MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
I got this email yesterday from the woman I bought a used laptop from; I have no idea if this is a threat or not; I don't do Facebook, but I thought I could check it out for other web thingies... Please ignore it if it's nothing.
"There's a site called www.Spokeo.com that's a new online USA phone book w/personal information: everything from pics you've posted on FB or web, your approx credit score, home value, income, age, etc. You can remove yourself by searching for yourself on their site, copy the URL of your page, then go to the bottom of the page and click on Privacy button, put the URL into it with an email address (use one not your daily email address) to remove yourself. "
Comments
HA...I'm not there (un-person ?) but my sister is.
by cmaukonen on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:26pm
That's creepy. Fortunately, they don't have my current address, which I've made an effort keep private, and the home value estimates are a joke, since I don't own home. But they had my last three addresses in there as well as my parents address. Weirdly, they also had my address from 1997.
by Michael Wolraich on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:35pm
I found myself there plenty, including my home address (property records, I'd think), Posterous, they say I'm on facebook (sure tried harrrrrd to resign) with some hideous bird avatar...and I'm 68, living in denver on youtube (Don't rush me, baby!).
Think I'll erase myself anyway.
And Atheist: it says your mother wears combat boots. And Genghis wears a kilt.
by we are stardust on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 1:03pm
In searching on myself, I found that I live in a household (in a location I lived in two properties ago) with me (as a female) and I (as another male), for a total of 3 in all. It doesn't help that IRL my first name (which I only use on legal documents) is now more commonly used by females than by males, I suppose. (The "female" me uses my first name, whereas myself and I both use my middle name.)
by Verified Atheist on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 1:19pm
Dude. You are beyond lucky. Male, and female plus some 3rd undefined thing?
I donno what they call that, bicephalous or whatever, but you gotta have one hell of a party happening, and that's just all on your own.
- Bitterly Jealous in Jacksonville.
by quinn esq on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 1:43pm
Wow. - the father, the son and ... the holy spirit?
Atheist is ... the holy trinity!!!
hooocoodanode, eh?
by Obey on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 2:20pm
Didn't you parents know how to spell 'URL'?? 'A part-girl named URL'?
And why the hell aren't you all chained to your tax forms, you frigging Spokeos? 'Enter this on line 44 of Form Asshat, but not if you don't want to get audited.' 'Don't count your labor for Dick when you figure costs. Only if you hired wetbacks'. Multiply this number by .9235, then that result by .153; THIS is your SE obligation if Congress doesn't privatize it, or agree to cut your benefits when the form we sent you says if you retire at age 65 you'll receive $450 a month; sorry if we lost track of things for you. Worked since you were 16? Okay--prove it! We suggest you earn more money.' (Dang, wish I;d thought of that.)
Maybe if you got Unverified again, life at Spockeo would treat you better........................
by we are stardust on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 3:08pm
Btw, try searching on "Genghis Khan". Evidently, there are 24 in the United States.
There are also a large number of George Washingtons, Abraham Lincolns, and Bilbo Bagginses, but sadly, not a single Gandalf.
by Verified Atheist on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 1:25pm
Yeah, it's a little inaccurate. Anyone relying on it for anything other than a laugh is in for some surprises. I searched on my Dad, who evidently only has one child: my Mom. I had no idea…
(Now, normally, one might be very concerned that one's parents are so closely related, but what I found more alarming is that my brother and I were never born. Of course, my Mom will be delighted to find out that she's only in her 40s. She'll be less delighted to learn who her father is, especially considering they got divorced more than 20 years ago…)
by Verified Atheist on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:45pm
There are a lot of sites like this, Classmates.com, for example, and they dangle some info for free and charge you for the rest. Mine was off quite a bit.
by Donal on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 2:00pm
I tried my name in various forms and none of them were the true me. My husband, either. But it's still scary.
by Ramona on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 3:13pm
'Removing' yourself from the site may be like those email scams where you 'click here to remove email' which just confirms you are there. I seriously doubt anything that is on that site will be 'removed' entirely if you request it, it may just get the info sold to another site.
by NCD on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 3:22pm
I think NCD is exactly right. Spokeo has put up a crappy, error-filled database and are inviting people to refine it into something worth selling to third parties. By asking for their entries to be removed, people confirm they exist, own a computer, and are sensitive about some of the information posted about them. And they've just supplied an email address. Don't do it.
by acanuck on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 3:54pm
I'll third that. Even searching on your name provides some information that they can use. That's why I started my search process with "Canuck, A." (But seriously, they most likely are tracking search criteria.)
by Verified Atheist on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 4:04pm
Ha! You're obviously unaware that's just a pseudonym. My avatar, now -- that's real. Rock-hard abs, baby!
by acanuck on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 4:16pm