Think before you type. [Archive]

Flujo

11-18-2007, 12:36 PM

Today I realised that SF is indexed by Google. So, if you happen to have mentioned anything about anywhere you have been or any opinions you have about people then guess what? The entire Google searching world now knows about it! Dop!!

I typed in the name of a social and it guess what was in the first set of results...yep, my post from months back. So much for being secure in the knowledge that you have to actually visit the forum in order to see the posts. :)

Good job I'm not one to slag people off eh.

Moral of the story is...if you wish to remain semi-anonymous, think before you type.

11-18-2007, 02:00 PM

All web pages are indexed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo search, MS live search, etc... (using so called search engine bots). These bots can be told not to index certain web pages by using a meta tag or placing the appropriate code in a .htacces-file. However, most webmasters want search engines to index their pages, else their web pages will not show up in search results.

One more thing to keep in mind is that if you type your email address on the internet, it is easy for people to see where you have been just by searching for your email address... Also you will probably get a lot of spam in your email box because there are programs that are made for the solely purpose of collecting email addresses to use for spamming... (Your email address can e.g. be indexed if you choose the option to always show email address in your profile and also if you type it in the field for MSN Messenger. It can also be indexed if you post it...)

Terremoto

11-18-2007, 02:20 PM

Yeah, I have had friends tell me they googled "salsa portland" and found one of my posts :lol:

Everything is open to the public on these forums!!

SnowDancer

11-18-2007, 02:40 PM

Yes, the internet is forever. I just searched Google News and found a post I made in 1987. I'm not too worried about the email address getting spammed.

It's: ...hplabs!felix!jsf

Flujo

11-20-2007, 11:22 AM

1987, wow. Suppose it was a bit silly thinking the SF site was the only way to see the posts here. There has been no damage done anyway so that's ok. Just have to be conscious of it next time I have a whinge about something. :)

Have any of you ever got yourselves into trouble by not realising that? Do tell.

lolita

11-20-2007, 12:24 PM

Have any of you ever got yourselves into trouble by not realising that? Do tell.

Are u asking about how many times ? :roll:

11-20-2007, 02:40 PM

Yes, the internet is forever. I just searched Google News and found a post I made in 1987. I'm not too worried about the email address getting spammed.

It's: ...hplabs!felix!jsf

Lol, even with all of us techno geeks on here, most won't recognize the ! reference... (oops, showing my age!)

Flujo

11-20-2007, 07:08 PM

Have any of you ever got yourselves into trouble by not realising that? Do tell.

Are u asking about how many times ? :roll:
Anyone who posts in red is bound to be trouble :twisted: ;)
Go on, how many times?

Lol, even with all of us techno geeks on here, most won't recognize the ! reference... (oops, showing my age!)
What does it mean?

lolita

11-21-2007, 02:47 AM

Wow...that was tooooooooooooo many times i lost count since i was 14, and i am 22 now :roll:

Hold up hold up....red, troubles? mmmm...LOL...do i smell a fight pick? ;)

Flujo

11-21-2007, 08:13 AM

I fight pick?! If ya want...let's have ya!! :argue:

:)

11-21-2007, 08:37 AM

Lol, even with all of us techno geeks on here, most won't recognize the ! reference... (oops, showing my age!)
What does it mean?

Back in the day, before @ became ubiquitous, some email systems had you use the ! symbol in order to route your email to the proper person.

There's a brief one sentence acknowledgement over on Wikipedia:
"Early e-mail systems also used the exclamation point as a separator character between hostnames for routing information, usually referred to as "bang path" notation."

lolita

11-21-2007, 12:17 PM

I fight pick?! If ya want...let's have ya!! :argue:

:)

Lets take you outside...ima enjoy throwing some hands :twisted:

Flujo

11-21-2007, 04:04 PM

:banana: <---is this you throwing some hands then?

:uplaugh:

Throw all the hands you want. You'll have to catch me first!

lolita

11-21-2007, 08:36 PM

Ha Ha very funny Fluju.
Trust and Believe, if i want...i'll catch ya ;) come over show me some fighting :roll:

Flujo

11-22-2007, 08:39 AM

You know what they say about play fighting...! ;) hehe

lolita

11-22-2007, 03:30 PM

You know what they say about play fighting...! ;) hehe

No i dont (insert angel face here)

Flujo

11-23-2007, 09:10 AM

PM'd phone number. hehehe j/k. Your lovely, not a bad girl at all. ;)

lolita

11-23-2007, 02:57 PM

PM'd phone number. hehehe j/k. Your lovely, not a bad girl at all. ;)

Lovely is the impression...Bad is the Truth ;)

Flujo

11-24-2007, 06:19 AM

How about naughty but nice...?

lolita

11-24-2007, 02:09 PM

How about MMM... :oops:

11-24-2007, 07:56 PM

Ok, back to topic! 8)

Flujo

11-24-2007, 11:58 PM

Lolita:
:) MMM is good. Like melt in your mouth milk chocolate MMM?

Pr:
Yes back to topic, sorry. Bad Flujo!

The question was (or should have been)...has anyone every got themselves into trouble through things they have talked about there or maybe said something they wish they hadn't?

Flujo

11-26-2007, 08:23 AM

Hmm, I've killed this thread. :oops:
Thanks for playing lolita - hope I wasn't too cheeky. ;)

Ron Obvious

11-26-2007, 08:27 AM

Hmm, I've killed this thread. :oops:
Thanks for playing lolita - hope I wasn't too cheeky. ;)

I'm the only one here with licence to kill theads, I believe :twisted:

Flujo

11-26-2007, 08:49 AM

lol, not any more mate. The evidence is mounting...

11-26-2007, 02:08 PM

Did the "Thread Killer" thread get killed?

11-27-2007, 11:51 AM

Did the "Thread Killer" thread get killed?
I'm off to check...
I killed it and and now woke it up. :twisted: Almost two months. :P

lolita

11-27-2007, 11:29 PM

Hmm, I've killed this thread. :oops:
Thanks for playing lolita - hope I wasn't too cheeky. ;)

Dont worry bout it ;) was a good play.

so who killed the thread?

Flujo

11-30-2007, 10:34 AM

Are you talking about the 'thread killer' thread?
http://www.salsaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=4619&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=150
It was resurrected by PR after spending a couple months in Coventry. It's company was ok so I don't think it got lonely.

If you are talking about this one then I think we are to blame for taking it waaay off topic. It was a nice detour nonetheless. ;)

PropriedadDeClubDenbow

11-30-2007, 01:10 PM

Ron Obvious, Flujo, KILLERS :twisted:

Flujo

12-03-2007, 09:42 AM

:) :twisted: Ron is the true harbinger of death. I might ask him if he needs an apprentice.

SnowDancer

12-05-2007, 12:17 PM

Anyone else notice that if you do a Google search for something that's salsa related, the top entries found often include recent threads in Salsa Forums?

PropriedadDeClubDenbow

12-06-2007, 02:35 AM

Anyone else notice that if you do a Google search for something that's salsa related, the top entries found often include recent threads in Salsa Forums?
Yes :D

Ron Obvious

12-06-2007, 06:08 AM

Anyone else notice that if you do a Google search for something that's salsa related, the top entries found often include recent threads in Salsa Forums?
Yes :D

Maybe that's why I'm doing it. What about your motives, Flujo?

Flujo

12-06-2007, 08:26 AM

Eh?

Ron Obvious

12-06-2007, 12:05 PM

Well, they call me a thread killer, and when threads are killed they won't show up on google, now will they? So it's really a blessing in disguise.

Flujo

12-06-2007, 06:07 PM

haha that's one way of looking at it I suppose.

Pacion

12-13-2007, 12:24 PM

Getting back on track for a moment ;)...

It is also the same with threads/posts in the 'mother site', Dance Forums re Google, indexing/searches.

Even if it were not for that, you should still be careful what you type and what information you put 'out there' because cyber-stalking can and does occur. Therefore, anyone with a pen and paper or competent with the 'copy and paste function' in Word, can pull together information on someone and 'connect the dots' to work out who you are.

The newspapers in the UK have shown how easy it is for identity thieves to assume someone's identity from various social networking sites eg. Facebook and Myspace. Therefore, there has been some (not a whole lot) items with the summary... you would not necessarily leave vital information lying around your house when strangers are coming in, why do it on the internet. :roll:

Flujo

12-13-2007, 07:27 PM

The newspapers in the UK have shown how easy it is for identity thieves to assume someone's identity from various social networking sites eg. Facebook and Myspace. Therefore, there has been some (not a whole lot) items with the summary... you would not necessarily leave vital information lying around your house when strangers are coming in, why do it on the internet. :roll:It's a pain in the 'you know what' having all these *insert curse of choice* criminals making our lives difficult and it really makes me :evil: . Now excuse me while I go count to 50....

...aaah that's better. I've been going back and deleting references to people and places in an attempt to minimise the trail so to speak. I'm paranoid enough as it is without worrying about that stuff as well.

You are right, it's insane the amount of personal info people give away online. In an ideal world yes, fantastic! There is nothing more beautiful than a person willing to share themselves so completely with the world but as you and I both know this world is anything but ideal at this present moment in time. I believe that will change! We can live in hope. :)

Pacion

12-13-2007, 09:02 PM

I've been going back and deleting references to people and places in an attempt to minimise the trail so to speak. I'm paranoid enough as it is without worrying about that stuff as well.

Not wanting to add to your worries......... ;) but if someone has quoted you it may not be so easy to "delete" references to people and places. As for the cache option of the internet, or one of those websites that stores historic pages? Not sure how long it takes for that information to be "deleted", if it gets deleted at all! :raisebrow:

Flujo

12-15-2007, 06:36 AM

There is just no privacy any more is there. They are watching you...even if they're not! Work that one out. :P hehe
__________________________
"All your base are belong to us!"

Ron Obvious

12-15-2007, 06:43 AM

Flujo

12-16-2007, 05:49 PM

Not wanting to add to your worries......... ;) but if someone has quoted you it may not be so easy to "delete" references to people and places. As for the cache option of the internet, or one of those websites that stores historic pages? Not sure how long it takes for that information to be "deleted", if it gets deleted at all! :raisebrow: The data would probably be around for at least a year before being deleted if, like you said, it get's deleted at all. I know there is a law under the data protection act about holding information on people but I doubt that applies to things such as forums etc.

Agree, this is really a potential problem, because everything we do now is recorded for future thieves as well. I really would hope that salsa and dance forums would take a proactive stance and do something to protect their users. But I guess it's in the interest of a forum to have Google index its pages so that people find the forum.Yep, agreed. We are approaching a time when thieves won't have to break into your house to steal your things or mug you to take your money. What they will be able to do eventually is just walk right on past you and perhaps with a good enough hacker, steal your entire life off of that little chip sitting oh so innocently in your pocket. Scary thought. :shock:

Pacion

12-17-2007, 04:13 AM

Agree, this is really a potential problem, because everything we do now is recorded for future thieves as well. I really would hope that salsa and dance forums would take a proactive stance and do something to protect their users. But I guess it's in the interest of a forum to have Google index its pages so that people find the forum.

Ron, as a mod over on Dance Forums, the powers that be do what they can to prevent hacking etc etc. and are proactive on this. However, what they and I, as a mod cannot do, is be proactive/be 'big brother' or 'class room monitor' for users who wish to put their life story on the forum with little or no attempts of disguise, for all and sundry to read and with little thought for the consequences later on down the line.

Even though I am not a technie, common sense dictates to me that Google indexing and the substance of what people choose to write about are two different things.

Pacion

12-17-2007, 04:14 AM

...

Pacion

12-17-2007, 04:21 AM

Not wanting to add to your worries......... ;) but if someone has quoted you it may not be so easy to "delete" references to people and places. As for the cache option of the internet, or one of those websites that stores historic pages? Not sure how long it takes for that information to be "deleted", if it gets deleted at all! :raisebrow: The data would probably be around for at least a year before being deleted if, like you said, it get's deleted at all. I know there is a law under the data protection act about holding information on people but I doubt that applies to things such as forums etc.

Not sure I am following you Flujo. "The date would probably be around for at least a year"? From what I have seen, if someone posts on forum, that information/history is there for however long that forum is running or how effective the backups are (if any!) in the event there is a glitch and files are lost. If someone posts information about themselves on the internet, they may as well just have taken out an advert in ALL the newspapers and magazines that exist in the world (advertising costs aside).

Ron Obvious

12-17-2007, 05:41 AM

Ron, as a mod over on Dance Forums, the powers that be do what they can to prevent hacking etc etc. and are proactive on this. However, what they and I, as a mod cannot do, is be proactive/be 'big brother' or 'class room monitor' for users who wish to put their life story on the forum with little or no attempts of disguise, for all and sundry to read and with little thought for the consequences later on down the line.

Even though I am not a technie, common sense dictates to me that Google indexing and the substance of what people choose to write about are two different things.

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying, but I didn't talk about people hacking into the forums and steal user data that people have chosen to display when registering to a forum, I talked about thieves gathering real data about users that is evident in the postings.

No need to big brother anything, but just like this thread suggests, people may not be aware of the fact that anything you put here can be found through google as well, and that's not anything I consider good. It's one thing having your writings found on a forum with registrered users, but another displaying it on google. I guess everybody doesn't follow the following mantra:

"True glory is to only do what deserves to be written, and only write what deserves to be read"

If they did, we wouldn't have a forum anymore, we'd only publish books instead...

Pacion

12-17-2007, 07:01 AM

I guess everybody doesn't follow the following mantra:

"True glory is to only do what deserves to be written, and only write what deserves to be read"

If they did, we wouldn't have a forum anymore, we'd only publish books instead...

I guess not everyone has realised that blogs (and forums) have taken over from books then (unless, the book is Harry Potter or any of the other phenomenas)... :roll:

Flujo

12-17-2007, 08:33 AM

Not sure I am following you Flujo. "The date would probably be around for at least a year"?Should have said that the data would probably be around for at least a year after being deleted by the user in the form of backups or something similar. Does that make more sense?

So, if you delete your account, webpage, blog, posts or trash your emails then that data might still be around in some form (probably backups) for at least a year before being deleted, if at all.

12-17-2007, 10:14 AM

Pacion

12-18-2007, 04:46 AM

I guess the moral of the story is to be careful of what you post?

There's an urban legend of the woman who posts on Myspace/Facebook that she's going on vacation abroad for a month, and her address is also available somehow. And so thieves use that information to break into her home while she's gone.

There have been three (or four?) instances here in the UK where teenagers were having parties. "Somehow" their addresses/details of the party ended up on Myspace/Facebook, dozens of strangers descended on the party and wilfully thrashed the teenagers' homes - vomiting, stealing, urinating on the carpets and in the clothes cupboards, breakage etc - causing thousands of £'s in damage.

I say "somehow" as I seem to recall the teenagers saying they did not put the address details on their social page (or the setting was supposed to have been private?).

Also not an urban myth... in the UK, at least, the police have been telling people not to put in their automatic Out of Office Replies to emails information such as "I will be travelling from 1 December to 31 December 2222 and will reply when I return". Thieves/Gangs have been known to get ahold of someone's address/work details and then send emails to see if they are likely to be away and then when they get an Out of Office Reply like the above, they think it is their lucky day! Therefore, we have been advised (by the police and company's security teams) simply to say something along the lines of, "I am currently out of the office. Will contact you upon my return... if your matter is urgent, please contact Mrs Santa."

(Not really to put Mrs Santa's name, just the name of the person to contact!)

Flujo

12-18-2007, 06:43 PM

Hah, that's crazy. What is the world coming too?!
I can envision a day when there will be rational fear classes that teach innocent people how to be suspicious and mistrustful. Imagine that (self defence for the mind)! :lol:

Jolinia

12-19-2007, 03:20 AM

I heard about similar cases in Germany when people changed their answering machine messages at their homes to something like "We're on vacation until Dec. 2nd. Please leave a message and we call back when we return". When they came back, their house had been broken into.

It's so easy nowadays to get people's addresses and phone numbers. So when you're telling potential thieves you won't be home for a while you're basically suggesting the best time to come and break into your home.

12-19-2007, 09:20 AM

I must admit, it's a mild source of concern for me.

I don't exactly live in the nicest neighborhood (lol), and it's pretty obvious when I'm home (my car is parked out front). Any thief who wanted to scope out my (or for that matter most) apt would just have to keep track of how many people live in an apt and what car(s) they drive.

Pacion

12-22-2007, 11:52 AM

Any thief who wanted to scope out my (or for that matter most) apt would just have to keep track of how many people live in an apt and what car(s) they drive.

...and hope that the occupant didn't lend the car to a friend, send the car to be serviced, park the car somewhere they could not remember (!), decided to get rid of the car or that the car was stolen!

(All possible explanations as to why the car may not be home, other than because the occupant was out ;))

Alternatively, the occupant is out, but the car is in the driveway/parked outside the apartment/house. :D

Flujo

12-23-2007, 06:50 AM

Man sized mouse traps would solve the burglary problem. They break in then....PRAM!!!!! GOTCHA you dirty little thief! :) Then, they should be forced to eat that horrible moldy cheese until they have learnt the error of their ways. "Here little man mouse...have some cheese...YUMmm".

Pacion

12-23-2007, 12:33 PM

:lol: Except!!! Here in the UK (may also be the same in the US), that man sized mouse will sue YOU the home resident for... distress, false imprisonment, humiliation (being treated/likened to a mouse), damage to their ear drums from the sound of the trap closing, force feeding, that they were given moldy cheese instead of the best money (someone else's, of course!) could buy... anything else they/their lawyers can think of.

Very appealing idea Flujo, but :nope:

There was a case of a guy here in London who didn't want his fairly expensive (not super expensive, just fairly expensive) car to be stolen. I think he had had experienced this before. He had some modifications done to the car so that if anyone touched it, they would get an electrical shcok. As 'luck' would have it, someone tried to break into the car, was electricuted (not badly), and successfully sued the car owner.

Similarly, if someone breaks into your house, your dog attacks him, he can sue you... if he falls out of the window whilst making his getaway (or even injures himself whilst IN YOUR house), after breaking into YOUR house, you, the home owner can be sued...

[Rant over]