Category Archives: internet

look at meeeee!

29 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by in instagram, internet, social media

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

insta
A while ago there were rumblings of Instagram changing their reversed chronological order system for an algorithm that would decide which photos you should see first, based on your online behaviour. Which not only sounds creepy, but also, like, fuck off. I follow the people I follow for a reason, and don’t want to see some of them obliterated from my timeline because they maybe post less frequently than others (hence, fewer “likes”) or end up seeing ones I’m only slightly interested in because they are Hugely Popular. Twitter also threatened something recently and – at least for now – has made it possible to opt-out and stay with a chronological feed.

Then an unfounded rumour about the algorithm apocalypse happening this week went viral, leading to countless Instagram posts like the one above, pleading with followers to enable notifications so they would still be able to see… THEIR posts. Like, what? My main concern about this change was that I wouldn’t be able to see everyone I enjoy following. But the idea of enabling notifications for the 500+ people I follow is a ridiculous notion, not only because doing this would be very time consuming, but seriously, I do not want to get notified every time a photo pops up on my Instagram feed. Part of the pleasure of Instagram for me is lazily scrolling through the various pics and stories, from various time zones, when I feel like it. I know I don’t end up seeing all of them. Though, for example, if I know someone is on holiday somewhere I’m interested, I will click on their profile page to see all their recent pics (instead of waiting for them to appear on my feed). And frankly, some people do interest me more than others, but I want to be able to decide who those people are, not some algorithm that – let’s face it – doesn’t REALLY know me.

Anyhow, it was interesting to see how many people were so concerned about their own photos being seen that they posted versions of the above “look at meeeee!” notice. Surely they should know people like me would be looking them up anyhow, if truly interested.

new looks for sevilla & spain sites

27 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by in blogging, internet, sevilla, spain

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

azahar sevilla After recently jazzing up my tapas sites (as well as this blog and We Love Tapas), I had a look around for a new look for my travel sites. I wanted some continuity between them, and also a functional and easy to navigate theme. So far I’m happy with these, which I tinkered with a bit more this week. What do you think? Click on the pics to visit the sites.

azahar spain

the 4 iphones of az

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by in internet, iphone, photos

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

4 iphones

When I got my first iPhone in January 2009 ol’ camera shy me thought that a good way of showing my mug as an avatar (instead of using a cat or an orange) would be to take a selfie with my cute new phone covering most of my face. And of course the best day to do this would be just after a haircut (and professional blow-dry) so that my usual frizzy “pelo frito” look would be more or less subdued. Thus began a tradition of creating a new avatar with each new iphone. And today was no exception. So here are all my bathroom selfies with iphones 3, 4, 5S and 6S, taken roughly two years apart. You’ll notice that more of my face shows each time, and that I was less free with the obvious touch ups on my most recent pic (though I did allow myself a couple of clicks on the “halo” filter). Vanity, eh?

vodafone tv

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in cats, home, internet, morcilla, television

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

tivo

It all started very simply with me going over to Movistar to ask about changing companies, since my contract with Vodafone finished at the beginning of this month. I’d been paying off the old iPhone (foolishly I didn’t buy it outright two years ago) and aside from that I had a separate TV contract with Digital+. But since Digital+ and Movistar had recently merged, I thought it was time to sort this out to my advantage. Spent an hour with a very helpful salesperson at Movistar, and I would’ve probably gone with them, but a couple of things niggled. First there was no fibre optic available in my street, which meant TV service wouldn’t be optimum. And then I was told the megas I’d be getting. To be honest, I’d never concerned myself with this before. It didn’t actually matter that for my phone I’d be getting 3 megas instead of the 5 I had with Vodafone since I barely use more than 1 per month. But then I was told about the internet megas… only 10 max with Movistar, and – the guy was honest – I’d probably not get more than 8, depending on where I was situated. He asked if I’d ever done a speed check to see what I was getting at home now and I said … duh? So I went home and followed his instructions. Holy crap – I was getting close to 11! Whatever that means! Except it’s obviously more than 8. So I went back and showed the guy my findings and – bless him – he said he honestly couldn’t recommend me switching companies until fibre optic became available in my street. Seriously, how often does that happen?

So a couple of days later I was passing the Vodafone store and thought I’d pop in and see about my old contract… and I found out that Vodafone now has TV! Also that they have fibre optics available in my street. An hour later I walked out with a great deal. Internet, TV, etc for much less than I’ve been paying. PLUS I get 6 months free Netflix, an extra 3G card for my iPad for a year… whatevs. If it’s free I’ll take it. So I cancelled my present Netflix (one month free and then pay) and will instead pay the fee via Vodafone if, in six months, it seems like something I want to keep…

morcilla proofing

And so yesterday a couple of chaps from Vodafone came over to set everything up. It was only then that I started to question my decision. It turned out that EVERYTHING had to be next to the television. So the very clever set up I came up with last year to prevent Morcilla from EATING ALL THE CORDS was suddenly obsolete. Here you see some very quick & dirty Morcilla-proofing I did so I could go out to work last night. Will obviously have to come up with something else soon… but what?