19 Mar 2006
Beware Your Online Presence

I'm reasonably sure that I've lost customers due to their Googling and finding my religion ... just a hunch, of course, nothing provable, and nothing that will force me into the closet. Frankly, I wouldn't want to trade with somebody who wouldn't deal with me if he knew me. If I may be allowed to wax nostalgic for a moment, I believe that used to be called "integrity".

There's an article in the NY Daily News stating that an increasing number of employers are Googling their prospective employees during the interview/hiring process. From the article: "'A friend of mine posted a picture of me on My Space with my eyes half closed and a caption that suggests I've smoked something illegal,' says Kluttz. While the caption was a joke, Kluttz now wonders whether the past two employers she interviewed with thought it was so funny. Both expressed interest in hiring Kluttz, but at the 11th hour went with someone else."

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Mad cow excuse

This is shaping up to be the poster cow for NAIS ... what a bunch of hooey! It's already mandatory to keep records for tax purposes on every sale: if they can't track the cow from those, no amount of additional record keeping would help.

Investigators may never figure out where the Alabama cow with mad cow disease was born and raised, in part because the U.S. lacks a livestock tracking system the Bush administration promised two years ago.

(link) [USA Today]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Calif. City Bans Smoking in Public Places

Prohibition, here we come! Psst - wanna buy some weed? You want wacky or regular? I just wonder how long it'll be before we see the emergence of the "Turkish Tobacco Cartel"? Will the US seek to invade Cuba because of their massive supply of "drugs" (cigars)?

For the record, I will avoid visiting this city entirely - not that I'm likely to ever have the chance, but just in case, Calabasas, California is one place I'll never see.

AP - No more smoking in the park. Lighting up on the sidewalk could bring a fine. Dining on the restaurant patio? Don't bother asking for matches.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link