One Way or Another I'm Gonna Find Ya

You learn about all kinds of interesting things when you are unemployed. Like what's going on with John and Kate (of plus 8 fame), and what the latest beauty queen scandal is. And how to cyberstalk people. I learned this valuable tidbit at a career fair I attended yesterday. You know that I am a fan of googling myself, just to see what is out there in the world about me. They say that you should do this occassionally. You never know when your prospective employer (or current employer) might fancy googling you. But what I did not know, and perhaps some of you didn't know, is that there is a people search engine that is more focused than google and pulls up information on people. It's kind of eery the things I found on myself. Including another picture directory listing my cell phone number for all to see from my beloved slightly naive friend who seems to "accidentally" post these things on the web.

Now, before you go freaking out that personal information about you is probably posted about you on the web, and everyone is going to steal your identity and stalk you, let me assure you that the majority of you really didn't have much available. You might want to search your name, though. I'm kind of sad because so far I have not run across any criminal records for any of you yet. I did run across a few criminal records on google when I searched random people a while ago, so in that way google is a more fun way to look people up.

I do find this tool fascinating. By just entering in one of my former co-worker's name (chosen because her name is unique), I learned four things:
1. Where she works, and what her job title is.
2. That she is a member of the ALA (American Library Association).
3. That she and her husband donated to the public library in 2006 (very cool).
4. That she spoke at a city council meeting in 2006.

See, that's not so creepy, and very interesting. If I were looking to hire her, this might be good information.

Searching my name produces very little, outside of that blasted directory that WILL get taken down permanently if I have to throw bananas at her till she figures out how not to post things online.

Other fun things I learned:
1. One of my friends was quoted in an article in 2006 because she got a shot to protect her from the HPV virus (and then requoted in an article online disputing the findings about the vaccine cited in the first article).
2. One of my past coworkers I lost track with is living in Seattle and working at a senior center. And she still looks the same. There was a picture.
3. You can sometimes find obituaries this way. I found my brother-in-law's father's obituary. It was very nice.
4. If you want to know how to hide on the internet, ask my big sister. She has hardly any listings even though she's got a very unique name. There is someone with her exact name in Cornwall, though. I found that interesting.
5. I've done a good job of keeping my email addresses off the internet.

I hope that you have learned something new today. I know I have.