Just a quick post to show you some spam emails I�ve been receiving. My fantastic spam filter (http://www.ctscleanmail.com/) has been quarantining this stuff, but the subject AND the fact they are coming from the same domain name earthlink.net made me curious enough to do a little more research.

A quick internet search shows that while earthlink.net is a valid email provider, it has been known to have issues with spam from user�s accounts in the past, especially spam that has been coded to include your name in the subject. See this July 2011 blog post�http://blog.onlymyemail.com/endless-spam-from-earthlink/

The latest scandal to hit Facebook is from users reporting that old private messages (circa 2007-2008) have now been made public on their timeline.

Facebook is denying this, saying they aren�t private messages at all, just old wall posts.

Despite Facebook engineers knowing what they are talking about with their own software (or do they?), users �saw it with their own eyes� so it must be a privacy breach.

Let�s back the truck up for a minute and find some evidence. Remember that? Facts that may help explain what has actually happened and an prove or disprove a theory?

17 Aug, seriously? That was my last update and it�s now 26 Sept. Bad, bad blogger.

Actually, that explains a lot. This isn�t a �blog� in the �always updated, one million followers, ads everywhere and monetised to the teeth� sense. This is my spot on the net for random ramblings when I feel like it, with no pressure. Which is why it will never make me a millionaire. Oh well.

Ah, talk about being blog absent. Not going to blame it on the new job, being sick etc etc. It just hasn’t happened lately.

But tonight I found myself in the zone, in that sweet spot of pure bliss. And I was cooking dinner on a Friday night.

By Friday night I’ve usually run out of enthusiasm and am throwing together pizza at home or toasted sandwiches, just something easy. Tonight I didn’t get home until 4:30pm & the leftovers were scotch fillet, corn on the cob, roast pumpkin & potato bake. Far from being a planned gourmet dinner, it was actually ‘what do I have left in the freezer, what’s dying in the fridge & how can I make 4 tiny spuds feed a family without having to go to the supermarket.’

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

In general, I’m a pretty ‘go with the flow’ individual, I think. Except when it comes to planning my day. I like to know what’s on the horizon for at least the next four hours. If something new comes up during then, that’s cool. I get more frustrated when something in my mental picture of the future is cancelled, especially at the last minute. I know it’s rarely the end of the world, but I just get these expectations that sometimes don’t pan out.

Gosh, where do I start this one. How about a pearl of wisdom? I don’t believe that a change in direction is indicative of failure. I believe it takes a strong person to change their circumstances.

I’ve been involved in small business for 13 years. It’s rewarding and it’s hard. Under the guidance of some great people it enabled me to firstly dip my toes into management and then plunge into total business ownership with my husband, as the sole income source for our family. It enabled me to work through two pregnancies and raise two gorgeous little girls. On the upside, I saw all of their first moments and kept up to date with the changes in my industry at the same time. On the downside, I’ve never had a maternity break, I’ve always worked when my kids slept and I’ve lost sleep worrying about clients and money.

Over the last few days, a few articles have come my way (including one I wrote myself) about smartphone addiction and the impact of our �always connected� society. My favourite so far has been this fromm Joe Kraus at Google Ventures:�http://joekraus.com/were-creating-a-culture-of-distraction

Hi, my name is Sonia and I�m addicted to my smartphone. Except it�s not my phone itself per se, it�s that feeling of knowing what is going on right now and what my internet friends are talking about. I�ve reverted to my teenage self and I don�t want to miss out, on anything, even for an hour.

I�m sick. Technically, a doctor would announce that a germ of some description has entered my body and that my immune system is in full response mode.�I�m pretty sure it�s your common garden variety cold or flu-type bug, that inhabited my 2 year old the week before.

She got lots of mummy & daddy cuddles and one day off childcare. Today, I ran errands, braved the school uniform shop, did the school run, tamed my Inbox, visited my parents & wrangled the kids into bed by myself. Then I happily collapsed on the couch to watch some recorded TV. That 40mins was as still as I�d been the whole day and I was quite happy to not be washing, tidying or even �social mediaing�. Until this blog post started to fester and here I am now in my study at 9:30pm to get it out of my head.

It�s hard to escape Titanic news at the moment, as we mark 100 years since the ship sank. I refrained from calling her unsinkable, as apparently the White Star Line never called her that, but it was stated in a shipbuilding publication that her design made her �practically unsinkable�. �I confess to following @TitanicRealTime as the story holds a special place in my heart and it does fascinate me.

On Friday the 13th February 1998, my boyfriend took me to a late night screening of the James Cameron film. It finished after midnight, on Valentine�s Day. He then took me for a drive up to the hill in Wellington that overlooks the city, in a re-enactment of the evening we met (that�s another story). I had become rather soppy after the film, so he mentioned he didn�t have any tissues but would this do .. and pulled out an engagement ring. �Since then, Titanic has been our thing.