If you’re like me, and there are millions of us, you simply cannot reconcile yourself to staying on Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads). And while there is no Faceook shaming here – I understand how spectacularly Meta has been in making itself seem indispesable to our lives – it is dead to me. I, too, thought for years that I had to stay for family and friends, but the reality for a long time was that I only saw posts from about a dozen people, and very few ever “liked” mine or engaged with me in any meaningful way. Facebook wants us to pay for that by “boosting” posts. Uh, no.

I somehow made it 50 years without Facebook, and guess what? I haven’t missed it for five minutes. There is something deeply illusory about social media, and the people who create it know this.

Given that I enjoy dispensing pearls to swine and other creatures I value for their intelligence (pigs are really smart), I’m on Bluesky, and I have reactived my Tumble for photos. If you didn’t know, Tumbler has been around since 2009, but it’s not really microbloggng. It serves peole whose attention span is longer than an influencer’s. I’ll use it for photos only for now, since I have … a website! Enjoy!

– Mark

Gather round, girls and boys. Let me tell you a story … Once upon a time there was a world without Facebook. (Children gasp.) Friends, families and complete strangers stayed in touch with one another …

“How is that possible?” the children ask.

“Well, they emailed each other.”

“What’s email?”

“Don’t interrupt me, little ones. Anyway, they had blogs and websites and even email lists, and they called each other on the telephone.”

“What’s a telephone?”

“… It was a different world, some say a better world, although that’s debatable. But imagine it, girls and boys, a world where human beings communicated, and anyone you called a friend was really a friend.”

Fasten your headphones for another MWA-NY member interview. Ann Aptaker is the author of the Cantor Gold series, featuring the irrepressible Cantor Gold, art smuggler and rebel living on the edges in late-1940s New York City. The series currently includes Criminal Gold,  Tarnished Gold, Genuine Gold, Flesh and Gold, and Murder and Gold.

Ann is a Lambda Literary Award (The Lammy) and multiple Goldie Award winner for her popular novels. A native New Yorker, she has earned a reputation as a respected exhibition designer and curator of art during her career in museums and galleries. Exhibitions Ann has curated have garnered favorable reviews in the New York Times, Art in America, American Art Review, and other publications.

Her short stories and essays have appeared in several major anthologies and in other crime and mystery fiction publications and journals. In addition to curating and designing art exhibitions and writing crime stories, Ann is also an art writer and was adjunct professor of art history at the New York Institute of Technology.

I had the pleasure of finally meeting Ann at the MWA-NY annual Holiday Revels gathering in New York City this past December, and I couldn’t wait to speak to her again for this interview.

Are you a MWA-NY member? Would you be interested in an interview for this feature? Contact interviews AT mwany.org for information. – Mark McNease/Comms Team

I wanted to make a short introductory video for visitors, curious, and drive-bys to see what I look and sound like, and to get an idea of what Your Write Path is all about. – Mark McNease

I received an email from my own account informing me I was a pervert and they had video to prove it. It had indeed come from my account so I logged in, fished around and found an activity log I didn’t know existed. What I saw was alarming. Nefarious people are constantly trying to hack us – or at least me – so I immediately changed all my email passwords (I have several accounts) and set up 2-step verification. As annoying as it may seem, having to get a code on my phone or at an alternate email is actually a very good security measure.

If you can check the activity with your email account, you may be startled. We have to have layers of security these days. Be prepared to gasp if you views your activity log and see this kind of thing, and take measures now to prevent hackers from being successful.

Here are some essential tools to enhance your email and password security:

1. Use Strong Passwords

Create strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts. A robust password typically contains a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters, and is at least 12 characters long. Avoid using easily guessable information, such as birthdays or common words.