thescruffypiratedotorg

Recent Blog Entries (page 3)

Feeling Grateful

1 December 2011 07:25am UTC 2 comments ★ ★

Sorry, I'm a few days late!

I'm feeling happy (but not content!) with my life for the most part these days. I don't think there have been many extended periods in my life where I would say, I'm Happy, generally speaking in a timeless, state of being sort of way (as opposed to situationally happy, like I just had a really good time doing X or Y)*. So, really that statement is quite incredible.

And that I am definitely grateful for.

What follows is a list of other things that never would have occurred to me (and that historically speaking I would find quite painful and groan about internally if other people listed them) that I am grateful for:

  • My health.

    The fact that I can go out and run most any day of the week with my wife is incredible. The fact that I can plan and day dream backpacking trips for the future, and then actually do them is incredible. For most of my life I was invincible, and then in a fluke badminton accident I broke my toe and my nerves shrunk, and then everything thing I wanted to do was accompanied by varying degrees of pain and doubt. Will this make my leg ache more? Will this make my leg hurt more? Will this make my leg spasm, being some of the most painful things I have felt in life?

    At this point, the doubt isn't completely gone, and neither is the pain, but it does appear that I have learned how to (if I am diligent about doing my exercises) do anything I want, and that I am still making forward progess.

    Don't take for granted your health, and remember, it is easier to stay in shape than get into shape!

  • A steady source of income.

    Last fall, when I didn't have work and was trying to get my tutoring business off the ground, I wouldn't have been able to pinpoint it, but my life was full of unease. Unease with the knowledge that things couldn't continue as they were, unease with not know how to change them, unease with frustration that things couldn't be easier.

    Not having to worry about being able to pay the rent and the bills at the end of the month is one of the best things in the world. Both my jobs right now are quite unspecific, and for all I know I could be unemployed next month (frankly it is a mystery to me while they are still paying me!), so this is definitely something I don't want to take for granted. Let's just hope the wifey can get herself gradamacated and employed as soon as possible, so we can pass this particular responsibility on to her!

Now, I realize I'm being a bit "mushy", which makes me groan inside, but don't worry, I'm not going to get carried away and starting saying I'm grateful for family and friends and what not. I'm not feeling that mushy. Besides, you know who you are and you know I love you! That being said, I will say this. I think thanksgiving as a holiday has sort of religious overtones; who exactly are we thanking? But personally, it is the aforementioned family and friends that I an thanking. For without them, I would be nothing.

Anyway, let's all let out a groan about my behavior here, and I'll try and not let it happen again anytime soon.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

* I don't really have any details, but I think in the past I was just always looking for something but didn't know what that something was. Maybe I've finally found "it". Either that or nothing has changed but I've stopped looking. Either way is fine with me!

I'm inviting you all to a party!

22 November 2011 07:03am UTC 2 comments ★ ★

In exactly 15 weeks, this website will complete its 10th year of existence. I think it is hard to overstate the effect that this website has had on my life, so, Keri and I are throwing a party!

So, next March 3rd (two days early for convenience), there will be a TSP 10 Year anniversary party at our apartment! Everyone is invited! Get it in your calendars now!

On wanting more

9 November 2011 07:37am UTC 4 comments ★ ★ ★

I'm sure more than one person in the world (obviously none of you!) thinks that an almost 28 year old posting a Christmas/birthday list is pretty ridiculous. I mean, shouldn't I be growing up sometime soon?

I state the above hypothetically, but one of you yourselves told me so much last year (listen, I'm as surprised as you, but really this friend wasn't being mean, their honesty and cynicism is amusing!) . And then I went and posted another list this year. And if everything goes according to plan, I'll post another one next year, and the year after that and so on until I die at the ripe old age of 116 and 1 month.

Let's ignore the fact that I've been making either mental or real lists of what I want for my birthday/Christmas every year for practically my entire life, and let's ignore the fact that I like traditions like these that are both fun and also demonstrate how I or we change over time.

Let's also ignore the fact that there are real people in my life who would like to get me a birthday or Christmas present (yes, the number may be small) and who appreciate having a list of things that I want to choose from.

Let's ignore those facts, because those are obvious, sentimental and practical reasons for posting a Christmas list every year.

I think making a Christmas list every year is important because it helps preserve a childlike wonder about about the world. And I really do believe that. Posting a Christmas list keeps you young. And what could be more important?

Every one of you should* make a wish list list. Even if you don't put real things on your list. Even if the things you do put on there aren't practical. Do you think I expect the people in my life to buy me a Kindle, a new Camera, a Drobo, another camera (GoPro Hero), and a few thousand dollars worth of clothes? No, I don't expect that to happen.

The thing you have to understand about that list is that each and every single one of the things on that list is an opportunity. And seeing the world as full of opportunities is a good thing. Never being satisfied with the status quo is a good thing. There are no dead ends in life, there is always more, always something else to be striving for.

Making a wish list is also a humbling thing. Am I going to get everything I want? No. Should I get everything I want? No. There are limits to what we can experience in life, and in this way, not getting things on our list is just as important. It helps crystalize what's important in life. If you don't get something, and it is important to you, then how hard are you willing to work for that something?

So, to summarize, I hope I keep wanting more till the day I die. I hope I never keep striving to be better, to do better, to have better, to know better, to think better. To see more, heck, see everything, to do more, heck, do everything.

And having a Christmas list is just one small part of that. I'm not done with life, it isn't all figured out, there is so much more to come!

[As a real quick aside, while I love making my list and getting presents (who doesn't?), Christmas is equally fun because you get to give presents. I love remembering that thing that the person themselves forgot they wanted and getting to give that to them. Or I love getting someone that thing that they never would have gotten themselves, it wasn't practical or cheap or some other excuse. Christmas is the time to spoil the people we love. It really is one of the happ–happiest days of the year. Christmas day just has this mood. When is it ever quite so apparent how much you love and are grateful for your family? The only other time might be at the Three Houses Mountain trip, but then only the Three Houses have that tradition. Everyone can have Christmas!]

* Except I don't think anyone should do anything, I actually hate that word. Don't tell me what to do!

An Ode to Materialism 2011

3 November 2011 08:30am UTC 12 comments

Yup, that's right folks, it's that time of year again. Time for that time honored tradition of making a birthday/Christmas list! Hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since last time...

I get the feeling that most of you find these posts pretty boring, so to make it more fun for you, make sure to include your own lists in the comments!

As usual the holidays are fast approaching: we have 31 days to my birthday and a little under two months to Christmas, so here's my fall wishlist:

Each section is sorted mostly randomly. And I've left out all the stops this year! This is a thorough and lengthy list (You've been warned). You see, in my family, we like to surprise people, so a list is usually a list of things not to buy someone. Which I understand, I love surprises. So, I don't buy off of lists! But I figure if that isn't the way you work, if I ask for enough stuff, then no matter what I'll be surprised!

Clothes:

When it comes to sizes, I'm a small both up top and down low, 14.5" neck, pant size: 30" x 30", and a size 8.5 in shoes.

  • Patagonia Reversible Flannel Jacket. I've been lusting after one of these for three years now. And seeing Ben's similar shirt every so often doesn't help. Maybe this is the year? Either color looks great, I honestly can't decide... surprise me! Or ask Keri, she's the one that has to look at it!
  • Levi 501 Jeans. I ripped my crotch out earlier this month, time for a new pair! (and by the way, who knew there would be so many options for 501s?)
  • GitHub T-Shirt. Gotta have a programming related shirt on the list. And considering I pretty much owe my career to Github, this one seems appropriate! And it looks ridiculously soft.
  • A wool shirt from Pendleton. For the longest time I was an L.L. Bean guy (it really is ridiculous how wrinkle resistant their Classic Oxfords are), but then I got tired of them (often their shirts are just a tad too big, but not those Oxfords!) and decided I needed a company that matched me better. This last winter I stopped relying on the old fogey stuff Pendleton sells in the PDX airport store and noticed in their catalog that they have a lot of really good looking shirts! Couple that with the fact that the shirts are wool and that one of my best friends works there, and I'd say we have a winning combination for my new go to store for shirts! It was hard to narrow the options down (I had at least 20 tabs open) but these all sound good: Airloom Shirt (Red/Navy Tattersal), Sir Pendleton (Blue/Beige), Snap-Front Western Shirt (Charcoal Ombre), Vintage Fit Epic Shirt (Blue/Black Shadow Plaid).
  • Snow boots. I've been using some Bean Boots for the last 4 years or so, and they are great, except that they are a tad too big. Unless I double up on thick socks, if I wear them for any length of time at all I get some blisters. So, some snow boots that are a perfect fit would be nice. Another pair of Bean Boots would be great, they seem too work pretty darn well, but my dad has a pair of what I think are these hardcore warm boots and they seem awesome. Super tall and (faux) fur lined. Mmm mm mmm mm mmm, toasty!
  • I've mostly been kind of a two trick pony when it comes to pants: either I wear jeans or I wear Khakis. But then a year or two ago Kate and Satchel said they really liked the look of chorduroys, and I figured I should give them a shot. Now I've had a few pairs of chorduroys over the years (including a dark grey pair my mother gave me that I liked a lot), but it wasn't until I got some Cordarounds last year that I fell in love. So, I figured another color is in order. I'm thinking Graphite!

Electronics:

  • Kindle Touch 3G: I don't know if I should put this in the backpacking section or in electronics. I would almost surely use it at home, but this baby would really excel on the trail. According to the website this baby lasts 2 months on a single charge and weighs in at 7.8 ounces. According to my lists, I haven't brought a book on a backpack with Keri that weighed in at less than 10 ounces. And with the Kindle you could bring 3,000 books in case the first 2,999 are boring! In particular, Greg and I are planning a 3 week trip this summer and I'm thinking of bringing a real whale of a book along, so this would really bring down my weight! There are two options, an ad-supported one and an ad-free one (Without Special Offers) and if I had my choice I'd go ad-free but that isn't a deal breaker for me.
  • A battery tester. We've got a lot of old batteries lying around and I don't know how good any of them are. I don't know anything about these, but Amazon has loads of them (that page is sorted by average customer rating) for sale (and the second one is only 7 bucks)!
  • GoPro HD Hero2 Outdoor edition. Imagine having a first person view timelapse of running the Bolder Boulder or hiking through the Sierras or of surfing on a slackline! Imagine having a camera that could automatically upload cat pictures from any vantage point in the house to the internet. Imagine having first person video of how rusty you are at telemark skiing. Imagine so many other things! Yes, I realize I'm not really all that hardcore (like these people), but I think I would have quite a bit of fun with this!
  • When it comes to buying electronics, and specifically buying backup stuff, I don't like to buy just anything I come across on the interwebs. I like to buy things that people I trust have recommended. And that is how a few years ago I ended up getting a Drobo. To summarize what a Drobo is, you put four smaller hard drives in it and it acts like one big drive. But in addition to that, if any of the drives die, you haven't lost any data. Magic!

    In the time that I have had the Drobo, I have had one hard drive die, and without the Drobo, everything that I had on it would have been lost completely. That would have been a very, very sad day. So, needless to say, I care about having my stuff backed up properly. I don't want to lose my pictures or videos.

    But unfortunately the version of the Drobo that I have does not support Linux (an operating system like Windows or Mac OS X but free and open source) very well. And now that I have a Linux server in my bedroom, Linux support is important. So, I've been on the lookout for a replacement for my dear Drobo. I looked into comparable devices for Linux, but then I lose Mac OS X support. So, the ideal solution lets me back things up from my Mac, my Linux server, or from Keri's computer easily. And that's when I learned about a different version of the Drobo called the Drobo FS. It has all the advantages of a Drobo except that it works over your home network with any operating system you're using. Perfect! I get easier data access, a device I am comfortable with and trust and it works with all our computers.

    (This means that my Drobo is for sale, anyone interested?)

New Camera:

(I know this should maybe technically go in the electronics section, but tough luck! it's getting its own!)

After A) thinking about it and wanting one for a few years, B) reading about all sorts of different options this year, and C) trying out a traditional DSLR this year, I've finally decided on a camera system for myself! Not to get too technical, but I've decided on the Micro Four Thirds format. Which is basically a system of cameras and lenses that use a smaller sensor than DSLRs, allowing the cameras to be smaller. Which is important for backpacking. But it has quite a bit larger sensor than most point and shoot cameras, giving it higher image quality. And because the cameras can take interchangeable lenses, you get a lot of the advantages and versatility of DSLRs. Win win win! So, to get started, I need a camera body and a lens to go with it!

  • Panasonic Black GF3 (yes, it comes in pink, but I'm sorry honey, pink just isn't as sexy as black!). Panasonic has a few different cameras in this category, but this one has the advantage of being one of the cheaper ones, one of the lighter ones, and one of the most recently updated (when it comes to things like these, I find it best for the psyche to always buy after they've been updated, not right before!).
  • Panasonic X 14-42mm Lens. This is a new lens that Panasonic just came out with. They used to sell another 14-42mm lens that weighed twice as much and was twice as big, so this recent update looks like a perfect little lens for backpacking.

Books, maps and posters:

  • The Best of Foxtrot. A different author, Bill Watterson, did something similar for the 10th Anniversary of Calvin and Hobbes and I loved it. It is always interesting to see the comics the author chose to include and read the bit about why they made that choice. Now, Foxtrot is no Calvin and Hobbes (nothing is!) but it is still pretty great!
  • Guidebooks. I'm interested in backpacking all over the west. Recently I've found that planning a trip from guidebooks makes the trips go more smoothly and that you get to see some really spectacular stuff. So, I need guidebooks for just about everywhere: Oregon, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and so on. You name it, and I'll probably find it interesting!
  • Last year I got my parents Ken Burns' National Parks documentary for Christmas, and we only had time to watch one and half episodes. But in one of those episodes, they talked about an ad campaign that the railroads started to encourage the country's elite to not vacation in Europe but vacation at home in the national parks (and the only option for getting there would be by train). The campaign was called "See America First" (as in first, before Europe). Ever since then I've thought how cool it would be to have some of those original national parks posters. Not only are they interesting historically, but they are about something I'm into, you know, the national parks. Unfortunately, though, they are apparently not very easy to find. The best place I've come up with that sells them is this absolutely terrible website. They sell a lot of national parks posters, some of them are photos or paintings, some of them are in the style of the old posters (which while very cool, don't have that historical significance I'm looking for), and a very few of them are reproductions of the old posters themselves: search 1 and search 2.
  • While we are on the subject of national parks and posters, when the wifey and I were in Yosemite this last August, we saw an Ansel Adams picture that we thought was just gorgeous. Unfortunately, the Ansel Adams family is weird about which photos they let be printed as cheap posters, and the only way to get a big version of the photo we wanted was to spend hundreds of dollars. Which is out of the question until I make my millions. But I still haven't given up on the idea of an Ansel Adams Yosemite photo. I found a website that sells a bunch of his photos and thought this one was particularly striking.
  • The more I travel around the west, the more I learn about the awful, awful history of what happened to the native americans, and also about what little I know of their history. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus talks about what it might have been like before we arrived. Sounds interesting! (maybe you could get me the Kindle Edition to go with my new Kindle!)
  • When I was a freshman in College I went on a backpacking trip in Escalante Canyon. While hiking naked (yup) in a small slot canyon, my party and I came across a small party of boaters on Lake Powell from the Siera Club. It was an especially low water year that year, and they were exploring sections of the canyon that had been underwater for 40 years (as were we). Everyone in my party was shy, and I had a hat, so they hid around the corner and I hid you my know whats with my hat and off I went to greet our fellow canyoneers. We had a delightful conversation and they gave me an old tatered, falling apart copy of an out of print, absolutely gorgeous book called The Place No One Knew. Over the years I lost the pages, and I've always wished I had an intact hardcover version for myself.
  • How Buildings Learn is a book about how the use of buildings changes over time, and how their design affects how easily they adapt to us and we adapt to them. I've started working on designing our dream house in my free time, so something like this would probably be quite useful in addition to interesting!

Running, backpacking, outdoor, exercise clothes:

When it comes to sizes, I'm a small both up top and down low, pant size: 30" x 30", and a size 8.5 in shoes.

  • As usual, probably my favorite thing in the world is warm layers (I really need to move to a colder apartment!). So, there are a couple items in that category on this list:

    Columbia Sportwear (they are from Portland!) sells a half-zip fleece (black or metal) that was super comfy in the store, and has bright red zippers that I really dig. It also has their new Omni-Heat technology that looks interesting.

    Now that I'm into running, I need more running gear (though, really running gear works great for other sports, too!), and in particular my wifey and her brother have gotten me into Nike running gear. They sell a wool (wool!) Livestrong, Dry-Fit half-zip (White) that looks awesome.

    If wool (wool!) isn't your style, they have their Element Thermal half-zip (sport red and drenched blue) in some pretty awesome colors with some awesome names.

    I'm drinking the Arc'teryx kool-aid big time. There stuff is durable, comfortable and functional (and pricy, but let's forget that, shall we?). I've also finally decided I'd like to get into the Softshell category of outdoor gear. Billed as highly breathable and weather resistant, they are perfect for the Colorado winters where it rarely rains and when it does snow, it is usually pretty dry snow. Arc'teryx has a few options in this camp, and the two I'm curious about are the Firee Hoody (Carbon Copy) and the Gamma MX Hoody (Blue Ray or Cardinal).

  • While we are on the topic of running, my only athletic pants that are good for running in are 7 year old cotton sweat pants with holes in the pockets. And cotton really isn't good for being active in when it is snowy or wet out. So, I need some new running pants! These Nike Element Thermal training pants look like they'd fit the bill nicely! Though since I haven't tried them on, I'd buy them from an actual store if I were you, so I could exchange them if I needed to! I'm not sure what color, what do you think?
  • Ski pants. The ski pants I have are probably about 11 years old, and as I found out last winter, not really waterproof anymore. And considering the wifey and I are planning at least one and maybe two multi-day ski trips for this winter, it might be a good idea to get some pants that will keep my dry. Now, I've always used bibs (like overalls) and have been extremely happy with them, so I see no need to change. I don't know a lot about the offerings in this category, but REI sells a three different bibs (don't pay any attention to the pants on that page). I'm sure any of them would fit the ticket.
  • Gore-Tex Rain pants. My current pair of waterproof rain pants for backpacking weigh 3oz, are thinner than paper and are 'water resistant'. I'm looking to get something that would actually keep me dry and warm if I were ever caught in some nasty weather while hiking. Now, my dad has some Arc'teryx rain pants, and if they are good enough for him, than they are definitely good enough for me! I think these are the pair he has.
  • Cross Country Ski boots. I have a pair of skis and now I just need a pair of boots to go with them. Though, I think the boots have to match the bindings and I'm not sure what kind of bindings I have. Maybe I need to research this cross country skiing thing some more?

Running, backpacking, outdoor, exercise equipment:

  • Headlamp. I'm not happy with my headlamp, it isn't very bright and goes through batteries like nobody's business. This BlackDiamond Spot seems like a good compromise between weight and brightness.
  • Binoculars. While hanging out in Yosemite with my parents after our backpacking trip, I got to play with my moms binoculars and it was really fun. Plus, now that I am trying to get into birding while hiking, these would really come in handy. Now, I have to admit, I don't know a whole lot about binoculars, so I'm just going to link to the most expensives ones REI sells. You'll want to talk to my mom or dad about a good compromise between quality and price!
  • Cross Country Ski poles. I like the style that Mark had, which I think are these. I don't know what my length would be, maybe I need to research the cross country skiing thing some more?

Cooking:

  • Pan Handle Sleeve. We have a cast iron skillet for making tortillas on, and the handle gets too hot to touch.
  • Sifter. For making biscuits and pie crusts and other things!
  • Cutter. I don't know what the actual name for these things is, but they are basically some wires on a handle for cutting fat into flour.
  • Tongs for moving charcoal briquettes around on a dutch oven. Our currents ones are short and my fingers get too hot!

Whew! Even I'm tired of this list! If you made it this far, you deserve a medal! Leave a note in the comments if you read the whole thing, I'm curious if anyone will...

Facebook Privacy

23 October 2011 09:38am UTC 2 comments ★ ★

So, one of the most common things I hear from people who use Facebook is that they have tried to change their privacy settings but find it waaayyy to complicated to make any sense of it. Which is understandable, especially considering it seems like they change the forms for editing your privacy settings about every other week.

In an effort to help the people in my life with this important activity I'm going to explain how I have my privacy settings set up (this is also partially motivated by this awesome and creepy video that I linked to earlier this week). I make no guarantees that this will be A) coherent or B) helpful; it is apparently a pain to write about filling out forms!

My personal preference for privacy is as follows:

  • Only people I have specifically said are my friends can see stuff I post or see stuff about me on Facebook.
  • In addition to that, I can mark specific "friends" as not being able to see as much as normal friends, because In Real Life I don't actually know them very well.
  • Finally, not just anyone can tag me in something (like say a photo) and it will show up on my wall for all my friends to see. This means someone can't take a photo featuring me doing something that I don't really want to share, and say my mom or potential employees will be able to see it.

I'll let you decide if you want to be more protective or less protective than this.

So, as of October 23rd, 2011, here is how I go about that. Basically, my system is to periodically go through Facebook's settings and double check that I am happy with the current state of things. This way if Facebook makes a policy change that affects my privacy, I'll catch it.

So, let's get started. My intention is that you'll following along on the Facebook page as you read this. Otherwise it might not make much sense. We're going to go through all of the options.

In the upper right hand corner of Facebook, there is a down arrow, let's click it and choose 'Account Settings':

The first page this takes us to is the details of our account. No privacy preferences there. However, on the left, we have more options. Let's go to the 'Security' page:

I know these aren't strictly privacy settings, but they help to make sure only the right people get to have access to your Facebook info. Once there,

  • I turn "Secure Browsing" on. This will make it harder for people to monitor the network data and steal your password.
  • I turn "Login Notifications" on. This will make Facebook send you an email when you log into Facebook from a new device (like a computer of smartphone). This way, if a device you don't recognize shows up, you know your account has been compromised.
  • I turn "Login Approvals" on. This will make Facebook double check with you (by sending an email or text message) any time you try to access Facebook from a new device. This is just one more step to make sure when logging in to your account that you are who you say you are.

    So far though, this has succeeded in making it so I can't access Facebook from the Android App. You have to create an "App Password" (the next section after "Login Approvals"), which is a little confusing. So if you are obsessed with checking Facebook from your smartphone, you might have to hold off on "Login Approvals" until they have all the kinks worked out (like removed the glaring spelling error in one of the explanations).

Okay, next let's click "Apps" in the left-hand menu:

This shows us a list of all apps that you've allowed access to your account info. What is an App? Well, it is a website that can add functionallity to Facebook (like games) or use your Facebook info (like the aforementioned creepy website). If you no longer use an app, or more importantly, don't recognize an app, remove it from this list. Don't worry, if you remove an app, you can always re-add it down the line. Most likely, nothing permanent has been lost.

Okay, next let's click, "Mobile" in the left-hand menu:

I have my mobile number added to Facebook so I can poke people via text message or approve new logins (from the aforementioned "Login Notifications"). However, by default Facebook likes to check the "Share my phone number with my friends" checkbox on the right. I don't want anyone on Facebook to be able to see my actual phone number, so I uncheck this.

Finally, in the left hand menu, let's click on "Facebook Ads":

The settings here dictate how ads shown to your friends can use your Facebook info. I click both "Edit third party ad settings" and "Edit social ads setting" and change the subsequent drop downs to "No one". I think it is creepy that Facebook may let my info be used in ads shown to friends.

Okay! First of three sections down, two more to go. Let's click the down arrow in the top right and choose "Privacy Settings":

The first thing you are going to notice is three options for your default privacy:

I choose "Custom". Then in the pop up box,

  1. I change the drop down list to just "Friends" and uncheck any networks that I'm in. This will make it so only people I've actually approved as a friend can see my posts.
  2. in the "Hide this from" section, I add the "Acquaintances" group. I put people I don't know very well in this acquaintances group. This way I can still friend people but not give them access to all my info.

Here's how it looks after I'm done:

Next let's edit the settings for "How you connect":

I choose "Everyone" for the first three options. This will allow most anyone to find me, and contact me. I'm okay with this, I want my real life friends to be able to find me on Facebook. The options I choose to limit are about limiting who can actually see what I'm doing on Facebook.

For the fourth option, I choose just "Friends". I don't want just anyone to be able to post stuff to my wall.

For the fifth option here, I choose "Custom" and then choose the same settings that I chose for the "Default Privacy" above. Basically, just friends, no networks and I hide from my acquaintances. This fifth option is for what people can see of the things that my friends add to my wall. I feel like the stuff that my friends add to my wall is just as important to keep private as the stuff I myself add.

The next section, "How Tags Work" has to do with having your name tagged in photos, notes, posts, status updates, and so on:

I enable the first option, which means that you have to approve anything that will show up on your profile page. I don't want anyone to be able to add things to my profile page, even my friends, without me approving it first. This will prevent people from posting those drunken photos from last weekend and my mom being able to see it. Or something. :)

I have the second option disabled. My understanding for this is that it is related to other people adding tags to your posts. For example, if I post a photo, and then Keri tags herself in that photo. As this isn't directly related to my privacy, I'm not going to be anal about it. This doesn't prevent me from removing or editing those tags myself at a later time.

For the "Maximum Profile Visibility", I choose the same options as I chose for the "Default Privacy" above. Basically, just friends, no networks and I hide from my acquaintances.

I enable the fourth option, because I have already made it so I have to approve of my taggings. So, again, nothing is going to show up on my profile without my approval.

I disable the fifth option. I basically don't want to ever, ever share my location on Facebook, and if I do, I will never do it at my house or a house that belongs to a family member or friend. So, I don't want my friends to be able to do that for me. I think your location is especially private.

Next let's edit the settings for "Apps and Websites".

We've already covered the "Apps you use" options above, Facebook just gives you two places to edit it.

For the "How people bring your info to apps they use" settings, I uncheck everything except my bio:

This relates to the information an app can access about me if say Keri uses an app. I don't want apps I haven't approved to be able to access anything about me except my name.

I disable "Instant personalization". I don't want any sites to be able to have access to any of my Facebook info, even just my list of friends, without me explicitly saying so.

I leave "Public Search" enabled. Again, I want my friends to be able to find me and be sure that they are finding the right me. We'll get to the public options in our profile next.

Okay! Two of the three secionds down, one to go. Let's click on our name in the top right. This will take us to our profile. Next let's click the "Edit Profile" button. This will take us to the page where we can edit all the info we've added to Facebook. Each info item has a little gear or people icon that we can click on that shows us a drop down allowing us to say who can see that item.

I go through each item on each page (i.e. "Basic Information", "Friends and Family", etc) and select "Custom" and make settings the same as my "Default Privacy" above. Basically, just friends, no networks and I hide from my acquaintances. On a few of them, I deviate from this default. For example, I allow all my friends to see who I am married to, because well, I really like who I am married to. But basically, my goal is to allow certain people to see all my info, and certain people to see barely any of my info. This is a pain, but I feel like it is important.

Most importantly, any information that I feel might be able to help people identify me in real life, I only allow my friends to see.

The final step to setting up my privacy on Facebook is specify which of my friends are acquaintances or not. Basically, anytime you add a friend or confirm a friend, a drop down shows up allowing you to to specify if they are an acquaintance:

So, all you have to think is, is this person someone I want to allow access to all my info? You can of course create more groups then just acquaintances and other, but I find that the more complicated I make it, the less likely I am to stick to it. Whatever system you come up with, you have to stick with it, to make sure that just the people you want can see your info.

You can go back and edit your old friends and put them in the acquaintances group if you want. At the top of all your friends' profile pages are buttons that look like this:

Click on "Friends" to change the groups that they are in.

Phew! That was a lot of work! Finally, if you are really thorough you can see how how all your hard work has paid off. If you navigate to your profile. In the top left you see a "View As..." button. Click that and then type in a Friends name to see what they can see. Also, to see what it looks like to someone that isn't a friend, if you are on your profile page you can copy the URL from the address bar, and then log out of Facebook. If you then paste that URL back in and go to that page, you'll see what your public profile looks like.

I'd love to hear if other people make different choices than I have, and why, because I want to make sure I'm not missing something.

I hope this is helpful!


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