Emailed Hacked

So... in case you were wondering - no, I did not take a trip to Malaysia. Though that would have been lovely - the getting mugged part wouldn't have been.

Sadly - it has been a giant mess to clean up. When they hacked my email, the completely locked me out, changing the password and the backup email so there was no way for me to get in to my account. Gmail's customer support... for lack of a better word... sucks. The account that got hacked was the one connected to this blog and my google checkout account (which is no longer). I will not be opening another google checkout account at all. Ever. Because I was locked out of my account - there was no way for me to easily contact ANYONE about shutting down my account. Long story - but just beware, unless you have to have a GC account - I wouldn't bother. Even with all the paypal issues people have had - at least they have customer service people that are fairly prompt and not simply robots... but that's a whole other soap box.

Long story short - I finally have access back.

Thank you to everyone that contacted me and even sent links to government websites for reporting these sad pathetic people.

My advice to all of those like me that think "oh it'll never be me":

- change your passwords - make sure no two passwords are the same and really... not even similar. The time and energy I have spent dealing with this is far beyond what it would take to change your passwords every few months or so.

- back up your email contacts - I had the vast majority of mine backed up on another email address, but was still missing several hundred... and those of course are the most recent ones.

- back up your email if you can - Luckily through the apple mail system - and my lack of deleting emails - I still have 10,000+ emails from the past 5 years. (sad I know...) but still - it would have saved me if I hadn't gotten access back.

I have no idea how my email got hacked and I doubt I ever will. I feel like I'm generally pretty cautious, but obviously not enough. I suppose I'd gotten too comfortable in my little online bubble. Now I am utterly disappointed and let down by gmail/google. I feel out of sorts in terms of security. And am completely overwhelmed by the fact that my whole business and much of my life revolves around the computer and that one particular email.

The good news is, I appear to have everything back. No loss of contacts, no loss of emails, no tampering with anything of super importance that I've found yet... but I still feel like I have hours and hours ahead of me of changing passwords and log-ins, deleting certain things and reorganizing everything in a new email. Sadly a new email I don't like as much.

There is part of me that feels like overall I'm handling it okay and more calmly than I might have thought I would. And there is another part of me that feels totally overwhelmed and is ready to shut down.

So for any customers that are waiting for a response from me, many apologies in any delay.

oh oh and the kicker... I'd planned on emailing my entire contact list to tell everyone what was going on... apparently b/c of all the emailing... I can't do anymore mass emails or I would be in danger of having my account shut down for being a spammer. great. thanks. so... here's this blog post!

Happy Monday!

xoxo

Blog-o-sphere Think Tank - #3 - April Edition - Favorite Book or Movie

oooh such a fun topic, but oh so hard! There is NO way I can pick just one.

I tend to be the sort of person that doesn't rewatch movies and rarely rereads books. I think it is because I like the surprise or the suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. Once I've read it or seen it, I know already and it just isn't as fun the 2nd time around. I would say I've read far more books than I've seen movies over my life time - though recently most of the books I've been reading are 'fluff' type books - highly entertaining and easy to read - but uh, most aren't something I would even mention...

So I guess the qualification comes then in what some of my favorites are by ones I am willing to read or watch again and again.

I'm going to start with books b/c that will make you giggle. Yes. I read the Twilight series. and yes, I read all of them more than once. more than twice. But that is all you get from me on that topic. oh, and no the movies are no where close to the top of my list. I haven't even seen all the ones that are out.


As for movies - I can't pick just one - just can't do it. All of my top movies are equal in some way - they're all different and fit in to a different favorite category... but the image is a bit of a give away. The Fifth Element is one of my all time favorites. It is one of those movies that if it is on tv, I'll start watching it from where ever it is. MULTI-PASS! And honestly, I don't know why I love it so much. I think the visuals are so fun and quirky, there is always something new to notice.

Next on my list is the first Lord of the Rings. I have seen that movie maybe more than any other movie. When I was in college I would just put it on when I was working on some random project. I couldn't quite figure out what I liked to much about it. The costumes were great - the jewelry fantastic and utterly inspiring - lots of trees and forests. What it comes down to though, is the complete and utter devotion of having friends there to protect you and help you along the way. And seriously... there were some hot friends, just sayin'.

Then there is the Grindhouse duo - Planet Terror and Death Proof. I think Death Proof slightly wins over those two, but they each have their charm. I love a strong badass female character, or group of them.

Changing genres now... Best In Show. Hilarious. If you haven't seen it - you are missing out. One of those movies I laugh so hard I cry. Parker Posey is incredible.

And then... last but not least in any shape or form are my beloved kids movies. I love animated movies. I have seen Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc more times than I can count. And my newest favorite is Despicable Me. The little girl in Monsters Inc - who is very much like one of the little girls in Despicable Me - that was me as a child. "It's SO FLUFFY!!!" again - a must see.

So that is it - all my favorites - sorry I couldn't pick just one over all winner.

make sure to check out everyone else's favorites!
Andes Cruz
Kathleen Krucoff
Brad Severtson
Stephanie Clark
Wendy Kelly
Andrea Bell
Barbara Donovan
Shaun Young

EtsyMetal Blog Carnival 4.4.11: For the love of Tools

This month's EtsyMetal blog carnival installment is a fun one! The topic for April is:

Most coveted tool. Why? How would you utilize it if you got it?


a robot.

that I can program to think just like me. Apparently, like the one pictured above - it will actually check on me if I should collapse and could even call 911. how handy! I could even put it in some of my clothes and an image of my face! awesome! I bet it could saw off sprues like a pro.

but since I honestly don't EVER see that happening any time in the near future... the other tool I've been dreaming about is a microscope for stone setting. I've never tried one, but I imagine it would be fantastic. I always thought my eyesight for stone setting was good. Until I used a macro lens to photograph! haha! It is amazing the tiny detail yours eyes don't pick up.

There is this one - I do love GRS...



And then there are these... which are a bit more feasible in terms of use, space and budget. so... I might actually get them! annnndddd.... they are dead sexy.



make sure to check out what everyone else is coveting!

2Roses
Elizabeth Scott
Tosca Teran
AdobeSol
Nodeform
wildflowerdesigns
Evelyn Markasky
Erin Austin