Spying On your Spouse, Or Neighbor, Or Employees

     Welcome to the digital age! Don't you just love all of the modern technology that helps  you to communicate with friends and family? I know that I do!

   I spend many hours per day either fixing someone's computer or working on one of several blogs that I have. There are alot of emails to read and to send, phone calls to make on both the land line and the cell, and faxes to send and to receive.  The digital world makes this all possible without even leaving my desk.!

    But how much of all of this digital info is going to places that you would rather it not go to?

    What about the workplace? Are you aware that your boss may be tracking your every keystroke and email that you send and receive as well as every website that you visit and every IM that you have ever sent? The computer is not the only source where the boss, or your spouse for that matter, may be searching for evidence of wrong doing.

1) Digital Phones    I am talking about that nice service that you can get from your local cable provider.  The cable company that you subscribe to for your phone service has every call that you have made and all of the details of who you called, where,how long, and they can provide a transcribed text of those calls. This is much like Yahoo, MSN, Google,AT&T and others who provide Internet service. I'm sure that you remember the government wanting all of those records at one time last year.

    Do not believe that because your phone service is being routed through a cable company that it cannot be listened in on. I'm not talking about just the government. I'm talking about your spouse who thinks that you may be having an affair. Or, once again, your boss who thinks that you spend to much time on the phone.  For that matter, it may be someone who doesn't even know you but is just digging for info on you. you may be one of those who orders things by phone thereby providing a snoop with you credit card number and social security number.

    For the right price, you can purchase the software/hardware to spy to your little hearts content! This stuff is not as expensive as you may think.

    The solution for home phone users is to scramble your telephone conversations. There are many scramblers out there but don't be fooled by those cheap little $100 to $300 models that are just wasting your money and giving you little in the way of protection.

    Even the digital conversation through the cable company can be scrambled.

    I guess that it all comes down to what is your privacy worth to you?

     My next post on this subject will deal with the toys that your boss uses to spy on you and how you can get around most of them.

    Since this is a political site, first things first!

 

  

Technorati tags: Spying, Spy, Spouse, Employee

 

Pulitzer Prize Winner Art Buchwald Dead at 81

    I used to read Mr. Buchwald's column as a teenager and he always was pretty much right on target with his views.

   Mr Buchwald died from kidney illness which he has been battling for quite some time.

    Art Buchwald will be sorely missed by many.

    From one of Mr. Buchwald's column's on March 7:

 "I am writing this article from a hospice. But being in the hospice didn't work out exactly the way I wanted it to. By all rights I should have finished my time here five or six weeks ago -- at least that's all Medicare would pay for."

"I have no idea where I'm going but here's the real question: What am I doing here in the first place?"

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Buchwald's Farewell Column, Written to Be Released at Death
By E&P Staff
Published: January 18, 2007 2:50 PM ET

NEW YORK Art Buchwald wrote a final column that he asked not be distributed until after he died. The piece was penned on Feb. 8, 2006, after Buchwald decided to check into a hospice. He eventually left the hospice, of course, and resumed his syndicated column. Buchwald died last night at the age of 81. Here's the farewell column, courtesy of Tribune Media Services:
***
GOODBYE, MY FRIENDS
By Art Buchwald
Tribune Media Services
Several of my friends have persuaded me to write this final column, which is something they claim I shouldn't leave without doing.
There comes a time when you start adding up all the pluses and minuses of your life. In my case I'd like to add up all the great tennis games I played and all of the great players I overcame with my now famous "lob." I will always believe that my tennis game was one of the greatest of all time. Even Kay Graham, who couldn't stand being on the other side of the net from me, in the end forgave me.
I can't cover all the subjects I want to in one final column, but I would just like to say what a great pleasure it has been knowing all of you and being a part of your lives. Each of you has, in your own way, contributed to my life.
Now, to get down to the business at hand, I have had many choices concerning how I wanted to go. Most of them are very civilized, particularly hospice care. A hospice makes it very easy for you when you decide to go.
What's interesting is that everybody has his or her own opinion as to how you should go out. All my loved ones became very upset because they thought I should brave it out -- which meant more dialysis.
But here is the most important thing: This has been my decision. And it's a healthy one.
The person who was the most supportive at the end was my doctor, Mike Newman. Members of my family, while they didn't want me to go, were supportive, too. But I'm putting it down on paper, so there should be no question the decision was mine.
I chose to spend my final days in a hospice because it sounded like the most painless way to go, and you don't have to take a lot of stuff with you.
For some reason my mind keeps turning to food. I know I have not eaten all the eclairs I always wanted. In recent months, I have found it hard to go past the Cheesecake Factory without at least having one profiterole and a banana split.
I know it's a rather silly thing at this stage of the game to spend so much time on food. But then again, as life went on and there were fewer and fewer things I could eat, I am now punishing myself for having passed up so many good things earlier in the trip.
I think of a song lyric, "What's it all about, Alfie?" I don't know how well I've done while I was here, but I'd like to think some of my printed works will persevere -- at least for three years.
I know it's very egocentric to believe that someone is put on earth for a reason. In my case, I like to think I was. And after this column appears in the paper following my passing, I would like to think it will either wind up on a cereal box top or be repeated every Thanksgiving Day.
So, "What's it all about, Alfie?" is my way of saying goodbye.

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 Those of you who may not be familiar with Mr. Buchwald can read some of his past columns here from The Washington Post.

 

Technorati tags: Art Buchwald, WaPo