Techno Tics

by Bethany Maines

As we, or at least some of us, continue to stay home in attempt to not spread disease several things have become apparent.  First and foremost, lighting matters.  I mean, I always knew that fluorescent lights sucked, but nothing makes the members of a Zoom meeting ask Dear God, when did Miss Havisham get here? like bad lighting.  Also, painting walls has become of huge concern to me.  We’re having so meetings in the homes of others and all I can think is… Color.  It’s called color.  The world is full of it.  Why is NONE of it on your walls?  And no off-white doesn’t count.  Off only counts as a thing when it’s next to Broadway. 

Next up: aging and technology.  No one expects Nana to be up on Tik Tok, but in recent times it has quickly become apparent who has been keeping up, at even a minor level, on technology.  This has reconfirmed my resolve to learn at least some basics in a technology even if I don’t “like” it.  At some point I will be older than the dirt on which I’m standing and I don’t want some young whippersnapper having to explain to me that emails don’t live on my computer.  Or whatever the future version of that is.

To help me in that goal, and just as though I had spare time coming out my ears, I signed up for a course on Amazon ads. The first week has been a fascinating delve into testing ads and ad copy and basically to do all those things that I generally avoid because I don’t “like” it. So, goal… accomplished.

I hope all of you are keeping well and if you’re being forced to do something you don’t like, I hope that it will at least benefit you and yours in the future.

Here is a sampling of my new ad copy:

 

Shark's Instinct
Shark’s InstinctGet the money. Get the girl. Get out. But with traitors and a brewing gang war on his heels, will Shark’s instincts keep him alive or get him dead?

BUY NOW: https://amzn.to/3aUhDuA

The Second Shot
A Romantic Suspense with feminist flair, The Second Shot delivers a one-two punch of passion and action that will keep you turning pages.

BUY NOW: https://amzn.to/2xBLyt7

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Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Down with--yes, down with--cell phones

By AB Plum

Here goes another rant on a social phenomenon I dislike more than back-to-back TV commercials or politicians who lie to the public or the constant pop-up ads on Google, FB, AOL and everywhere else on the Internet.

Smart phones go to the top of my Bleh List every time.

Smart phones are ubiquitous.

Smart phones are addictive.

Smart phones may not cause brain cancer, but they impair the judgment of more and more users. A few examples:

·         walking in front of traffic with faces in phones,

·         going to the bathroom with phones,

·         going to bed with their phones,

·         texting while driving,

·         talking while driving,

·         checking the Internet or email while driving,

·         checking phone hundreds of time a day,

·         eating meals with friends/family while checking phones,

·         giving young children phones as gifts/rewards,

·         spending more time on the phone than with face-to-face people,

·         playing on-line games for more than an hour/day

·         using a smart phone for games during a memorial service

Uh-huh! I witnessed this last example two weeks ago at the funeral service for my long-time critique partner. In a standing-room only environment, one of the mourners clicked his “smart phone” throughout the service. From my vantage point, I’d swear he was playing games … but, admittedly, I am jaded.

And. Lest I seem like a total luddite, I’ll mention the ubiquitous presence of 

smart phones at a recent rally for reunifying immigrant families. Taking picture to capture the event for now and posterity seemed like a good use of smart phones. Giving those who couldn’t attend the rally seemed like a good use of smart phones. Sharing pictures and recordings on social media to get out the message seemed like a good use of smart phones.

So does the good judgment at the rally outweigh the bad judgment in the case of my friend’s funeral?

What do you think?

What would you have done at the funeral—before/during/after?

***AB Plum lives and writes in the heart of Silicon Valley. She owns a cell phone with no bells or whistles and uses it only in emergencies. Smart phones appear infrequently in The MisFit Series her dark, psychological thrillers. Writing as Barbara Plum in WEIRd MAgIC, her paranormal romance trilogy, witches and warlocks rely more on magic than smart phones.

All hail technology

By: Joelle Charbonneau

The age of computers and the internet is a wonderful thing.  Facebook and Twitter, blogs and e-mail allow us to keep in touch with friends and family in way that weren’t possible before.  I, for one, am thrilled because I’m pretty bad at writing letters.  Well, actually the writing part I did pretty well.  I sat down with stationary, got out my pink (or green or chartreuse) pen and started scribbling.  Sadly, unless I’m being really careful, my penmanship looks a lot more like I went to school to be a doctor than a singer.

Still, I was great at putting pen to paper and writing line after line of chat.  When I was done, I’d happily put the paper in the envelope, print the name of the lucky recipient on the front and put it to the side with the intention of digging out my friend’s address and mailing it the next day.  Only, the next day never seemed to come.  At least, not for the letter.  The poor thing would sit there like an abandoned toy.  Waiting for someone to put it to use.  When I finally did remember that I was supposed to send the letter, several weeks or months had passed which meant I needed to write the thing all over again because my news was outdated.

Yep.  I was the person that e-mail was created for.  Sit down.  Type out a message.  Hit send.  No street address or stamp required.  Hurrah!  Let us all worship at the altar of technology.

Or not.

While I understand e-mail and mostly get how Facebook, Twitter and this blog work (I say mostly because much to my dismay the internet elves keeping changing the rules on those programs) there are certain pieces of technology that have me baffled.  With the upcoming release of MURDER FOR CHOIR, I was encouraged by those who are smarter than I am to put some clips of my singing up on YouTube.  They reasoned that since my amateur sleuth is a classically trained singer, it might be nice for the internet using public to see where I got some of my inspiration from.  Since everyone I talked to said it would be easy to pull some clips off of a DVD and stick them up on YouTube, I agreed to take a whack at it.

And another whack at it.

And another.

Oy!

So much for easy.

I guess one person’s easy is another person’s tension headache.   

However, despite the headache, seven or eight hours of shaking my head at the computer screen and a bunch of reboots later – I am happy to report that perseverance and dumb luck won out. 

Of course, now that I am sitting back basking in the glow of my accomplishment (which I am not sure I know how to repeat) I am wondering – what types of technology have you struggled with that everyone else claims is easy?  Please share!

Oh – and in case you are interested…here is one of the videos I managed to upload.  Here is hoping that it works!