5 real-life design lessons I learned from The Sims
Years before I became a homeowner, way before I moved into my first apartment and took interest in decoration my living space, I played The Sims. My firsts design screw-ups, brilliant ideas, questionable color choices and architectural fantasies where all tested on my favorite video game. All in all, I had tons of fun, testing, creating and learning. And isn’t that what decoration should be about? Fun! Here are the five things that playing The Sims³ taught me about decorating in real life…
Talking about being safe online freaked out my kid
We started with a basic conversation on how not everyone online is who they seem, and that she shouldn’t give out personal information. I kept it light, like “In your game you’re a wizard with purple skin, and we know you’re not really a wizard and you have peach skin, so the person you meet who say’s they’re an 11 year old boy with a Mohawk could really be an eight-year-old girl with a ponytail”, etc. Through the course of our conversation, she asked why safety is an issue online, and I let her know, in generic terms, that sometimes people use online personas to manipulate or bully or hurt other people, and that sometimes it can spill over into offline life.
What I learned from overcoming my addiction to Facebook
November of 2007 is when I first opened a Facebook account, and I was hooked on social networking. Then, when I was engaged, things got weird. — virtual harassment bled into real life creepiness. After that I started wondering how much I actually needed Facebook. So I deleted all my online accounts and learned a lot in the process.
How to keep your personal information private
If you have utility, internet, or cable bills in your name, they will lead to your home address. If you file a police report or go to court as either a plaintiff or defendant, you may get calls from ambulance-chasing lawyers; those records are public. If you own your residence in your own name, anyone can search property records to discover where you live. Most of you will never face the level of harassment I have received, but taking basic privacy measures can also deter marketers, identity thieves, and other people you don’t want to meet. Here’s how…
My best friends are from the internet
We live in a world where online dating is becoming increasingly mainstream (Match.com recently funded a study that showed one-in-five relationships now start online) but somehow, finding friends online is still seen as abnormal. And that, to put it eloquently, is really dumb.
Productivity hack: The internet kill switch
As a writer, I’m at my laptop pretty much all the time. Sadly, that means the siren call of the internet is loud and constant. The urge to stop what I’m doing “just for a second” to check Facebook or news headlines or “research” something on Wikipedia for the next several hours is substantial. I figured the best way to combat this — other than developing a stronger will to not goof off — was to get rid of the internet when I didn’t need it. Thus, the internet kill switch was born.
Where can one find positive vegetarian-themed networking websites?
I recently joined (and subsequently deleted my account from) a vegetarian networking website. What I got was more of an anti-meat-eater coalition. Now, don’t get me wrong: there were some very kind people there, but the general attitude was aggressive. What I really just want is a supportive network for vegetarians, with little-to-no negativity. Has anyone heard of something like that?
When previous homeowners find your home reno blog
You know we love us some house blogs, and you KNOW we love hearing about your before and afters. But what happens if your “after” was someone’s beloved “before” and they happen to stumble upon your posts about your frustrated home struggles? These are indeed 21st century problems, but they are also very real experiences. One Homie gives us a reminder about how small the interwebs can be.