The Life of Me!

It’s something I’ve been mulling over lately.  With the Internet, where exactly does it become stalking?

Take Wil Wheaton, for example.  I follow him on Twitter.  I read his blog.  If he is making an appearance on a tv show, I’ll tend to try to watch it. Every now and again when I’m bored, I’ll google him.  I’m undoubtedly a fan, but does this mean I’m a stalker?

Wil is of course a public figure, so my behaviour could be written off as “fandom” without a second thought.  What about non-celebrities though?  There’s a lovely lady who I follow on Twitter and read her blog, and every now and again I have a peek at her Facebook page.  I have contacted her a couple of times, but we’re certainly not “friends” (I doubt she’s even aware of my ongoing existence).  She isn’t anyone famous or special, and I happened across her blog accidentally.  So am I stalking her?  My contacts with her have been brief and to the point, no attempts at the false intimacy and friendship that the internet is famous for fostering.  No attempts to find out more about her than she publishes in her Twitter and blog.  What do you classify my behaviour toward her as?

Then there’s people who put thing online they want to keep private.  Sometimes when they start receiving unwanted attention, they alter the privacy settings on the post or page, but Google cache keeps it available to the general public.  Sometimes it’s because they are so Internet-naive that they actually believe they know who exactly knows about and reads their blog, that because they don’t advertise its address that it’s safely hidden away from those who know them (despite being only a couple of mouse clicks from their web page that they give out the address for and freely identify as theirs).  Sometimes I find these things through again, being bored and searching for names of people I know (yeah, it’s something I actually do a fair bit).  Sometimes I find them after a game of follow-the-link (starting off at a known point, and just clicking subsequent links that come up).  Sometimes I’m directed there by someone else.  In most cases the person who put the information online would be somewhere between rather annoyed and utterly mortified to know I’d been reading that information, either because I’m a complete stranger or because they do actually know me.  So in those cases, is it stalking?  It’s information they’ve put out there for the world to see anyway.  I haven’t hacked anything to gain access to it.  I haven’t used the information to manipulate them.  I haven’t made (any or additional, depending on the person) contact with them due to finding this information.  But is it stalking?

I know when I’ve googled my own name (I told you I do it a lot!) there are posts from me as a bitter angsty teenager made to newsgroups in 1994.  I wouldn’t know how to get them off there if I wanted to.  There are people who have left slightly strange comments on my blog (which I haven’t necessarily made public) pointing interesting accusations at me whilst hypocritically hiding behind a false return email address (hi, Peter!!).  I’m sure there are people reading my blog and Twitter who I would rather didn’t.  But you know what?  That’s all part of publishing information on the Internet.  You put it up there, it’s there for the world to see and it’s there for ever.  I don’t consider reading such information as stalkerish if it’s publically viewable.  If someone starts emailing me or leaving blog comments that I don’t appreciate, chances are they’ll be permanently blocked and then the person forgotten very quickly.

I’m sure at least one person reading this is going to be rolling their eyes, thinking I’m full of shit because I don’t even know what it’s like to be stalked.  I do.  But that was intrusive and scary, behaviour designed to intimidate and control.  What I’m talking about doesn’t involve direct contact, but can involve others learning more about you than you’re comfortable with.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Conroy and his beloved clean feed, and I am rapidly approaching an obvious conclusion.

Senator Conroy may in fact be suffering from mental illness.

Hear me out on this.

Delusional disorder, as defined by the DSM IV, involved holding onto plausible delusions without the typical impact on mood or functioning.  These delusions can include morbid jealousy and assuming one’s mate is unfaithful, that someone (often famous or of higher status) is in love with you, that you are unwell or have some defect despite medical examinations and tests coming back negative. Or, in this case, that most of Australia want Conroy’s internet filtering to occur.

People with delusional disorder generally have no insight into their condition, and often present as articulate and well-groomed.  Onset is most common in the 40-55 year age range.  Check and check, Senator Conroy.

I guess the most compelling argument against Conroy’s behaviour being attributed to a mental illness is that he has taken steps to protect himself.  His website front page deliberately hides information about the filter.  He blatantly lied about people and companies supporting the filtering bill.  A man who truly believed he was doing right and had so much support wouldn’t go to such lengths to cover up and deceive.  These actions suggest a man who knows how little the filter is wanted or accepted, and is trying to fool people into thinking otherwise in the hope they will fall into line.

Still undecided?  Why not contact Conroy’s offices and ask him yourself?

The past four weeks.  Hrmm.  Well.  May they stay forever in the past.  So if I’ve seemed a little distant and/or distracted over the past month, I apologise.

Today marks exactly four weeks until the wedding.  So much to do, so little time.  Things are falling into place, albeit slowly and with more complexity than we’d originally hoped.  And RSVPs have already started coming in, so I guess it’s too late to back out now.

I can certainly understand why some people elope!

T and I have been going over the guest list for the wedding.  I know there will be people who expect an invitation, but won’t receive one.  There are two main reasons this will happen.

The first is that we are trying to keep numbers somewhat limited, so it might be that we don’t see our friendship as being close enough.

The other reason is that you are good friends with one of us, but have shown obvious disrespect for the other and/or our relationship.  If this is the case, inviting you to our wedding simply isn’t appropriate.  It’s not a slur on the friendship you have with the individual in question.

Just thought I should put that out there.

I can’t believe it’s been around five months since I last blogged.  I take the lack of comment about this as an indicator of how many people read this blog

Christmas this year was awesome, with T and I putting up our hands to do the traditional family lunch this year.  As same as last time we did this, the oven broke (luckily this time two weeks before Christmas rather than two days before).  Oven was replaced with a shiny new electric oven that actually goes to the temperature you set it up and thus disaster was averted.  The cooking went scarily smoothly, and we nommed until we could nom no more.

One of the most fun parts of our Christmas lunch is between main course and dessert.  We make our own crackers, which we have recently termed Insanity Crackers due to the insane amount of stuff we put in them, and these were used to give a pause between meal courses.  And following the pulling of crackers is The Great Trade – everyone pokes through what everyone else got, and starts trading.  It becomes very bloodthirsty at this stage

The least traditional present I got this year was from T – all the components for an automated irrigation system.  Well, I liked it!

Not much else to blog about, really.  Those who know me know I passed my exams, and have only a few months of service left until I am fully qualified in my field.  And I have to admit I’m looking forward to the end of 2009 – not my favorite year to date, but delivering a hell of a lot of promise for 2010.

Have a great new year, folks!

The Papa is finally back from the hospital, and I have to say it’s good to have him back.

Nothing more to say, except a big hello to the person who likes reading my blog through an anonymiser.  Hi there, Paranoid Person!!!  *wave*

T and I are completely without transport at the moment.  The motorbike has been off the road for some weeks now whilst the guys gather the necessary parts to fix it, and tonight Papa Smurf was in an accident.

I wasn’t there; T and cainbits were in the car, and were T-boned whilst doing a right-hand turn.  They were okay, but Papa had some panel damage and the front right wheel is now at the wrong angle.  The engine still ran okay and he could still move under his own steam, but he’s not exactly drivable.  Got taken to the car hospital by the car ambulance.

And worst of all, we never did get to watch more episodes of Bleach as planned!!

That’s why I haven’t really been blogging at all – nothing to blog about.

Trying not to think about wedding plans.  I can understand why some people choose to elope.  I mean, even with the guest list you get the whole “if I invite X I feel obliged to invite Y, although I really don’t want Y there” and similar problems.  And so expensive!

I love working where I am now, and I love working part-time.

We got the garage cleaned out, but we’re starting to fill it up again.  Is anyone interested in a couple of green leather armchairs?

The garden is looking great, but we keep running out of pots, and running out of room to put pots.  And the latest Diggers Club winter catalogue has come out – DOOOOOOOM!

Still very disenchanted with the world in general, still think for the most part people do suck, that they are selfish and self-absorbed and feel entitled to what they want when they want and create hell when they don’t get it.

Like I said, boring life.

Has anyone else seen the ad for the next episode of Beauty And The Geek?  The episode where the geeks have to do stand-up?

Well, that orange joke – it’s not original!  My brother and I have been using that joke since we were in primary school!!

Kinda creepy, really … how did it get all the way over to the USA?

Donations to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal are over $138 million.