So there I was, at 8.30 Sunday morning, after 2 cups of coffee, sitting in my office, wondering what the hell I was doing there in the first place. I had successfully managed, after what seems like an eternity, to go to bed on the right side of midnight with absolutely no alcohol in me, the result of which was that I was awake at 5.40 and after reading all news that occurred in the last 5 hours, decided to go pick up my music player from the office. Now I was there and had nothing better to do, I landed in Facebook. Few things led to one and the other, and I had a nostalgia and wanted to see how many of my former college mates from the department were there in Facebook. And behold, very few. So I thought I'll search for them. Now is when the things starts to get interesting. For every name, especially Indian names, you have a multitude of them in every list you open. All the Aruns, and Ragavs, man it was so difficult to actually find anyone in the damm place. To top it all, all these handsome, young, paparazzi-followed fellas, have their profiles guarded like it was the biggest secret since the discovery of the wheel. So there I am looking at Cartoon figures, Bikes, Cars, out-of-focus pictures, pictures in you wont recognise a face even by zooming the page to the maximum... and so on and so forth.
I mean common, I can understand if some young teenage girl is doing this, guarding herself against all the poachers out there, but damm it fellas, how much trouble would it be to list where you went to college and which year you were there!! So then I was going through the privacy policy in Facebook, and behold, it gets even worse, you can actually hide the "add as friend" button to your profile. The idea behind is that only they can add you, and not vice versa. I wonder what happens if two fellas, both paranoid, remove the "add as friend" button. How would they connect.
Fella1: I ll be lowering the firewall at 12.30 IST, can you add me then!?
Fella2: sure thingy dude.
Fella1: But dont miss the window, I ll set it back at 12.31.
And something else I noticed. It is far more easier to attract attention, but hiding this button, because when all the remaining 95% are visible, and only 1 or 2 are missing, you tend to think... wtf, is he/she trying to say!?
This is amazing. Even better, you can actually hide completely in Facebook. like you wont even be listed if someone were to search for you. I dont know about you, but these days if you are not atleast found somewhere online, it is like the time when you did not have an e-mail id because it was too technical. now comes the funny part. They comment on things posted on others walls, and everyone will know that here is one who just does not want to be found.
I mean there are crazy fellows in the internet, who I would protect my grandmother from! But the fact that a name, and basic information is not going to give you away when you are going to an interview, especially when you are no longer under 20 is humourous. And if you are woman, the best way to keep guys from invading your privacy would just be to say you are over 25 and married. No stranger in their sane mind will ever bother you. :) Whatever, it was another morning, where I could only shake my head and wonder what this is illusion is all about. Anybody with a bit of programming can view any pictures in Facebook. It is so simple, it is a joke.
On a higher level, I wonder if anyone can be absolutely private anymore. Everyone has a mail account, where every mail is probably searched for keywords for advertising. Your IPs are saved, along with your searches, along with your shopping in amazon, ebay, and all the other portals in the internet. So someone somewhere could if they "really" wanted, know more about you than your right hand. Case to point, Twitter, Facebook, GMail, Youtube, and many other portals were attacked to make sure just one blogger could not post on the internet!
Happy sunday all.
I mean common, I can understand if some young teenage girl is doing this, guarding herself against all the poachers out there, but damm it fellas, how much trouble would it be to list where you went to college and which year you were there!! So then I was going through the privacy policy in Facebook, and behold, it gets even worse, you can actually hide the "add as friend" button to your profile. The idea behind is that only they can add you, and not vice versa. I wonder what happens if two fellas, both paranoid, remove the "add as friend" button. How would they connect.
Fella1: I ll be lowering the firewall at 12.30 IST, can you add me then!?
Fella2: sure thingy dude.
Fella1: But dont miss the window, I ll set it back at 12.31.
And something else I noticed. It is far more easier to attract attention, but hiding this button, because when all the remaining 95% are visible, and only 1 or 2 are missing, you tend to think... wtf, is he/she trying to say!?
This is amazing. Even better, you can actually hide completely in Facebook. like you wont even be listed if someone were to search for you. I dont know about you, but these days if you are not atleast found somewhere online, it is like the time when you did not have an e-mail id because it was too technical. now comes the funny part. They comment on things posted on others walls, and everyone will know that here is one who just does not want to be found.
I mean there are crazy fellows in the internet, who I would protect my grandmother from! But the fact that a name, and basic information is not going to give you away when you are going to an interview, especially when you are no longer under 20 is humourous. And if you are woman, the best way to keep guys from invading your privacy would just be to say you are over 25 and married. No stranger in their sane mind will ever bother you. :) Whatever, it was another morning, where I could only shake my head and wonder what this is illusion is all about. Anybody with a bit of programming can view any pictures in Facebook. It is so simple, it is a joke.
On a higher level, I wonder if anyone can be absolutely private anymore. Everyone has a mail account, where every mail is probably searched for keywords for advertising. Your IPs are saved, along with your searches, along with your shopping in amazon, ebay, and all the other portals in the internet. So someone somewhere could if they "really" wanted, know more about you than your right hand. Case to point, Twitter, Facebook, GMail, Youtube, and many other portals were attacked to make sure just one blogger could not post on the internet!
Happy sunday all.
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