Okay, this is so big brother it will freak you out. Or if it doesn’t, you’re just more comfortable with the whole Internet-looking-over-your-shoulder thing than I am. I just found out about this, so if I’m a bit slow to the party, bear with me here.
There are a number of sites out there listed as referers on my hits count page that are these active-tracking services that are essentially this big database of linked-up information. Any search term you can think of will bring up a number of blogs and the search term that’s listed in them. Type in “Catcher in the Rye” I’m listed on that page. That just sort of freaks me out a little. If you ever saw Seven and remember the part where Morgan Freeman’s character pays “Stinky Man” under the table for the library records of John Doe–okay, so it’s not exactly the same. But this is definitely a thin barrier between public and private. So if you’re publishing a Weblog, you’re prety much fair game, I s’pose.
And to all you crazy kids publishing dirty, inappropriate stuff, this should mean be careful, buddy. You best decide what’s public info. And quit checking out dirty library books…
Speaking of that, have you ever taken your 19-month-old daughter to the library while her mom’s out of town for the weekend and get up to the counter with a bunch of Teletubbies videos and some random Fellini film from 1972 with a half-clad lady on the cover, and the nice, matronly lady looks at you as though wondering if you’re the one she saw on the wanted poster and if you’ve kidnapped this poor innocent child to lock in your basement and force feed cheesy poofs to through a slit in the iron door? Maybe it’s just me inventing things again, but I could swear that was what happened to me on Saturday. It tells you something about the place I live if a guy who looks as ordinary as I do can be suspected of such things so flippantly. I mean, I must have dreamed this up.
It’s probably that overly self-conscious part acting up again. I just hate feeling watched.
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