Tag: email

Don’t be scared, it’s just Google

Do monkeys put their info on the net. No They Dont.This is why some people should just go back in their cave.

So I read a couple articles (these are links):
The one from ZDNet
…And then the one from NetworkedWorld.

You see class, the rule is:
No information you present or submit on the internet is private. Ever.

You might be able to hide it, but putting anything on the internet and expecting it to be secure is like sticking your hand on a hot iron and saying you wont get burnt.

This amounts to lame media scare tactics from ZDNet & Microsoft (who later used the linked article to make Office 365 look a little better on the 20th.) Bottom line. Here’s what actually happened.

It’s like putting a cookie in a 6-year-old’s mouth and telling him not to eat it.

A person from the media tries to use a false alias on Google and gets banned from Google+ for it. She complains that Google’s methods of finding her out were shady.

It’s like getting pulled over and offering a donut to get out of a ticket.

This would all be so much easier if people actually read their ULA’s. Free email entitles the provider access to said data as long as no personal information is ever distributed in a manner that would identify that person. In the same manner all the big companies like checking on employee email, Google, while not in the habit of sifting through your dirty laundry, uses the content of the emails to gauge advertizements, they’ve been doing this for YEARS. It’s part of your ULA, which , since the Buzz disaster, and gone edgy and it cuts on both sides, you have to opt out, AND they are starting to keep an eye on user registration information, that you actually gave them the right to do by applying for an account with Google.

It’s like painting a big “L” on your forehead just before a job interview and expecting to get the job.

The bottom line is this. If you don’t want Big Everything to use your personal information in identifying you on the net, stop putting yourself out there. Being involved with the media on the net isn’t exactly the best way to stay anonymous, or guard your identity. Using Google as anyone but yourself is actually a violation of their ULA so in all that complaining, what it comes down to is a large online temper tantrum that Microsoft was able to use in jabbing Google in their war for online Apps dominance.

It’s like telling the neighborhood gossip you’re boinking the next-door neighbor and expecting that the little secret will never get out.

In summation:
Don’t stick your damn hand on a hot iron.
Don’t give 6-year-olds a cookie unless you expect them to eat it.
Don’t offer the police a donut when you get pulled over.
Don’t paint an “L” on your forehead just before a job interview.
Stop boinking the next door neighbor, or at least stop telling people about it.

…and most importantly, never provide ANYONE with information about yourself online and expect it to stay hidden.

Thanks for reading!

-Tony




It was just an email…

So a couple nights ago I got this email telling me I should invite another friend into their little commercial community.

We all get these, it’s how online businesses make their money, draw in more people.

The problem is the person they were telling me to invite was that of an incredibly dear girlfriend who past away a couple years back. Without going into a lot of detail, I simply wasn’t emotionally prepared for her death, it left a ton of unresolved things lurking around in my head. So yeah…just an email, right?

It was just a damn email…but it was also a tiny spark that fired me up.

She and I had been at odds for some time, no specifics, suffice to say that the last time we talked, it wasn’t friendly or anything remotely like what our friends would have expected. We were arguing and worse, I was the one that brought it all on. There were a lot of reasons we had to start building a life together as a couple, but I am notorious for finding dealbreakers when I should know better and work though it. This time I held true to my habits and had made it clear we were never going down that road. The result was nothing short of multiple situations where we’d both intended to totally make amends but instead resulted in some colossal arguments.

The last argument was the worst of them all. She was really harsh, and understandably so, she was hurt and she was convinced I was being a complete idiot. Not that I wasn’t but I am stupid and stubborn once I’ve made my decision to stand my ground. So I took it. I let the barrage happen and let things get so escalated that we’d hang up. All this with the expectations that after we cooled off for a while we’d both be drawn to mending it up and making amends.

So we stopped speaking for some months…and then it happened. I was looking around for her and couldn’t find her. Of course I just assumed she was still POed at me so I let things go a little more. Two months after it had actually happened, I found out she’d taken her own life.

So yeah…that stupid little damn email brought all that angst & despair right back up for me to figure out how to deal with again. The difference is that now I have got to deal with this and put it behind me. I stowed away a lot of this because I was in no shape to deal with it back then, now, I have a life to live and this will not turn me into a wreck again.

I wrote this blog post not for the readers, but for myself this time. It’s been a while since I put a little of my heart on my sleeve in my writing and now’s a good time to get back into that habit. Aly, you were my most trusted companion in so many ideas and beliefs for what seems like a gazillion years. You helped me pull out of no few relationships without losing it. And that one rare time you wanted more from me, I was a dumbass, and thats on me. You own a piece of me, and I know you’re in a much much better place.

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PS – I really need to thank Andie for listening to me vent about this when it happened. You have no idea how appreciative I am on this. Thanks love!




Another go…

image006.jpg

Originally, this was just a test post for some functionality tweaking so I could post to here with a quick text from my phone. But it had a small side effect I wasn’t prepared for. I didnt know that from that point forward, if someone googled “Tony is a Dork”…it would ring out at the top of a google search over a year later.

Cool eh? I actually think so. Instead of my number, I can tell the throngs of women stalking me to simply google “Tony is a Dork” to find me.

Yeah…because I am THAT cool.

I can add pics, video, etc to any post now. The goal here is to get posts fully functional if I send them from gmail. I know it sounds lame but I am specifically looking to be able to plug in, upload media, and send the email with everything in it and have wordpress pump it into the screen.

There is more tweaking to do like tags and html filters…but it’ll be pretty cool to be blogging from my phone…via email…everywhere else 😉

-Tony