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When Caller ID Drives Me Crazy: A Question of Etiquette

July 26, 2010 By 25 Comments

I’m pretty sure the only people left in this world without caller ID are my parents. So Mom and Dad, you can ignore this question. But for the rest of you living in the 21st century, I have a question.

Is it acceptable etiquette in this day and age to return missed calls from unknown numbers asking if someone called them from that number?

In my not very humble opinion, I consider it rude and class-less. I am always appalled at the Retirement Home when I answer the phone to hear “Did you just call me?” I always tell them that if someone wants to get a hold of them they will call back thankyouverymuch and hang up on them. I mean, I’m always kind and nice and all that jazz, but what I really want to do is tell that person to get over and bleepity-bleep themselves. 

If you feel the absolute NEED to find out who just called you, try doing it with a little bit of class: “Hello, this is ______ ________ at (555) 555-5555, I recently missed a call from this number and was wondering if someone needed to get a hold of me.”

Perhaps it won’t make the person on the other end of the conversation wanting to shout expletives at you.  Trust me, if someone wants to get a hold of you, they will.

/end rant.

(But on the other hand, maybe this is actually acceptable behaviour and I am just old and crotchety. Thoughts?)

Filed Under: life, Opinionated, question, technology

Listed! His One Favourite Person Is Actually 56 People

November 1, 2009 By 11 Comments

Well friends, here we go! The Five Blondes are embarking on a month-long journey of blogging every day – that’s right, we’re taking part in NaBloPoMo. I don’t remember whose wacky idea this was – maybe Micaela’s or Leah’s – but we all agreed to the schedule that was promptly created, requiring each of us to blog once every 5 days. Yeah, don’t worry, we’re not posting 5 times a day, every day. We don’t want to overwhelm subscribers (do you subscribe to our RSS feed??), and frankly, we’re all way too busy for that. I truly admire everyone who is doing NaBloPoMo solo.

I’m hoping people remember I exist here, as I’ve been posting about once a month since school has started back up. I’m balancing 40 hours of work with 15 hours of class (not to mention the readings and essays and studying…) and I’m close to going mad. Luckily, there is something that keeps me sane: Twitter. Specifically, Twitter Lists. They’re fun, useful, slightly competitive, flattering, creepy, and hot damn, can they be funny! I find myself on an incredible 27 lists (at the time of this writing), only one of which I made myself. The majority of them are lists of ‘locals’, if you will, and lists of 20 something bloggers. And then there are the more…creative lists. For example, I find myself on a list titled “My One Favourite Person“. With 55 other people. Apparently we are all actually the same person! Another list he’s put me on (Hi Phronk!) has put me on is the slightly creepy “Stalkable Locals“, as well as the very general (yet oddly charming) “People Who Don’t Suck“. I also belong to “The Swoon Muffin Society“! Who knew?

I’m sure that the merits of Twitter lists will be a hotly-debated subject in the coming weeks. What’s good about them, what’s bad about them, should you keep your lists private, or risk making someone feel left out if you make them public? Chris Brogan wrote a short post yesterday saying why he’s “not down” with twitter lists and the comments that follow are fantastic. 50+ different opinions/takes on lists and many new ideas on how to use them!

My thoughts are that you should keep small lists private (unless they are super-specific and objective) or perhaps make sure to let your followers know that you’re still working on adding to your lists (assuming you are, of course). Use lists for the greater good by creating lists that others will benefit from – like an awesome list of 20-somethings, or a list of people working in a specific profession (this is a strategy that I’m employing with a Twitter account that I manage for work), or a list of tweeters who might live-tweet a television show once a week.

So my friends, that’s what I have to say (today) about Twitter lists. For you tweeters reading this, have you seen any uber-useful of just plain funny lists? What do you think about the feature in general?

Filed Under: nablopomo, technology Tagged With: , , , ,

What would you change about your cell phone plan?

September 12, 2008 By 7 Comments

I have found this really cool website that has been created  by a company in Canada that will be starting to provide cell phone plans. The way they have chosen to do their research is interesting – by opening up an online forum called “Wireless Soapbox” as a way for people to get their likes, dislikes and ideas concerning their current cell phone plan, and offer input as to what they would like to see in an ideal cell phone plan.

Think there’s a better way to do wireless?

Welcome to the Wireless Soapbox, a forum for people who believe that cellular can be done better. Have a complaint? Air it. Have an idea? Share it. Ask a question. Start a discussion. Whatever… it’s up to you. Choose a topic and get involved.

Whan an innovative way to do research! Essentially, their only expense was to create this website, it was advertised via ways of media interest, and pay a couple people to monitor it and BOOM – you have loads of free informtation coming at you right from the consumers themselves.

I, currently, have not yet contributed to it as I have not put a lot of thought towards what I like and don’t like about my cell phone plan. A popular topic I have noticed is the “system activation fee” and how people don’t like to see it on their bill every month, they would like to have it dissolved into their other fees. I agree with that one, I am charged $6.75 (or so) every month by my current provider, but that seems like something that should be included with my $25/month plan!

Would you contribute to this website (even if you aren’t Canadian) to get your ideas across? Canadians, this is your way to get the cell phone plan you really want. I am so intrigued to see what ideas and plans do come out of this Wireless Soapbox!

Filed Under: advertising, internet, marketing, question, technology

A Letter to Those of You who Arrived at FiveBlondes via Search Engines

December 3, 2007 By 2 Comments

Firstly, thank you for visiting.  If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake.

To the visitor who searched for “where is nudge button scrabulous“: alas, Scrabulous has altered the use of the ‘nudge’.  No longer can you nudge at will; now they make you wait a few days.  Personally I enjoy that feature as I have had up to 12 games on the go at once.  It can be hard to keep up!

For our many visitors who arrive with inquiries on how to keep track of who has visited your Facebook profile page:  I must redirect you to Facebooking101.com.  They note that there is currently only one FB (same initials as FiveBlondes…coincidence? Yeah, prolly) app that tracks who visited your page – and those viisting must also have that app for it to work properly (if at all).  Anyway, it’s called Trazkor, and it doesn’t seem to work.

Looking for Erica Lauren, adult film star?  Well, we have Erica and we have Lauren, but sadly (for you) no Erica Lauren.

Lastly, we have what is perhaps my favorite source of traffic.  Those of you looking for “Lululemon Butt Pics”.  While we do love our Lulu, if there are any pictures of our butts in them, it is not intentional.

So, to all you disappointed visitors I extend my apologies and st the same time I thank you for visiting.  I hope you found something you liked.

Filed Under: answer, blogging, erica, facebook, google, internet, life, random, SEO, technology Tagged With: , , , ,

Feeling Scrab-U-Lo-Riffic! FiveBlondes + Scrabulous = Love

October 4, 2007 By 2 Comments

So I’ve been watching Scrabulous catch on among my Facebook friends over the past few weeks and months (over 10% of my FB friends have it!) and have been thinking to myself “Oh, seems cool, but I won’t have the time”.   Finally early this week Mom-the-fabric-snob sends me a request to play a game with he.  I thought, ‘why not’, and installed the app (I don’t like to install FB apps generally).

I’m addicted.  It’s amazing.  I love it.  Before this week, Scrabble has always been an occasional family event at my Oma’s house that reminds me of my Opa, who was always up for a game of Scrabble.  Or Rummikub.  Now that would be a great game for a Facebook app (hint, hint).  But I digress – back to Scrabulous.  Playing a casual game game of Scrabble in this format allows you the time to really look for words and make the most of all of your tiles.  I actually played one word that used ALL of my tiles!  GRANOLA – 62 points.  You can play with many friends at a time, no matter where they are! Right now we have a game going on with Leah, Micaela, and I…although Micaela hasn’t made a move yet and Leah and I have made 2.  Time for a friendly nudge.

Another fun part of Scrabulous is that you can play with absolutely anyone, anywhere.  I put out a call for a game with someone random, not necessarily a friend, and am now playing with “Janet C”.  After several moved I wondered to myself, who is Janet C?  Turns out Janet is from Los Angeles.  Pretty neat.

So if you’re looking for a way to spend a little time online and improving  your vocabulary at the same time, try Scrabulous.  Fun in every move – guaranteed!

Filed Under: erica, facebook, Family, friends, games, internet, life, review, technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

It’s the Weekend – Time to Relax!

September 7, 2007 By 2 Comments

TGIFHappy Friday y’all!

We have some cool links for you today, a blog promotion tip, and – the best – ANTICIPATION! Kate and Scott’s Stag and Doe is this weekend. The planning and preparation is pretty much over. Judging from the last Stag and Doe we all went to, there will be some crazy pictures resulting. Plus, we’ll tell you how to plan a super-successful stag and doe / buck and doe / jack and jill / wedding social. Definitely the most entertaining way to celebrate and help fun your wedding!

Blog Promotion Tip

Are you on Facebook, and have a WordPress blog as well? Let your friends know about it by adding the WordPress app to your profile. We found a blogger who posted great instructions on adding the WordPress app to your profile. Thanks, Thomas!

Erica, Micaela, and Katelyn have it on their profiles, and FiveBlondes has seen a good amount of traffic come through from our friends clicking through. Thanks, friends! Now, go tell your friends who don’t know us, ok? OK!

Outblush

When it comes to shopping and fun finds, there’s one website I check every day: Outblush is “The Shopping Blog for Women” – what could be better? Outblush always finds the cutest and trendiest clothes, accessories, home decor, gadgets, books, and more! They have a newsletter and RSS feed so you can get the best stuff, however you want it. What’s your favorite item this week?

E-mail Icon Generator

Our fun online find this week is a custom email image generator. This is great tool to use for your blog or website – put it in your sidebar if you want to let people know how to reach you, without falling prey to an evil SPAM-BOT trolling the web for your email address! If you have an address with a common provider such as Gmail or Hotmail (check out the list!) , you can get an image with their logo on it. This is fantastic for people with visual memories! If your email provider isn’t represented, no worries – you can get a custom button made, and even pick your own colours. I made two – one for our GMail addy, and a custom button for our fiveblondes [dot] ca address.

Why don’t you email us? We’d love to hear from you.

 

fiveblondes at gmail thegirls at fiveblondes

Filed Under: blogging, blonde, facebook, humour, internet, photography, random, review, shopping, sisterhood, technology, webpages, Wedding

Checked your Facebook privacy settings before? Check again.

September 6, 2007 By 2 Comments

FB

Yesterday, Facebook announced that they “are making limited public search listings available to people who are not logged in to Facebook. “  What does this mean exactly?  It means that any Tom, Dick or Harry on the internet who can type in a search bar and hit “Search” might be able to find your Facebook listing and poke you, send you a message, see your profile picture, and view your friends list.

This is not so cool. I am not impressed. First Facebook opened registration to everyone who wants to sign up – but it was still a ‘closed network’ to the rest of the online world and gave the illusion of security.  It must be secure if you need to login before you can see anything, right?  Yes and no.  We gave all of our information to Facebook.  Do you know the guys who run FB? I don’t. I don’t know anyone who does. How about all of those checkboxes you have to ensure are selected before you can add an app? Have you thought about what they mean? They mean that you are giving all of your information to the creators of the app, whoever they may be.  Whatever they may use your information for.
I know I’m a hypocrite. I use Facebook every day. I have a couple of apps on my profile (one being the WordPress app).  I wasn’t too concerned, because I’ve been very selective with the apps I’ve added, and so far I’ve had no reason to mistrust Facebook – until my boss pointed out this fact to me at work today:

BY DEFAULT, YOUR PROFILE IS ACCESSIBLE BY SEARCH ENGINES.

Now, Facebook is no more ‘secure’ than Myspace. It makes sense though, doesn’t it? Do you know anyone who would say “why yes, I’d love my Facebook profile to be available from [insert search engine here]!!”  I’m sure they are out there (like those Facebookers who use their profiles as marketing tools), but it’s not your average user.

As soon as you are done reading this post, go login to your Facebook profile.  Click “privacy” in the upper right hand corner.  Click on “Edit Settings” for “Search”.  If you do nothing else, at least make your profile unaccessible by search engines.

If this information hasn’t compelled you to take any action, I ask you: What does your profile picture look like? Do you look like someone that you would consider ‘employable’ by a respectable company?

If your answer is ‘no’, please realize that a potential employer is very likely to search for you in Google, or in Facebook.  Now go change your privacy settings.

LINKS

Facebook Profiles Will Appear in Google Results Next Month – Mashable

Filed Under: blogging, erica, facebook, google, internet, news, personal, technology, thoughts

New iPods are here! Now my Mini is 3 generations old.

September 5, 2007 By 1 Comment

New iPods

 

What’s this? Don’t recognize the shapely new iPods?

That’s because they’re new, as of today! This is the new Nano (note the new colours, and the skinny shape – only 6.5mm). The iPod Classic has beefy new storage space – up to 160GB, wow! And finally the kicker – iPod Touch: basically an iPhone, minus the phone capabilities.

For fans of the smallest of the iPods, the Shuffle, it has a brand new colour palette: ipod_colours.png

I’m torn between the purple and the fuschia – which is your favorite?

Filed Under: blogging, erica, internet, music, news, shopping, technology

It’s Blog Day! Celebrate with the FiveBlondes

August 31, 2007 By 1 Comment

Blog Day 2007

Today, August 31st, is the third-annual Blog Day in the blogosphere. To join the celebration, bloggers are asked to post recommendations of 5 blogs with links and short descriptions. Five blogs…five blondes…is this day made for us or what?

Erica’s Nomination:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Personal finance for the rest of us! I love the advice that you can find on personal finance blogs; here’s one of the go-to resources for everything related to money, investing, debt, and saving. Yesterday’s posts included an article on wedding etiquette – addressing issues such as being invited to weddings far away, and making it as economical as possible for out-of-towners to attend your own wedding. Great advice for us!

Micaela’s Nomination:

http://paigesix.blogspot.com/

Though she hasn’t posted much over the summer, PaigeSix has spent the last 3 years chronicling her life and experiences in university – and now in the working world. She never holds back and is a fantastic writer. She went to the same university that I did, and Mic used to ask me jokingly if I saw Paige Six today…

Katelyn’s Nomination:

http://www.dooce.com/

Katelyn first told me about this blog because she found it inspiring – something to model ours after. I find it very interesting – whether Heather is writing about or taking pictures of her dog (who can balance the most impressive items on his nose), her daughter (adorable!), or her extended family (Mormons), she never fails to interest or amuse!

Leah’s Nomination:

http://scottage-cheese.livejournal.com/

Since Leah is moving today and is too busy to participate, I’ve picked an old favorite of ours. Scott Loudoun, aka. Scottage Cheese, is a crazy guy in Victoria, BC who is also a talented photographer. He used to have this obsessive online fan base (check out some of his posts from 2005/2006 when he was getting comments numbering in the hundreds – 747 on one in particular) but he hasn’t updated his blog since May. His photography alone is worth the visit – there is literally days worth of reading and admiring to be done! I highly recommend reading this hilarious account of mistaken arrest in particular.

Lauren’s Nomination:

http://kjerstiwoods.livejournal.com/

This is a joint nomination from Micaela, Katelyn, and Lauren – cute pics of Kjersti’s family, among other subjects!

Filed Under: blogging, blonde, erica, friends, katelyn, lauren, leah, life, micaela, personal, random, sisterhood, sisters, technology, webpages

How Would You Classify Your Facebook Profile Picture?

August 30, 2007 By 8 Comments

According to BuzzCanuck, there are 65 Ways to Post a Facebook Profile Picture! Who knew? They’re all listed on his blog according to his preference. I recently changed my FB profile pic (I had the same one for months previously!) and wondered how it might be classified? Even better – how all 5 of our pictures might be classified!!

Erica’s FB profile pic
Erica:
You could title it “Waiting For My Turn in Whoonu”, but BC might classify it (ok, I hope it might be classified this way) as #17, the “Thinking Man Person Shot“. Or maybe a new classification: Bored Much?

 

 

Micaela’s FB Pic
Micaela:

She’s just enjoying life here! Definitely #14, “Kickin’ Back/Chillin“. On a boat, no less! Also might fall under a sub-category of #4, Street Scene: Nature Scene – that would be 4b, perhaps? Or maybe even BuzzCanuck’s #1, “Noxema Girl Fresh-Faced Innocent Shot” – though we know she’s not all that innocent…

 

Kate FB pic

 

Katelyn:

Stunning engagement photo, anyone? Or maybe #53, “This Is My Partner“. No, they don’t share a profile…Scott, along with my D-Dawg, is a Facebook holdout (for now).

As you can see, this is also one of those extra-long profile pictures that dominates space on a profile. BuzzCanuck labels these, “The Vertical Shot” (number 10 on the list). As this is an engagement photo, you can be sure that come October 28 she’ll have #41, “Wedding Shot“, showing off the lovely dress Mom is making her!

 

 

Leah FB pic

Leah:

So this is Leah. She’s our “special sister” who can’t even find a few minutes a week to post on the blog :( We love her nonetheless. Even though she bites. #3 – Slice of Life. Specifically, slice of the FiveBlondes life (whose finger is that anyway??)!

 

 

Lauren FB pic

Lauren:

Lauren likes taking self-portraits with her MacBook -#22 “I Used my Web Camera“. She likes rendering pictures she takes too, and using those distorting features that can make your nose / chin / eye bulge out alarmingly!

 

 

Do you have a favorite type of profile picture? What kind of Facebook profile picture do you have right now?

Filed Under: blogging, erica, facebook, Family, friends, life, personal, photography, random, technology
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