Bits and Parts

Hello! I enjoy doing random things (especially related to arts and crafts), chillin' with my reptiles, and doing little things to help out now and then. Some of said random stuff may occasionally appear here. Enjoy~ If you feel like it, check out my...

[brandijohne]

Be Safe - Watch the URLs

I see a lot of ne'er-do-wells try to lure people into going to a dangerous site, downloading a dangerous file, or making some phony purchase, by pretending to be a legitimate company, often one that the person is familiar with. Sometimes the ploys are obvious or otherwise easy to ignore, but other times, the threat of increased fee, service cancellation, or other things make a person less willing to overlook the message. There may also be times when you might wonder if something might actually be true, but you're just too worried about being scammed. There's a fairly easy way to identify many of these things. It won't help in all cases, but it can at least help you know when to just hit "delete." This mostly only applies to emails and other inbox- or wall-type messages. I'm also on a PC, so I'm not sure this applies to Macs (which are, by the way, able to get viruses and other malware). As a quick reference, when I say "link," I mean the text or button you click to go somewhere, and URL is the text address you are taken to. So this is a link and this is a URL: http://brandijohne.tumblr.com/ FINDING THE URL In Google Chrome: Hover over the link. A little grey box should appear in the bottom left corner of your browser, showing a URL. It often only shows the start and end of the URL; the start is what you want. Alternatively, you can right-click the link and select select "Copy link address," then paste into a Notepad or Word document. In Mozilla Firefox: Hover over the link. A little grey box should appear in the bottom left corner of your browser (and possible stretching across the entire bottom), showing a URL. The start of the URL is what you want. Alternatively, you can right-click the link and select select "Copy Link Location," then paste into a Notepad or Word document. In Internet Explorer: Hover over the link. A little white box should appear in the bottom left corner of your browser (possibly stretching all the way across, showing a URL. It may trail off, but you only need the start anyway. Alternatively, you can right-click the link and select select "Copy shortcut," then paste into a Notepad or Word document. IDENTIFYING DANGERS The key here is to look at the structure of the URL. It may have lots of dots and slashes, various meaningless letters and numbers, but none of those matter by themselves. The important part is what appears just before the first slash (not counting the http://). Let's say you have a URL like this: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/ How do you know if it's actually for the Adobe Flash Player? 1. Go to Adobe's main site. It's okay to Google this, as URLs sometimes differ a little from the actual business or product name (mostly with smaller companies or those with really long, complex names). Just make sure that it is the company's official website. 2. Look at the URL in the address bar at the top of your browser. There may or may not be some sort of /index at the end of the line, depending on the site, but that's not what matters. The name and extension are what's important. We know this is Adobe, and they do use their name; so, is it a .net, a .org, a .com? In this case, it'll be adobe.com. 3. Compare the URL on the official website to the URL you're questioning. You know it needs to be a .com - check. Before the .com, it needs to simply say "adobe" - check. Even though there's another "get." before "adobe" it's fine. That "get." just means it's something like a sub-section of adobe.com. Now, lets say the URL looked more like this: http://adobe.greatstuff.com/flashplayer/otherversions/ This seems like it should be about some great stuff - specials, maybe? - from Adobe! But it's not. That is a completely different site - greatstuff.com - claiming that it has the Adobe Flash Player. If it's being honest about its identity, you should still be wary of it; if it's trying to actually pose as Adobe, delete it. (Please note: I know nothing about the actual greatstuff.com) I may try rewriting this, to try to be more clear.

[brandijohne]

Color shatters from out the raindrop as you recall everything that was A flag in flight announces the dawn and the mind forgets what it does The machine collapses upon itself, tracing the hornet in flight And within the breath of the fish down deep are the words to set everything right

[brandijohne]

Self-loathing is a complicated issue. It is pain; it is helplessness; it is the point where nothing matters. It is the boarish insistence that everything is fine and normal, and simultaneously, the contradictory certainty that nothing is good, right, or okay. It is the knowledge that you are broken, with conflicting ideas as to how you are broken. It is wrapped in layers of deception, a bitter onion that rots unevenly. It is often inconsistent, and so it becomes harder for others to understand. They assure you that everything will be okay. It annoys you, because they can't see that nothing is okay. It stings you, because they’re telling you you’re just being silly; calling you names without saying them. It tears at you, because you’re making them worry about you, and you know you aren’t worth it. They call you names: drama queen, emo, cry baby, pathetic, soft, unreasonable. You were fine yesterday – what's wrong with you today? You cry for any reason. You cry for no reason. They don’t even need to say it to you. You can tell how they feel just by their derision of others. Simple comments can tell you everything, and silence becomes your choking sanctuary. They ignore you. Somehow, even strangers know you are tainted, and attempts to escape, to communicate with those outside, fall flat. It may be a call for help, it may be a smile and a hello; but you are invisible. You’re in the way. You’re just one word shy of pushing everyone to curse you away. They inform you of some mental or emotional disorder. It banishes hope. You're not normal. You really are broken, and only pills can fix you. You need medicine, so you can be like everyone else. You know you are a nuisance. You know you don't do enough for others. You know you’re a cold, cruel person; you don't cry for what you should, only for things with no real meaning in your life. You know you’re lazy. You know you’re pathetic and useless. You want to escape, but you don’t know how. The certainty that escape is impossible is your moldy woolen blanket; it scratches and irritates your skin, it’s dirty and suffocating, but it still keeps you warm. It still gives you something to hold. It is your only certainty, and even if it wasn't tangled about you so impossibly, you know you are too afraid to let it go. But now, perhaps you also know you aren't alone.

[brandijohne]

Someone asked me to draw this for them. Even with a couple photos references to help me out, it came out better than I expected. Not sure if I should draw more to keep it up, or avoid drawing to see if I spontaneously improve again. o.O

[brandijohne]

Everyone asked her why she cut her hair. She explained, over and over, that she hadn't liked it; that it was in the way and made her look old, that it knotted up and the ends were all spitting.

None of us could understand it. We had always seen her hair as finely spun silver that poured down from her head like strands of mercury. Some locks had approached a sterling white, others were silken steel, and some remained a darker polished hematite. Each strand had caught the light a little different, so that sometimes her hair sparkled and gleamed. That was what we saw.

I guess she saw it differently.

[brandijohne]

I never like going through old things There's always something like this bracelet: Pretty, but not something I'd wear today Wrapped in fragments of memory I don't recall when or where I got it - perhaps a gift from grandma Keep it or be rid of it, I can't win Nostalgia brings a war between feeling and unfeeling, the certainty of something incomplete, broken Carefree days, happy moments, loved ones, great dreams all lost or changed with time

[brandijohne]

Bricks on boxes, tumbling in Swallow tight and hold your sin In your parlor, nights were held and knights upon their horses felled For in your honor, all was lost All bowed down to Autumn's frost Keep the crown set in your brow Else nothing's here to keep them now

[brandijohne]

Awhile back, I was working on building a hybrid scifi/fantasy world (it's since been put on hold indefinitely). Like many fantasy worlds, it had its own forms of elves: fairly generic Wood Elves, uppity Moon Elves, and my personal favorite, the desert-gypsy Sand Elves. This one's a Moon Elf, and the simplest way to sum them up is a weird mix of ideas about High Elves and Drow. They're nocturnal, so they live in caves and only come out at night for moon-worshiping; that being the case, I thought it'd make more sense for them to be very pale. They're also the fanciest (though not necessarily the most decorative) and most regal, and are generally pretty full of themselves. They also happen to despise Sand Elves, partly due the their drastically different lifestyle, and partly because Sand Elves are prone to tormenting Moon Elves when given the chance.

[brandijohne]

Taryn #6

Nocturnal Mondays break the seal Challenge thrust into the meal Broken glass tossed in the wind Charitable dreams turn to sin Marching toads will steal the day What sunlight wrought, now will fade Finding nothing through the lock Resort to freedom, freedom mocked Treasure chests filled with soup Watch the foot fall in the loop Wait to Tuesday, all falls chill Sticks and stones taste fire's thrill

[laughingsquid]

Bird Living

[brandijohne]

Wikis and Forums

I've always had a special fondness for forums (not the modern mini-forum; dedicated, layered, BB-style forums), and Wikis continue to be this inviting, barely-varied thing. I want to work with them. I want to make them pretty. From what I see, though, there's not really much of a market for that. Most of them seem to be either in-house things or run by enthusiasts who can't afford a dedicated web professional. I wanna play with them. I want to see what I can do with forums and wikis.

[brandijohne]

Memories

Chalky dreams drift in, excess blown away in the wind, more washed down with time, but mere attention is enough to smear the colorful and fondly remembered dust back over the rough pavement.

[brandijohne]

An older photo of mine, but one I’ve always particularly liked. Light source is an LED.

[brandijohne]

The moon was cresting over the pines as her heavy boots took her ever higher, and the image of a bright balloon just barely escaping a row of spears drifted through her mind.