Friday, September 30, 2005
Thank you, Internet, for giving me so many ways to stalk old boyfriends from afar. I don't have the money to track down these people in person -- they live in different time zones and all -- but I've been able to see where they live, what they do and even who their girlfriends are.
Potential stalkers should try Google first. It's amazing how much information is connected to a person's name via Google. Just this week, if you google me, you will find my Cow Harbor Run time, a record of my donation to the Bald Mountain Fire Tower and some stories I wrote a million years ago. Luckily, the comment I left on someone's Web site back in 1998 saying, "Don't tell my employer how much time I spend on the Internet" is no longer up. For best results, google your ex's every week!
Even if you can't find your ex on Google, you can often virtually stalk their family members. And it's almost as good to know which brother who took what promotion, and which sister had a baby.
Another solid source used to be Ancestry.com, but they seem to be charging now. Bastards! The online white pages are also useful -- if you really have a lot of time to kill, you can go through them all, methodically plugging in variations of your ex's name. If you have access to Lexis-Nexis, what the heck? Give it a whirl. Your ex may be mentioned in a newspaper's police log somewhere.
My most delightful stalk find was at an online photo site. One night, I found an ex's entire album, complete with photos of a girlfriend and trips abroad. But I can't find those photos anymore, and something tells me the photo companies have figured out it's not the best idea to make their sites searchable by name. Lawsuit, anyone?
Potential stalkers should try Google first. It's amazing how much information is connected to a person's name via Google. Just this week, if you google me, you will find my Cow Harbor Run time, a record of my donation to the Bald Mountain Fire Tower and some stories I wrote a million years ago. Luckily, the comment I left on someone's Web site back in 1998 saying, "Don't tell my employer how much time I spend on the Internet" is no longer up. For best results, google your ex's every week!
Even if you can't find your ex on Google, you can often virtually stalk their family members. And it's almost as good to know which brother who took what promotion, and which sister had a baby.
Another solid source used to be Ancestry.com, but they seem to be charging now. Bastards! The online white pages are also useful -- if you really have a lot of time to kill, you can go through them all, methodically plugging in variations of your ex's name. If you have access to Lexis-Nexis, what the heck? Give it a whirl. Your ex may be mentioned in a newspaper's police log somewhere.
My most delightful stalk find was at an online photo site. One night, I found an ex's entire album, complete with photos of a girlfriend and trips abroad. But I can't find those photos anymore, and something tells me the photo companies have figured out it's not the best idea to make their sites searchable by name. Lawsuit, anyone?
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This frightens and comforts me. I'm frightened that you know so much about cyber-stalking, and comforted knowing you already know where to find me so you don't have to use your wily methods on me.
My google hit is rather dull, sadly. I think my name comes up for a trivia contest, and then - strangely - for a woman in Texas who shares my name and works in an oil refinery or something.
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My google hit is rather dull, sadly. I think my name comes up for a trivia contest, and then - strangely - for a woman in Texas who shares my name and works in an oil refinery or something.
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