The Internet!

I'm always surprised when I encounter people who apparently don't quite understand how the internet works.  I should know better by now than to be surprised.  I would think that computers, phones, and tablets, hell! even some TV's, being what they are today, would cause people to realize the ubiquitous nature of the web.  But some just don't get it.  Unfortunately, people are stupid or, in some cases, just plain crazy.

Here's the deal:  If you, or anyone else posts something on the internet (this includes Facebook) it's out there for all the world to see... period.  People in every part of the world with an internet connection have access to whatever that post might be.  Yeah, yeah... there are supposed to be ways to prevent someone, or a group of someones, from seeing it.  But those "security measures" are usually weak and rather easy to circumvent, especially in the case of Facebook.  And most often there are no security measures in place at all; it's just out there dangling for the public to access.  All you need is a device and a URL.

This simple fact allows anyone, people in Senegal, people in Slidell, people down the street, people who know you, people who you will never meet, ya momma 'nem, your little cousin, your boss, your girlfriend, your husband, your best friend, your worst enemy, to re-post, commandeer, forward, manipulate, appropriate (steal), or do all sorts of things with that information.

If there is ANY compromising information, photos in particular, out there on the interwebs, anyone with cyberspace access can copy and/or forward that shit to whomever they want.  Seems simple enough.

The real point I want to make here is that if you allow yourself to be photographed in a compromising position, at a public event, then that photo is posted to that event's public website, it is there for all to see.  And it is entirely YOUR FAULT, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY that it's publicly available!  It's not anyone else's responsibility.  There is no one to blame except yourself.

If you truly believe that any other person should be held accountable for your lapse of judgement in a scenario like the one I'm describing then you are absolutely, 100%, either just plain stupid or just plain crazy.  Own it.  You did it.  No one else.

Yeah you right!

Poor Form (reprise) 12/13/07

A tantrum is
never persuasive,
a breach of trust
rarely reconciled.

Wild, frightful words,
angry and bitter,
like a bucket of
jilted pit vipers,
hurled with careless
and reckless desperation.

All of the accusations,
all of the judgment
and discontent
misdirected upon others
rather than upon yourself.

I understand
the disappointment.
I understand
the frustration
and the bewilderment,
no matter that
you brought it
upon yourself
with a warped
and flagrantly delusional
outlook
and approach.

But I do understand.
I understand
that you are unhappy
and angry
with yourself
and ready to lash out
at something,
someone,
anything,
anyone.

And then
the inevitable remorse
jumps
on your back
and sinks its teeth
deep into your psyche.

I understand.
I understand
the disappointment
and the frustration
and the bewilderment
and the anger
and the remorse.

But there is never
ever an excuse
for poor form.

Keep your wits
and behave
like a man.

Poor form
is inexcusable.

Running in the Rain

running in the rain
I slide and glide,
losing myself in
the moment,
unconsciously
not trying
to make the effort
and the agony,
the child-like elation
in things like
running in the rain,
the most natural
manifestation of
who I really am

Redux

I'm back.  I have no real excuse for my absence.  I just got a new computer.  (Thank you, sweetheart!)  And I'm ready to jump back in.  So here goes...