Freedom

Since deleting my Last.FM account I've noticed that I don't worry about what I'm listening too. Sounds odd doesn't it ? I swear I used to skip songs because I was worried I was listening to something too often. I do sometimes listen to a song a few times in a row, especially if it means something to me or I need a pick me up after a bad day (there have been a lot of those lately unfortunately). Deleting it means it's another thing I won't obsessively check every day which is good.

It's honestly like a ball and chain has been removed....I wonder how it would feel if I deleted Facebook or Twitter ? I don't think I could at the moment.

Banished From Facebook.

Facebook have banned me from posting for three days because I called a nasty homophobe a "stupid idiot".

I can't comment, post status or photos....however some external links work when using share button...and I can check in and Like stuff.

Oh well....sitting it out.

Spammed !

My email account was hacked this morning at around 3AM. It sent out hundreds of spam emails advertising some scammers work at home crap.

As a result access to my main email account has been blocked and I cannot remember the answer to my secret question ! Now I have to wait 24 hours until I can try and gain access again.

All morning I've been changing passwords on all my online accounts, I have run a hundred and one virus checks and checks to ensure my laptop has not become a botnet. Nothing. I don't think I've ever had a virus on my laptop. I don't download things from dubious sources, in fact I only download programmes from trusted sources like Filehippo. I don't visit dubious sites or click dodgy links...especially on Facebook.


So at this moment I put the blame solely on AOL who are my email provider (I have a unique domain name email and not @aol.com).

It's annoying more than anything because jobs I have applied for have only that email address because it's on my CV. I have changed my CV to my back up email for now.

UPDATE: I was finally able to access my email today (1st April).......173 unread...yowch

I'm Afraid You're Not Through To The Final

Steve Brookstein who won the first series of the X Factor in the UK...and was never heard from again, has been causing a bit of a stir over on the old Twitter again.

Here is yet another person who hasn't read the facts.

"Under the plans put out for consultation today, same-sex couples will be entitled to get married in a register office or other civil ceremonies, or convert existing civil partnerships.

Existing marriages in which one partner changed their sex would also no longer have to be ended.

The blueprint however, also endorsed by home Secretary Theresa May, maintains a legal ban on same-sex religious services despite some churches expressing an interest in conducting them."

SOURCE: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/marriage-is-a-celebration-of-love-and-should-be-open-to-everyone-says-featherstone-7573717.html

So no....the churches are not being forced to accept same sex marriage or perform same sex marriage ceremonies. Personally I do think it is a little unfair to maintain the ban because some churches accept same sex couples with open arms. 

But I can see that the ban needs to be kept for now if only to stop some religious groups having a breakdown about the whole thing.  

The bottom line is two people getting married is not going to destroy anything that some religious groups claim it will destroy and it is not going to lead to the legalization of polygamy and incest as the "Coalition for Marriage" (a group very much similiar to the USA's National Organization for Marriage, google them, they are unbelievable) has stated. 

Funny how you see the same old arguments being kicked around. Same sex marriage may as well be legal in the UK anyway. Civil Partnership is virtually the same in all but the name.

The world has not and will not end and personal religious beliefs are just that....personal. Other people should not have to live by the rules set out by another person's religious beliefs.


Civil marriage has nothing to do with the church and so they do not and should not have any say in it. 

Back to Brookstein. This man is bitter because his career didn't take off like he thought it would and spends time offending people online.  I suspect he does a lot of these things to gain attention and for publicity. I suspect this time it will backfire on him.

The Daily Mail jumped on this bandwagon today 
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/16/daily-mail-questions-public-support-for-equal-marriage/ 


Seems they need to read the bill properly too.

The Social Media Explosion and Over Accessible Popstars

This post is a little scatty but bear with me. I was thinking about the subject after being wrongly accused of being a crazy myself !

Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms have opened up a whole world of promotion possibilities and chances to interact with one's fanbase.Some singers and groups use it to their full advantage but unfortunately the use of these platforms comes with a price.

Whereas before your average garden variety stalker/psychotic fan was easy to avoid, on the internet it is much more difficult to try and avoid these characters. They now have an additional way of interacting with the subject of their obsession. Twitter and Facebook are the main culprits because these people can be blocked but it is possible to open numerous new accounts and continue the questionable behaviour.

A recent example involved lovely Kylie Minogue: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9065613/Kylie-Minogue-calls-in-police-over-Twitter-stalker-threats.html (how anyone could threaten a person who comes across as so nice and genuine I do not know)


A person who is of this nature can feed their obsession and act out their fantasies in front of the actual subject, they can also discover where the person has been or currently is at any time which is worrying.

I have a  ban list on the Facebook page I created (not official,the subject isn't me and I am in no way connected with the subject apart from that they know what I look like, my name and have met me once or twice, would like to hand it over to someone official) and the majority of the list are people who are literally crazy. .

An extreme example:

I have no idea !

Here are a few examples of the type of "crazies" I've dealt with:

The person who, although claiming to be a fan constantly posts objectionable dialogue about the subject on social media platforms and forums.They will send out tweets to the person trying to gain their attention by being obnoxious because they are desperate for the attention of the subject. It gives them some kind of wierd pleasure when the person reacts.

Then there is the person who thinks because they have the opportunity to interact with the object of their obsession they believe that they are now friends with them, these are the people who build a fantasy world around the person, this world eventually becomes completely believable to them and they even recount stories involving the subject and themselves as if these scenarios actually happened. Remember Bjork's famous stalker who shot himself or the man who claimed to be married to Madonna ?

Also people who will purposely go after the subject's family and friends. A guy I banned started posting photos which I had my suspicions had come from a family member's personal profile. I was almost 100% sure this was the case but he was claiming the photos were his and that he had taken them. I had to do some digging of my own and eventually found that they had come from someone else's profile so I banned him because I thought it was a very strange thing to do.

Those are just a couple of examples, there are probably quite a few variations.

I came across a blog recently that has since been deleted which had been created by a Lady Ga Ga fan, it was called "Help Mother Monster" or something similiar. It was full of quite horrible posts about Madonna and Adele, it also included posts urging readers of the blog to go to articles and YouTube videos and post nasty comments to try and "bring Madonna and Adele down". Basically the person running the blog seemed to dislike other singers achievements over Lady Ga Ga and was trying to do anything to ruin things for them.

This is wierd behaviour, in fact it's more than wierd. It makes me wonder though if the social media explosion and the subsequent creation of the accessible pop star has fuelled this kind of behaviour and even made it worse ?

A bit of light relief....we always call this "The Stalker Song"

Seriously ? You would Actually Say That In Real Life ?

It surprises me when I see posts on Facebook like the example I've posted here. I suspect these people wouldn't say these things to a person's face in real life.

Of course the above statement is not just offensive, it's untrue and someone even "Liked" it.

I think the internet and Facebook in particular gives people a platform in which to "say" things they would never dream of saying out loud in company. I think people are less likely to think before they post something in text. When you are speaking to someone face to face you tend to think about what you are going to say a bit more because usually you are in the company of people you know.

On the internet you can be anonymous if you choose but even if you don't, you're still a stranger to most of the people you come across.

Drama

I have always assumed maybe quite  naively that a forum was a place to discuss, celebrate and even criticise. I thought it was a place where you could be yourself including having your own beliefs about certain subjects. For example ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING. I'm very vocal about my feelings concerning this subject, over the years I have learnt enough to put me in the mindset that uploading and sharing other people's work is wrong and it's especially wrong when the group/singer in question are very much against it as well. It is disrespectful.  I will always call people out if they've done wrong, this isn't for the approval of anyone, it's just how I feel. 


Why the hell should I be silent if I discover someone who claims to be a fan is sharing a groups new single or an unreleased song around the internet ? 


Unfortunately my being vocal about this subject has riled a few people up.


I don't do these things to seek the approval of anyone, I do not do things to try and worm my way into someone else's world. I've learnt on my internet travels that people assume there is an ulterior motive for the things people do quite often.


I am especially upset about this:

This person was caught out sharing an unreleased song which he had no right sharing and I called him out on that, I wasn't nasty just annoyed (I called him out a couple of years ago for sharing a band's new single and he was almost as nasty, maybe I should have learnt my lesson that time) . I don't really know this person but what worried me most about this was that he named someone who I thought I was friendly with, I started overthinking. What if the person named really thought that about me ? What if that's what a lot of people really thought about me ? Do I want this reputation ? 


I am one of those people who worries all the time about what others think of me, I think it stems from being bullied at senior school. It's something I've never been able to shake off and I hate it. 


The trouble with the internet is it's very easy for people to play chinese whispers and it's very hard to convince people you are not anything like what those whispers are implying. 


Just because I care about something or I am very against something.


It doesn't make me some kind of nutter.




But I've been bitten twice now so I don't think I'll bother again.






Just for the record...I'm not a psycho stalker, if you believe that about me then you don't even know me and your friendship is void.