FloydFreak's Blog

Following is the text from a blog that appeared on these boards last week authored by someone whom I shall not mention by name. The Fox 13 blog gods saw fit to delete this post before many of you had had the chance to read this individual's words of wisdom. To those of you that state that the Obama/Wright connection has a great deal to do with the company that one keeps, may I suggest that you likewise may be judged by the company that you keep.

This unnamed blogger also saw fit to launch distasteful personal insults, not just against another blogger, but against the other blogger's spouse.

Please pay particular attention to the portion that comes after, "To the above list I would add:". Tell me that you do not find this twisted and disturbing.

Now, without further adieu, for your reading pleasure:

"As I sit here and post this messege, I can look up at the top of the screen next to the "You Decide 2008" and see that there are 2216 users online logged into the My Fox Tampa Bay. So potentially 2216 people will see my blog, but that is only the number that are signed in...you don't have to be signed in to read the My Fox blogs, so that number could be 100's, 1,000's or even 10,000's times greater than that number.

Here is an excerpt from an article on "Blogging Safely:

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"If you blog, there are no guarantees you'll attract a readership of thousands," states the manual. "But at least a few readers will find your blog, and they may be people you'd least want to expect....And there may be consequences."

Below, a few tips from "How to Blog Safely (About Work and Anything Else)":

• A is for Anonymous First, the "no duh" warning: don't post any pictures, reveal your name or even confess you work for, say, an unnamed weekly newspaper in Seattle. "(I)t's clear that you work in one of two places," cautions the guide. Posting using a pseudonym is smart but, if you think using "Leanne" when your name is Annalee is a good idea, think again.
• Technology as Alibi Superficial disguises go only so far when every wannabe pundit also has a unique -- and, unfortunately, traceable -- Internet address. The good news is, there are services like Invisiblog.com, Anonymizer.com and Tor that specialize in helping you keep your address and your identity under wraps.
• Be Exclusive You don't have to let the whole world watch. You can set up a blog that is password-protected. Blogging services such as LiveJournal let you decide who gets to see all or parts of your blog. Turns out, you can also block Google and other major search engines from listing your blog in Internet search results. To do so, you need to create a special file called a "Robots Text File."
• Have a Blog and Keep Your Job Mark Jen, the fired Google worker, isn't the only blogger to land on the unemployment lines. Delta Air Lines, Microsoft and Friendster, the on-line social networking service, have all allegedly canned hired help for blogging. Countless other employers are taking steps to prevent loose-lipped workers from disclosing company information on the Internet.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the First Amendment protects against censorship by the government, not employers or any other private party. In most states, employment is considered "at will," which means that employees can quit and employers can fire anytime and for any reason.

And no states have laws to protect bloggers from job or any other discrimination, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

There is some good news, but not much. Most states specifically protect workers' political activities and opinions. Using a blog as a unionizing tool is also protected.

Workers who blow the whistle on illegal activities by their employers also enjoy certain safeguards, but should "notify somebody in authority about the sludge (their) company is dumping in the wetlands first, then blog about it," the guide states.

And, of course, government workers are free to carp all they want online as long as they don't reveal classified or confidential information.

• The Safest Way of All This isn't in the how-to blog guide, but remember the old days of paper and pen diaries? True, the audience is limited to the authors themselves and maybe a snooping sibling or two. Ones with a lock and key work best.

The link: http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/08/technology/personalt

ech/blogging/index.htm?cnn=yes

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With advancements in the availablity of information for marketing purposes, as well as indentity theft rings, I do not think the list above goes far enough. Do I really want potentially millions of people knowing personal information about me and my loved ones? No way! Who knows what kind of blog world freaks, psychos, terrorist or perverts are lurking on the website reading these blogs that could use the personal information posted to locate me or my loved ones!

What happens if while hiding behind what I thought was an Anonymous screen name I post something on a blog that pisses off a freak, psycho, terrorist or pervert and they decide to locate me or my family? Do I want to give that individual the information they need to track me or my loved ones down?

To the above list I would add:

• Never reveal your name...not even your first name! If you tell the blog world your first name is Jim, they have half the equation of your indentity solved.
• Never post a picture of yourself. It gives a positive ID if a person should locate an area where you may have inadvertantley told them you hang out. From there they could now follow you and find where you live and work.
• Never reveal where you frequent or hang out, and never agree to meet up with a stranger that you only know from blogging. They could be one of the blog worlds freaks, psychos, terrorists or perverts.
• Never reveal the type of car you drive, especially if it is a rare car. There is marketing data available that gives people information based on the type, year, model and brand of car you drive along with personal information such as where you live and work. If a person knows say, your first name, the year and types of cars you drive, the year you were born, the county or city where you were born, the high school you attended and the county or city you live in, that would be enough information to put the puzzle pieces together and track down who you are.
• Never give out your home address. As a matter of fact, I would refrain from even giving details of the neighborhood I live in. Do I want someone knowing that I reside in Hyde Park in a townhouse on the same street and right down the street from The Rack or in a rural, sparsely populated neighborhood in Pasco County?
• Never reveal when you will be out of town on business or vacation. If someone in the blog world knows who you are already and where you live, they would now know when your house would be empty and you could potentially get robbed.
• Never, and I mean never, tell the blog world when your spouse or children will be home alone. There are too many freaks, psychos, terrorists and perverts out there that can figure out who you are, where you live and you have now potentially put your loved ones in danger by telling the blog world freaks, psychos, terrorists and perverts your wife or children will be home alone. I couldn't imagine telling the blog world personal information about myself that would allow them to locate where I live, and then telling the freaks, psychos, terrorists and perverts my wife or children were home alone every night while I work the third shift or worked out of town. You would have to be a moron to do that.
• Never reveal where you work. Not even the location! While hiding behind what you thought was an anonymous screen name you post something on a blog that pisses off someone and they decide to locate your employer and show them the posts you made while on company time...and if you are stupid enough to post your name, bio or picture of yourself, you will have a hard time denying it.

I think the bottom line is, as our Commander In Chief continues to remind us, we live in a dangerous world and need to take precautions to protect ourselves and our loved ones from freaks, psychos, terrorists and perverts.

Is it worth being a blog world hero pounding your chest of how great you are and how anyone looking like a terrorist should be eliminated, all the while giving out personal information and by doing so you potentially put you and your loved ones personal lives in the spot light of the blog worlds freaks, psychos, terrorists and perverts? I believe if you use common sense while blogging and follow the above simple suggestions, you will sleep better at night knowing you and your loved ones are safe from the blog worlds freaks, psychos, terrorists and perverts!

Think about it...or sleep on it as it is getting late and time to turn in for the night.

Safe blogging!