Old Dogs, Google and Lautrec Updated

Hey, Merci here.  Just a quick post and I'll be back to napping.

I am the oldest dog here, and if this is how we'd know we're old, Buddy, Sam and I are far from there!  


If the video doesn't play, click here.

We are really disheartened with Google/Blogger.  Our last post addressed the problem of Google deleting blogs and forcing bloggers to give them a cell phone number - ANYONE"S cell phone number! - in order to contact them to get their Google Account (gmail, Blogger, Picasa & any other Google apps being used) reinstated with a text messaged code.  We consider it on a par with Google telling users to ask a friend to let the user give Google their friend's credit card number.

Just yesterday another blogger we know had their blog deleted and were forced to come up with a cell phone # in order to contact Google to get it reinstated. 

We were asked to remind folks how to back up their blogs and we just tried to walk through the steps with the new interface and we were shocked to find how much is missing from this new dashboard setup.  We googled for directions and did find the new place to back up the template.

But when we followed the directions to find the import/export/delete tool, it isn't there. Not for a single one of our own blogs. So where did this and other tools and information disappear?  Check your new Blogger dashboard .  Do you have import/export/delete in your new interface Settings/Basic?  You need to be able to export to save a copy of your blog posts.

You might want to find out, even if you aren't using the new interface yet. You will be when everyone is switched to it, so now is the time to learn it. Our settings options have been greatly reduced in the new one.  But to not be able to import, export or even delete our own blog(s)?

UPDATE:  Fuzzy Tales sent us a screen shot of where import/export/delete is located in the new interface.  How strange that it is in the first place we looked last night - Settings/Other - and it wasn't there.  Not on JFF and not on any of our other blogs.  So we googled Blogger Help and they sent us to Settings/Basic. We looked through every settings tab on each of our blogs and it was not to be found.

So where was it hiding?  We have no clue!  But it is there today at the top of Settings/Other.

We are grateful to Google for making so many things available to us for free over the years.  We have enjoyed using Blogger, gmail and Picasa, and we hope to be able to continue for a long time.  But we do believe they need to revise their policy on cell phones and find a more reasonable way to verify non-spamming accounts.

We are sad that Lautrec had to leave suddenly for the bridge Sunday.  His family is greatly missing him.  His mom would appreciate a word of encouragement, if you haven't already been by.  His blog is Wees Da Bad Cats & Da Meen Doawgs.

Noms Exercise and Google

Hey, Cyndi here.  Happy Caturday.  We have a funny video for you today, a puppy demonstrating the art of eating and exercising at the same time.  We figure the idea is to burn off the calories as eaten to keep the lean puppy figure.  Watching this not only made us hungry, but tired!


If the video doesn't play, click here.

 Now, we (all us Funny Farmers) would like to get serious for a moment.  Many of you are aware that for some time Blogger blogs have been suddenly deleted for no reason - supposedly for suspicious activity (spam) - and the blog owner has had to request a review and hope the blog reappears soon, even though not in violation of any TOS (terms of service). 

Yesterday "Old Kitty" and Charlie's blog was suddenly deleted.  Now you can't get any more innocuous content than they post.  There is nothing untoward or spammy about their blog.  It has been restored, but what we learned yesterday deeply disturbs us. 

You see, for some reason they could only request a review by giving a mobile (cell) phone number.  When they tried to use the drop down box for their landline number, they were told the number didn't fit the mobile format.  In other words, the only way they could communicate with Google/Blogger was to receive a text message on the cell phone they don't have. 

For months Jan was pestered by Google to give a home phone or cell phone number for 2 step protection, to retrieve her password, for blog identity protection or whatever.  She ignored the requests until she got disgusted and gave them her home LANDLINE phone number.  She didn't think any more about it until yesterday.

She started checking the settings in her two Google accounts.  Not blogs, Google accounts, there's a difference - your blog is part of a Google account but the Google account covers gmail, Blogger, Picasa (and yes, if you have a Google account, you DO have a Picasa account!) and all the other Google-related  applications.  From our understanding and reading, if Google closes your blog, it closes everything related to that Google account.

Jan was shocked to find a reference to her account using text verification, but she doesn't have a cell phone!  So she started digging around in settings and found Google had taken her LANDLINE phone # and marked it as a mobile number to receive text messages. There was no option for a landline, mobile only!  So if something happened to our blog, we would have been in the same boat Old Kitty and Charlie were in yesterday,.  No way to contact Google.  Jan deleted the phone #  and hopes if something happened to her account, Google would use her recovery address. 

Some of you are no more tech-oriented than our Jan, so we're going to explain how to check your settings to be sure you won't have this problem. We don't know whether you are using the old or new dashboard, but there is a means from each to access your settings.  In the new dashboard, just click on the name of your blog in the upper right and click on Account Settings in the drop down menu.  That will take you to Google accounts.

Click on Recovering Your Password.

Email: check your email address.  Do you have a recovery address in case you are using gmail and the gmail has been deleted?  You need a non-gmail address. 

SMS:  This is where your cell # goes if you have one so they can text you a password reset code if necessary. 

Security question: If you haven't set up a security question, this would be a good time to.

If you made changes, click SAVE, if none, click CANCEL to return to your personal settings. 

Now for the part that really upset Jan.  She read a lot of information yesterday that says to open a gmail account now you have to give a cell phone # for verification.  This sound innocent.  Especially when they say it is to cut down on spammers opening blogs and a mobile phone is more reliable than an email address because you keep your phone with you.   But they add, if you don't have a mobile phone, ask a friend to use their cell number to get your verification code. 

Jan read that and said if Google closes her account and tries to blackmail her into doing that, her blog and email will remain deleted.  Because she neither knows anyone who would let her give Google their cell number, nor would she ask anyone to do so. This could cause problems down the road.  We know that once that number went into Google's records, it would be associated with Jan's personal information and never be deleted from Google's files.

We found an interesting article on Gmail SMS verification details and reasons, 

Have a great weekend!  Oh, in case you didn't notice, we asked Jan to give our blog a makeover.  We hope you like it. 

Peeps are Flakes

 Hey, Cotton here.  This is my first post of 2012.  We had a nice Christmas and holiday season.  Hope 2012 entered peacefully for you and will be a good year for all of us. 
 
2012 entered quietly around here, but Monday, the 2nd, turned into one of those what else could go wrong days? By evening, Jan was so frustrated she nearly threw our tv out the door.cause she had reached the "if it doesn't work, it's trash" limit.  She did finally get it working again so we do have a tv.  Sort of.  We only get one major channel, one oldies channel and PBS (Public Broadcasing).  But that's all we got before Jan "fixed" it, so we figure we came out even on that.

The problem was a cable had disconnected and Jan couldn't figure out where it went, not even with the directions (diagrams) to the tv and to the converter.  The threat to throw the tv out the door came after she tripped over the cord to the light she was using while trying to reach the magnifying glass and went sailing across the living room  Ouch! When she finally got the cable hooked up, she realized the reason she couldn't find the cables in the converter diagram was because they belonged to the antenna, a totally separate piece of equipment.  

After laughing at Jan's frantic phone messages, her brother came by the next day and set up the DVD player he gave her.  We think he was protecting it from flying out the door since the instructions were a diagram but Jan had no idea how to decode it.  It ended up plugged into the front of the tv and it works by pressing "GAME" for the tv and getting a separate screen.  Jan admits she wouldn't have figured that out.  She didn't even know "GAME" was on the remote.

What inspired us to write this was reading about the My Peep Is A Flake Contest going on in Blogville right now.  This story isn't entered, but believe us, our peep is a flake too! (We mean this in a most loving way, of course, because Jan rarely does anything flaky!  **wink, wink**) We've written enough stories about her mishaps.


We stopped by Sarge's blog and read why his dad is a flake and .. well, you have got to read it.  Percy almost rolled off the desk from laughing. 

And yesterday we read why Puddles Mum Is A Flake. Her story reminded us of the time Jan's keys got hooked on what she loaded into the back of the station wagon and she ended up locked out.  Fortunately, she had forgotten to lock the driver's door earlier, so she was able to crawl over the seats to reach her keys. Puddle's story is funnier.

We're going to nap until Jan is ready to clean closets or something equally dangerous.  (There isn't much work space.)  She did manage to dig out her winter clothes yesterday.  (Didn't winter start last month?)  We'll see what entertainment she provides today. 


Have a fun day. 

PS - Oh, and be sure to read Sparkle's post on Desperate Situation at PurrEver Ranch Sanctuary! These folks and the cats at the sanctuary have become a target for cat-hating neighbors.  Some have been killed by dogs or shot on their own property.  They are in desperate need of an immediate place to move the cats. Even if you can't help, you can pass on the link because someone somewhere can help.  Thanks.

PPS -  We were very sorry to learn Stryder of Kellykat's Korner was helped to the bridge yesterday.  We were sad that Kelly stopped blogging after Sugar died, but sometimes humans lose heart after a loss.  Even though she isn't blogging anymore, a message can be left on her blog. 

Sam is Waiting on Apology

Hey, Sam here. I am waiting on my apology. 

Jan said Buddy and Sam (that's me) tore up Merci's new dog bed in 9 days.  You can read Buddy and Sam in Doghouse if you missed it.  Sam (that's me) does NOT tear up dog beds because I do not dig in my bedding. I admit I helped stretch Merci's bed but I dig holes in the lawn, not bedding.  Buddy and Merci dig in their bedding.  Merci is too small to be destructive and she never got to sleep in her new bed anyway, so she didn't tear up the bed.  Who does that leave as the true, one and only culprit?  You guessed it.  Not me!

Don't believe a word Buddy writes.  He's not sorry he tore up the bed or got me into trouble.  He's only sorry Jan threw out the bed after he made it just perfect to sleep on.  Perfect for him anyway.  The rest of us like lots of padding between us and the cold floor.  And Jan prefers the floor not be littered with stuffing.

He's my brother.  I love him.  And I'll forgive him.  Eventually.  But I want to set the record straight.  I was not guilty as charged!

We saw this on Loldogs and it seems appropriate today.  Jan was too upset to take a picture of what was left of Merci's bed, but you get the idea. 

http://dogs.icanhascheezburger.com/2012/01/02/funny-dog-pictures-i-pleed-teh-fiff/

AttieCattie's boyfriend Lautrec is very ill and his mom is worried about the possibility of losing him.  Please send prayers, purrs and woofs for him and his mom. 

Our friend Mr. Pip is also ill with hearth problems and K has cancer of the bone and Parker and Ginger Jasper and  .... There is such a long list of cat and dog bloggers with serious illnesses that we can't even list them all.  But our thoughts and prayers are with each one's family.