Yesterday, my son sent me a text saying he’d gotten spam from my old email account. I haven’t used that account for three years. I meant to go through all the old emails one day, but you know how that goes. How do people do this? That account does have a simple password, but it’s not exactly 1-2-3-4. I tried to notify everyone, but I have a lot of contacts and they got the spam before I could reach them. I changed the password immediately and started forwarding old emails to my current address.
All the messages from when my husband and I first got together are there. I changed my email address after we got married, because Gmail wouldn’t let me change the last name on my account. Do hackers actually read your email, or just steal your address book? I kind of feel like someone went through my underwear drawer….
If you’ve emailed me, don’t worry: my pearlsandprose address is not in the infected address book. I also have a complicated password that’s a pain to type on an iPhone, but there you have it. Live and learn.
Because I spent so much time tending to that mess, I almost forgot to take my photo of the day for Flickr. It’s not a good feeling to be looking around for something to photograph at 10 o’clock at night. I remembered a favorite mug and put it up on the mantel next to a lamp….
I bought this beauty on etsy.com. You’ve heard of it, right? Almost everything is handmade by incredible artisans all over the world, except for vintage stuff and antiques. They have handknit sweaters, paintings, handbags, jewelry–you name it. Everything I’ve bought there has met expectations and then some. I know quite a few photographers who sell prints there and it’s an idea I’m toying with right now.
Anyway, check it out, but be warned: it’s addictive.
{ms. pearl}
Pearls & Prose 
Sorry to hear about your email. The picture of the pitcher is gorgeous!
You’re the second person who’s thought it was a pitcher. It’s actually a very big mug. 🙂 I love putting a ton of tea or coffee in it.
Oh. I’m so sorry to hear you were hacked. What a huge invasion of privacy. Hackers are so strange.
Gorgeous photo! I love that mug, and now I’ll have to check out the Etsy site!
Thanks, Maura. I’ll never understand hackers.
I totally sympathize with you! This happened to me last fall. The hacker deleted all of my contacts, sent mail and inbox mail. And it was an account I used everyday. So frustrating trying to recreate it all. Luckily I had recently imported all of my contacts to another address. At least I didn’t lose those permanently.
And I *heart* Etsy too!
Wow, that’s terrible. I guess I got off easy compared to that. I need to print out a list of contacts in case this ever happens again.
I don’t understand why people do this type of thing. Must give them a sense of power? I’m only guessing. I do like your mug a lot. etsy is really a treasure trunk. I haven’t ordered anything yet but been toying with the idea.
The spam was for a crummy website selling all kinds of junk. Thank heaven it wasn’t child pornography.
Not only is this mug beautiful, it’s dishwasher and microwave safe! I did some digging around and found the vendor:
http://etsy.me/gfvLZj
The colors in this photo are gorgeous. That’s one of the things I love about your pictures…always bright, happy colors 🙂 Sorry you were hacked. Obviously there are people out there who have way too much time on their hands!
Thank you. I’m really looking for bright, light colors these days as it’s pretty brown and drab outside.
Yeah, I think these people are bored and need a little excitement. If only they’d use their expertise for good.