I apologize to the throngs of loyal readers who can't get enough of my blog. I promised at the end of 2007 that I was making a big comeback. My comeback got delayed, but I'm back for the remaining one loyal throng.
I'm changing my habits...well, a couple of them. Not because it's a new year, but because this year is almost one-sixth over. Can you believe that?
I think that time zooms by quickly for us boomers. If I'm going to finish my second book this year, I'd better use some discipline. My commitment to myself is to have the basic text down by my June birthday. I will find an agent before the book is finished.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Google Your Name
In 1997 my first book was published. I recently wondered if the book would still show up if someone Googled me. So I Googled my name. The results surprised me.
The first entry was from a dental forum. I’d had surgery on my gums several years ago that I deemed personal. I was mortified to think that someone looking for my book would come across this piece of information. I had thought the dental forum was private.
The second entry was from a hepatitis C forum. In 1988 I received several units of transfused blood as a result of a serious accident (subject of the above-mentioned book). Luckily blood was screened for AIDS at that time, but screening for hepatitis C didn’t begin until 1992. So I received the gift that keeps on giving.
I choose to be open about most things to most people. But choosing is the key word. I can reveal personal facts about myself. Few people reading this blog actually know my last name or who I really am. For those who know my true identity, I’m open anyway.
Hepatitis, for the record, isn’t always as scary as the media portrays it. Thousands of people have quality of life without going through Interferon treatments. Hepatitis isn’t as contagious as most people think. It is blood to blood, and rarely passed to a sexual partner.
Many members of the two hepatitis forums I frequented had been married for years without passing the virus to their spouses. I also learned that support forums about illness are generally negative. Few people are proactive in managing their care. They rely on doctors or other forum members for information.
I was a member of two hepatitis forums and one dental forum for a nano-second, and Google remembered these tidbits of information, information that I thought was private.
Here is part of the problem: If you post a question or response at a forum, using a screen name or alias, your identity is protected. But if your real name is in your email address, the search engine will group the information together. For instance, at Yahoo forums, your email address is revealed to the forum when you respond to someone else’s post. You can choose to keep your email address private, but if you are gathering information of a personal nature, you may want other members to email you their personal answer.
I have used my whole name in my email address for years so that anyone wanting to write me could easily remember it. Now, I question the wisdom of this choice, especially when it's tied into a forum message. In addition, I cannot receive email without revealing my whole name. With crazy people stalking individuals or stealing their identities, we must develop a new awareness of the downside of technology.
I revisited the dental forum and stated my case. I saw that the forum was indeed public. The owner of the forum either didn’t understand the setup options, or he didn’t see the need for discretion. And, as a member, I had not paid attention. After I explained my dilemma, the forum owner gave me moderator status, so that I could delete my past messages. Unfortunately, my name–-in the form of my email address--appears in the messages of others who had responded to me.
The only information that Google revealed about me and the hepatitis forum was that I had frequented a hepatitis forum. There’s nothing I can really do except to find other ways to get noticed by Google, so that previous entries move down on the list.
The good news is that at least two other women share my full name. One of them writes westerns. If one of her old high school boyfriends Googles her name, he might wonder if she has hepatitis. And somebody else might think I write westerns.
I now choose to be careful about what I might reveal. Your neighbors, if they’re Internet savvy, can Google your name, instead of knocking on your door or calling you on the phone. Isn’t the twenty-first century great?
When I’m bored, instead of cleaning my house, I Google people I know. I haven’t discovered any tasty tidbits yet. I’ve merely learned how creative I can be when I don’t want to do housework.
Prospective employers will now Google job candidates. FYI, some also look on Myspace to see what they can find out. We need to arm ourselves with a new mindset to protect our privacy.
Have you Googled your name?
The first entry was from a dental forum. I’d had surgery on my gums several years ago that I deemed personal. I was mortified to think that someone looking for my book would come across this piece of information. I had thought the dental forum was private.
The second entry was from a hepatitis C forum. In 1988 I received several units of transfused blood as a result of a serious accident (subject of the above-mentioned book). Luckily blood was screened for AIDS at that time, but screening for hepatitis C didn’t begin until 1992. So I received the gift that keeps on giving.
I choose to be open about most things to most people. But choosing is the key word. I can reveal personal facts about myself. Few people reading this blog actually know my last name or who I really am. For those who know my true identity, I’m open anyway.
Hepatitis, for the record, isn’t always as scary as the media portrays it. Thousands of people have quality of life without going through Interferon treatments. Hepatitis isn’t as contagious as most people think. It is blood to blood, and rarely passed to a sexual partner.
Many members of the two hepatitis forums I frequented had been married for years without passing the virus to their spouses. I also learned that support forums about illness are generally negative. Few people are proactive in managing their care. They rely on doctors or other forum members for information.
I was a member of two hepatitis forums and one dental forum for a nano-second, and Google remembered these tidbits of information, information that I thought was private.
Here is part of the problem: If you post a question or response at a forum, using a screen name or alias, your identity is protected. But if your real name is in your email address, the search engine will group the information together. For instance, at Yahoo forums, your email address is revealed to the forum when you respond to someone else’s post. You can choose to keep your email address private, but if you are gathering information of a personal nature, you may want other members to email you their personal answer.
I have used my whole name in my email address for years so that anyone wanting to write me could easily remember it. Now, I question the wisdom of this choice, especially when it's tied into a forum message. In addition, I cannot receive email without revealing my whole name. With crazy people stalking individuals or stealing their identities, we must develop a new awareness of the downside of technology.
I revisited the dental forum and stated my case. I saw that the forum was indeed public. The owner of the forum either didn’t understand the setup options, or he didn’t see the need for discretion. And, as a member, I had not paid attention. After I explained my dilemma, the forum owner gave me moderator status, so that I could delete my past messages. Unfortunately, my name–-in the form of my email address--appears in the messages of others who had responded to me.
The only information that Google revealed about me and the hepatitis forum was that I had frequented a hepatitis forum. There’s nothing I can really do except to find other ways to get noticed by Google, so that previous entries move down on the list.
The good news is that at least two other women share my full name. One of them writes westerns. If one of her old high school boyfriends Googles her name, he might wonder if she has hepatitis. And somebody else might think I write westerns.
I now choose to be careful about what I might reveal. Your neighbors, if they’re Internet savvy, can Google your name, instead of knocking on your door or calling you on the phone. Isn’t the twenty-first century great?
When I’m bored, instead of cleaning my house, I Google people I know. I haven’t discovered any tasty tidbits yet. I’ve merely learned how creative I can be when I don’t want to do housework.
Prospective employers will now Google job candidates. FYI, some also look on Myspace to see what they can find out. We need to arm ourselves with a new mindset to protect our privacy.
Have you Googled your name?
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Text Me
Welcome to Text Me Some Apple Pie, where baby boomers take on--or should I say, navigate, collide with, interact, or adapt to--the twenty-first century. I never thought of myself as someone who'd become an "old-timer" like grandpa. I vowed I'd always keep one foot planted in current trends and pop culture.
Naturally, I was raised with a black and white TV, without a remote, without a TV in my bedroom. A bedroom I shared with one of my sisters. We baby boomers were not raised with video games or flickering colored television screens. We had no CNN to watch war as it exploded before our eyes. We had three TV networks--ABC, CBS and NBC--that didn't notify us when children went missing.
We had one telephone mounted on the wall. For awhile we had a party line, an obsolete technology that disappeared with Tyrannosaurus Rex. Cordless or cell phones went beyond our imaginations. I had no cell phone or iPod to keep me company as I walked to school both ways uphill in the snow. Oh, wait. That was my parents' generation that did all that walking.
My generation has adapted gradually to the techie age. I read a book on how to blog that is five years old and already out of date. We've gone from music turntables that played 38s, 45s (singles) and finally LPs. Then came 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, iPods, and every time I update my music, a new technology outdates my collection.
In many ways I embrace change. I love getting text messages. I'm a techie nerd. I have a Myspace page, an iPod, a cell phone, and I'm in love with my digital camera, my fifth camera. In future blogs I will post photos I've taken, and I will describe the features on my camera.
I have read that narrowing my focus can make a good blog better. Well...no can do. I've decided to write what comes naturally to me. On some days I find myself in bitch mode. (I use the word "bitch" as a verb, not as a noun.)
I have special topics for my soapbox, like the greedy pharma companies. We once had a family doctor, instead of twelve different specialists, and our lives were not controlled by legal pill pushers and medical insurance providers. I will address dis-ease that allopathic medicine can only medicate but not fix. We need a paradigm shift in our view of medical practice in this "civilized" world.
Another topic that needs to shift is the lack of role models who influence our young girls. I'm tired of hearing about half-naked rich girls who get arrested or shave their heads or forget their wear their under panties. We should expect better. We are honoring bad behavior. We are enabling bad behavior.
I wish Oprah or maybe Tyra would create a substantial award--with money and clout--for deserving young women who demonstrate character and strength. Although I have no award money myself--at this time--I will feature women in this blog who deserve admiration.
As I alluded to in my opening sentence, I'm still looking for the ideal word to describe how I take on life in our current society. Do I conquer, acquiesce to, live harmoniously with, prevail over...life in the twenty-first century? My subtitle may be tweaked from time to time.
I look forward to receiving feedback. If you haven't figured out how to text me, please go ahead and send me some pie.
Naturally, I was raised with a black and white TV, without a remote, without a TV in my bedroom. A bedroom I shared with one of my sisters. We baby boomers were not raised with video games or flickering colored television screens. We had no CNN to watch war as it exploded before our eyes. We had three TV networks--ABC, CBS and NBC--that didn't notify us when children went missing.
We had one telephone mounted on the wall. For awhile we had a party line, an obsolete technology that disappeared with Tyrannosaurus Rex. Cordless or cell phones went beyond our imaginations. I had no cell phone or iPod to keep me company as I walked to school both ways uphill in the snow. Oh, wait. That was my parents' generation that did all that walking.
My generation has adapted gradually to the techie age. I read a book on how to blog that is five years old and already out of date. We've gone from music turntables that played 38s, 45s (singles) and finally LPs. Then came 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, iPods, and every time I update my music, a new technology outdates my collection.
In many ways I embrace change. I love getting text messages. I'm a techie nerd. I have a Myspace page, an iPod, a cell phone, and I'm in love with my digital camera, my fifth camera. In future blogs I will post photos I've taken, and I will describe the features on my camera.
I have read that narrowing my focus can make a good blog better. Well...no can do. I've decided to write what comes naturally to me. On some days I find myself in bitch mode. (I use the word "bitch" as a verb, not as a noun.)
I have special topics for my soapbox, like the greedy pharma companies. We once had a family doctor, instead of twelve different specialists, and our lives were not controlled by legal pill pushers and medical insurance providers. I will address dis-ease that allopathic medicine can only medicate but not fix. We need a paradigm shift in our view of medical practice in this "civilized" world.
Another topic that needs to shift is the lack of role models who influence our young girls. I'm tired of hearing about half-naked rich girls who get arrested or shave their heads or forget their wear their under panties. We should expect better. We are honoring bad behavior. We are enabling bad behavior.
I wish Oprah or maybe Tyra would create a substantial award--with money and clout--for deserving young women who demonstrate character and strength. Although I have no award money myself--at this time--I will feature women in this blog who deserve admiration.
As I alluded to in my opening sentence, I'm still looking for the ideal word to describe how I take on life in our current society. Do I conquer, acquiesce to, live harmoniously with, prevail over...life in the twenty-first century? My subtitle may be tweaked from time to time.
I look forward to receiving feedback. If you haven't figured out how to text me, please go ahead and send me some pie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
