Spoof Proof Yourself On Facbook

Spoofing is rampant on Facebook these days.  What is spoofing, you ask?  It’s when someone creates a Facebook account using your exact name and in many cases, your current profile and cover photo.  They then send friend requests to your current friends who may or may not accept said request.  If they do, they are then subject to private messages from “you” extoling some great marketing idea or how to get free money or whatever.  Usually, this sends up a red flag to your friend and they track you (the real you) down as ask, “What the…?” and you then  realize you’ve been spoofed.  Or, the Spoofer simply goes through your friend list finding those who don’t have secure privacy settings and starts  spoofing them.  Or, they do both.  It’s a mess.

How can they do this?  Because more than likely your privacy settings are allowing THE PUBLIC to see what you are posting, including your pictures, your friends lists, etc.  Also problematic; if  you “Like” or comment on a friend’s post or picture or link or whatever and they haven’t set their privacy settings correctly, then your activity related to their post is now also, you got it, open to the public.  You cannot control what your friends do or don’t do, but what you can  do is to go through a  Privacy Checkup to ensure 99% of your activity (including your pictures and your list of friends, the primary targets of Spoofers) are protected.  And then beg and plead with your public-oriented friends to do likewise.

I’ll walk you through several steps to get you protected but before I do, a needed clarification.  In these cases your account HAS NOT BEEN HACKED.  The Spoofers do not have access to your real account (although it’s always a good idea to change your password on a frequent basis).  Yes sometimes  people do get hacked, but it’s not as frequent as the spoofing.  Doing what I am suggesting will help you in both regards.  Also, of course, having your friends contact you whenever they see something out of character seemingly coming from you is also very important.  Once the Spoofer knows “the gig is up”, they’ll move on to some other person whose account is dreadfully public.

Ok, here we go.

Step One:  Run a Privacy Checkup. 

This is where you can quickly monitor who can see your posts (posts means everything you post) as well as your app activity (games and  the like), view your activity log (posts you’ve liked or commented on) and, extremely helpful, view your  profile as the public would see it or even a specific friend.  Let’s go step by step here:

From your homepage (where you see your profile picture and cover picture) go to the far upper right hand side and click on the padlock icon.

Click on the top box Privacy Checkup.

This is where you want to ensure (as pictured here) “Who do you want to see your next post?” is set to FRIENDS.  If  you see a little World emblem here, it means all of your posts have up to now have been PUBLIC.

Click next and go on to the app screen.

Here you can do several things.  Ensure your activity using these various apps is set to  Only Me (or in some cases if you like to share stuff using these apps, Friends).  You can also scroll down and see how many apps you’ve accumulated (bet you’ll be surprised, I know I always am!) and remove those you no longer use/want.

After you hit next, it will take you to a final screen where you can check who can see your contact information, date of birth, etc.  I didn’t do a screenshot of this one ;-)

Once you’re done with that screen, hit finish up and it’ll tell you “Yay You’re Done!”

But, you really aren’t!

Go back up to the padlock icon and click on Who Can See My Stuff.

So now you should see that only Friends can see your posts (since you just changed it, right?  Right!)

Click on the next box, Use Activity Log.

Wow!  Everything single thing you’ve posted, liked, commented on, shared, etc., will pop up here. 

The important thing here is the emblems on the far right of each activity.   See my top one?  My friend has his privacy settings set to “Friends  of Friends”.  This means that friends of his friends can see whatever is posted on his stuff.  This isn’t as bad as seeing the world (which means Public) emblem but it still means a lot of people I  don’t know at all can see my input.  Thankfully, if any of them are potential Spoofers, they can’t spoof me!

You’ll see the rest are set to Friends.  Much much better.  I’m proud of you, Peri and Alberto!

Many I noted this morning were set to Public.  I won’t publically chastise you, but, it’s mind-blogging how many people allow the Public to see their stuff. 

Here’s a good opportunity for you (once you get your act cleaned up) to gently let your fish bowl friends know they are opening themselves up to spoofing.

Ok, onwards.

Go back to the Who Can See My Stuff to the the third box down, What Do Others See On My Timeline.  Click on View As.

Ok it’s a little small but it will bring up what  your profile looks to the public.  This is where you’ll find out how much clean up work you need to do!  Be prepared to be alarmed.

In my case, I have everything I possibly can set to Friends or Only Me.  So, the only thing the public can see is 1) My current  profile picture and 2) My current cover picture. You’ll note they cannot see any personal info, any other pictures or any friend information.

The only picture’s privacy settings that you cannot control is your current cover picture.  For whatever reason, that is always Public.  You can, however, go back and change your past cover pictures to Friends, which I’ll explain in a bit.

You can set your current profile picture to Friends and it’ll be visible to the public but not down loadable (about the best we can do, but, if you have all your other settings done appropriately, a Spoofer can’t do much with just your profile picture).

How do you change your picture settings?  It’s simple to change your future ones (you’ve already done it, remember?) but going back and changing all the pictures you’ve posted can be tedious but it’s worth it because, remember, Spoofers troll Facebook for public pictures.

Here we go.

Step Two:  Setting Pictures to Friends

First  make sure you current profile picture is set to Friends.  Here is a shot of mine (temporarily!) set to Public.  You can see the picture of course but also who liked and commented (thanks for the compliment, Cuz!)  You’ll note that the picture is also available to be share, send, tag, download, etc. This, friends, is a Spoofer’s dream.

Change the setting by clicking on the world emblem just under you name.  You should set it to Friends.

Now here is the same profile picture set to Friends.  Looks pretty boring, huh?  That’s a good thing.  

Another quick note on profile pictures.  ALWAYS check when you change your profile picture to make sure it is set to Friends.  For some reason, Facebook likes to (sometimes) default it to Public.

Now, on to a biggie, checking all of your posted pictures for their privacy setting.

Go up to the  area on your profile that says Photos and click on it.

Then click on Albums.

Here are all of your albums (including one for videos if  you have any of those).  See the little emblems on the bottom right?  

This is the privacy setting.  Hopefully you’ll see a lot of Friends emblems (e.g., my Mom and Me album) but you’ll likely see the Setting emblem on many, too (typically profile pictures, cover pictures, mobile uploads, timeline pictures, etc.)  Here is where it gets tedious so I suggest you do this when you have plenty of time and either a big bottle of wine or a Venti Starbucks.  You will have to open each album  and click on every single picture to view its privacy setting.  Every picture will have that setting indicated under your name on the upper right.  If you see Friends, move on.  If you see the world, that means it’s open to the Public.  Change it, and click on.

Note that going forward, now that you changed Who Can See My Posts to Friends, all pictures etc. should be set to Friends but it’s always a good idea to do a spot check from time to time.  You know, when you’re bored  or are getting freaked out because your friends keep getting spoofed.

And speaking of friends, that brings me to my final step in securing your privacy settings, set who can see your friends list to Only Me.

Step Three:  Protect Your Friends

Click on Friends.

  

Click on the eraser next to Find Friends and then on Edit Privacy.

  

  

Change both setting here to Only Me.

 This will do two things.

First, it will ensure that anyone viewing as Public cannot see any of your friends.

Second, your friends will only be able to see your mutual friends.  So, for example, I have 231 friends.  If you are one of my friends from church, you’ll only see listed those people you are also friends with.  It’ll say something like “25 Mutual Friends”.  This doesn’t mean you won’t see when the other 200 something friends comment on stuff I post, but access is somewhat limited.  This protects MY friends from getting spoofed if for some reason I fall off the security conscious truck and got spoofed myself.

I hope this has been helpful.  I don’t have all of the answers, but what I know, I’m willing to share!

Peace Out.

Mrs. B

Going Without Facebook: A Reflection

I gave up Facebook for Lent this year (and, judging by the picture I found online to post with this entry, I was not the only one!)

This meant from February 21st (I started a few days early) to April 8th, I did not engage in an activity that, up to then, I'll admit I was somewhat addicted to. It's sort of scary to admit that; being relatively addicted to logging onto a social media site and both reading up on what all of my 100-odd so "friends" were up to and posting several times per day myself about what I was up to, or thought, or found interesting, etc. Giving what was going on in my life; how much time I had to spare, I was on Facebook off and on several hours over the course of a day. And, this meant I was in all likeliness on Facebook when I really should have been doing something else.

I'll have to admit, though, even as I was asserting that I was giving up something I truly loved (and I meant it), I was also thinking in the back of my mind that perhaps this was a good time to start weaning myself off Facebook a bit. Truth be told, there had been instances where I found myself more annoyed than entertained; sometimes downright pissed off. How silly is that, then? To constantly subject oneself to the possibility of getting angry. And, over what? Some other person's opinion on (fill in the blank) subject? The fact that no one was commenting on some picture I posted (or that someone did and I found what they said to be extremely inappropriate and even hurtful?)

Facebook is a social "place". And, as with other places where people hang out (school yards, classrooms, workplaces, parties), there is a degree of who is the popular one, who says all the witty things, who is trying to say all the witty things, who is being shunned, who is being insulted, who is being talked about, etc. And, because this is all online, people can be a lot more bold; "saying" things on Facebook that they'd never have the guts to say to a person's face.

Anyway. As I said. To be honest, I was not going to miss that aspect of Facebook.

What became important to me as I approached Lent was, what would I do with "all of the time" I'd be saving not being on Facebook? Well, true to form, I had a long list. I won't share the whole list here (15 items) but here is a sampling:

• Help Mark/Business
• Read
• Blog
• Write (as in WRITE)
• Spend more time with family
• Play with Lucy and the kitties
• Help people "somehow"
• Think and reflect

As it turned out, due primarily to the time of year and our personal circumstances, what I ended up doing, mostly, was assisting with the preparation of income taxes. Not exactly the spiritual intention of Lent, but, life happens.

For both fun and sad reasons, I also spent quite a bit of time with family and I was also able to blog here and there. Maybe I got a bit of "helping people somehow" in there as well, indirectly, I suppose.

Several times throughout the Lenten period, a family or friend would comment (via email), "I sure do miss you on Facebook!" Interestingly enough, with the exception of those few folks, I did not hear squat from the majority of my Facebook friends, even though my email is clearly posted on my profile page. What does this tell you? I'm not upset about it, mind. It's simply an observation. It's a lot easier to stay in touch with hundreds of people through a few key strokes on one site than to send personal emails, or a text, or make a phone call or, God forbid write an actual snail-mail letter. I'm not saying I'd be any different. In fact, during my absence from Facebook period, I was a dismal failure at another item on my list, "Write personal notes to family and friends". I wrote ONE (not including birthday cards and the like). What's important for me to take away from this observation is, if I decided to never go on Facebook again, although it may take awhile, I'd eventually get back to communicating via an alternative method with the people who really matter and factor into my life.

Because I am a disciplined soul, I was not really tempted to cheat and sneak a few peeks of what people were saying on Facebook during the six weeks. Maybe this means it wasn't a hard enough thing to "give up" or maybe it means I was committed to keeping my promise. In either case, I didn't do it. I was, however, able to post two things remotely onto Facebook. I thought about it and decided it wasn't cheating because I wasn't actually on Facebook, nor would I go onto Facebook to see if and what people had to say about it. These two things, one a tribute to Margot (a link to my Blog) on March 1st and the other a link to my FIL's obit, I felt people would want to read/know.

As an aside, it's a bit scary how many sites these days have a button these days of "Do You Want To Share This On Facebook?" It made me ponder if, eventually, every single thing we do will have this option. "You just saved $12.35 with coupons at Publix! Do you want to share this on Facebook?" "Your pap smear is negative! Do you want to share this on Facebook?" Your husband just told you your butt looks big in those pants. Do you want to share this on Facebook?"

But, I digress.

Don't get me wrong. There were many, many times I wished I could share a thought, or an article I'd read, or some pictures from this or that. And, I truly missed being "up on things". Even though I read the paper on a daily basis, I always found out more about what was going on in the world by being on Facebook. Yeah, sometimes I didn't CARE (e.g., about Tim Tebow), but, at least I knew who the heck he was. Oh, and at times some (what I thought was) a funny or amusing quip would go through my mind and I thought, "Gee, too bad I couldn't post that on Facebook". But, I'm sure all my friends survived without my humor and "wisdom".

So, Easter rolls around and a few people said, "Oh, you'll be able to get onto Facebook!" I was busy Easter Sunday and didn't log on until late that night. I checked my profile (new timeline, great, something new to learn) and read the several comments there in response to my two remote posts. I checked each of my lists (BFFs, Family, School Days, etc.) to see what all my peeps were up to. I uploaded a new profile picture (this took some time since the format has changed). I posted a status update. By then, I was exhausted and there is simply no way I'll be going back through the past six weeks to see what everyone posted. Just won't do it.

So, going forward. What will be different for me? Here is what I am hoping to do:

1. Limit my time on Facebook. Check it once or twice a day. Don't leave it up on my computer. Not read every single thing people post and feel I have to comment on same. Keep what I post to a minimum and this to things that are more about what's going on in my life; updates, pictures, etc., NOT my opinion on every darn thing.

2. Refrain from having Facebook stuff sent to my phone. In fact, I'll probably remove the app. I may still send an update from my phone from time to time (or a picture).

3. Absolutely positively never post anything offensive, rude or hurtful to anyone. Ditto with comments.

4. Post more of my Blog entries as opposed to links to this or that article, site, etc. This way, I can keep my focus on writing/blogging (e.g., like I'm doing right now).

5. Get rid of Pinterest. Ok, technically, Pinterest isn't Faceook, but it seems somewhat connected to me and It's another time suck that I do not need.

I could probably add a few more but this pretty much covers it.

I guess I cannot end this entry without addressing why I'm even going back to Facebook. in the end, I still believe it's a great way to keep in touch with both people I know and what's going on in the world. I have learned many things from Facebook activity over the almost four years I've been on it (thanks to the new timeline version, I now know that I joined Facebook on September 27th, 2008). And, I think it's important to keep up with the way the world is or else I'm apt to get run over and passed up by the people coming up behind me. That's not something I'm ready to do.

Yet.

Mrs. B

Status Updates

(I apologize for the weird formatting on this entry. I don't know what is going on and I've tried to fix it several times, which means I've spent about two hours on this entry. Enough! Read on!)

I'll admit it; sometimes as I'm walking the dog or doing stuff around the house, things pop into my head that I might post as status updates on Facebook. Sometimes these are brief and perhaps cryptic (these typically get comments from my friends such as "?" or "Huh"); others may be quite lengthy (like a run-on rant). Or, it may pertain to something very specific such as "I love my mom" (much such as this is currently being posted by many on Facebook due to Mother's Day fast approaching). As an example, here are several of my most recent status updates and/or posts, along with any comments.

Me (status update): Phew. Think we made it through the barrage of storms, at least until next time. Thanks to all for your positive vibes. Keep 'em coming, though, the storms are still in Eastern NC. Hopefully, they'll blow out to the water and steer clear of my family and pals northward. Now, on to much more fun thoughts, such as, what shall I wear tonight to Mr. B's firm's party. The cool down is weather has mucked up my options!

SIL Analee: great weather for runnin' though! which is what i'll be doing. have a great time!

Friend Kathleen: These storms will be gone by May 25th, right? How was the party?

Me: Hopefully. It's been highly unusual. However, it's not uncommon to get tornadoes in Indy around race time. Have I not ever shared with you the infamous "meatloaf" story from the race in 2004? The party was fine. The last one of these we'll attend!

Me (status update): Procrastination: Something I've yet to out grow!

Friend Greg: procrastination? I'll get to that tomorrow...

Me: Ha ha! Me too!

SIL Analee: yet another way we are alike, and so i know what i have to look forward to in the future.. :)

Col George: Was going to comment, but guess I'll think about it for a while....

Me (status update): So, the other day I said something about Apollo barfing in the cat box. Now, this pops up on my ad bar. Sometimes Facebook is out and out creepy how they Big Brother you, huh?

"Promote National Hairball Awareness Day! Play the Hairball Battle game and cough up a mess on your Facebook friends! Yuck!"

Friend Ellen: oh that is just not good at all....ewwww

Col George: Coincidence? I wonder.

Friend Heather: my Purina Petcentric page says it is National Hairball Awareness Day! So, Happy Hairball Awareness Amy... & your furry friends!!! Thanks for restraint related to not "yucking" up your FB friends. We appreciate that!

Me (status update): Tonight I shall lay me down to sleep, one less terrorist this world does keep. With all my heart I give my thanks, to those in uniform regardless of ranks. You serve our country and serve it well, with humble hearts your stories tell. So when I rest my weary eyes, while freedom rings our flag still flies. You give your all, do what you must. With God we live and in God we trust (as an aside, I "stole" this status update from my SIL Kym B)

Col George: Amen

Dad B: Well said Amy - ex G I Your FIL

Me (status update): A splendid day of shopping with mom today. Have now completed my trousseau for our Charleston trip. Then, a leisurely lunch at a quaint Italian bistro. Wine, margherita pizza and a good, long chat. I love my mom :-)

SIL Analee: i love her too!

Friend Kathleen: Me too!

CIL Cindy: Well, honey, you are lucky...you are her DAUGHTER. I have to settle for being her niece by marriage, but I'll take it, 'cause frankly, I LOVE HER TOO! She is one of the coolest, most beautiful women I know and her style and grace are amazing!!!

Me (status update) : I know Mother's Day is Sunday and believe me I've always honored all of my moms! But, it's 5.5 and, well, it's MARGARITA time first!

Me: And this is most especially for you, Cindy

CIL Cindy: ♥ U!!!!

Friend Don S: I make it a point of mentally skipping that day. May is a way bad month for me. Peri can explain.

Me: I understand, Don. This is how I felt about February and now how I feel about March. I think as we get older, sooner or later, there will be something "sad" or "hard" about every month of the year. This begs the question; is it best to be the one remembered or the one doing the remembering?

Ok, now that I've gone through the process of cutting and pasting these updates/comments from Facebook to my Blog, I'm gonna take a different track on this post then where I originally was headed as a bunch of thoughts popped into my head.

Why do people choose to comment on some status updates yet not others? This pertains to me as well. I suppose it's similar to whether or not you might decide to join into a particular conversation at a cocktail party or in the break room at work. You may BE there and listen (this is called "lurking" on Facebook) but keep your mouth shut. You may be the first person to say something in response to what someone said, or, you may not enter into the fray until someone else has gone first. I know on Facebook there are times I'll read someone's status update and think, "Hmmm..." but not comment. Later, I may see the others have commented and sometimes what THEY say is either more intriguing than the original status update OR it pushes my button enough for me to decide "I've gotta say something to THIS!"

Of course, there is always the possibility that some people just aren't around/on Facebook enough to catch all of the status updates; either didn't attend the party or was in the bathroom during that particular conversation!

It's sorta cool how easy it is to have multiple conversations going on at once. Although this can turn into a severe time-waster, it's really simple to jump around from my wall to three or four other friends' walls and see what's going on, pop into the conversation, leave, come back, etc.

I really enjoy seeing the interaction between my friends, especially the ones who don't even know one another in real life. Most of the time, that is. There was one time when things got a bit heated and I had to go delete a few of the comments on my wall because they were a bit nasty or snide. That doesn't happen too often, though, but, it seems when it does, the person whose wall the conversation is on will act as a sort of mediator and also the final authority of whether the conversation will continue. Another fascinating aspect of Facebook which in real life would be impossible to do; delete from the universe what someone said! Of course, it's not really deleted because it was posted and someone (and possibly many someones) read it. Once, another Facebook friend deleted a bunch of comments from his wall and got chastised for it by some of his friends. Or, rather, challenged, as in, "Hey, you can't just delete what people say!" To which he had some thoughtful commentary but eventually said, "My wall, my rules". I liked that!

The format people choose to write in probably says something about that person and their personality/how they view things. Look at the above updates/comments. I always try to follow the rules of grammar on Facebook. I capitalize, use punctuation, etc. As an aside, I do this when I text, also. Several of my friends do the same. Some do not (and not just my SIL Analee; she's just the only one in these particular examples). I know Analee is a very exacting person about most everything in her life (which is why she commented that we are a lot alike). However, she is NOT that way with her writing (on Facebook) which leads me to believe that she doesn't view Facebook as a place where she NEEDS to be. (Am I correct in this, Analee?) Also, there are many who like to use the little symbols in their comments, or tag friends in the status update/comment so that they appear on that friend's wall. I do this from time to time but not terribly often.

Some things are just out and out drop dead hysterical to me. Whether it be on my wall or I see it somewhere else, sometimes, there will be either a status update or a comment that just sends me into fits; the kind where if I were drinking something, it'd likely spurt out my nose through my laughter. This, in my opinion, is one of the BEST things about the whole Facebook thing. Here is an example of a recent one (off of my nephew's wall):

Zack: 9 years, 7 months, and 20 days.. and now he is finally dead.

Zack's Friend: Who??

Zack: ... Osama

Zack's Friend: Oh him

I'm still giggling over this one! Just like whenever I think of my Father shouting "Bella!" while I was in the middle of kicking his butt in a card game puts me in a good mood :-)

Anyway, I've now spent an hour writing about Facebook, which goes to show Facebook can be a time-waster even when one isn't even ON it!

And with this, here are a few status updates (what I was originally going to blog about) that have not yet made it onto Facebook. Yep, you read it HERE first and feel free to comment :-)

Insurance companies and banks. Two of my least favorite institutions. No wonder this country is in such a damn mess!

So, the idiots across the street now how a dog. Joy.

Having dinner with The Kid tonight at her request. Her dad is delighted!

My mom's creeping Charley has given up the ghost.

I somehow managed to resist Royal Caribbean's WOW sale. It was the right thing to do, but, I'm slightly depressed about it!

After years of drinking my coffee white and sweet, I'm reverting to white only. Weird how tastes can suddenly change.

Gloop. What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?

Mrs. B

An Experiment

I'll admit it, lately, I've been spending way too much time on Facebook, both in checking out what my 107 friends are doing (although only roughly 1/2 of them ever post anything, which makes me wonder why the heck the other 1/2 even have an account) and in posting my own pictures and other various items. I've been pondering what one Facebook friend does every year; giving Facebook up for Lent. Although I'm no longer religious and it would therefore be hypocritical of me to say I'm giving Facebook up for Lent, I thought I might give it up for awhile and see what happens.

So, yes, I've decided to stay off Facebook for some undefined period of time. I'm not shutting down my account or anything as I have way too much vested in it (pictures, mostly) and it's nice to know they're stored somewhere other than my lap top (as we all know my propensity to have computer issues). But, I'm going to attempt to completely stay off it, and that includes lurking on my friends's pages, during this experiment.

I have to also admit that I've become a bit peevish about the fact that I post stuff and no one (for the most part) ever comments on what I post (even when it's been requested that I post something, like pictures) and/or, in general, no one really communicates with me. In my opinion, Facebook can be an excellent mechanism for keeping in touch but most people don't seem to view it this way. Frankly, this is beginning to irritate me, especially now, when I could use a bit more interaction. I wonder if anyone will even notice I'm not there? Yes, I'm holding a pity party with a guest list of one.

But, really, the main reason is to see how much other stuff I get done if I'm not blathering away on Facebook or reading what everyone else is going on and on about (and getting annoyed because so much of it is really quite stupid).

For instance, perhaps I'll go back to blogging more. And writing; I've several ideas, after all. Not to mention, I really do have quite a bit of things to get done around the house and I should kick up my exercise routine, plow through more books, watch a few movies (my poor NetFlix account has been somewhat neglected) and try to kick Microsoft Heart's ass.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes as I enter Facebook withdrawal.

One day at a time.

Mrs. B

Sketch Me

One of the more interesting applications on Facebook!

Mrs. B

Which Of Henry VIII's Wives Are You Most Like?

I recently blogged about Facebook and what a time suck it can be. I know I mentioned all of the quizes you can take...well, it dawned on me (I'm slow now that I'm 45) that SOMEONE is creating all of these quizes. Who? The users!

I woke up this morning thinking about creating a quiz of my own. So, I did; the above referenced title.

It was fairly easy since I know quite a bit about Henry VIII and his six wives.

The process was fun, too (creating the quiz). You write out the results, then, write questions and possible answers that match up to said results. So, if someone took the quiz and picked all the answers that I had tied to, say, Anne Boleyn (or most of them), their result would be Anne Boleyn.

I can't cut and paste the questions, unfortunately. I think there were six or seven (you can put as many as you want); you'll just have to find the quiz on Facebook, ladies! But here are the results I wrote. I also included the pictures.

Divorced? Beheaded? Survived? Which of Henry VIII's six wives are you most like?

Catherine of Aragon

Steely, purposeful, intelligent; you are likely also highly religious with firm beliefs of what is right and wrong. You are generally admired and respected (but sometimes viewed as a stick in the mud and/or boring). You will not sacrifice your convictions for anything, which could mean you might end up divorced and alone.

Anne Boleyn

You are smart...maybe to a fault. You're wily and cagey as well as beautiful. Men admired you and most women can't stand you, which means you may have a lot of enemies. You are probably misunderstood; this may frustrate you and led you to do things that may leave you without your head.

Jane Seymour

You give the impression of being a sweet and innocent woman with nothing but good deeds on your mind. However, behind this mask lies a shrewd individual indeed, out for what you can get, which is usually someone else's man. You may land him, but, you may not last as long as you think in the game. And, after you're gone, he'll find someone else, anyway.

Anne of Cleves

You are not the most attractive lady in the world and sometimes you feel out of your element. It seems every other woman is prettier and wittier than you. You might sometimes feel tongue tied. You desperately want to fit in and to be loved. You'd be the perfect stepmother to motherless children because your heart is so big and in so much need of having someone to love. Your husband will likely divorce you, but, it will probably turn out to be the luckiest thing that ever could have happened to you as you'll go on to lead a long, happy life without him.

Kathryn Howard

You are a light hearted flirt who goes a little too far in the "let's fool around" department. Unfortunately, you are not terribly bright and you may find yourself continually at odds with important, powerful people. Although you are very pretty, your good looks will only get so far. Beware of whom you cheat on or you may end up in situation well over your head. Or, without your head.

Katherine Parr

You're no spring chicken and you've likely been married more than once with each marriage being more financially successful than the last. You are fairly smart and a bit stodgy but have a passionate heart, especially for men you are not supposed to have. You have luck on your side, too; at least until that last husband starts playing your own game.

Any guesses as to my result? Ready to go take my quiz?

Mrs. B

Blog Burn Out Or Facebook Time Suck?

After almost three years of blogging almost every day, I think I've hit the Blog Burn Out stage. Meaning, unlike even a few months ago, my heart ain't into it quite so much. Maybe this means I'm finally going to devote the time I have been spending here writing my book? I'd like to think so, but, another thing that's been going on (likely a big contributor to the reduced time I'm spending here) is I discovered Facebook a few months ago and I'm having a lot of fun on that platform/social network.

You don't blog on Facebook but you can chat with your friends, post your status, send emails, post links (like pictures and videos) and the like. I suppose if you wanted to you could blog (by posting a note), but, this is meant to be, I think, quick and dirty stuff. Fun stuff, too; like taking what seems to be a never ending slew of quizzes like "What 80s Rock Band Are You?" or, "What Mental Illness Do You Have?" or "What Disney Princess Are You?", etc. BTW, the answers to those quizzes for Mrs. B. are: Journey, Obsessive Compulsive and Belle (from "Beauty and the Beast").

What's even more intriguing to me is finding friends. I have a modest number of them right now; a few over 40, which is nothing compared to the hundreds The Kid has. But, with the exception of a few of the 40, I do communicate with them via Facebook; comment on their status, post something on their wall, send them messages. I've found people from my childhood, high school, college, and professional life. Additionally, the majority of my family is on Facebook.

One other thing I've gotten hooked on via Facebook is something called "Pieces of Flair". In essence, all these are are buttons people have made with pictures, slogans, sayings, quotes; you name it. You can search the Flair Directory (and you'll probably find exactly what you want several times over; I was looking for something that said "I'm Your Huckleberry" (from "Tombstone") and found at least 10 (I ended up making my own, anyway)). Then, you send it to your friends, or, some of your friends. The Flair you collect you post on a cork board. Ok, I know, this is SO SILLY but I get a real kick out of searching for pertinent Flair to send people and/or making my own Flair.

My Flair Collection (So Far)

You can become a fan of just about every sort of group, magazine, TV show, movie star, musician, high school, college, employer, etc. If you do this, you'll get periodic updates from these groups about what's going on. A lot of high schools and college organizations are using this to plan reunions.

Then there are the games. Just about every sort of game one could think of. From standard card games to video arcade games to some funny ones like "Who Has the Biggest Brain" (sort of an IQ test game) and typing games (you have to type the word that is in the middle of a ghost before it gets to you; the ghosts start coming in more numbers and faster, faster, faster).

One very silly thing about Facebook that somewhat annoys me but I usually play along are all the applications of sending your friends things; and, there is an ENDLESS array of things that can be sent. Such as, plants, fish, sweets, hugs, Johnny Depps (this one cracked me up), cocktails, vampires, Disney stuff, mardi gras beads; on and on and on.

An off shoot of this is "Kidnap" where your friends kidnap you to the hide out (usually another country) and you have to escape by correctly answering a question about that location.

So, if I'm not here, it's because I'm dorking around on Facebook. Until I get tired of it, I guess!

Mrs. B