I deleted my LJ

So I did it. Thank you, promethia for giving me the means to do this without having to sign that frigging user agreement. I'm not sure if you can import content without signing it. I already imported everything, but the posts I've made containing pictures and photos, within the last year. And I don't care about those.

Apparently all you have to do is disable the scripts, which can be done by installing Ghostery. This worked beautifully.

Why did I do it?

I asked Lando, a licensed attorney in NY who has worked with contracts even longer than I have.

Me: So I have a contract issue to ask you about, that has zip to do with work?
Lando: You are getting married?
Me: NO!
Lando: She's announcing her marriage -
Me: No. This is about a user agreement to access a social media site that houses my blog. The only valid version of the agreement is in Russian. And it cites Russian Laws. Should I sign it?
Lando (looks at me as if I've lost my mind): Well that depends, are you a Republican?
Me: No...
Lando: She's a Republican now -
Me: Seriously.
Lando: What's your gut tell you?
Me: Not to sign anything that is in a foreign language and subject to another country's laws.
Lando: Always best to go with your first impression on these things.
Me: What if you had a paid pre-existing account, do you have any recourse?
Lando: Well you can go stand in front of the Trump building and hunt down a Russian lawyer.
Me: I actually I can do that in my own building. And assuming I can find one that didn't jump out of a window -
Lando: But to defend your rights, you'd have to go a Russia court, in Russia. It's best not to pay for social media sites or sign user agreements that you can't read or understand. You're right in walking away.

So, I deleted. I don't trust Russia as far as I can throw them. Also, everything in that contract set off alarm bells -- particularly the clauses citing Russian statutes, and regarding how they could seize or use content, and our responsibility for the authentication of content and it's security. I have an extensive background in internet/digital copyright law, online content licensing, and contract law and that user agreement made me run in the opposite direction. Every copyright specialist and lawyer that I know and have interacted with online and off has had the same reaction.

I suggest, if you have a lj account and have not already done so, that you delete yours as well.

They have a box that asks why you did it. I told them that it was because of the user agreement in Russian, citing Russian laws.

Hasta La Vista, LJ. Been fun, time to mosey on.

Oh, I have an open-friending policy at the moment on DW. I'm pretty much friending everyone who asks. Same name here as there, except no 67. Apparently I was the first shadowkat to arrive, another bonus.

[ETA: Being a contracts professional, I read the user agreements to everything I use. I hate Tumblr by the way and refuse to post on it. Horrible user agreement. FB is actually not bad, it provides privacy rights. But I'm careful on FB. And I've read DW. What is different about these and LJ's is a) they are in English, b) they don't site foreign laws and statutes, c) they don't state that you are responsible for hacking and authentication, d) they aren't in Russia.

It was admittedly easier for me to leave, few people have been commenting on my posts on LJ and most of my friends moved here or stopped blogging. So..]

Wed Reading Meme

1. What I finished reading

Finished reading How to Be a Proper Lady by Katherine Ash

Back to reading historical romance novels after a brief hiatus. I have an itch, it must be scratched. And contemporary romances or contemporary dysfunctional fiction won't do it for me. Will most likely jump back to sci-fi or fantasy again at some point.

I'm stressed at work. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or stressed at work, I read romance novels. Hmmm...been reading a lot of them lately, haven't I? Go on vacation? I read sci-fi. Also am writing sci-fi novels at the moment. (I don't often write in the genre that I read, which is odd, but there it is. And yes, I know this is supposed to be a review and not a blog post.)

Was somewhat disappointed in this one. Love the premise - female privateer sinks male hero privateer's boat. Male hero who is a famous privateer and former pirate, named the Pharaoh, has been hunting female privateer aka heroine for about two years, or thereabouts, in order to pay a debt. Apparently, the male lead from the previous book, which I have yet to read, had saved Jinan, our hero, from slavery when they were both children. So Jinan feels indebted to him. The female privateer, Viola, is the lost sister of the previous book's heroine, who everyone but the previous book's heroine thought was dead. Jinan has decided to return her to her family. Just one small problem, she's a grown woman, captain's her own ship, and has no interest in returning to England or her family. Much hijinks ensue.
( Read more... )

2. What I'm reading Now

Captured by a Rogue Lord by Katherine Ash

Hmmm...at the 50% mark and I want to throw the book against the wall and/or smack all the characters upside the head. This is not a good sign. I'm skimming...A LOT.

The heroine and hero have decent banter. But her sister and his brother are a pair of weak, wet blankets, that I want to smack. And the hero/heroine are incredibly stupid. Add a one-dimensional wicked stepmother and a weak father...and well, like I said, one frustrating little read. We'll see if I finish it.

The premise? Alex Savege aka Pirate Redstone, spends half his time stealing from wealth English Lords who deserve to be parted with their cash, and the other half on his estate in Devon. He's a reluctant Lord, who feels responsible for his twin brother's war injury and other ailments. The Twin Brother is feeling sorry for himself because he was crippled in the WAR. I actually saw that story done better elsewhere. Can't remember where. But no matter. It's his fraternal twin brother. Serena Carlyse is firmly placed on the shelf at the ripe old age of 25. (I kid you not. Which is why I prefer historicals to contemporaries, because I can buy that sort of thing in a historical. Yes, contemporary novelists try to pull it off too, it does not work.) Much like the first novel that I read, albeit not the first in the series (I'm reading them out of order), the heroine is NOT a virgin. (Nice change of pace that, also allows the hero to engage in a lot sexual congress with her, without worrying about her virginity, since hello, already been compromised, or marrying her right off the bat. I still, however, find it unrealistic that an honorable hero would be shagging an unmarried lady, that he respects, prior to marrying her in the early 1800s or 1700s...seems a bit off, somehow. But hey, it's a romance. You hand wave these sorts of things.

Anyhow...the heroine is chaperoning her wet between the ears, limp as a biscuit, but apparently beautiful step-sister, Charity. Who is hardly charitable, and seems to be more Weepy, than anything else. All this girl does is sob, cling to her sister, whine, and flutter her lashes. Charity's evil mother, Davina, has decided she must be betrothed to Lord Alex Savege, the Earl. Why? I've no clue.
Apparently she can't find a better match? But she is willing to do anything, even though her daughter is clearly terrified of Lord Savege (again no idea why, although Charity appears to be afraid of her own shadow), and cares for Saveg's injured brother.

Davina sets up a scenario where they'll get caught kissing, which forces him to ask for her hand. (This makes no sense. It's clearly set up. The girl goes from being injured to not injured at all in seconds. And throws herself at him. They are caught in exactly one kiss. Considering Serena lost her virginity to a man who married another, I honestly don't see why anyone pushed it. If I were his Lordship, I'd cry foul and say, uh no. It was just one kiss. I've done more with Serena, so since I compromised her, I marrying her. My brother will may the bubble of tears, since he clearly likes her. But alas, he doesn't because he's afraid of hurting Serena. As a result everyone caters to the Dragon Lady, Davina...who honestly I just want to smack.)

I'm told the other books are better.