Why is There a Naked Man on my TV?

Synchronizing - although great in theory - often comes with a downside. A little over a year ago, my husband decided he wanted to switch over to Apple. He wanted an iPhone, a Mac laptop and an Apple TV.
"It's amazing, Mel," he'd say. "They'll all automatically synch up with each other. I can control the TV with my phone!"

I'd shrug and smile, not really getting the appeal. Who cares if you can control the TV with your phone? I can do the same thing - with the remote. I didn't really understand why he'd want everything to synch up either, but there are some things that aren't worth arguing about. I kind of figured he'd get over the idea and move on to something else within a month or two, but he didn't. He didn't let it go and eventually he got his Apple trio: the phone, the laptop and the Apple TV.

I will admit, the laptop is nice. And the Apple TV is nifty. The iPhone is understandable if you're really busy and need access to the web on a near continual basis. All in all, he was happy and I was happy that he was happy.

The only times his new toys annoy him are when they're too synchronized. For instance, if he's using his laptop in the family room and I use the Apple TV remote, it also causes things to pop up on his computer. Mildly irritating, I'll admit. The other day, however, we realized the major downside to a phone that synchronizes with the TV.

My husband uses his iPhone to take pictures, which is great. The picture quality is good, and due to the wonders of synchronization, all of our photos have become a slide show for when the Apple TV is asleep. However, it doesn't just import photos that he's taken. It takes whatever photos are stored on his phone. So, when he was at work a few days ago and sent a truly disgusting photo of a naked man to one of his coworkers as a joke, he didn't realize the other repercussions. He forgot to delete the picture off his phone before he came home, and without his say-so, the phone synchronized with the Apple TV. And now, unfortunately, every once in a while, in the midst of our family photos, a picture of a naked man with an obscene amount of piercings through his testicles and an even weirder tattoo on his thighs and buttocks appears on the screen. We have since deleted the photo from his computer and phone, but have yet to figure out how to remove it from the photo stream on the TV. (Did I mention that my husband and I are not technically proficient? That's part of why my husband wanted the Apple stuff. No set up required).
Yep, can't wait to have my parents over. It'll be a great conversation starter. And of course, we should probably invite some neighbourhood children over. Might as well get the emotional scars over with early, right? I never thought I'd have to close the blinds for a photo stream.

And that, my friends, is why synchronization is not always as convenient as they'd have you (or your husband) believe. Because the Apple stuff is great, but I'm not enjoying playing Jack in the Box with a picture of a naked man in a photo stream. Every picture switch makes me cringe.