Tuesday, July 27, 2010

For People Who Post the Names of Others on Forums..

It's creepy, you should stop.

I don't care if you're trying to find out more information before dating someone, or just trying to trash someone, or even trying to compliment someone. Posting someone's full name is just inviting disaster.

I can take someone's first and last name, find their facebook/myspace/random other social networking site. I can find where they live (like, detailed address where they live, not just a city), their phone number, their sexual orientation, where they went to school (and with a bit of social engineering, even their grades), birthday, significant other, hobbies, favorite places to hang out, etc. With a little work and some of the above information, I can just as easily obtain a social security number, credit cards, bank accounts, etc.

Now you should stop and think about this for a moment. Are you prepared for someone to figure out who you are and post YOUR name up on a forum? Do you really want someone as deliciously malevolent as I am to gain access to your most private information, or even some of your dirty secrets?

I've tried to point this simple truth out to my fellow Jonesboroians only to be told to "piss off" a few times. People need to wake up. It doesn't even take a skilled hacker to steal your identity and create a world of chaos for you. It just takes someone who has people skills and a brain.

Update:
Here's a little something that should scare you:

Monday, July 26, 2010

My Name is ____, I'm Better Than You Because ____ and I'm NOT EVER Going to Read Your Blog!

So I've seen an onslaught of these statements on those forums we call home. O, hai! You're better than me because you can't spell 'u', you proudly wear a mullet and have a gun rack in your truck, you proudly vote Christian (because honestly, who cares about POLITICS when RELIGION is involved), oh and speaking of, you're better than me because you go to church. Laughable. So my question is, if you're so much better than me, why are you here reading this fancy little blog I made?

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Welcome to the Help Desk

Good morning from the Dread Pirate Maladi. Welcome to my Help Desk.

What is a help desk?
I'm going to answer your questions and even give you advice! 1

Can I sue you if the advice you give is faulty?
NO! I do not take any legal responsibility. By reading this post and any of my other posts, you agree to not hold me legally liable for any decisions you make on your own based on information you've received from this blog! 2

What are your plans outside of answering questions?
My plans are to do what everyone else does on the interwebz and share my opinion with you through blogging. You may not want to read it, but I'm sure you will anyways.

Who are you really?
The world may never know...
Although a few people still on Topix do know my true identity, I will never reveal myself willingly. Just to add some confusion, if anyone manages to figure out who I am, I will deny any revealed information in the same way I will deny any "guesses" about my real identity. So none of you will really know except those who already know me and those I choose to give enough hints to that they can discern my identity.

Why are you so mean on the internet?
It could be because I'm a really really really nice person in real life who gets picked on all the time and the internet is a way for me to offload some of my natural douchebaggery. Or it could just be that I'm an asshole who enjoys watching you suffer.

Footnotes.....
1 By advice, this has the potential to not be helpful in the least and may even entail receiving advice that you didn't request or desire.
2 Oh snap! You just got sucked into a legally-binding ToS!