The power of google.

Frankly, it's intimidating.

You can now put in a phone number and have google spit back references. ..which leads to hours of fun.

It's pretty good too. It doesn't have me yet (I use my cell phone exclusively), but it's got my parents. It's got my girlfriend's home phone number and address (though under her roommate's name), but not her cell phone. I have a very old friend who I occasionally call (sorry insiders, no names, but she's the one who used to bag groceries with me). Her e-mail accounts (2 the greedy gal) and web site turned up. (nice site, btw). The US electronic paper trail is miles wide...and it goes back in time a few years too. It is not infallible though. Another friend's number turned up as a CPA office (no he's not a CPA).

In related news, I now have a site e-mail: cognitiveapostate@yahoo.com (i'll put it in a sidebar someday). Not that my routine email is a huge secret: it's out there on other blogs. Still, if I'm going to stick with this blog thing, I may as well have all the accoutrements. I tried to get a e-mail with some variant of Lanky Bastard, but evidently there are a ghastly number of Lanky Bastards out there. Google it. There is even a lanky bastard true-type font. Fortunately "cognitiveapostate" is enough of a non-sequitur that no one had taken it.

Here's where it starts getting interesting....If you google search for the above mentioned grocery bagger of lore (let's call her Jane Doe) by her full name, her website pops up inside the first 4 entries. However, if you just put "Jane" or "Jane Anythingelse"it doesn't show up. What's odd about that? Well, her last name isn't posted anywhere in the website, but somehow google knows. Trippy.

Here's another case study. I once dated a girl with a very unique last name. A google search reveals references to her, her sister and mother, and her late father: no one else. Lest my current girlfriend feel slighted...her name pulls up over 100 entries, and I found a few links to that are really her. (you're still one of a kind to me, babe). And then there's me. My first and last names pull up over 4 million hits. That cuts down to just over 100,000 if you put them in quotes. I don't have the patience to look for the real me in all that mess. (It drops to 30 is you include my middle name, but none of those are me).

One final thought on privacy and anonymity. These are the password renewal questions on a Yahoo mail account:
1. What is your pet's name?
2. What was the name of your first school?
3. Who was your childhood hero?
4. What is your favorite pastime?
5. What is your all-time favorite sports team?
6. What is your father's middle name?
7. What was your high-school mascot?
8. What make was your first car of bike?
9. Where did you meet your spouse?

Not really the most anonymous questions ever. Anyone who knows me has a shot at getting a couple of these. If you think you know me, feel free to guess, but given the new permanence of electronic records, please do it by e-mail.