why the hiatus?

As some of you may notice, that until a couple weeks ago, there was a big gap of several months between blog posts.

I was in a pretty bad car accident in August, can't say much about it until everything settles out. I will probably never be back to normal, even my normal of when my fibromyalgia is in remission (which sometimes gives me a few months of being Almost Normal). I've been flaring pretty badly, everything takes me 2x longer to get it done, and have NEW chronic pain issues.

Last week I finished Physical Therapy, which gave me flexibility, some strength back, and the use of my right knee again. I'm still going to the chiropractor, but at this point it's all "palliative care" ("all we can do now is try to help manage the chronic pain")... today was the regular doc, who is keeping me on the pain meds and muscle relaxant even though I hate how they make me tired all the time. I'm trying to stay decaf too, but um... I've cheated on that a LOT lately.

ALSO, regarding things happening here in Wisconsin... I hate what our new Governor is doing to our lovely state, and the people of our state. However, I am SO PROUD of the working people and the peaceful, tidy (no litter, they clean up after themselves!) of the protesters. ON Wisconsin!

On the UP side creatively, I am showing my work at more Scifi conventions, coming up soon Oddcon, and Gaslight Gathering, and others as the season picks up.

I haven't heard from Wiscon yet, even though I applied through their jury process back in December. Even a "No" would have been nice.

I've also been knitting and crocheting outfits for Ball Jointed Dolls as seen in my pre wreck posts, the range of doll sizes I'm working in has expanded a little bit over time too. Sometime this week I'll have a sparkly white 1920s style outfit for Littlefee/YoSD sized dolls done. Yay!

Getting busy again

... now that I'm working on getting my Mojo back...
(everything takes sooo much longer since that car wreck last summer)

Getting ready for Oddcon, Gaslight Gathering, and several other upcoming artshows.
I just finished a cthulhu, and a Mac Nac Feegle/ Pictsie (Imagine a tiny blue angry scotsman)... and well "crivens!"

got more stuff posted in the new shops. Just transferring items is taking a while,
and I'm still making some new stuff.

Dear ETSY or Why Opt IN rules

ETSY people telling each other how great twitter was, got a lot of ETSY people headed over to twitter to OMG! talk to each other.

so yeah the Opt In (which SHOULD have been the default) DOES work, It just means waiting for it to spread by "organic means".

Etsy would have done better to buy advertising...

Real names out in front on a venue where the majority of users are female... Not a good idea. This should have been completely clear at registration (not information in tiny gray type on a white background) and clearly OPT IN.

Not only would my name being exposed re-expose me to being harassed by my former stalker, it would have opened up my CUSTOMERS to being harassed.

IT'S NOT ABOUT THE FEEDBACK, it's about having real names, and buyer only accounts searchable as the DEFAULT.

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that that is alright.

We were telling ETSY this since the "treasury glitch" several months ago... we were telling them this since every step toward this new function... we were telling them this from the VERY MINUTE we had a feedback thread on the People Search...

It's taken 7 days, and the problem hasn't really be addressed except to BREAK another function on ETSY.

ETSY, PLEASE NOTE, other companies have made the same errors, and paid out substantial damages. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION AND NOT REPEATING THE VERY PUBLIC ERRORS OF OTHERS.

Just because all the other kids are doing it, is not a valid excuse. Your MOTHER would never have accepted it from you, your customers won't either.

We are your CUSTOMERS, not your EMPLOYEES.

Dear Rob Kalin

"The first rule in privacy management is every such setting must be made an explicit opt-in, not the default."

I did NOT use my real name in my profile (since I signed up years ago when things were more clear and I did so very intentionally)

My SISTER, who also got no email about this, was only just NOW aware that her real name was public... and since Wednesday SEARCHABLE.
She bought one innocent item from a friend of a friend (If she want's something of mine she says "for my birthday I want an ______") and her field is such that no one is likely to be harassing her about her purchase since co workers are every bit as geeky as she is... no creeps, no stalkers.

but yeah, a different situation and she could be dealing with a stranger who calls and says "I see you shop on ETSY..."

feedback being visible is NOT a problem (though maybe give a CHOICE with each purchase whether or not the link back and photo of the item will be visible in the feedback)

but real names re: a shopping site should NEVER be out in front OR searchable, with the exception of sellers who are just fine with their real name out there.

I have a pretty much one of a kind name (I did stumble upon ONE person with my same "real name" who is not in my area at all... ) I use the same screen name EVERYWHERE so in many ways my screen name is a different kind of "real name".


Yeah... more and more the responses to this are like "oh we didn't expect to get caught and we'll never admit we might POSSIBLY have made an error." You get more respect with an "I'm sorry honey, I messed up, let me fix it... I'll never do anything so stupid again." (even though, being human we always DO, but hopefully it will be a brand new FLAVOR of stupid the next time.)

when there were a FLOOD of concerns from the moment the People Search went up on WEDNESDAY. (and the 1 concern that was responded to was the LEAST important of the concerns)

Sorry, it was a "shit storm" from the minute it was released... that's a sign that it may seriously BE an issue.

The lack of a serious THOUGHT OUT and considered response from admin is DISRESPECTFUL to the customers.

we're all human, we DO make mistakes...
papering over the holes in the wall isn't a good way to deal with the issues.

each mistake should be a learning experience...after the Treasury glitch and the response to THAT, installing the "People Search" should have been postponed indefinitely... and the push to get people to put up their "real names" should have been stopped right there.

Re: Etsy & Safe harbor violations, call Damon Greer on 202-482-5023 & he'll help you

Etsy publishes the identities of sex-toy purchasers

Etsy publishes the identities of sex-toy purchasers....

well, Ok, maybe not JUST that... if you have an account on ETSY, even BUYER ONLY, you may be searchable by not only your screen name, but your REAL NAME as well.

Unless you've set Purchases and Favorites to PRIVATE (and go check that NOW) they can not only be seen by anyone who searches for you on ETSY, but they will also show up on GOOGLE searches for you. (either by screen name or REAL name if that's on your ETSY account.)

see also:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=138661

Time to move from ETSY!

It's complicated, but involves security and privacy concerns, as well as some other insanity...

I will be gradually moving my shop to:
http://www.zibbet.com/trinlayk

please come cheer me on there.

Sorry to have to do this: ETSY has been making lots of changes, if you have purchased or set up an account on ETSY, even if neglected/closed, at any time in the past, go log in:

go to Your Account, Settings and also Privacy and Notifications. I would at this point, making your purchases private, and to OPT OUT of "findability" and to put circle notification email to NO.

Your favorites being private is up to you, ...but be aware that anyone who puts you in their circle will see any time and anything you favorite.

Since Feb 4th the search has changed and we can't get further clarification from admin about anything. People are being spammed by sellers abusing the "circle function" which is otherwise really pointless, AND the forums have all been shoved into separate team areas... If you have a question about something you can't just put it out there, you have to hunt down the team and hope that someone with an answer or a good guess will respond.

If you have been spammed via ETSY circles or the friend finder PLEASE log in and convo administrator "egoodman85" or email him at egoodman (at) etsy.com be sure to state your complaint/concern calmly and clearly.

I love you all!