Hacked!

Gather ‘round, friends, and learn from my mistake.

Like me, you may be low-tech and sentimentally attached to an old but familiar and easy-to-use computer operating system and device. You know which shortcuts buy you an extra few minutes per day and which keys require a firm tap.

Even as I upgraded to a newer device and operating system, I couldn’t bring myself to ditch my venerable desktop computer with Windows XP. Why? I liked XP and the oldie-but-goodie version of Word that ran on it. It was ideal for first drafts, letters to friends, and lesson plans.

In life, there’s a place for sentimentality. When it comes to the Internet, reserve mushy thoughts for photos of kittens opening their eyes for the first time. Don’t let nostalgia for an operating system blind you to the fact it may put out the welcome mat for hackers. Use outdated devices as word processors if you want, but detach/cut/unhook them from the Internet.

On April 8, 2014, Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP with the patches and safeguards necessary to keep the system free of malware. That’s when I should have cut my desktop’s Internet connection. I didn’t. Why? Laziness, overconfidence in the anti-malware program I used on the device, and the certainty no one in the universe cared about me, my writing, vacation photos, or the quizzes and tests I’d created over the years.

Low-tech, sentimental types are easy pickings for hackers. One morning, my husband and I found this message on our old computer’s screen:

Wait? What? Hackers encrypted our data and are holding it for ransom? They want us to buy a “key” to decrypt it? Oh, and we must purchase this key via bitcoins within three days or our data would be lost forever?

With my newer device, I Googled “hackers holding computer data for ransom” and discovered we were far from alone. Police departments, lawyers, and small companies have fallen prey to these faceless, voiceless thieves. Read this and this. 

Hackers may gain access to up-to-date computer operating systems via seemingly innocuous emails advising users to update software. Click on the embedded link, and the hacker’s in. My outdated Windows XP system would have been even easier to penetrate.

Hubs checked with computer-savvy friends who advised us to cut our losses and put our chances of receiving the “key” from the hackers at less than fifty percent. What’s more, even if we paid and obtained a key, there’s no guarantee the same thing wouldn’t happen again. After all, people who pay a ransom once are likely to pay it twice.

Fortunately, I had back-up copies of my writing and Hubs had back-ups of our photos.  I wonder how many people buy bitcoins in hope of retrieving baby photos and kids’ school pictures?

The hackers gave us a deadline, and we watched it pass. Once it did, we removed the hard drive from our desktop computer and smashed it.

Learn from our experience.  Use old devices and old software at your risk and sans Internet connection. Back up everything and store your backed up data on a stick, on another device, and in the cloud.

Let’s be careful out there.

Nora got it right

Over the years I’ve read several studies that attempted to determine why some people considered themselves happy even in unpleasant circumstances and others were unhappy when everything was going great for them. It’s the glass half full or half empty point of view that some studies say is inherent in our personalities, not learned or acquired. It’s something I’ve been thinking about this week after encountering a person whose anger has taken over her life.

Coincidentally, in reading tributes to the late, marvelous Nora Ephron I came across two of her quotes that really struck a chord on the subject.

"My religion is 'Get over it’. And I was raised in that religion. That was the religion of my home — my mother saying, 'Everything is copy; everything is material; someday you will think this is funny.' My parents never said, 'Oh you poor thing.' It was work through it, get to the other side, turn it into something. And it worked with me."

I love that religion! One of my most miserable adventures involved snowmobiles, wilderness trails and a severe case of the flu. It’s now one of my best cocktail party stories. But I also think how sad when I hear adults decades past majority wallow in self-pity over injustices of their youth, or people who can’t let go of their rage and resentment toward an ex-spouse or lover. Their emotions poison any chance of happiness. Getting over it is healing, rebirth, a chance to start fresh. Nora had it right.

"You do get to a certain point in life where you have to realistically, I think, understand that the days are getting shorter, and you can't put things off thinking you'll get to them someday. If you really want to do them, you better do them. There are simply too many people getting sick, and sooner or later you will. So I'm very much a believer in knowing what it is that you love doing so you can do a great deal of it."

She did what she loved and loved what she did. So as a tribute to a witty, wise woman, do what you love today and tomorrow and the day after.

For more, check out an interview and article on npr.org called 'I Remember Nothing': Nora Ephron, Aging Gratefully which includes an excerpt of her book.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Would he be more handsome if his name was Ryan?

I’ve always had a thing about names so when I came across a piece from NPR called Baby Names: The Latest Partisan Divide?,  I couldn’t resist reading it. Apparently people in the conservative Midwest choose more creative and androgynous names like Paislee, Liberty, Rykan and Scottlynn for their children while New Englander’s favor traditional names such as Evan, Elizabeth, Rachel, Abigail and John. Hmmm.  An interesting study.

As a writer I think a lot about characters’ names before committing to them because I know how important it is for the reader connect with the persona I’m creating as quickly as possible. If my heroine is strong and adventuresome, Molly or Tillie won’t communicate those traits. An alpha-hero can be Will, Jake or Roarke but not Billy, Walter or Elmer.  A lot has been written about how names affect peoples’ reaction to a person. The BBC asked, “Would he be more handsome if his name was Ryan?” over a picture of George Clooney. Archibald Leach was certainly more attractive as Cary Grant and Betty Joan Perske was much sexier as Lauren Bacall. Would Tom Cruise still be a star as Thomas Mapother IV? And, yes, there’s a website with celebrities’real names if you want to see more. 

Historical author  Shana Galen wrote a great blog post about naming characters  where she said, “The author also has to choose a name she can live with for six months. If my archenemy is named Gabrielle, I’m not going to want to write that name a dozen times a day.” Good advice! She also warns that difficult spelling and pronunciation.   

If you want to know what names were popular in the United States when an American character was born, the Social Security website lets you search the most popular names by year.    This site can eat a lot of time, but it’s also fascinating to see how the popularity of names changes. Dorothy, Betty and Joan were common in the 1930’s, and disappeared from the list in the 1950’s when Linda, Susan, Barbara and Nancy hit the top 20. By the 2000’s, none of these girls names appeared in the top 200. On the other hand, Michael has been near the top of the boys’ names list since the 1940’s, and James and William have never dropped off. Does this data fascinate anyone else?

So what names do you respond to positively or negatively? Are there any that would turn you off to a character or book instantly? Any that would create instant rapport?

Maurice Sendak, R.I.P.

Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of one of my favorite children's books, Where the Wild Things Are,  died Tuesday. He was 83. 

There was a wonderful piece on him on NPR this week which included excerpts from interviews with him over many years. He said he had a terrible childhood and didn’t believe in making children think the world was a safe beautiful place. And yet he created monsters that all of us could relate to, monsters and weird beasts we could make peace with and co-exist with, just like the children in his books. To quote the movie trailer:

            Inside each of us is Fear.

Inside each of us is Adventure.

Inside each of us is a Wild Thing.

R.I.P. Maurice Sendak. You gave so many generations of children permission to believe in their imaginations.

Title Help and More Write Stuff

Hey, writers, this post's for you, and you'll be pleased to know it links to other, better posts.

First up, get tongue-in-cheek help naming your novel from National Public Radio via Redlines and Deadlines, the blog of those witty editors at Ellora's Cave.

Uh oh, CARPOOLING FANNY appears to be the title of my WIP.

In a week when the Department of Justice filed suit against Apple and five publishers (three of which have agreed to a settlement), we need a feel-good story. Larry Brooks, author of psychological thrillers and the "story fixer," gave an advanced workshop to about 100 romance writers in Portland Oregon—his first time giving a workshop to a group of romance writers—and came away from it with respect for the genre. That's right; you won't hear him make a snide comment or a passive-aggressive aside. Indeed, he describes the Portland writers as "killer smart."

Sci-fi writer Lynette Burrows is back with another installment in her "Re-visioning Your Story" series. Here, she reminds us great beginnings hook the reader but emotionally satisfying endings compel them to buy an author's next book.

Still trying to define "voice" as it pertains to writers? Social-media expert Kristen Lamb's recent post (the third in a series) demystifies the term by using actors as examples. "Let’s say I have a role to cast. I want a male actor to play a cowboy. I have three different actors. I have Clint Eastwood, Jack Black, and Robert Deniro. Same story, different actors. Can you see how the choice of actor–the choice of the voice–becomes essential to how the story will play out? If I cast the wrong actor for the story I as a director want to tell, I can have a disaster, even though ALL THREE ACTORS are highly skilled and talented."

Hope these links are useful. Now it's back to CARPOOLING FANNY for me.

LIVING A CHARMED LIFE

Yesterday NPR aired an interview with the 90 year old Rosamond Bernier about her memoir entitled Some of my Lives. What struck me about the piece wasn’t the obvious privilege that put her in the position to meet some of the greatest figures of the 20^th century, but the spirit that embraced her opportunities with curiosity and enthusiasm. The NPR article online begins: 

“In 1947, Vogue magazine sent Rosamond Bernier to Paris to cover European cultural life as it recovered after World War II. She met everyone who was anybody — Pablo Picasso befriended her, Henri Matisse gave her fashion tips, Alice B. Toklas baked for her. Bernier's memoir Some of My Lives is a lively compendium of this movable feast of art and genius — and of the author's own considerable charm.” 

It’s hard not to envy the opportunities Ms. Bernier’s circumstances afforded her and yet how many other wealthy young women of her time sat on the sidelines and never took advantage of the world their position opened to them? Many young women are charming, but Ms. Bernier’s curiosity and willingness to put herself out there endeared her to the creative geniuses of her time in a way no amount of money or parental influence could do.

 As I listened to the piece, I couldn’t help but think about my favorite movie of 2011, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, where Gil (Owen Wilson) travels back in time and is befriended by literary legends Hemmingway, Stein, and the Fitzgeralds. Gill had Woody Allen and a great script to fulfill his dream but he also had a joie de vivre that opened him to new experiences. 

I realized that joy is something anyone can have and interesting connections can be made no matter who or where you are. I’m lucky to live in a big city, so why don’t I go to art galleries, museums, concerts on a regular basis? Every week there are author signings at bookstores around the city, cultural events, speakers on all kinds of fascinating topics. Our universities, community colleges and specialty schools offer continuing education classes in everything from languages to ancient philosophy to wine tasting. And hundreds of special interest organizations welcome interested newcomers. There are sporting events, fairs, arboretums, parks. The sad truth is I get too busy with my day to day routine and don’t make time for these adventures and the interesting people I wouldn’t meet otherwise. 

If I want to live my own charmed life, I need to embrace more of the wonderful experiences my world has to offer. As of today, I plan to do something that enriches my life at least once a week. Can’t wait to research all the choices I have for this weekend! 

What is it that makes you feel alive and happy? If you defined a your own version of a Charmed Life, what would it be?

LARK'S LIST OF LISTS 2011

The last week of December is a boon for those of us who love Top/Best/Worst lists. On the serious side the media recognizes Notable Deaths and Those We Lost  reminding us of the all the people who passed away during the year. And, of course, there are reviews of top world events that point out how our lives have been affected by recent history. But for pop-culture junkies (we know who we are), this time of year the web is a treasure trove of fascinating lists.

NPR’s website offers its assessment of the Best Books of 2011 in a wide range of categories from literature to poetry to sci-fi/fantasy but I’ll admit the one that I had to click on was Best Celebrity Tell-Alls.  Steven Tyler, Jane Lynch and Rob Lowe made that list and thus into my possibly-to-be-downloaded queue.

NPR also reviews The Year in Music listing 100 Favorite Songs Of 2011 , most of which I’ve never heard. But don’t worry, you can listen to them online for free before downloading anything to the iPad you got for Christmas. Prepare to spend hours on this one.

Looking for material to use at that New Years Eve party where you know no one but the host? No problem. There are lists of Favorite Vampires, Most Shocking Guy Makeovers (Ben Affleck with lot of hair, Matt Damon with none), Year’s Biggest Break-ups (not that I know who half these people are), and Pop Culture’s Tastiest Bits. 

 Wired’s Gear of the Year  tells you what’s techno-cool, and Booklist Online’s Top Ten Romance Novels of 2011 tells you what really hot. And Moviefone's 50 Best Movies of 2011 summarizes all those flicks you planned to see and didn’t so your eyes don’t glaze over when someone mentions “We Bought a Zoo.”

In case you prefer a one-stop source, TIME humbly lists the Top 10 of Everything of 2011. Okay, I’ll admit I clicked Worst Fashion Moments  and was delighted to see Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie at That Wedding followed by the Kardashians at the Wedding-ganza. And who can resist Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings? I never would have guessed that “Under Money Strains, Some Older Adults May Turn to Alcohol”. Well, duh.

TIME’s The Best Blogs of 2011  gives links to what it considers the 25 best blogs while noting a few it can do without…sorry, Kirstie Alley, you made the latter. 

Do we need all these Best of 2011 lists? Probably not. Still, I’m itching to find out who’s being lauded and panned on MTV’s and Entertainment Weekly’s lists. What else can I do while waiting for the Academy Awards nominations announcement?

Happy New Year! May 2012 be your best year ever!!