It's not a bug - it's a feature!

[Kathi Lake]

Those of you that know me know that I'm a research & development engineer at a high-tech company. I love my job of thinking up cool stuff and then bringing it to market. One of the areas we are getting into is multimedia players that you hook up to your TV. I was testing one out today and found a really cool 'feature.'

My phone was dying. Luckily, it takes the standard USB mini plug to charge it. So I found a cable and looked for a place to plug it in. Believe it or not, of the eight or so computers in my office/lab, I could find no USB port that was unused that didn't involve crawling around on the carpet (and these are brand new pants! :)). Luckily, one of my new video devices has two USB ports for adding external storage, etc. So, I plugged my phone in and went to lunch.

After a nice leisurely lunch and a visit to Ulta to wish a friend a happy birthday and drop off a card, I came back to see a nice-looking woman staring at me from the TV screen (well, from a distance she was cute. I'm nearsighted). I thought it was kind of like the 'default' picture that comes with picture frames, but I soon realized when I thought, "Hey, I have that same dress!" that the 'cute' woman on the screen was me. Crapcrapcrap! Apparently, my new little gizmo has a feature they didn't tell me about in the design specs - when you connect a device, it automatically searches for picture files, and displays them as a slideshow on the TV as a sort of plasma display anti burn-in feature.

Up until then, I had kinda forgotten about the pictures on my phone. I thought about deleting them a month or so ago when my daughter found them (she's always changing the backgrounds on my computer, iPad, phone, etc. to pictures of her). I'm thinking about deleting them really, really hard right now. :)

Going through the images, it's about a mix of 10% kid pictures (blurry close-ups of the cat, etc.), 20% family pictures, and 70% Kathi pictures. So, now I get to wonder just who and how many saw them/talked about them. I guess I'll find out when I see who compliments me on my fashion sense here at work. Life is funny, isn't it - especially when you're a doofus.

:)

Kathi

[Lori B]

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/158083/158083,1276762513,3/stock-vector-delete-button-55420390.jpg http://celestinechua.com/blog/images/posts/delete.jpg http://www.dreamstime.com/pushing-delete-button-thumb8576813.jpg

[AKAMichelle]

Great Feature. Now you will have to wonder if people recognize you or think that the pictures were of your sister. :D

[Kathi Lake]

Great Feature. Now you will have to wonder if people recognize you or think that the pictures were of your sister. :DIf they did, I'm sure they'd say, "Wow, your sister sure shops a lot! I hope she married a rich guy!"

:)

Kathi

[Dana921]

Well that is one way to come out at work! Heehee! Probably no one was really looking and I doubt they would know that was you. Even though we can think it is obvious, usually most folks will not see through the make up! Maybe just turn the phone off while charging? Of course, thinking positively, some one from the fashion or make up industry may have just found their newest model!

Dana

[the_me]

Let this be a lesson to everyone, watch what strange devices you plug your phones into!

I'm curious about what brand of phone it was too? From the sounds of it, it was an iPhone, am I wrong?

[susand262]

I saw the title to the thread and had to check it out. I am a computer programmer (presently unemployed) and use that line a lot. I know that had to be embarrasing and i feel bad about laughing, but it was funny. Years ago, before my wife knew, I left a picture up on my computer for a couple of hours. When I found it I was so worried that my wife or daughter saw it. But apparently they did not.

[Miranda09]

Gee Kathi...that sounds like something I might do!!!!! :haha::facepalm:

[TxKimberly]

ROFL Good luck Kathi!

[Eryn]

It's scary when our technology thinks it knows better what we want it to do than we do!

[PretzelGirl]

Just tell them you downloaded the pics from a WHBM contest.

Having them on the phone is okay, but maybe it is time to consider a vault program?

[Loni]

they make these gizmos that you can store your photos on, this way the photos can be removed from the phone and you still have them to look at when you need to.

.

[Sara Jessica]

Shaking my head smiling...this sort of thing only happens to Kathi! So how "out" aren't you at this point??? :)

[Chickhe]

Watch out for Windows 7 and the latest IE too! Silly browser shows your most accessed sites on the new tab window and windows with their library folders displays all your content for anyone looking to see... very frustrating, because I always thought a file structure was for filing stuff away so you didn't have to look at it all the time. You will know is anyone saw your images and put 2+2 togther if they start calling you Kathy or invite you out for lunch with the girls.

[VeronicaMoonlit]

Those of you that know me know that I'm a research & development engineer at a high-tech company.

Yep.


Luckily, one of my new video devices has two USB ports for adding external storage, etc. So, I plugged my phone in and went to lunch.

And if you plug a phone into a computer (which is what those devices are, special purpose computers) how does the computer see the device? As Mass Storage!


Apparently, my new little gizmo has a feature they didn't tell me about in the design specs - when you connect a device, it automatically searches for picture files, and displays them as a slideshow on the TV as a sort of plasma display anti burn-in feature.

It probably only checks certain folders. For example, if you want to use a PS3 to browse pictures on an external device and go into the Photo section of the Cross Media Bar it goes into "PICTURE" on the external device ... looking in other folders requires a couple more button pushes.


Up until then, I had kinda forgotten about the pictures on my phone.

Not the first time.


I thought about deleting them a month or so ago when my daughter found them (she's always changing the backgrounds on my computer, iPad, phone, etc. to pictures of her).

Still haven't told us the full daughter-telling story yet. :-)


I'm thinking about deleting them really, really hard right now. :)

Just move them from DCIM to another folder.


So, now I get to wonder just who and how many saw them/talked about them.

Maybe no one. :-)

Veronica

[Kathi Lake]

I'm curious about what brand of phone it was too?Believe it or not, it's just a cruddy old Motorola phone. Heck, it's so old, it has a rotary dial! :) Actually, I'm just a tightwad. My cell plan is $16.00 a month - grandfathered from when I first signed up with T-Mobile (then VoiceStream) in 1994, I think - and I don't want to pay more.


. . . maybe it is time to consider a vault program?Yeah, yeah, yeah. (grumble, grumble) :)


So how "out" aren't you at this point??? :)Well, I've been making a mental list of the women at the company that don't know. It's getting kind of slim. The latest one wants me to dress up, and wants to do my makeup at Halloween.


. . . or invite you out for lunch with the girls.Oh, I already get that. It started with my admin (and another guy with the nickname "Metro"), and continued. Now "the girls" (which includes me) go out on Wednesdays to lunch. I think it's mainly due to my stories. It's amazing how spellbound they get when I tell them some of the things I do for my wife. Honestly, you'd think that their men never did anything for these women! :)


how does the computer see the device? As Mass Storage!I knew that, but I didn't think that it would crawl all over the place to find the pictures. It's tenacious! The images are about three levels down from the root, and still it found them.


Still haven't told us the full daughter-telling story yet. :-)Yeah, I know. My friend, when I told her that my daughter now knew, asked me if my wife knew that my daughter knew. I had to sheepishly admit that she didn't. She kind of lambasted me for making her keep a secret like that from her mother. That kind of took the wind out of my sails for a bit. I'm sure that in time I will post about it. We're kind of planning a girly day this week, so we'll see.

Kathi

[donnalee]

These are known as "unadvertised features"; the equipment for sale has no 'bugs". :brolleyes:

[Kathi Lake]

That may be true, Donnalee. I'm sure that the "feature" will stay, especially as I don't know if I can explain to the manufacturer just how I found it - my Chinese is rusty.

:)

Kathi

[SherriePall]

I don't know, Kathi. This may rank right up there with your entering that contest under your male name.

[NyssaF]

That was brilliant, Kathi. Absolutely, positively *brilliant*!!! I <3 it!

[Jilmac]

Don't be too hard on yourself Kathi, enjoy the feedback if and when it comes.

[Kathi Lake]

Thanks Jill, but I'm not that hard on myself. Like Sara, I tend to smile and shake my head a lot at myself. I am a doofus, though maybe that's part of my charm.

:)

Kathi

[Sarah Doepner]

It's amazing how spellbound they get when I tell them some of the things I do for my wife. Honestly, you'd think that their men never did anything for these women! :)

Kathi

Kathi, that may be the case. Through her career my wife worked with dozens of other teachers on her grade level and I was the nearly the only husband who ever regularly showed up to help her at school. I was one of two or three who ever made it to any of the socials (other than Christmas) and we were one of 3 couples still married to the same spouse when she retired. There are a lot of guys who have a wife as an accessory, not a partner. Of course many of these guys end up trading that accessory for alimony and later wonder what happened.

[Persephone]

Kathy! I am shocked! I can't believe that a high-tech/high-touch girl like you would go to lunch without her cellphone! That was the most startling thing in your post!

What could you have been thinking? How you would have felt if while you were at lunch you'd gotten a call about a sale at Black/White or something???

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Kathi Lake]

Kathy! I am shocked! I can't believe that a high-tech/high-touch girl like you would go to lunch without her cellphone! That was the most startling thing in your post!
Persephone.Ya know, it's funny. People sometimes ask me "Do you ever carry your cell phone/answer your phone/turn your cell phone on/return your messages?" I admit it; for the techie I am, I just don't get cell phones. Yes, I have one, and have had one for years, but I prefer face-to-face communication (plus, my rate plan is cheap - 60 minutes per month for $16.00!). I use my cell phone for quick check-ins to my wife and my kids. I use it to ask if we need anything at the store on the way home. I use it to text (sparingly) my son to find out if he's done with soccer practice. It's odd, but modern communications technology and I just don't get along. Heck, l I don't even have call-waiting. I feel that if you call me and you get a busy signal, you at least know I'm home, and will call back later.

So, I just guess I'm just an old-fashioned girl. Of course, I'm an old-fashioned girl with a valid e-mail account and voicemail. Wouldn't want to miss those WHBM sale notifications, would I? :)

Kathi

[SuzanneBender]

Its ok to be a dofus as long as you can be cute while you are doing it and you do it so well.

[Kathi Lake]

Its ok to be a doofus as long as you can be cute while you are doing it and you do it so well.Awwwww. Thanks! Sometimes I wonder if I should get a blonde wig as I am so ditzy sometimes. I get myself into situations only a blond would, it seems - like Lucy Ricardo.

:)

Kathi

[Persephone]

I get myself into situations only a blond would, it seems - like Lucy Ricardo.

Hmmmmm, Kathi, you must not have received the update on your cell phone -- Lucy was a redhead.




(O.K., O.K., yes, I do know the genetics; that red hair requires underlying blonde genes).

[Eryn]

(O.K., O.K., yes, I do know the genetics; that red hair requires underlying blonde genes).

Or a fantastic colorist! :D

[Kathi Lake]

Lucy was a redhead.Well, when I originally watched the show, it was in black and white. Since her hair wasn't black on the TV, I assumed she was a blond. Either that or I was having another blonde moment! :)

Kathi

[Persephone]

Well, when I originally watched the show, it was in black and white. Since her hair wasn't black on the TV, I assumed she was a blond. Either that or I was having another blonde moment! :) Kathi

Hmmmmmmm, an early childhood spent watching black and white television. I guess that could explain your special relationship with White House/Black Market.

You know, sorta like incubator babies become fascinated by blinking lights and turn into pinball machine players.

Hugs,
Persephone.

[helena.gcd]

your story is like one of my biggest fears. I travel with my macbook and use it also for work when i'm abroad. I have two users defined and i fear that one day i would forget to switch between them and someone would found a ton of pics of me when the screensaver starts.

but i must admit that when i first read the title, i thought that this would be a story of you defending your crossdressing by telling someone that CDing is not a bug on a male, but a great new feature, like a MAN v2.0!!!!! :)

anyway, i enjoyed the reading.

[Mary Morgan]

And like you are not even like a blonde, totally!

[Kathi Lake]

Hmmmmmmm, an early childhood spent watching black and white television. I guess that could explain your special relationship with White House/Black Market.Persephone.Oh my gosh!! It totally makes sense now! It's not my love of simple, yet classic fashion that compels me, it's a lifetime of black & white TV that's to blame. :)


. . . CDing is not a bug on a male, but a great new feature, like a MAN v2.0!!!!! :)You know, you totally have something there! Man 2.0 - a new species that is not afraid to bust out of their structured, stifling social norms. May we be so enlightened someday. :)


And like you are not even like a blonde, totally!Oh, but I am. Fer sure! Totally!! Those of you that have seen my real hair know that I am wayyyy blonde. In fact, I started going blonde in High School. Sure, some might call it 'gray' but since we live in a world of binaries, if it ain't black, it's blonde. :)

Kathi

[shayleetv]

Kathi, Kathi, Kathi! What an interesting life you lead. I'm in the same boat as far as cell phones are concerned, minimal use of the tech available. My wife on the other hand has to have all the whiz-bang stuff. Four years ago she wanted to up grade to a Blackberry because of the texting she was doing to keep in touch with a hearing impaired member of the family, so she got me one too. I'm so basic that I only use the phone to call in and keep in touch for short calls. After I read about your minimized use of your calls I checked my minutes for the last 3 months. A total of 23 minutes charged to my cell phone.
I can store photos on my phone but never bothered to find out how. I guess I don't have to worry about outing myself that way. I just have to watch my words that I choose to use; too much girly words. I have had a number of men and women who have said to me, "I have never heard a man use 'cute' about his clothes like you do." Oh well, we all have our flaws that sometimes out us. Maybe it's Freudian, blond or just who we are.

[Mistybtm]

there should be a feature that you can set in your phone when hooked up to usb for charge only . I have this in my Droidx phone.

[Babeba]

Thanks for the smile, Kathi!!!! :-) I hope it didn't end up too embarrassing for you, sometimes you sound like the crossdressing version of Dave from the Vinyl Cafe with all the scrapes you get yourself into!

[rocketscientist]

:heehee:Do WHAT so well? Being a doofus? LOL ROTFLMAO!


Its ok to be a dofus as long as you can be cute while you are doing it and you do it so well.

Sorry. Couldn't resist. LOL. I do so love your stories though,always makes me chuckle. Thanks for just being "YOU". Hugs,Tonya:battingeyelashes:

[Kathi Lake]

I hope it didn't end up too embarrassing for you, sometimes you sound like the crossdressing version of Dave from the Vinyl Cafe with all the scrapes you get yourself into!I've never seen Vinyl Cafe, but I can imagine the character you mentioned. Yeah, I'm probably like that. My schemes have often been describes as 'harebrained' and I seem to get into odd situations a lot. I'm fine with that, for it has led to me living an interesting and very wonderful life.


:heehee:Do WHAT so well? Being a doofus? Thanks for just being "YOU".Yes. Being a doofus seems to be what I do best. As for being me, I think I'll continue as I'm quite good at it by now, though it did take awhile to get used to it.

:)

Kathi

[Christina Horton]

Kathi.... You know what I think.....I think you do this on propose so you'll be fully outed .




Well at least sub-Consciously anyway. :DI have never slipped up like you have or at all.... I have told strangers and friends and family. You should count all the times you have (slipped UP) and tell us how many times over the years. I bet it's more the 10 LOL.

I think that if your wife was OK with it you could come out at work and you'd be fine. And you might be able to dress at work....But that's another story........

[linda allen]

they make these gizmos that you can store your photos on, this way the photos can be removed from the phone and you still have them to look at when you need to..

Computers? :heehee:

My photos are on a password protected USB thumb drive that's kept in a drawer with a couple other thumb drives. It has a mark that I can identify it with.

So far, I haven't left any on the cameras. I seldom use my phone for photos, the camera works much better.

[Kathi Lake]

Kathi.... You know what I think.....I think you do this on propose so you'll be fully outed. Well at least sub-Consciously anyway.You know what I think? I think you may be right. Part of me wants to get this over with. Part of me wants to stop being relegated to "when I have the time and opportunity" and be me when I darn well feel like it. Luckily, it's a small part of me - at least for now.


I seldom use my phone for photos, the camera works much better.Well, we have one camera. My wife often takes it for her trips to medical conferences, since they're usually in beautiful areas. So I'm left with my camera phone. I used to think that they were pretty secure as I have them in a directory that you can't access from the phone's interface. Experience has shown that to be incorrect.

:)

Kathi