Sunday Morning Coffee #14

This beautiful cup and saucer  come from paper artist, Jennifer Collier, who lives in the UK, and who is our Artist of the Week this time. More about Jennifer shortly.

First, I have something very important to talk to you about . . .

Unless you have been completely cut off from the news lately, you have heard the big to-do about Google’s change in their privacy policy. You may or may not have understood what it all means, but there is something you really should be aware of.

If you have a Google membership – i.e. if you have a gmail account, use Google Reader, or certain blogging platforms and other Google services – EVERY Google search you have ever made is recorded in something called your Search History. The Search History has been there for awhile, but it has not been included in the database of other information Google keeps about you, and makes available to their own and other’s programs at their discretion.  Now, it will be. Stop and think for a moment about how much somebody would know about you from your Google searches.

The short answer to that is “too much”. The long answer is that if you peruse your search history yourself, you will find out stuff about you that you didn’t even know!! So, here is how to empty your Search History and prevent any history recording of your searches in the future. Go to:

http://google.com/history

SIgn-in to your Google account.

Click the button to remove all your Web History. You can look around before you do that if you want to be amazed and disgruntled a bit.

After your history is emptied, click the button to Pause your web history.

That’s all there is to it. Now, you will be the only one who knows what you choose to search for. WHEW!

HOWEVER, every YouTube video you ever watched is also recorded if you have a You Tube account. You can empty and pause that history as well in only a few more steps, which are very well-explained here on Life-Hacker.com:

Hide Your You Tube History

I have been touting Kodak printers since I first got one, I still love them, and would not want to return to any other brand.

The reasons have remained the same: Ink that costs 1/3 as much as others, great photo print quality, great customer service, and a removable, replaceable printhead (free if you send the worn out one back in.)

When I read about the Kodak bankruptcy, I was saddened that Kodak would no longer be a photography super-power, but I was also very worried about the future of my love affair with the Kodak all-in-one printers. Would I get unceremoniously dumped?

So, it is with great relief that I tell you that not only is Kodak not dumping their printers, they are making printing the number one priority for the company. Mostly because commercial printing supplies float a large part of their financial boat, but they have updated their desktop printers as well, with the new Hero line.

I needed an extra printer, so I bought the Hero 3.1 at Staples, and I love it.

One very cool improvement is that the paper feed now runs on a straight track. The paper tray is now on top and sits almost vertical, and the straight pass through means the paper does not have to wind around a set of rollers. This avoids a lot of paper jams with heavier stocks like photo paper.

And another great addition is enhanced wireless capability. Since the second generation, Kodak AIOs have been wireless (and the set-up is instant and easy – on a Mac anyway), but now there is the ability to print wirelessly from your mobile device – by emailing the printer! I haven’t tried that set-up yet, but I will be as soon as I can find a spare minute or two lying around.

I was in a hurry, of course, and so I bought my Hero 3.1 from Staples, and I learned a good thing. I first checked availability for my local store on Staples.com. There, I found the printer for $99 and  the information that Staples stores will price match with “certain” websites. And Amazon was on that list! At that time, the printer was $89 on Amazon, so I printed off the proof, took it to my Staples store, and they matched the price! I was happy.

Artist of the Week

I love Jennifer Collier’s work, I love her elegant website, her painstaking attention to detail, and I love her description of her “practice”:

“My practice focuses on creating work from paper; by bonding, waxing, trapping and stitching

I produce unusual paper ‘fabrics’, which are used to explore the ‘remaking’ of household objects.

The papers are treated as if cloth, with the main technique employed being stitch; a contemporary twist on traditional textiles.

The papers themselves serve as both the inspiration and the media for my work, with the narrative of the books and papers suggesting the forms.”

The Galleries on Jennifer’s site work with a slider which moves you through viewing the pieces. You will thoroughly enjoy your visit (check out the Garments Gallery – I love the gloves).

Jennifer Collier

 

Outside my Door . . .

If you follow me on Twitter (@jessicawesolek), you have seen this. I love making art on my iPad, so I set myself a challenge – to find something that is worth drawing on any particular day, and draw it. (I did not challenge myself to do this every day, of course).

But, most days, between my online business, my gallery business, and my Amazon addiction, I trip over something like this pile when I try to go out my front door. I never see it as overly attractive, so  I thought if I paid more attention to it – by drawing it as a pretty thing – I could see its potential beauty. And it worked – I grew found of these  battered boxes.

Sealed packages are a generally happy icon in our culture – the surprise element and all. We don’t pay much attention to them before we rip them to shreds, so I thought they deserved at least a moment of glory.

I hope you all have a splendid Sunday.

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