Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

How to protect your Twitter account from being hacked!

Oct 6 2009

Caprica
“Caprica” 5DMKII, Sigma 15mm f/2.8, HDR, cross-processed.

My Twitter page has been restored finally! Turns out someone hacked into my account and deleted it. They then locked me out of my account by creating a fake email in my name and linking it to my account, so I couldn’t reset my password. Awesome! *writes a list of people who may hate me*

At any rate, I have learnt some valuable lessons in protecting my social media from being hacked:

  1. Set a Very Strong Twitter password. One that isn’t your favourite sports team, colour, a sequence of numbers like 123456, the word “password” or “iheartRobertPattinson”.
  2. Create unique passwords for your Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Blog & other social nets. If one is compromised, you could lose your entire lifestream. I used the same password for many accounts. And though it was a strong password, I think the fact that I used it for everything made it vulnerable.
  3. Be careful giving out your Twitter username and password to 3rd Party Apps. I had four 3rd party Twitter apps on my iPhone, two desktop apps, in addition to TwitPic, Flickr to Twitter app, Twitter to Facebook app, and many others I didn’t even remember I had signed up for. Be very cautious and keep track of which apps use your password.
  4. Link your phone number to your Twitter account, so that it can be used to retrieve your password in the event that your account and email address is compromised. You can plug your phone number into Twitter under the device tab.
  5. Back-up your Twitter! I would’ve never even considered this before, but the thought losing 2 1/2 years of tweet history made me sad. So sad I had to eat many cupcakes. Many. It wasn’t pretty folks. There are several services that allow you to back up your Tweets, including BackupmyTweets, TweetBackup, TweeTake & Twistory. I’m going to try few. I’ll get back to you on which one is the best.

After nearly a week of being without a tweet, I realize how pathetically dependent I am on Twitter and how much time I actually spend Twittering. Because without it, I wander the web aimlessly, listen and download an embarrassing amount of tv shows & indie music. Then there’s the watching of said depressing music, tv shows, and the slow deterioration of said tv shows from witty British mockumentaries to crappy CW teen vampire dramas.

All I have to say is vampires should eat cheerleaders, not play football in the sunlight. #vampirediaries

Do you have any tips on how to protect or backup your social media?

My Twitter Account has been Hacked!

Sep 30 2009

@mostlylisa gone!

Dear Twitter,

My Twitter page @mostlylisa has been hacked and deleted. It’s GONE!!! I am currently catatonic. Please help me restore my account, it’s like, my meaning in life.

Much love to whom ever helps me!

PS. If you miss me like I miss you, you can always be my Friend OR Fan on Facebook. I know it’s not the same, but it’s all I have now. *hold me*

#WorstDayEver

May 15 2009

i has computer over-use injury

1. I missed an early morning Fedex pickup for an iMac that I needed yesterday because I was sleeping and didn’t catch the phone until the last ring, so I ran down to the street after the Fedex guy in my pajamas, and literally missed him by a second.

2. I gave myself whiplash as I was running down the stairs to catch the Fedex guy and couldn’t turn my head to the left for about 3 hours.

3. The hot water in my shower ran out as I was trying to alleviate my neck pain.

4. I DROPPED MY iPHONE IN THE TOILET when I was calling the landlord from the bathroom. I hit my funny bone on the tap which caused me to “ow ow ow” and kurpluk! Right in the bowl. (Remarkably, due to the fact that I had the Griffin Clarifi case on it and I have reflexes like a cat, it didn’t get completely wet and still worked. For a while).

5. The entire side view mirror on my crappy 1995 Pontiac Firefly fell off as I was driving downtown.

6. I got stuck in rush hour traffic for 50 mins and missed two appointments because I had to stop the car and retrieve the side view mirror wreckage from the road.

8. Returning to the car, I realized that I had lost my car & apartment keys. This was of course when my iPhone died, so I had to use a cafe’s phone to call for help. After retracing my every step for 3 hours, I did not find my keys.

9. Then I got a parking ticket for $60. 

What can you do but cry, laugh a little, and sob until snot is running down your face? Thanks to Ry for helping me find my way home.

Worst. Day. Ever.

Have you ever had a really bad day? Tell me about it in the comments.

griffinclarifi I will give away a Griffin Clarifi case and a big online hug to the best answer. If you don’t have an iPhone, or you also dropped your phone in the toilet like me, or the bathtub, then I will find some other fun prize to send you.

Follow me on the Twitters so you can find out who won!

Sharing a photo: This Cow looks Nice

Apr 26 2009

This Cow Looks Nice... 

I was on my way back to San Francisco from recording a rather silly TWiT episode at the cottage in Petaluma and I spotted a field of cows bathed in the most glorious golden magic hour light I had ever seen. It was similar to the light in that scene in Transformers where minxy Megan Fox is slinking down a dirt highway and Shia is looking perplexed, anxious & slightly constipated. Like that only cows instead of beads of sweat on Megan Fox’s sweaty cleavage. < — I’m going to get so many google search hits for that. Stats score!

Anyway, I jumped out of the old gelapi of a rental van I was in and ran towards the field to catch the beautiful light. This was my first mistake. You see there was a new & very protective mother cow with her new baby calves. And as you might imagine, Mama Cow was not too happy at me for charging towards her kin with a huge sniper lens. Maybe she was shy about her post pregnancy baby weight or something? So I slowed down, pretended to shoot some flower macros on the side of the road and sneakily approached from the side.

Well, I guess Mama was no fool because as soon as I was close enough to take a shot, she let out the most horrific ‘Moo’ I have ever heard. This was no Fisher Price barn opening moo, but a “I will bore out your eye sockets for fun” sort of Moo. I saw death in that mama cow’s eyes. Skull n’ cross-bones death, I tell you.

This is when I realized there was a large barbed wire fence between me and Mean Mama, so I snapped the shot of her boyfriend, stuck out my tongue, and skipped away.

MacHeist 3 Bundle Reveal show: Live this Tuesday!

Mar 23 2009

I'm Hosting the MacHeist Bundle Reveal Show

I just arrived in San Fran after an awesome, snow filled, American snack attack, couple of days in Portland.

I’m in lovely SF for the most anticipated live show of the year! The MacHeist 3 Bundle Reveal show is this Tuesday night at 8pm EDT (5pm for west coasters). We’ll be broadcasting the show from San Francisco at Pixel Corps studios.

Hosting the show will be: Veronica Belmont, cat lover & host of Tekzilla on Revision3 and Qore on PSN. Chris Pirillo, media-friendly geek and Tech Expert for CNN.com. & Me, host of living room puppet shows, Zombie Impersonations: The Podcast & creator of SockGobblins.net

Not impressed with Chris
Chris, Veronica & I at Pixel Corps for rehearsal.

Be sure to tune in! I may even ask my evil Russian spy twin to pop by. But, you know Sophia… Always in the middle of conjuring up some sort of devious plan.

I’m producing the show so I’ll be in panic mode until the whole thing has finished and is successful. Keep your fingers crossed…

Sharing a photo: Dancer Arassay Reyes

Feb 22 2009

Dancer Arassay Reyes
50mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO 800.

The best benefit of being an online correspondent for The Province is that I get to go to a lot of cool performances & concerts. Most of the time, I only get a video or review pass which means I can’t take pictures. This kills me. But for the “So You Think You Can Dance Canada” show at GM Place, I was in there like swimwear, with both a video and photo pass.

I could only shoot for one minute of just three performances. Venues are really strict about adhering to these restrictions and will confiscate your camera gear if you push it. The restrictions at the David Copperfield were the most intense — still photos only, taken from the very back of the room for the first 30 seconds of the show. I wouldn’t have minded these restrictions at the Katy Perry show. Stills would have been better than video with audio. Yikes.

So for SYTYCD, I got in the zone and feverishly snapped 3 mins of footage. This was my favourite shot of Cuban born, Arassay Reyes, who now lives in Vancouver.

Mostly Looking for Love

Feb 14 2009

Dating on Valentine’s Day *sigh*

Change just feels good!

Nov 4 2008

American Flag

Doesn’t it?!

Let’s celebrate, be good to each other & finally give America a big hug! Obama!!!!

I believe.

It’s my birthday!

Nov 3 2008

captain foushad protecting cupcakes-10

I am 27 today! Uh. One more year til death. But, age ain’t nothin’ but a number though right? Grr. Time to pound back this life-size chocolate-chocolate cupcake at midnight whilst playing Wii tennis, Harry Potter vs. Severus Snape. After that I’m popping up so much popcorn and watching my favourite Buffy episode. Then I’ll probably cry a little, eat more cake, then watch something awesome like a Bourne movie or Alien or Transformers.

Either way, birthday celebrating and tomfoolery is required. Now if I can only sneak those cupcakes past Captain Foushad, I might get some more sugary treats tomorrow.

Happy Hip-hop-hippopotamus Birthday comments are much appreciated <3!

Existential Crisis at Blog World… mostly

Oct 3 2008

And now for something completely different…

Blog World hi-jinks with my bff Amanda Coolong (TechZulu), Pete Cashmore (Mashable), Snaps (the Kangaroo), USB HubMan/kid, a Zannel squooshie schwag yoyo & a lone pigeon.

Powered by my sweet Mostly Lisa Viddler Tees, 2 hours of sleep, 3 chocolate chip cookies, a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, Yahoo mints, some nuclear green coloured caffeinated drink and Las Vegas.

I’ll be the first to admit it. This video is pretty weird, but it oddly enough captures the essence of a Blogging/Tech/2.0 conference very well. That essence smelling something like a mixture of day-old deodorant, guacamole, gasoline, melting plastic, glue, warm cookies, and dusty carpet. *sigh* I guess you just had to be there.

At least this time I didn’t dive bomb a geek with a USendit airplane or lose a whole bunch of dough with Rosie O’Donnell.

Thanks to rocknrollgeek for filming, the MindTouch girl that gave Snaps a special button, and Pete $more for just lookin’ fly.

PS. I think Amanda really needs to work on her interviewing skills if she’s ever going to be considered, like a serious reporter or whatever.