Last week, I got an automated message from the folks at flickr stating that my photostream was too racy for public consumption and was therefore marked as ‘moderate.’

My initial reaction was to call bullshit and shake a few trees to see who I may know at flickr or Yahoo! HQ. After all, I take photos of people, food and cars – all done in a public space, not some sort of bedroom antics.

The original message:

From: Flickr Support <caseXXXXXXX@support.flickr.com>
To: Urban Mixer

Hello Urban Mixer,

We’ve changed the safety level of your photostream to “moderate”.

As per our Community Guidelines, content like that in your account is not considered “safe” for everyone to view. You may or may not be aware that Flickr has a Safe Search system. When people browse or search on Flickr, they can filter what they see based on a safety level that they are comfortable with – either Safe Search is on, set to moderate, or off. In order for Safe Search to work, we relying on *you* to filter your content appropriately. As you upload stuff to Flickr, you need to make sure that you’re applying appropriate filters (safe, moderate or restricted) and telling us what sort of content it is (photos, video, screenshots, art & illustration). If you don’t apply filters correctly, there’s a very good chance another member will let us know – in fact that’s why we’ve taken action today. (No need to be upset – it’s every member’s right to let us know if they ever feel uncomfortable. Yours too.)

We want Flickr to be a place that everyone can enjoy. That means making sure that potentially offensive content is filtered from public, safe areas of the site. If you read our Community Guidelines, you’ll see the key points are:

play nice, upload things that you have created yourself, and respect the fact that there are millions of people visiting Flickr who may not see the world the same way you do. Use your common sense about whether or not your content is suitable for a global, public audience. If the answer is no, you need to filter it from public view. <br><br>You should also know that if we receive another report about your content or conduct, it’s very likely we’ll terminate your account.

So, please take a moment to find out how to work with safety levels, use ‘em, and everybody’s happy!

Regards,

Flickr Staff

What was most irritating about this message was that firstly, I wasn’t really aware of the ramifications of being marked as moderate; secondly, I wasn’t aware of how to remedy the situation. It felt like some idiot at flickr decided to flip a switch and forever cast my profile into the abyss.

In the original note, there wasn’t any mention on how to remedy the issue nor was there any indication as to what was considered ‘not kosher’ by the flickr folks. Talk about frustrating. What’s worse is that after a couple of replies to the original email, I received no response.

What’s worse is that people started to email me, telling me that they had to log into flickr to see my photos and the viewership counts on my photos were severely affected. Others told me they couldn’t see my photos (unbeknownst to them, they had their safety filters set to the default – high) and the straw that broke the camel’s back was that I missed a photo publish opportunity with 24hrs news. Talk about a smack in the face.

After that, I decided I needed to call upon someone but first I did my research. After some digging and serendipitously, I got a reply to my original message (only five days late).

From: Flickr Support <caseXXXXXXX@support.flickr.com>
To: Urban Mixer

Hello,

Thong bikini images need to be classified as “moderate”.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/me/popular-interesting/

Female breasts, bare/thong bottom, see through topless nudity, pasties, etc.. images need to be marked as “moderate”.

Genitalia/pubic hair images need to be marked as “restricted”.

(marking the content as private is different then moderating the content as “moderate”/”restricted”)

You can bulk moderate your “moderate”/”restricted” content using the organizr tool.

(Do not worry about moderating your “safe” content)

www.flickr.com/photos/organize/

Load your images into the organizr tool, pull all(public, private, and friends/family) images that need to be marked as Moderate”/”restricted” into the main window, choose the “moderate”/”restricted” option from the “permissions/set safety filter” pulldown on top, click save and you’re done.

Because your account status is set to “moderate”, all of the images will appear as “moderate”/”restricted” in the organizr tool. This may seem a little confusing at first but if you take the required action of moderating your content as “moderate”/”restricted” where appropriate, that will show on our side when you request a re-review of your account status.

Regards,

-Terrence

Okay, it wass a hint but not a really firm answer on what but at least I had direction so I got to work, found every swimsuit, pasty, lingerie and other similar type of event that I’ve shot (out of my almost 40,000 photos) and marked them all as moderate. Since I haven’t shot any nudity, I knew I didn’t have to worry about marking things are restricted. An hour later I was done. I then requested (under a new case) a review of my flickr photostream and something miraculous happened, they came back in a little over an hour and opened up the floodgates on my flickr account again.

Hello Urban Mixer,

We appreciate you taking the time to bring your account in line with the Flickr Community Guidelines. Your account has been classified as “public”/”safe”. Please keep the Flickr Community Guidelines in mind in the future.

http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne

http://www.flickr.com/help/filters/

Thank you again for contacting us. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reply to this email.

Regards,

Terrence

Hindsight? The flickr uploadr allows you to set the ‘scariness’ level of your photos. I suggest you use it.

Here’s the dilemma: I’ve just purchased a new HP Smartbuy server with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 pre-installed.  The server’s ultimate destination will be as part of an already complex network and there’s really no need to run the Exchange 2007 or Domain Controller portions of the server, so what’s one to do?

The ideal situation would be to have the SBS 2008 server act like a domain member, which is not exactly what SBS 2008 was intended to do, but theoretically it’s possible. So there’s a couple of options:

Option 1 – say fuggedaboutit, erase and install Windows Server 2008 on the new server.

Option 2 – save a bunch of time and play Jedi Mind Tricks on the SBS 2008 install and make it act like a normal server instead of this big behemoth of software that I’ll never use.

Sure, I’ve heard that you can manually uninstall everything after you’re set up, but are you truly ahead of the game if you do that? Might as well go for option 1, then!
[read more…]

A 15th century dish served with a 21st century twist, the meatballs with bruschetta at Cibo Trattoria are definitely something to rave about. The Swedish version of the meatball, with its contrasting tastes, is a no-nonsense dish which provides sustenance needed for the country’s temperate climate. A popular dish in that Nordic country, the Swedish meatball has now found its way into Cibo Trattoira to tickle the taste buds of Vancouverites.

You can download the this week’s  format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 2 – Meatballs Cure Monday Blues

Image cutline: Italian hitmen have rough Mondays too, we’ve figured out the secret to how they unwind.

We’re sitting at Uva Wine Bar unwinding after a hard day at work and we catch wind that the neighbouring Cibo Trattoria has their ritual Meatball Monday on – it seems we can’t escape it! Everything we’ve been eating lately has been in ball form, even the desserts!

M: And he means everything – from the main course down to the luscious hazelnut semi-freddo with house-made honeycomb that I still have dreams about.

R: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves ‘lil lady, this one’s about meatballs and on Monday, Cibo is the place to be for a nourishing plate with all the fixings and a glass of wine that won’t break the bank.

M: Their meatballs were extremely tender and melded beautifully with the creamy white bean base. The best part was scooping up the saucy mess with the garlicky, thick-cut bruschetta.

R: Definitely not your average meatballs – or at least not the type that you’d stick a toothpick into. Leave that to the Swedes. This is a more refined, elegant yet hearty meatball that your Italian mama would be proud to serve you.

M: After slaving away at the office on the toughest day of the week, head to Cibo Trattoria for their meatballs – it’ll help you fuggedaboutit.

—

Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour and a freelance food writer by day, cocktail ninja by night.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury .

“Nothing spoils lunch any quicker than a rogue meatball rampaging through your spaghetti” – Jim Davis

Glowbal’s meatballs are neither rogue nor served with spaghetti, they’re served in style.

Various cultures all throughout the world have their own versions of the meatball, either as a part of a dish or simply served as a dish itself. The unassuming meatball is made up of ground meat and other ingredients such as breadcrumbs, minced onions, and spices, which would then be rolled up into a ball before being fried, steamed, baked, or braised with a bit of sauce. The Austrian call it the fleischaibchen, the Belgians have their ballekes, to the Greeks it is known as the keftedes, and its called the polpette to the Italians. Whichever way you call it, it’s still a meatball – plain and simple . . . well, probably not so plain and simple in the case of the Glowbal Restaurant Group, which has transformed a simple everyday meal into a dish worthy of praise.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 1 – Three meatballs … and a secret one too

Image cutline: Traittoria serves up the ever elusive lamb-based secret meatball only to those in the know. You didn’t hear about it from us, ok?

The slow start to the sunny season has me turned upside down and I’m craving comfort food.  A plateful of meatballs, slathered in a tangy tomato sauce seems fitting for the occasion.  This craving brings on a new quest – to investigate Vancouver’s meatball scene. No, I’m not talking about the municipal government and the new bike lanes, in this case the term meatball actually refers to the food we’ll be eating on this quest and not some politicians. With this notable task at hand, it only made sense to bring on Melody Fury, my co-conspirator to give me insight on the finer points of said meatballs.

R: Glowbal Restaurant in Yaletown is known as a destination for meatballs in Vancouver.  They have five sister restaurants, four of which offer their own variety of meatball; we had no option but to make this the starting point.

M:  We were straight ballin’ out of control.  Raj and I chased five types of meatballs each with double the glasses of champagne in one afternoon.

R: No matter which Glowbal Restaurant we went to, balls were everywhere.

M:  What was once just rustic fare made with meat scraps and day-old bread, the Glowbal Restaurant Group has revamped the meatball into their lux, signature dish.

I was initially skeptical of whether Wagyu beef was overkill for the humble meatball.  After trying their over-the-top rendition (which they automatically serve to every rockstar, VIP and supermodel that rolls through) I instinctively paired the balls with an extravagant sparkling wine.

R: If there’s any place to start a meatball quest, it’s gotta be Glowbal with Italian Kitchen, Society, and Trattoria in tow.

While only selected properties serve meatballs at this time of year, serious ball-lovers should seek out the secret spicy lamb meatball at one of their sister restaurants.

—

Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour and a freelance food writer by day, cocktail ninja by night.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury .