How’s that for gratitude…
March 19, 2024, 9:23 AM
Some people, I just don’t understand. I had been involved in a Facebook group called “You know you’re from Gaithersburg, Maryland if”. The group’s purpose was to share nostalgic content about Gaithersburg, Maryland, which is the town right next to Montgomery Village, where I live. However, the group had extremely lax moderation, and by “extremely lax”, I mean “none”, as there was no one keeping an eye on things to make sure that good posts were getting through and off-topic or spam posts were being removed. As a result, most of the group’s content consisted of advertisements for moving companies, air duct cleaning, gutter replacement, furniture cleaning, carpet cleaning, and car detailing. In other words, it was spam city. The only reason that I stayed in the group was to maybe get a piece of historic Gaithersburg content. After all, I was in the group in the first place because I was interested in getting a bit of local history from the perspective of locals. I’ve only been familiar with Gaithersburg since 2007, and have only lived in the Gaithersburg area since 2017. So as far local history goes, I’ve only been around to witness a small slice of it. I rely on other people to provide the rest.
Then one day this past December, while Elyse and I were out having lunch, I got a notification from Facebook saying that they wanted to promote me to admin of this group because the group had no active admins. In other words, what I had suspected was true: the existing group admins had taken a permanent lunch break, so Facebook picked someone from amongst the membership to run the group. I just had to tap “accept” on my phone, and they handed me the keys to the castle. All of a sudden, I was in charge of a group in which I had been a somewhat passive participant for several years.
Continue reading…Categories: Gaithersburg, Social media, Some people
A little adventure in Virginia, mostly in the woods…
October 6, 2022, 8:06 AM
From September 13-15, Elyse and I had a little weekend adventure in Virginia, where we went down to Augusta County stayed in Staunton like we usually do. This one was a little different than most because it was partly a solo adventure. Prior to this trip, Elyse had been down in Roanoke attending to business related to a nonprofit that she volunteers with, so she traveled up from there on Amtrak, and we met up in Charlottesville. My original plan was to go the easterly route down, taking I-95 to Fredericksburg and then taking Route 3, Route 20, US 15, and a few other routes that would take me through Locust Grove, Orange, and Gordonsville. However, at the last minute, I had a change of heart, deciding that (A) I didn’t feel like wading through traffic on the Beltway or 95, (B) that easterly track would get me to Charlottesville far too early, meaning that I would have to kill time before Elyse would arrive, and (C) I had ideas that necessitated taking other routes. So I took the westernmost route, which primarily utilizes I-81, and took the “alternate” version of that, which goes through Harpers Ferry and Charles Town in West Virginia via US 340, and then taking Route 7 to meet I-81 in Winchester. Yes, I’m going north to head south, but the distance and time for going out to Harpers Ferry is almost the same as it is to go through Northern Virginia on I-66, so it works.
My first point of interest was a relatively obscure sign in the middle of a field in Verona:
Image: Google Street View
Categories: Afton Mountain, Augusta County, Blue Ridge Parkway, Charlottesville, Nature, Recreation/Exercise, Some people, Staunton, Staunton Mall, Stuarts Draft, Travel, Vintage business, Waynesboro
Let me play a sad song for you on the world’s smallest violin…
October 29, 2021, 9:36 AM
Do you remember about a month or so ago, when I made that Journal entry about Jeremy Jones, the guy who used several of my photos in an infringing manner, and lost his Twitter account for it? He recently came back to badger me via Messenger one more time, and this time, unlike the silence that I had been giving him after my first response where I said that the matter was already resolved, I let him have it. I told him that his losing his Twitter account was not my problem, that calling my parents in search of me was completely out of line, and I included the link to the earlier Journal entry.
I got a rather long-winded response to that message, and the sense that I got was that he had no real argument, and this was mostly an attempt to verbally lick his wounds in order to make himself feel better after being told in a definitive manner that I wasn’t playing:
Hey Ben,
Appreciate the response. I respect your decision, didn’t really know that you felt that way but I understand now. If you’re open to it, I’d like to explain how I feel about this situation now.
I think in the future you should try to be more compassionate and really understand what’s going on before writing me off because the way that you describe some of these things in the article are simply not true. For instance, this happens to be my first rodeo because the claims that people made would goto a specific email and those emails have all been deleted. So because of that I wasn’t able to be notified about any claims made against my account nor have the proper way to get in contact. On top of that I had ZERO KNOWLEDGE that using other people images was even an issue and I’m sure that’s hard for you to believe because you’re in the photography industry but it’s 100% true and is also 100% my fault for not knowing. Secondly, it does mean this much to me.. it took me time to get in contact with you because I don’t have the emails associated with the claims, I found yours on a site called lumendatabase.org and that’s how I reached out. I’m sure you don’t care about this stuff but in no way was I malicious in my intent to use your photos if anything I used your photos because they were a great way to represent what we were posting about at the time. I would normally read a story, goto google, save a picture and post it not even knowing what I was doing. Thirdly, I can’t believe that you would assume that me offering to help you in return isn’t genuine. I’m not even sure how you’d come to that conclusion. I was always taught to bring something to the table when asking and I was simply doing that in a very genuine way. I had plans and ways that I could help for the mishap. But that’s neither here no there, I respect your decision and I will no longer contact you. Thanks for your time.
Categories: Copyright infringement, Some people
When I say no, I actually do mean no…
September 14, 2021, 2:32 PM
We’ve all been taught the meaning of “no” before, as well as the idea of “no means no”, i.e. someone has declined, and that’s the end of it. “No” doesn’t mean “yes, if I am persistent enough.” When I say “no”, I mean it. In the case of Jeremy Jones, who ran the @DMVFollowers Twitter account, I feel like he just couldn’t grasp this concept.
For some background information on this case, DMVFollowers was a Twitter account that posted news about things happening in the Washington, DC area. They typically posted links to news articles, and included a photo with their posts. Their feed looked like this according to an Internet Archive snapshot from January 2018:
Categories: Copyright infringement, Some people
Some people just don’t learn…
February 7, 2021, 10:20 PM
Do you remember Marilyn Armstrong, whom I wrote about a few weeks ago regarding a case of copyright infringement? She came back for a second round. Apparently, she found my Journal entry, and just couldn’t leave well enough alone, going on another rant in the comments:
First of all, NO ONE intentionally took anything. This appeared in a pile of pictures listed by Google as “free for public use.” No name or other information was attached. I didn’t write the piece, I didn’t post the picture and if I want a picture, I use my own since I am also a photographer. One of the people who writes on this blog was just looking for a picture of a building with an orange roof and it came up in that Google collection. I don’t know how ANYONE can figure out whose picture it is when there’s no attached information AND it did not come from your site. I already said I was sorry, that it was accidental, unintentional, non-commercial. Beyond that, you really might consider embedding copyright information in your pictures so people have some way of knowing that the picture is NOT — as Google said — free for public use.
Since I didn’t select OR use the picture personally, and since GOOGLE was the organization that pulled it off your blog and stuck it in a pile of “free for public use” pictures, maybe you should consider going after them. Someone ought to, but they have a lot of money and a lot of lawyers and if the U.S. government can’t get them, I’m pretty sure you can’t and I can’t, so they’ll just keep doing what they do and people like me will get blamed for assuming that they aren’t lying.
Categories: Copyright infringement, Some people
A lot of “teachable moments” in one email…
December 18, 2020, 6:20 PM
Recently, I submitted a takedown notice for content in a post called “Preaching to the Choir” which, among other things, discusses the seventh and ninth commandments in the Bible (conveniently skipping over #8, i.e. “thou shalt not steal”), on a blog called Serendipity Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth. The post contained a photo that I took of the former Howard Johnson’s on Afton Mountain. Specifically, they used this shot:
Categories: Copyright infringement, Some people
I always thought that an important rule of retail was not to get into arguments with your customers…
August 2, 2016, 12:32 PM
Do you ever have those days where some people’s behaviors defy logic? Such is what happened to me at the Giant Food store in Leisure World yesterday. Generally speaking, if someone is handing you money, it’s generally not a good idea to start arguing with them over something minor to the point of losing the sale. It was one of those occasions where I was bothered enough by the treatment to write the company about it. This is what I wrote:
While I was shopping at the Leisure World Giant store, I was very surprised about the treatment that I received from an employee wearing a purple shirt named Ken. I was buying a single item, and, after seeing an older woman go through the Solution Center for checkout with a single item, I followed suit. I was very surprised to hear Ken absolutely refuse to check me out for my one item, citing a policy, for which I was unable to locate signage anywhere in the store, that you can’t check out at the solution center. Ken then proceeded to argue with me over this alleged policy, when it would have taken less time to not argue and just complete the sale. The store ultimately lost the sale on account of Ken, as the item was not worth getting into an argument over. Even more surprising was that, with the checkout lines backed up into the aisle, the solution center does not help relieve the pressure on the regular checkouts when they are backed up, such as was the case today. I have always praised Giant in the past for its level of good customer service, which is generally higher than its peers in the market. I hope that this sort of behavior, with employees who get into arguments with customers over extremely minor things, is not a “new normal” for Giant.
Categories: Giant Food, Shopping, Some people
How stupid do they think that I am?
March 31, 2015, 1:08 AM
I recently received an envelope in the mail that looked like this:
I saw this envelope, with just an address and what appeared to be a handwritten address, and thought “bill”, since this is how I’ve seen some smaller doctors’ offices do billing.
Categories: Companies, Kia Soul, Some people
I made the mistake of commenting intelligently on a thread populated by very ignorant people…
December 12, 2014, 11:07 AM
…and for that, I am filled with regret. I thought that perhaps these people would be able to respond to some level of reason. I was quite wrong on that point. This time, it was on the “Wilson Memorial Hornets Football” page on Facebook. I don’t remember how I ended up landing on this page, since I don’t really care about Augusta County high school sports, but somehow, there I was.
For those not familiar, Wilson Memorial High School is located in Fishersville, Virginia. The school was built at the same time as Stuarts Draft High School, i.e. where I went to high school, and is identical to Stuarts Draft architecturally. The two schools are traditionally rivals, and play each other every year in football, though now, I believe, as an exhibition game, since the two schools are now in different conferences.
This Facebook page for Wilson football, however, has been a bit controversial. On December 6, the page’s owner made the following post:
Categories: Religion, Social media, Some people
“It should be legal to push tourists into the Tidal Basin when they don’t watch where they’re going.”
April 28, 2014, 1:22 PM
One tweet just says it all sometimes, doesn’t it? Such describes my experience on the 13th seeing the cherry blossoms on the Mall. It was my first time doing that, and, as long as I don’t forget about this experience, it will also be the last time that I do that. I was reminded once again that large crowds of tourists tend to get on my nerves very quickly. I was also reminded that I have springtime allergies, as I discovered that putting myself in close proximity to cherry blossoms activates my seasonal allergies.
That said, all of this made my cherry blossom experience something that I was very interested in getting over with not long after I got there. I took Red Line in, and walked over from Metro Center. I believe that this sight, near the Holocaust Museum, should have been my warning that this would not necessarily be a pleasant experience:
Categories: Events, Some people, Washington DC
A lesson on how not to behave on the phone…
March 3, 2014, 11:05 PM
I got a very interesting series of phone calls Saturday night (technically early Sunday morning) beginning around 2:00 AM. Apparently a woman was looking to have pizza delivered from one of the many fine pizza establishments located in the District of Columbia. So she called my phone number. At two in the morning. I believe that the initial call was an honest mistake, but after I told her in no uncertain terms that she had not reached a pizza establishment, she firmly earned her place in the customer hall of shame.
The first call came in at 2:04 AM from a New Jersey number. I ignored the call. After all, it was 2 AM, I was beyond tired, and I didn’t recognize the number. I figured that once the person heard my “You have reached Ben Schumin” voicemail greeting, they would figure out that they had dialed a wrong number. If it did, in fact, end up being for me, they could leave a message, and I would get back with them at my convenience. And if it turned out to be important, I would have called them back right away.
A voicemail came in from the unfamiliar number. It was a woman’s voice, and she was looking for pizza:
Hey, I’m interested in purchasing, um, an order for delivery. Please call me back. My phone number is 201-981-7557. I’ve heard great things, and I’m really looking forward to it. Thank you! Bye. (listen to audio)
This seemed reasonable enough so far. I occasionally get callers who intended to call someone else. The way I figure, I have a Washington DC number, i.e. 202 area code, and being a major city, there are lots of similar phone numbers, and so there must be a pizza place with a number similar to mine. Also, noting that 201 is an area code for New Jersey (more specifically, North Jersey), I wondered if perhaps she misdialed the area code, and meant to dial another 201 number rather than a 202 number. It happens. After quickly verifying online that the number was, in fact, a cell phone, and wanting to let the caller know that she had not reached the place that she had intended (but at the same time, not wanting to actually talk to her), I sent the caller a quick text message at 2:07, saying, “So you know: I think you may have dialed a wrong number. I have no idea what you are referring to regarding orders for delivery.” I figured that would be the end of it, or, at most, get a quick text back apologizing for the mistake.
Categories: Cell phone, Some people
Your Montgomery County tax dollars at work…
May 30, 2013, 6:42 PM
Yes, fellow Montgomery County residents, your tax dollars pay for what I’m about to describe here. First of all, let me show you what the original problem was:
Yep… a bulb on a traffic light is out. This is the corner of Veirs Mill Road and Edmonston Drive in Rockville. It’s the solid green light on the left turn signal for northbound Veirs Mill drivers turning left onto Edmonston (right here). I consider a light out on a left turn signal to be a very serious matter, because in many cases, there’s only one of them, and it has many different combinations that can be displayed that all mean different things. It can be a very dangerous situation if part of that light isn’t working, and therefore unable to signal drivers on how to proceed, since its operation is more complicated than a conventional signal. Plus, there are usually at least two conventional signals at an intersection anyway, so if one is not working, the other one picks up the slack. But when there’s only one left turn signal, it has to be running at 100% all of the time.
Categories: Rockville, Some people
Best grammar lesson ever…
February 6, 2013, 10:26 PM
Sometimes, the best lessons in life are subtle and just sort of fall out of the sky. This is one of them. And also remember a few very important rules of the Internet:
- The rules of proper spelling, capitalization, and punctuation still apply on the Internet.
- There is no privacy on social media, no matter how much you think otherwise.
- The Internet does not forgive, nor does it forget. Once you put it out there, it is out there for everyone to see, and it’s out there forever.
- The average Internet user is not required or otherwise obligated in any way to protect your identity if you say something stupid online.
- It is not a violation of anyone’s privacy to circulate a message posted in a public venue.
That said, you are probably starting to realize one thing: someone is about to get nailed for something that they posted on social media.
You are about to find out why it’s best to use the language the way the rest of us learned how to use it. However, while you may certainly be creative in your ideas and in the ways that you express them, those of us with a healthy respect for the proper usage of the English language request that you please not exercise your creative tendencies when it comes to grammar and spelling.
The incident in question happened on Facebook. It was in response to a public post on the Power Rangers Facebook page. The original post had something to do with Power Rangers Megaforce, and really isn’t too germane to what I’m talking about. I made a comment about the original discussion (I know way too much about Power Rangers, by the way). And then someone else made a post. And it was a real doozy.
Categories: Language, Social media, Some people
This really isn’t rocket science, I promise…
January 10, 2013, 1:28 AM
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the act of placing groceries in bags and giving them back to the customer is really not rocket science. And in Montgomery County, Maryland, a jurisdiction where there is an excise tax on disposable shopping bags, i.e. a financial incentive to use reusable shopping bags, I don’t believe that it is unreasonable of me to think that a grocery store cashier should know how to handle reusable shopping bags. Apparently this is an unreasonable expectation. I went to the Safeway store in Olney this evening after I went swimming, and the cashier did not understand how to handle reusable bags.
This what I bought:
(And for those of you who are wondering, I took this photo in the store with the intention of posting on Instagram.)
Categories: Olney, Safeway, Shopping, Some people
Well, if being civil makes me a Metro apologist…
May 7, 2012, 11:27 PM
So apparently, my being civil and reasonable on the Twitter when it comes to all matters Metro makes me a Metro apologist. Go figure.
Today, you see, I finally decided that enough was enough when it came to certain “transit advocates” on the Twitter, and unfollowed them. Specifically, I unfollowed @MedievalMetro and @unsuckdcmetro. In both of these cases, there may actually be a point somewhere. But that point is lost in all of the other stuff that they post that is somewhat off message. In MedievalMetro’s case, I think that their main thrust is safety and maintenance concerns. However, they come off as ridiculing Metro, rather than making a point. For example, this tweet, discussing a staircase that was barricaded:
That particular one was enough for me to challenge them on it:
Categories: Social media, Some people, WMATA