In class the other day, we discussed our vanity searches and were enlightened on how many ways these searches can be completed. Many people thought to search things related to themselves that others didn't. For instance, I thought to search the prefix of my email account and another person thought to search their address.
In class, most intriguing to me was a site called Zillow.com. It was completely new to me, though I've seen similar things before. Zillow.com is a real estate interested database that allows you to type in an address and using satellite images, obtain a birds eye view of a desired area/ location. The website, using a Microsoft program call Virtual Earth, amazingly allows you to zoom in to a ridiculous point, so close you can see the cars on the streets!
This entire class discussion prompted a cause for a second more refined vanity search. I decided to do an additional search on my address, other names my friends might call me and some public showings I've been a part of. A search of my address on google info, as well as a few other databases, came up with none other than the name and phone number with some pictures of the apartment complex I live in. And then, sure enough, a search on Zillow.com showed a nice and precise aerial view of the complex. My husband and I even speculated that a particular car in view was ours! On that note, we also found another site, very similar with satellite images and all, that got us an even clearer picture! I believe that one was on google! Gotta tell you, it was kinda freaky, for sure!! Lucky for me, at this point in time, I wasn't able to find any other additional instances of me "popping up" with these more refined key words. YAY!!
In the end, I feel good right now about the fact that there isn't wayyy to much info about me on the web, none that's very easy to find anyway. But it's scary knowing that as I get older and start to have more to my name and deal with more accounts, agreements, purchases, etc., that mixed with exponentially growing abilities of technology is a recipe for great risk!
I think as we continue to befriend technology and it's abilities more and more, we'll have to continue to learn and protect ourselves from it just as much if not more!!
In class, most intriguing to me was a site called Zillow.com. It was completely new to me, though I've seen similar things before. Zillow.com is a real estate interested database that allows you to type in an address and using satellite images, obtain a birds eye view of a desired area/ location. The website, using a Microsoft program call Virtual Earth, amazingly allows you to zoom in to a ridiculous point, so close you can see the cars on the streets!
This entire class discussion prompted a cause for a second more refined vanity search. I decided to do an additional search on my address, other names my friends might call me and some public showings I've been a part of. A search of my address on google info, as well as a few other databases, came up with none other than the name and phone number with some pictures of the apartment complex I live in. And then, sure enough, a search on Zillow.com showed a nice and precise aerial view of the complex. My husband and I even speculated that a particular car in view was ours! On that note, we also found another site, very similar with satellite images and all, that got us an even clearer picture! I believe that one was on google! Gotta tell you, it was kinda freaky, for sure!! Lucky for me, at this point in time, I wasn't able to find any other additional instances of me "popping up" with these more refined key words. YAY!!
In the end, I feel good right now about the fact that there isn't wayyy to much info about me on the web, none that's very easy to find anyway. But it's scary knowing that as I get older and start to have more to my name and deal with more accounts, agreements, purchases, etc., that mixed with exponentially growing abilities of technology is a recipe for great risk!
I think as we continue to befriend technology and it's abilities more and more, we'll have to continue to learn and protect ourselves from it just as much if not more!!
1 comment:
wow...thats way overboard.. i searched my house and didn't see any cars.. =)LOL
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