a word to the web-wise

I don’t know if any of you have been following this story, but it’s really scary to think about. For those of us who have been internet savvy for some time know better (at least I hope so) and in many cases, you have to be somewhat of a naive and/or willing participant in less than commendable (read: illegal) situations. Anyone who uses Craigslist for “services” just has to be dumb at this point. More or less.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/04/21/us/AP-US-Craigslist-Killing.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=craigslist%20killer&st=cse

So here are a few tips for those of you reading who are (a) trusting (b) innocent and (c) my parents.

1. Do NOT post home phone numbers on Craiglist. Do everything through e-mail and even at that, you probably want to set up a “dummy” account on hotmail or yahoo. Don’t use your real email in case that is linked to your home address just like your home phone is. Whether it’s listed or not.

2. Do NOT post your home address either.

3. Do a Google search on the email address that you are given from the sender. Sometimes this will alert you to scammers and known shady characters. You can also try searching for just the username part of the email, meaning everything before the @ symbol. Sometimes that brings something up. Not always relevant info, so don’t jump to conclusions. (For example, mine comes up with an obituary which is not mine and a profile on a dating website which might not be mine… from many many moons ago…)

4. Don’t ever meet someone off Craigslist (or really from anywhere online and maybe includes Facebook… haha) in private. Meet at a well lit busy space. Of course this doesn’t really apply if you are an escort…

5. Don’t be an escort.

So hopefully this list helps you out some. If not, feel free to ask questions. In a way, I am really hoping this all ends up being a mistaken identity thing but I kinda doubt it. Though I do have to point out that I’m surprised the press has as much information as it does about the investigation and maybe this is some elaborate hoax or something? I guess I watch too much Law and Order and now Bones. I started watching DaVinci Code, a Canadian cop show. Although Davinci is a doctor in the coroner’s office and I guess they have quite a bit more leverage over on the northside? I don’t really know much about that kind of thing.

Also, for all the people who are saying that this suspect is a nice guy and all that, I have two words: Ted Bundy.

ok another re-design

one of the bad things about using a reader like Google Reader is that you hardly ever actually go to people’s websites any more and ergo, you may not notice when they have changed anything significantly. unless they post about it in their blog ergo…

so i’m trying out a new look for the blog. i still havent figured out if i like tags or categories better, so i have both up for now. also i just like how the tag cloud comes out. it’s goofy, but hey, i’m a geek.

also, i am currently using the standard graphic header, because i cant find anything that i like of my own. (or “mine own” as my younger nephew says which has creeped into the vocab. funny how that happens when you have little kids in your family.) anyway, i am working on a couple things for an art show coming up in may, so maybe i’ll have something unique and brilliant to put up in the near future. or i’ll just steal something off the google image page.

ok, back to the job search…

www dot woah cool dot com

(Author’s note: do NOT NOT NOT type in the above as a URL. I cannot vouch for whatever may lie there! yikes! But you CAN type in the following… )

www.whitehouse.gov

Someone emailed me this link as a reminder of the times we live in. I had just been saying yesterday that we have access to more information than before and this just proves it. A blurb from the website…

“keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.”

Historically, “the people” have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not capable of truly governing themselves. From the founding fathers to Desert Storm, politicians use the excuse of this complex mechanism called “government” to defend their actions and keep pertinent information from the public.  Many of the first American Congress elite felt that the “commoner” was too simple and uneducated to make wise decisions, and so took it upon themselves to govern as a God-given ordainment. (“You can’t handle the truth!”)

We certainly could argue that the bills and policymaking that goes on behind closed doors are way over my head 90% of the time. (Actually, no. I wouldn’t argue that at all. I have several unfinished grad school applications because I can’t deal with fine print.) But what the early elitists (and modern day elitists) failed to realize was that the task was not simply to then represent the “commoner’s” rights, but to educate them of their rights and raise them up to a position from which they could represent themselves in time. It isn’t that they aren’t capable. They don’t need someone to pat them on the head and say don’t stay up. We’ll take care of this. They need someone to sit with them and show them, guide them, educate them. And they detest getting patted on the head.

So here we are, solidly in the “Information Age” in all its glory, and our leaders, without so much as a trumpet sound, are ushered into my Google Reader with the click of a button. Hopefully I can keep up with their posts better than the “Starry Skies Network.” I have over 200 unread posts! woops.

Hey, did you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy? Check it out… www.astronomy2009.org