Yes, this was a scam!

Hewlett Packard (HP) SCAM ALERT!!!!

This happened to us. This is not anecdotal. It did not happen to my brother’s cousin’s, uncle’s, girlfriend.  It happened to us.

I am having problems getting a working magenta cartridge for my HP printer. I have ordered 4 from 4 different places, all bad.

I contacted HP and did an iChat with someone. She could not help and passed me onto “tech support”. She said if they did not take my call in 2 minutes I should call a number that she gave me. I did notice that the number she gave me was different from the tech support number she was forwarding me to.

Of course they did not call me in 2 minutes, so I called them. I talked to Paul Smith who was in California, although he did sound like he was in India and that was probably not his name.

He asked to screen share (which always makes me uneasy) but I let him. He ran some diagnostics and told me that I had a Trojan horse on my home network (IP address) and that all 10 of our products were infected and that was the problem. And from the diagnostics my computer was due to crash soon and I would lose all my information.

I had never heard of such a thing but then I don’t know why I can’t get a working magenta cartridge either.

Eventually he said that he had a product that could fix it… 1 year for $249.99 and 3 years for $369.99 etc.

By then I asked John to get on the call. It had been an hour; Paul Smith was aggressive and would continuously talk over me. Thankfully John stepped in and talked over him and ended the call.

This morning I called Apple to ask if this is a scam.  YES IT IS.

The Apple guy said.

1. Apple products almost never get a virus because of their encryption.

2. You cannot get a virus ON your IP network.

3. Apparently the fact that I screen shared did not mean he could steal info. Still not a great idea.

4. BUT if I had bought his product and given him a credit card that would jeopardize my credit and allow him to get banking info.

So beware. Share this if you want to. That is why I am posting this.

If someone from from HP sees this plz contact me at hello@outside-the-line.com, I have more information for you. Oh yeah and I would like a working magenta cartridge.

FREE April Screensaver!

I've wanted to design screensavers for a while. I am figuring it out as I go. This is the first one. If you would like it click on the link at the right.

Use it, enjoy it and plz give me your opinion. But it only works, for sure, on an iPhone 6s. Feel free to try it on other phones. If you do, would you drop me a line and let me know if it works or not?

If your friends and family or any strangers you meet want one send them here.

If this is well received I may have more options next month.

If you are interested in next month's get on my mailing list. http://www.outside-the-line.com/blog

Or follow me on Instagram. www.instagram.com/raekaiser/

Then there is Pinterest too. www.pinterest.com/RaeKaiserFonts/ One way or the other you will see it.

How to install this... this is how I did it.

1.  Download the screensaver to your desktop.
2. Open 'Photos' on your Mac.
3. Create a folder called 'Screensavers'.
4. Drag the art to that folder.
5. Go to 'Settings' on your iPhone.
6. Click on your 'Wallpaper'.
7. Select the screensaver.
8. Click on set.

And Bob's your Uncle.

Art Therapy #4

Yes... Art Therapy continues... with a few bumps. One week we both completely forgot and my favorite postcard got lost in the mail.

This is my second favorite of mine. I was finishing my Spring cleaning of my office and remembered I had to do that week's postcard. I decided to make a postcard with things I found as I cleaned. This one is called Foggy with a Chance of Snow. These were photos I had taken. The back of the card has a white corrugated board. It also gave more white texture. And on this piece I knew when to stop. Not always true.

Here is Nancy's postcard from that week. She was pondering thoughts of solitude and writing about it. Savaswati is her favorite Hindu goddess. She has a room of her own. And also has unusual white skin.

Getting a postcard from Nancy is always a treat. I get excited with a kraft envelope arrives in the mail. I generally send mine in a shimmery gold one.

This is my favorite so far. And this is the one that is lost in the mail. That makes me sad because once again the scan does not do the glitter justice. I like how loose this one is. Unfortunately I worked hard for that loose look. My plan is to turn this postcard into an art piece of maybe 6 or 9 teacups. I have a collection of my mother's, so that will be the inspiration.

This looks like a postcard but it is the cover of a 'zine that Nancy produced. I love these women, I think they could be a nice poster.

More Art Therapy in a couple of weeks.

The Palmer House & the Art Institute

I spent a couple days in Chicago while my hubby worked. We stayed at the grand old Palmer House. This was a little art filled trip for me.

To start the trip off, here is the the world-famous lobby topped with a magnificent ceiling of Grecian frescoes by French muralist Louis Pierre Rigal.

And the Palmer House is located only 2.5 blocks from the Art Institute!

When I draw I try to tell the story using as few lines as possible. So, of course I was drawn to this Paul Klee piece. In the Magic Mirror, 1934, oil on canvas, Paul Klee 1879-1940

Another piece that I studied. (I sometimes make junk robot sculptures.) Again a less is more piece. Alexandra Exter, Russican 1882-1949, Robot 1926, cardboard, fabric, wood, glass and string.

Who doesn't love Dali? This is the Venus de Milo with Drawers, 1936, Salvador Dali, Spanish 1904-1989. Painted plaster, with metal pulls and mink pompons

I also enjoy Roy Lichtenstein, American 1923-1997. I enjoy his trademark comic book style especially the ones with the halftone dots.

And then there is Andy. So amazing to get to stand in front of all of these Andy Warhol iconic images. Something I truly admire about Warhol is that he was such a shameless promoter of this work. Good for him.

I only managed to do 2 floors of the Modern Wing before I was completely visually worn out. But there will be other visits.

Art Therapy #3

WEEK #5... Nancy's theme was what is your favorite body part.

Interesting that both Nancy and I created something that looked somewhat alike this week.

WEEK #6... Do whatever you want.

Why is there no theme this week? I had a mini meltdown. Too much to do. Not getting it done. Feeling overwhelmed, blah, blah, blah. Nancy said we could just quit because this is suppose to be fun. She then suggested we just do something and send it. Then it became fun again. Whew.

Sadly this is not a good photo. My scanner had died and I was waiting for a new one. It was very gold glittery which made it sparkly and fun. My goals in doing these is to just do something. I think a lot about everything I do. So with these I am just allowing myself to do something and start over just once. Just do it!

Again, I really like Nancy's. I think this week we did our best art yet. I do think that doing whatever we want may get better work, or maybe some useful work. Nancy used her graphic as a Facebook header. How fun.

I must say it is really fun to get something creative and wonderful in the mail.

Art Therapy #2

Week 3... Dreams

I think I suggested we share a dream. Mine had been haunting me. What better way to put this one to bed.

Week 4... what do you like about Winter?

I don't like Winter. In protest I never seem to wear real Winter clothes. Since that is not working for me I decided I would be happier if I was toasty. I got 3 nice Woolrich flannel buffalo print shirts. I got them big so I can layer under them which I never do either. So far, this seems to be working.

Unfortunately my scan does not do this postcard justice. I can't capture the translucency. This is my favorite one yet. Great job Nancy!

Cards for a Cause...

Grace Bonney from Design Sponge fame is asking for donations of stationery and letter writing supplies. These supplies will will help so many people in need to be able to tell their stories and communicate with their elected officials.

I live in the great and cold state of Wisconsin and I mail my postcards to Solidarity Sunday.

SolSun Milwaukee
Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece
3120 N Weil
Milwaukee, WI 53212

No idea where the rest of you mail yours but I assume you could also send it to SolSun Milwaukee.

For me there is an added bonus. These postcards are old inventory and I am in the middle of my Winter office cleaning and organizing. I am getting rid of 50 postcards and it will go to a good cause. As I clean who knows what else I will find.

And if you don't follow Design Sponge you really should. I have been for years.

Art as Therapy.

Bricolage: connected knowing. "Admired way of invention and creation practiced by creative people."

My good friend Nancy one day asked me if I wanted to make a postcard a week and we would send them to each other. We both have the same topic but can execute any way we want. I immediately jumped on board.

WEEK #1 Your word from 2016 and your word for 2017

I love Nancy's words (above) from Anxiety to Wild. It is good to think about these words and the change we want to make from 2016 to 2017. I know that Nancy has some Wild in her.

I didn't want my 2016 word to be Trump but it was. I cannot allow it to be my word for 2017 which will be Happy. I know that filling my head with creative projects truly does make me happy. Then there is less room in my head to fret over things I have no control over.

WEEK #2. Random thoughts in my head.

I really like Nancy's. Nice illustration and well thought out thoughts.

Mine are really random thoughts. What runs through my head constantly. I had so many I had to use both sides of the card. I am really liking the way Nancy and I approach the same theme so differently.

This project means I get weekly REAL mail. Always a real treat. More to come.