On May 12, 2024, I shared my elation at regaining access to my Facebook account after discovering on April 12th that it had been hacked. My initial fears about the hacker’s nefarious actions were not unfounded. On Saturday morning, June 22nd, I was shocked to see the captioned notice of suspension of my Facebook account when I attempted to log in. It took a week to recover from the blow to my reputation.
Why? What had I done wrong? Your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our Community Standards on fraud and deception, the notice reads. It’s nothing personal. They made this decision because Our technology found your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our rules. As a result, our technology took action.
Had AI only now detected the fraudulent activity? Was the hacker still using my account to perpetuate more fraud?
The first indication that something was brewing came from a close friend in San Francisco. She called asking if I had just sent her an email inviting her to some special dinner event.
“No,” I told her, puzzled.
“I knew it!” she said. “I told [name of husband] not to click on the link.”
We chatted about this strange situation.
“A couple days ago, I received a dinner invitation on Facebook from a writing friend,” I told her. “It seemed odd; I didn’t click on the link.”
After ending our call, I accessed the said email account. I was surprised to see the warning: Your account may be compromised. We recommend that you change your password. I did so, immediately.
How had someone gained access to my email account without my knowledge? I prayed that no one on my contact list had fallen for the scam. Surely, they must know that I wouldn’t ask them for money.
Photo of Rosaliene with Gloria, Owner of Gloria’s Restaurant in West Los Angeles, California
I am no computer systems geek. So, imagine my consternation on January 25th when I received an email from Yahoo Small Business regarding the latest change in their webhosting services. Since 2007, I have been using their Yahoo SiteBuilder to power my business website, rosalienebacchus.com. The monthly fee for their webhosting services is a good fit for my super-tight budget. With the assistance of Richard Wagner’s book, Yahoo! SiteBuilder for Dummies, I managed to create and maintain my own website. Whatever it lacked in professional appearance, my website attracted numerous visitors for its rich content for those interested in doing business with the United States and Brazil.
Over the years, I survived the disruption and frustration of each upgrade to the Yahoo SiteBuilder editor. That is all in the past now. Beginning this coming March 31, Yahoo will discontinue support for the system powering my website. While I still clung to the old and familiar, the company had moved on to newer website creation tools. They are putting the old editor to rest. My website will become an orphan.
After D-Day, I will no longer be able to edit or update my website. “You must create a new website,” Yahoo informed me. They provided me with two options: make a new business website myself or use a team of experts to build my website. Neither option appealed to me.
After nine days of resisting the inevitable, I emailed Yahoo Small Business enquiring about maintaining my domain name and links to the vast content on my soon-to-be-orphaned website. Both needless concerns: I have received no response to date.
With trepidation a week later, I clicked the link provided to learn more about creating my own website. Fear of the unfamiliar is a terrible master. I can do this, I assured myself. Each breakthrough was cause for celebration. As I got better at creating new pages, I even had fun with the creative process. I had to let go of my international trade content and focus on creating an author’s website. For over six years now, I no longer provide international trade services. The time to move on had long passed.
On February 26th, carefully following Yahoo’s information guide, I successfully published my website using the same domain: www.rosalienebacchus.com. My new author’s website is filled with photographs and empty spaces. The website Menu is also not fixed, which I find a nuisance. My son, an electronic games designer, explained that these features facilitate viewing on the smaller laptops and smart phones.
My Home Page features my journey to becoming a writer as well as a link to an interview with Guyanese-Canadian author Ken Puddicombe in which I share my writing process. I hope that the reviews and praise provided on the page promoting my debut novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, will entice more readers to buy my book. For those readers wishing to learn more, my website also offers “Behind the Scenes” information about my debut novel.
Snapshots and links to my Short Stories, published on the Guyana Journal website, are also available for free reading. I have yet to determine how I will archive my monthly featured poets on my Poetry Corner. I am still in the learning process. Creating the dropdown box for “Behind the Scenes” was a major achievement. Yay!
Three Worlds One Vision 