Internet Privacy in Online Communities

89 days 5 hours 29 minutes and 43 seconds until Michelle’s wedding.  Michelle is in Maryland job hunting for a week.  They are also looking for an apartment.  I am just glad that she is happy and they are so much in love. 

http://www.cio-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=11200DSI6XIO

 This is an article saying that teens are beginning to protect their privacy online.

It is 96 days, 8 hours, 36 minutes and 52 seconds until Michelle’s wedding.  Right now her friend Erica and I are very busy working on her bridal shower.  Who knew that one bridal shower could take over 30 hours just to plan – and we are still a week away. 

www.mugshot.com is a very interesting site.  It seems to offer everything, as far as a social networking site goes. It is like myspace and facebook, but it also has a place to sort of unite all of your information in one place.  You can get updates from a lot of popular sites, have a blog and just share everything.  You can join groups with similar interests, and rate quips that are found on the internet.  It has the potential to be a very successful site.

 I would have a hard time, however, posting all of my pictures, profiles, videos and etc.,  all in one spot.  The site does not ask for any personal information, you can give whatever you want to and not give whatever you don’t want to.   So, in that respect it is good. 

Both Mugshot and Claim ID are places to post all of your information.  Mugshot is easier to maneuver and is better at explaining what to do and how to do it. 

 http://claimid.com/

A claimID is essentially a profile. Some people have called it a “link resume.” It is a place for you to show the world the stuff about you – your hyperlinked identity. To get started, all you need to do is start saving the links that make up you online identity to claimID. Once you save the links, you will have a public claimID page that you can use as an OpenID, a homepage, or whatever else you might like.

Michelle’s wedding will be in 116 days, 8 hrs, 59 min, and 12 seconds. 

Now that she has the schematics of the reception hall (she went there when she was in FL a few weeks ago)  we have been working on the table arrangements.  There will be 5 tables downstairs and 4 tables upstairs.  And the stairs – well, they will be beautifully decorated with flowers and etc.  It is going to be so beautiful!  Her colors are black and red so we are going for an elegant yet beach look.  We have several ideas, all of which would be gorgeous! 

Michelle is my only daughter so this will probably be the only wedding I will be intimately involved in so I am enjoying every minute of it!  And even though the wedding is important, it is really their relationship that is most important.  And, the way they are working together and compromising fairly is a clear indicator that the marriage should take place.  I am very proud of both of them.

Oh, and they are going to do a dessert theme instead of a sit down dinner.  I am so glad because this will be so much funner and eaiser on everybody. 

http://smg.www.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/Identity/IdentityDeception.html

 This is a link to a paper written by Judith Donath at MIT.  The paper is about identity and deception in the virtual world.

www.vouchor.com is a site that was bound to come about.  It allows people to be registered and their true identity “vouched” for.  The internet was founded on anonymity but people are sure to get tired of just hoping they can trust someone with their personal information when they order something or when they sign up for a site. 

 Also, you can get vouched and then when you go to, say, e-bay, you will have a vouch number that will certify your identity to e-bay. 

It had to happen, and I think it is a very good idea, but the problem is:  how does www.vouchor.com become known as a reputable firm that people will want to sign up with or go there to see if someone is “vouched” for.  I guess this is a stay-tuned type of website for now, and one that the main enterpreneurs like google and yahoo are sure to jump on the band wagon sooner or later.

http://www.cubanxgiants.com/berry/index.html

This is an excellent article about how you can determine the credibility of a site.  It does everything from explain to you exactly what an internet address can tell you about the site, to giving you clues to credibility problems.  It also gives online sources you can use to check facts to make sure the site is telling the truth.

There are 124 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes and 18 seconds until Michelle’s wedding!  They went to Florida this past week to talk to the people at the hotel where the reception will be, to get engagement pictures taken and and to do a whole lot of other things.  I can’t believe how much work there is to be done for one wedding.  But I’m loving every minute of it!

They decided to get married at Christmas but he had not actually proposed with the ring and everything.  So, they were at Universal Studios with a bunch of friends and he pulled her out of line to come see something.  Sponge Bob and a few other characters were standing there.  Sponge Bob had a card taped to his hand and it said, “Michelle will you marry me? ”  Then in front of a crowd of random people that had gathered to see what was going on, Sayer  got down on one knee and said, “Will you marry me?”  The crowd clapped when she said yes.  And he gave her the most beautiful engagement ring (she had already picked it out, but she wasn’t sure he was going to get that particular one for her). 

Now that’s a memorable proposal!