Technology and I are not getting along.
My WordPress blog – which I have had since 2009 (am v. old) – is now suddenly not working correctly. The platform claims that I am trying to access WordPress via an unsupported browser, but when I click on the list of supported browsers, the link does not work. If I google which browsers support/are supported by WordPress, I am assured that Safari, which I use, is in fact fully supported. Do I have to update it or something? Maybe. But that opens a whole other can of worms wherein my computer claims it has no memory left and then I spent 80 hours trying to clear everything off of my hard drive even though the portion of the bar graph that is taking up the most memory is invisible stuff I cannot access or erase.
While we’re badmouthing WordPress – which I don’t WANT to do; I have been happy with it these long years – it is also doing a thing where I will create a post and then suddenly it says there has been an unexpected error and I cannot access the post nor edit it. There is no further information offered; none of the buttons next to this message go anywhere or do anything. Well. This finally justifies my long habit of writing posts in Word first, and then copy/paste-ing them into my blog – and I have not lost any content as of yet. But it is STILL ANNOYING.
On to the next grouse: There is too much spam. Many of my blog followers are spam accounts. I delete them and they sign right back up. Why? Why? What are you getting out of following my blog, moneybiz2020 and Buy CBD Oils UK?
Bots are constantly following my Instagram account, too. They are all the same: names like “the_agile_walrus893” and then there’s a profile image of a beautiful young woman who has a very American-Sitcom-Character-type name and lists her Totally Normal City and her astrological sign and something Totally Normal (umbrella lover! anorak collecter! beet sniffer!) about her. And then the account is filled with dozens of exotic travel photos – featuring zero people who look remotely similar to the woman pictured in the profile – and the photo captions are always emojis. And the bots follow lots of people! And lots of people follow the bot accounts! And I delete/block them every time I see them but ARRRRGGGGHHHH. Why? WHY? What in the name of Jeff Bezos are the bots getting out of these interactions?????????
And I am getting TONS of spam emails lately, too. Not just the normal emails from Athleta and my local library and Barnes & Noble – the ones I signed up for, which nonetheless sometimes feel like spam. But emails from websites I definitely did not visit nor give my information to. Like GQ Magazine. Or some life insurance company I may have requested a quote from once, via telephone, a literal DECADE ago. Clicking unsubscribe, of course, does NOTHING. The emails keep coming.
I don’t have a photo of my inbox because I think you might faint if you see the number of unread emails I have.
Somehow I accidentally clicked the Apple TV app on my computer and now it refuses to leave. I have regular quit. I have force quit. I have turned my computer off and on again. It is always in the background, doing… whatever it is doing. (Something nefarious, I’m sure.)
Likewise with Adobe Flash Player. It constantly pops up on my desktop even though I SWEAR I have deleted it from my hard drive multiple times. It’s hiding somewhere deep in my computer, though, and I cannot root it out, and it keeps popping up and telling me to update.
Speaking of updates: My password manager asks me to update it weekly. At least. HOW does it require so many updates? HOW? And why? Just pick a version and stick with it! For a month, at least! (Edited to add: After I drafted this and tried to shut down my computer, the password manager asked me to update it again. It reads my blog, y’all. SIGH. I did it, but we’ll see how long it lasts.)
Last grouse (at least, for today): when I go to the Instagram website via my laptop, it quite frequently pretends as though I have asked it to display something mythical and non-existent. I am simply typing “Instagram.com” in the browser and hitting enter so please do not pretend like this a site that does not exist.
If I didn’t use technology every second of every day, I would say goodbye so fast…
Things should WORK. This has long been a pet peeve of mine. I always opt for the lowest technology thing I possibly can (my husband runs through wireless computer mice (mouses?) all the time and I am still using my plug in one from 2005) because I feel strongly that the more working parts something has, the more there is to break. And that goes for you too, websites! Stop being incredibly complex and just WORK.
YES. I was Very Grouchy Indeed to give up my 2003 Honda a couple of years ago, because while it was a stick shift and still had a tape player, at least it didn’t ignore me when I asked it for directions or straight up refuse to connect to my phone. BECAUSE IT COULDN’T.
It sounds like you need to update Safari – why you dislike Chrome is a mystery to me since I love it. At any rate, as for the no memory issue. I’m assuming you are using a Mac, right? Unfortunately, I’m not a Mac user, so I can’t tell you how you might be able to clean things up BUT for a PC you can run a disk optimization and a defrag (sounds scary and technical, but really it’s not.) Somewhere in your settings you should find it, I would think.
Also, in the event the computer is on it’s last legs; buy an external hard drive (my preference is a plug n play model – connects via USB port) and move any and all important documents/pictures to the hard drive; I recommend this even if it’s not on it’s last legs. In my opinion, you don’t need to keep any sensitive data or treasured photos on your personal computer; for your own peace of mind and security.
And yes, things should JUST work without us having to jump through hoops to make it work. I know how frustrating it is. Crossing my fingers that you get it resolved.
I’m with you on expecting things to work and make sense, and am so frustrated when they don’t. I love that grouse photo, it does look affronted.
I have had that issue with wordpress as well. I haven’t for a while – knock wood – but when I do I have no idea what to do. It will just randomly tell me that I can’t edit whatever post, and then the next day it’s fine. WHY.
I have also had that problem with instagram; if I look at it on my desktop it’s hit or miss. I can’t post photos at all from my desktop and I often can’t “like” a post. Sometimes it gives me that exact message and tells me to go back to instagram. WHAT IS HAPPENING.
Ugh. I hate when things don’t work.
Speaking of not working – well more like, distracted (as in, me) . . . I opened your blog in a window on my desktop and I just came across this post today. Holy buckets this sounds annoying. I wish I had a suggestion but I’m ultra clueless when it comes to technology. Spam is the worst and I often wonder WHAT ON EARTH? I don’t get it. The names of those ‘bloggers’. Goodness.