So you are loving your new Mac and feeling uber cool (and you are) until the moment you need to right click on something.

“What the crap?” you will whimper.

How the heck are you supposed to take advantage of spell check when you can’t freakin’ right click on the word you just butchered?

Well, you could place your cursor over the word and then hit Ctrl + Mouse Bar. But that’s no fun. Trust me. I’ve been a Mac convert for four years now and this has ALWAYS pissed me off.

But there is good news for the right click weary!

Just last week I learned that if you place two fingers on the Mouse Pad and then click the Mouse Bar/Button it’s the equivalent of a right click on a regular mouse!

HOLY CRAP! I know!

I am right clicking all over this piece now.

PS – I have no idea how long this shortcut has been available. I’m sure I’m like the last person to know about it but it still rocks my face off.

Oh! The BEST Mac keyboard shortcut ever is here, FYI.

There’s a whole lotta Twitter and Facebook phishing going on and I’m freaked the heck out that my peeps will get hooked.  Some of them already have. I’m worried; is my enthusiastic go forth and micro-blog! approach part of the problem?

When used correctly – communications tools like Facebook, Twitter,  blogs and RSS feeds can make you more productive and just plain better at your job.

But just like any good relationship, there should always be a little mystery between you and the interwebs.

DATA:  Do not give your entire self over to the Facebook Info tab, your blog or a Twitter account. It’s great for the internet to know your profession, favorite music, thoughts and opinions – but don’t hang your home phone number, home address or the year of your birth out there for the whole world to see. Every time I see someone who has literally filled out every. single. line. on their Facebook profile I cry a little.

PASSWORDS: As for the web’s little friends — those ridiculous Facebook applications and “helpful” Twitter tools — they certainly don’t need access to your passwords. It’s not that I don’t want to join you on the Oregon Trail or in the Auburn wave, it’s that I don’t want my account hacked.

PHOTOS: And Lord knows the web can’t be trusted with those sketchy digital photos of you and your friends in Vegas. You already know how I feel about that one.

What I’m trying to say is get comfortable with social media, but don’t sleep with it. If you give it all away, you’ve just empowered some moron to take advantage of your trust.

Just this morning a friend forwarded me an email he’d received touting a Twitter service scam:

…In fact, once you start taking advantage of Twitter.com using the proper tools and techniques you might be pleasantly surprised by the number of paying clients that you will have from Twitter as well as the people that they refer to you…I am prepared to offer you our service for only $199 a month and you get a full 30 days to try out our service to see just how great it is…

Keep in mind: if it sounds too good to be true, it’s spam.

I’m sure this dude will get a few takers, especially among folks who are newbies or are intimidated by social networking sites.  He’ll either run off with someone’s money, or he’ll just spam the crap out of folks until someone figures him out. Either way, he’s a crappy malicious person.

Feel the same way about this guy and the 20 batrillion idiots like him who will bait folks to porn or some get-rich-quick scam:

Don’t get me wrong — I’m still a technology advocate.

Should you Twitter? Absolutely! Should you Facebook? Indeed! Share, connect, engage and voice your opinions online – but proceed with caution and as a vigilant protector of your personal data.

As much as I love seeing folks get comfy with technology – I loath the thought of some jerk taking advantage of it. It’s a tangled web out there, folks. Please be careful.

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It said Flowerbomb By Viktor & Rolf for Women 0.24 Oz Eau De Parfum Splash-mini.

Mini being the important (and all too accurate) descriptor that I CLEARLY missed in my Amazon one-click purchasing glee.

I thought I was getting a FABULOUS deal on this.

Well, I did not buy that exactly.  But I did get this (sans wine cork):

Tiny.

(sigh)

I might be an idiot, but at least I smell good!

I’m routinely asked what the heck Chic Geek is and what it has to do with FlackRabbit. And well, nothing, really. It’s actually a separate technology and productivity writing gig for Her Nashville magazine. It’s a true honor to be a contributor – it is also the fulfillment of a New Year’s resolution!

I link to the Chic Geek blog posts on my homepage and usually link to the online version of my monthly column as soon as it’s posted.  I don’t pull a feed of those print columns on my site, but here are the links to a couple of my favorites: Read More…

Lately I’ve been attending more and more meetings with folks who practice poor public displays of facial expression.  There is one gal in particular who always looks equal parts angry and confused. You take one look at her face when she’s listening to you speak and you KNOW she thinks you are out of your mind. And she’s pissed about it.

Kind of like this, but without the monocle:

But she’s not pissed, you see.  In fact, she’s quite cheerful and genuinely happy to be there you’d just never know it by looking at her furrowed brow and pursed lips.

When you are speaking in front of her you feel judged. Like you just said pubic instead of public, or like you have food on your face. But she’s not judging you at all, she has just never had anyone tell her how odd her facial expressions are as she’s listening to others. (I’m guessing)

I, on the other hand, have the opposite problem. My brows are nearly always arched, like I just heard a loud noise or am surprised by something.  I subconsciously do this (just like I tilt my head to the right when I type) and it freaks people out. I’ve really worked hard to train my tiny face and easily excited brows how to behave during meetings.

We are often instructed not to cross our arms or look at our watch in meetings, interviews, etc. Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about our eyebrows? The eyes are the window to the soul — not the arms. What are your brows saying about you?

People and colleagues want to look at you and feel respected. Your face should *say* that your brain is fully present in the moment and not thinking lime green soooo not her color. They want know you are listening, not judging. Do they?

The image of this photo Dave took while on his big Chinese adventure (last March) often pops into my head for no good reason and it makes me smile. I have no clue why I love it so, but it’s my favorite photo from his week abroad and I’d like for you to see it:

It’s by no means what he’d call his best China pic – but it’s my fav anyway!

I’m no social media expert, let’s make that clear right now. The digital PR and social media landscape changes daily, so if anyone tells you they are the social media guru – run like the wind. Tip: these are the same folks who will tell you they can “make something go viral.”

The only thing I can say with absolute certainty about the ever-evolving social media landscape is that successful use of these communication tools isn’t hard unless you are lazy. The more I read up, the more I find social media best practices among those that are smart, active, succinct and sincere. Read More…

Teresa showed us around and supervised our clown attempts! Thanks, sister! (Randy, you were right; these folks rock)

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If you get to the circus early they let you try on all the fun costumes!

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Here’s Newman. Bless his heart. No word on just how long he would have stayed there doing that had I not finally looked over

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