Death by Google Calendar 101
the_harlequin writes "Ok, so the title is a little extreme, but it's a possibility. The link gives an example of how easy it is to obtain information about someone who uses Google Calendar, and is unaware of what they're allowing the world to see."
Re:Eh, unnecessary... (Score:3, Interesting)
The chances keep getting greater and greater. As the article said, not only GOOGLE calendars but all other information pusblishing page. I find interesting how easly people share their personal information via webpages. Even some people share that informaiton without knowing it. For example, if you search for a telephone number in google you can get the complete address and name of that person, and from that you can go to Google maps and get a nice aereal photo.
I used to get into ppl email quite esaly in the ICQ era, see, on the ICQ profile people used to write down all their information with their email account (for hotmail or another email provider), then, if you went to the email page and requested to "remind me my password", the web page would ask you some personal information (name, birthday, etc etc) and then it will give you the password. The only thing I had to do is look at the ICQ profile to get all the personal information.
I think parents MUST take more care of what their children are publishing on their MySpace and other web pages, you dont know how much informaiton someone can get from you via google. Nowadays I usually run a google search for each ebayer I deal with (before dealing with him/her or sometimes after as the email usually lets you get lots of more informaiton), it is quite easy to find a lot of info about the person.
Single? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Easy problem to solve. (Score:3, Interesting)
You could hide yourself, drive that old rustbucket until it falls apart and build a modest house with all goodies strictly indoors in the basement. You could adapt to the constant threat of crime all around you and keep a low profile, pre-emptively forfeiting your self-determination. Or you could vote for more wealth transfer, more welfare, more spending, more taxes, more government. If everyone's on the dole, nobody needs to steal, right?
Either way: no self-defense gun is of that kind the usual perpetrators cherish. Full-autos are rare in that field and shotguns and rifles are too bulky. Nothing is bad-ass enough for our fellow robbers like that Mac-10 or the saturday night special.
In the end I'd rather have my daughter kidnapped than a crackhead roaming through my house at night. Paying ransom for my daughter is (you asked for it) merely monetary damage while the crackhead in my daughter's bedroom would be the end of my life as I know it. And everyone who collects ransom but still harms my daughter is going to have the absolutely longest and most painful death modern technology and medicine can provide. I'd go that far to take paramedics classes just to let that bastard feel the pain for a few more hours, I swear.
Re:Easy problem to solve. (Score:3, Interesting)
Merely monetary damage? Huh? Which kidnappings are you reading about? A significant percentage of abducted kids are sexually abused and/or killed. Does anybody even kidnap for ransom anymore, outside of third-world countries? Seems to me that the risks of collecting the ransom money are just too great. (And now that I venture over to Wikipedia, they claim that kidnapping for ransom is nearly non-existent in the U.S. today)
I'd much prefer the crackhead in my house to my kid getting abducted. At least while someone's in the house I can do something about it. And a crackhead is more interested in money/jewelry/valuables than a kid, methinks. Easier to fence a laptop than a child.