HAVE YOU EVER GOOGLED your own name? Try it. I'm not talking blognames here. I mean full-on birth-cert appellations. You shall be shocked at 1. how you share your name (if it is unusual) with more people than you ever realized possible and 2. how very much information on these people and their careers Google and the worldwideweb between them have succeeded in amassing. Try your entire name, middle names and all and prepare to be shocked. Far more details than you ever thought it fair for others to know might well be sitting there just waiting to be tapped ...
Harlan Coben, in his thriller Just One Look, has his characters googling their own phone numbers. I tried this several times this morning with several acquaintances' digits. Honestly, my friends, you need to try this for yourself if you've not done it before, the results will make you wonder ...
All I can say is, I admit it. Until recently I seriously did not grasp just how microsmall this diminishing global village of ours has actually become. I honestly had no idea. I always knew, of course, that all manner of what we rightly consider personal data was available to those with the connexions, the hacking ability and the sheer bloodyminded persistence to access it. What I didn't realize was how very much Google and its competitors carry for all to poke their noses into freely and without any special knowledge, passes, people you need to know or special techniques to access. I've just tapped in details of some of the old friends I want to get back in touch with. One (and I'm not at all surprised) is still as computer-illiterate as ever. Her query, something like "how do I print out an email" is there on Google for all to ridicule and cackle at...
Food for thought, don't you think? But is it nourishment or poison??
PS for a fascinating blog go to http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/ -- lifestory of a 107 year old Aussie lady!! (Thanxx to Ruth who told me the url.)
Yeah it's scary. But you can opt-out of alot of that stuff if you find your info on the web. (well they say you can opt-out.. they probably in reality put your name in some kind of "ah..so they don't want us snooping on them eh?" file.. ;p
ReplyDeletemy proper name doesn't really show up with anything pertaining to me I've used an alias since the dawn of the interwebs, my real name does bring up a sixties bit actor, and a raher eccentric English sculptor.
ReplyDeleteHow you been Gled I've not been around much.
There are a lot of people with the same name as me...which is good, I can blend into the woodwork.
ReplyDeleteheee gledwood, how are you? i have a question,do you know how to put a video on the blog? i tried to find in help, but no clear answers on that. can you help me? chau! besos, claire
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteWerent you just sweet to drop into my blog?
Firstly abt S. King's phraze; i think that he meant that for example if u asked a loved one how did u look, he'd say u looked okay, cuz the last thing he wanted was to hurt ya. & an enemy would say the truth, cuz they wouldnt care abt ur feelings. Something like that. But yes, i agree with you, this phraze is true...errm... up to a point. But i like it still. Gives thoughts, ya know?
Secondly, I have tried googling for my own name. I am:
a) a polish writer
b) a prize winning contestant
c) a successful school headmaster
not bad, huh? LOL. espesh if i dream to become an author myself :D
Anyway, regarding to the 107 yr old aussie's blog, i'd say: do not be afraid of death, be afraid of not living!
marvelous blog u have, truly. i'd love it we stick around & exchange links. lemme know :)
Good luck.
PS. Sorry for being massive. It's a habbit.
I'll have to have a go at that; I wonder how many me's there are!
ReplyDeleteIf I do my full name including middle, nothing is found. If I do just my first & last i'm a very accomplished journalist, gymnast, author, doctor, lawyer, cellist and my personal favourite, equestrian. What surprised me the most though was when I put in my city, the real me was there twice on the first page. It's weird to see.
ReplyDeleteI like googling my own name in part to see who else has my name. A baseball player, for instance, some dude in New Zealand. It's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteWOW...my name has a web site of paintings!
ReplyDeleteHi gledwood, how are u?
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I've used internet and google to successfully look up at least 6 old friends including one whom I haven't seen for 26 years. Amazing. It helped that most of them were either scientists or academicians and therefore had some material publication on line. One friend was found by placing an insult (inside joke) on a bulletin board that I guessed he would frequent. However, 2 friends have completely evaded the google radar.
I got nothing. Just a couple of petitions I signed online and part of a conversation in a Yahoo group I once belonged to. Very unusual name I have. Take care!
ReplyDeleteAwww! I will always find that squirrel picture cute. And squirrel is one of my favourite words in the language ...
ReplyDelete