A little bit you, a little bit me Reading through a couple of blogs recently, I was appalled to find that someone had been impersonating other members of this here community, and writing spurious comments onto blogs.
Awful, but hey, if that's the way they get there jollies.
Then it happened to me, comments where added (now removed) from people who I thought had read what I had written, then been moved enough to write a reply.
SCUM I hear you cry, SCUM, the vilest people on the planet, KILL, they must all be killed...
However, before we pick up our torches and pitchforks, round up all the villages, one of whom must wear a black top hat and frock coat, and head for the nearest lightning shrouded castle on the hill, the question I have to ask is why??
What makes a person pretend to be another person online?? Is it the same as identity theft, are we all at risk from someone getting our details, and writing a blog, hell, am I me, or am I pretending to be me, while actually being someone else?? HELPPP
Ok, back on track, and yes, it is me, My own personal feeling on this, we are all guilty of leaving ourselves open to this sort of thing, we have the same passwords to our numerous online email accounts or versions of, we tend to not actually change our network passwords, just add the next sequential number on the end.
I read recently how Monster.co.uk, a UK based online recruitment database, had it's entire database hacked, this included, names, address's, email accounts, passwords etc meaning, that if you have a hotmail account, and who doesn't, even if it's for the junk mail, they have this address, and your monster password, I have to admit, they where very closely the same, until the hour after I heard this and quickly changed it, but many who didn't, and like me keep emails in folders, it means that the folder marked ‘Bank stuff', may well include details on how to access your online banking facility, which they would have access to as well.....
But back to the reason for this, why do people do it? This community is based on a certain amount of faith, you dear reader, believe that I am me, as I believe you are you, if you leave a comment to this blog, it is an understanding that you are writing this in good faith, you are writing a comment because it feels the right thing to do, if that faith goes away, then this community falls.
Why do people do it, I don't have the answer I am afraid, the same reason that makes people create worms, Trojans and virus's, because they can? Because they have no love for their fellow man, and just want to cause misery? Because they are mindless muppets, with nothing better to do? Any or all or none of these reason's could be it, but in the end, it makes no matter to me why they do it, so long as they leave me alone.
in the context of the wider world, it doesn't mean a damn, but we all have to be more careful about what we do, and who we allow access to that information, you can never stop the determined hacker/idiot/Gary McKinnon, but if we all make it harder for them, then they may just go away, best keep the pitchfork handy though.
Daydream Believer
Ok, not quite, but here in the west of the UK, we are, at the time of writing this, shivering under a blanket of snow and ice, I like snow as much as the next guy, except when I am having to walk 4 miles to work as no buses are running, and I really would be taking my life in my hands on the bike.
Why, does it appear that we have been so unprepared for this weather, weather that has been predicted since mid January when we had the last lot??
Ok, this is severe, we haven't seen this much in the best part of 20 years, many areas haven't seen this much for even longer. Road grit levels are at an all time low, councils have been accusing the Highways Agency of taking stocks, the Highways Agency have been accusing councils of stockpiling, and so it goes on.
Is it not more important to get the roads clear, and the traffic moving, rather than play a blame game, retailers, already hit by the credit crunch, has stated that with roads closed, people have stayed at home, out of town shopping centres have seen empty car parks, even inner city shops are saying that if this weather continues, many more high street shops will have to close, making more people redundant, scare mongering maybe, but it has to have some basis in fact.
I know that if I didn't have to go to work, that last thing I would be doing is going shopping, a blanket on the sofa with a cup of coffee and a new copy of the ‘Alien Quadrilogy' would be what I would be doing, children and wife allowing, I certainly wouldn't be going shopping, unless I needed to, or having to get food, so I can see where thy are coming from.
Still, looking at the forecast, this should be all over by the weekend, and normal service (rain) should be resumed next week, but hang on, it rained for most of January, we have had snow for the best part of a week, I see flooding being the next problem for some areas, but then it will be the Waters Agency and the councils fighting it out for posing rights, oh joy!!!
And for those of a nosey disposition, the headings come from song titles by The Monkees, the main title is from the film 'Mutiny On The Bounty'.
