuss apps that the user already has on their device, with an easy-to-use side-scroll menu for selection. Directly below is "Favorites," where one can drag and drop favorite or more frequently-used apps. The top two sections feature available Dr. Seuss apps, in the "Store" and "Featured" sections. An app can be selected with a tap, which displays the price, item description, and another button to tap for purchase.

There are more than 45 Dr. Seuss apps available in the App Store. Additional browsing criteria includes sorting by Type (Dr. Seuss Classic Books, The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library, Games, Cameras), Price (ranging from $0.99 or less to $8.99), or Age (ranging from age 3 and under to ages 9-12). There is also a search feature where one can type in a specific title or query to help select an app. To get a sampling of what's on offer, the $0.99 or less price range includes some free apps for parents and kids to try out and see if they like them - The Cat in the Hat LITE, Dr. Seuss's ABC LITE, Green Eggs and Ham LITE, and the Dr. Seuss Camera - Happy Birthday Edition.

Oceanhouse Media will be updating the Dr. Seuss Bookshelf regularly, with sales and holiday-themed products. Children and adults should enjoy this nice addition to their already impressive collection of Dr. Seuss apps.

the iPad — cat-tested and approved

my life in libraries

Check out the saddleshoes!
I come from a family of bibliophiles (and anglophiles, and Italophiles, but those are different posts.) We love books. We have tons of books. Books are not just things that you read and read again, but they are possessions, identity. Books are passed down from generation to generation. They tell things about us, who we are or were. From the sublime (complete editions of Shakespeare, gorgeous art catalogs) to the ridiculous—well, actually I don't actually consider any of these books ridiculous, but maybe more pop culture inspired—The Monty Python Bok, old Agatha Christie and Ray Bradbury paperbacks, children's books of my brother's and mine.

I have books of poetry and astronomy and American history that belonged to my dad—all enthusiasms of my his. He was a perpetual student. When I was just a child, he immersed himself, at one time or another, in the works of Virginia Woolf, and the life of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, to name just a few. The rest of the family did as well, as he passed on interesting factoids from his reading along the way. Dad also had an impressive amount of books passed down from his father, primarily on chemistry and biology, but if they couldn't fill in the gaps of his current enthusiasm, his interests were indulged by visits to the local library. And I always was eager to go along. As Dad scoured shelves for what interested him, I did too, bringing home a stack of books on Greek mythology, or embroidery, or the complete Batman comics.

The other library-related wonder of my childhood was the bookmobile. It used to come to our neighborhood every two weeks and we would run with our stack of books, ready to replace them with new ones. It was amazing how much they could pack into that mobile library. I think I read the entire series of Nancy Drew books, as well as Little Women, Little Men and Jo's Boys thanks to the bookmobile. It was heartbreaking when we heard  that they weren't going to do it anymore. Budget cuts, I'm sure, but kids don't understand budget cuts. At least Dad was always willing to drive us to the library, which was quite a few towns away.

For a while, post-college, I lost my going to the library habit. If there was a topic or author I was interested in, I would just buy the book, usually at my favorite buy-or-trade used book store. I think it was good to support the small businessman, but the truth is that I have maybe, too many books. (I know it's a definite, not a maybe, but I'm in denial, as are my overstuffed bookshelves.) With the fabulous iBooks app on my iPad, I have also lately been able to download (both free and paid-for) books at the touch of a finger. At least only my virtual bookshelves are expanding.

I even work for a library, and constantly highlight its collections in my daily work, but didn't really use it personally, unless I had some family/genealogical research to do. A wasted opportunity, I know.


But last weekend I got a wild hare to check out the local library. And what a library! Four floors, fairly new, and chock full of books, movies, magazines—you name it. The children's floor is amazing. It's got all the right, fun things that of course the kids flock to first—a small room with a dvd-based-on-a-book playing, computers, fun and cozy lounging areas, fun decorations. I want to hang out there all day myself. But it also has a fabulous selection of books—from picture books to young readers to history, local and world—as well as all the classics and young adult titles. I like that it mixes in some of the popular young adult series titles, like the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter books, even if there is a larger teen-devoted section on another floor. Someone was really thinking about bridging the age gaps, in both directions, when they set things up.

 Playing a game on the computer
Between my mother, daughter, and myself we could have walked out with stacks and stacks of books, but we kept it fairly simple—five books to start. I mean, we can go back any time. And I know we will.

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a, b, c, d, ebook

I downloaded my first ebook, Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks. I have wanted to read it since I heard about it, and had saved a spot for it on my Amazon list. And then . . . I packed up about twenty boxes of books. And then . . . a few weeks later I started to unpack them, as well as go through my mom's already quite extensive book collection, trying to make room for mine, praying I could find at least a duplicate or two to cull. I'm not even mentioning my daughter's two bookcases full of classic children's books that she has yet to really dive into, as she learns to read.




So the prospect of buying another book seemed slim. And this is hard for me. Like the rest of my family, I am a bibliophile. When my parents divorced, I made sure that my childhood books (and others I enjoyed from their collections) didn't get lost or tossed in the shuffle of the split. Many years later, when my dad died, I was sure to preserve some of his best and beloved books—basically, anything my brother didn't want, I lugged back to New York, where I was then living,  with me. You don't throw away a book.

I have tried over the years to prune and thin my collection. I had a favorite used book store I used to frequent outside of D.C., where you could bring in books for trade. Of course I usually ended up walking out with quite a few books as well. Books have always been my way to learn—a new language, a current enthusiasm (the Tudors, herbs, mythology). Books allow me to immerse myself in a particular author or series (Jane Austen, Sharon Kay Penman, Brother Cadfael). This favorite book store was a great help in that regard, and I still have stacks of pet interests acquired from there, ready, whenever I am.




Friends from time to time have suggested different ebook readers, but I have always resisted. I did download a free app, Stanza, to my iPhone, but even with its ability to access plenty of the classics, thanks to Project Gutenberg, I just couldn't picture myself late at night reading a book on my iPhone. Email, facebook updates, sure. But not a few chapters of anything. But that has all changed with the iPad. Somewhere in size between a paperback and a magazine, the iPad is the perfect venue for a neophyte e-reader. The free iBooks app came with Winnie the Pooh (savvy Apple). I downloaded a Beatrix Potter read-along book for my daughter. She loves it. But I was still resistant. Until it occurred to me one evening that I didn't have to wait for the Christie book to go paperback, I could download it right away. Instant e-gratification. And it was. First a sample, 38 pages worth, for me to dip my toe in the e-water. And when I decided I had to read more, well—a few clicks and I did.

For those of you who have been doing this for ages, this probably seems silly, my trepidation, even quaint. But books have always been more than just something I read. They are possessions, inheritance, memorabilia. But I am open to new things. And since I just started watching The Pillars of the Earth on cable the other night, another book I have always wanted to read but hadn't gotten around to purchasing yet, it occurred to me . . . that I will be stacking up e-books on my virtual bookshelves, too.

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nursery rhyme

There was an iGirl and she walked an iMile,
She found an iStore and got some iStyle.
She bought an iPad, which never needs a mouse.
And they all lived together in a little iHouse.

reason 5,987,645,321 i effin' hate windows

Grandma bought the kid a PC netbook last Xmas. I took a deep breath and welcomed the evil empire into my iHouse. The little crappy thing has kept her amused, although I had to uber-secure it. She was able to access the PBS Kids Sprout website, some reading and math games and not much else.

The other night it crashed for the umpteenth time and when we rebooted it came back with the latest Windows update—in German, the one language I have absolutely no clue about. It couldn't freak out into Italian, French, or Spanish? I have been trying every night since to try to get it back to English, with the help of Google translate. No matter how many times I try to restore it to a previous moment in time before the reboot or change the Regional-und Spracheinstellungen [Regional and Language settings] back to English it stubbornly stays German. Scheiße.

Das iPad in all seiner Pracht [Behold the iPad in All Its Glory]

I'm about at the end of my rope. I've been toying with the idea of an iPad being in our future, but I really wasn't in much of a rush. But if this p.o.s. doesn't respond soon, the kid may get to share with Grandma a much more user-friendly versatile tool. And I bet it doesn't crash once a week, either.

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