My life from A-Z

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: Full

C. Chore that you hate: Taking laundry out of the dryer/folding hot laundry. I just can't do it. That whole cotton phobia thing comes into this. 

D. Dogs: None for me, thanks!

E. Essential start to your day: Taking my basal body temperature. If I don't get it at the start of the day, I have to skip that day so I think it's pretty essential! 

F. Favourite color: Green.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver or white gold.

H. Height: 5'4. 

I. Instruments you play: I played the flute/piccolo a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

See? Told you.

J. Job title: Astronaut.

K. Kids: None yet.

L. Live: Florida.

M. Mother's name: Christine.

N. Nicknames: Hufflepuff.

O. Overnight hospital stays: None that I can remember.

P. Pet peeve: IRL: People not getting into the turn lane until the very last second. Online: People who don't break their walls of text into paragraphs. 

Q. Quote from a movie: "Once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you, and then it's nothing but work, work, work all the time." (Picked this one because I was just talking about it with Josh the morning in reference to a scene in Breaking Bad.)

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Two sisters, Felicia (25) and Sierra (12). 

T. Time you wake up: Sometime between 6am and 6pm, usually. 

U. Underwear: Microfiber bikinis almost exclusively. That good ol' cotton phobia, again.

V. Vegetable you hate: I actually had to look up a list on wikipeida because I couldn't think of one off the top of my head. There are a lot of vegetables I don't like or don't prefer, but hate is a pretty strong word. I'm going to go with onions because while I don't mind the flavor (and will cook with onion powder or salt) the texture and sliminess skeeves me out. Just so you know, there is apparently a vegetable called Fiddlehead, and Chrysanthemums are technically vegetables.

W. What makes you run late: Not being able to find things like keys or shoes.

X. X-Rays you've had: I honestly couldn't tell you. At least: mouth, head, wrist, chest, and ankle. 

Y. Yummy food that you make: Lo Mien! I'd actually rather make it at home than get it from most Chinese places. I use a variation of this recipe and usually add in some chicken or left-over pork chops.

Z. Zoo animal: Definitely zebra. I also love me some penguins. 

Is there such a thing as internet privacy?

Google+ has started to crack down on their real name policy. Some people are against this, as they feel having a fake name keeps their account more private. Others respond that there is no privacy on the internet. You shouldn't post anything that you wouldn't want the world to see.

The topic of internet privacy has been brought up many times before, mostly when people have to deal with the real life consequences of what they post online. Things like teachers being fired over a rant on their blog. I've heard over and over again that it's their own fault, because the internet isn't private. It just isn't. Doesn't matter if what you got in trouble for was in a "private" email, if it was posted on the internet you should expect someone else to find it.

I don't really agree with this line of thinking.

Is most of the internet private? No, it's not. I take part in an online forum and I know that basically anyone could go on there and find my posts. I divulge personal information that may not be wise, and talk about political beliefs that could be detrimental when looking for a job. If someone happened to randomly come across the postings I would have no one to blame but myself.

However, I think that is different than someone purposely seeking out information just to hurt me, or someone giving this information just to hurt me. I also think it's completely different than getting access to non-public posts on my social networking sites or my email. If I say something incriminating in an IM, and then that person screenshots the IM and starts showing it around, I don't think I should be told "well nothing's private on the internet - it's your own fault".

If that is true then it should also be true for anything you say, write, or do anytime anywhere. When posting information that is supposed to be private online, those who gain access to such information do so with the understanding that such information is not to be shared. Because not everyone has access to everything online (without hacking) I do think there are some spots within the internet framework that should be considered just as private as a home, car, office, etc. Just like people can take screenshots on the internet people can take photos, videos, sound recordings, etc IRL. To me sending an email about a medical condition should be no different than telling someone about it in person. Entering my social security number into a webform should be just like physically writing it down on a paper form. Employers should have no more access to my private social networking page than they do to my diary. I really don't understand the concept that anything I do on the internet is public information, when that doesn't apply to other things such as my telephone conversations. Maybe one of you can enlighten me?

I would like to note that I don't have an issue with police looking at private posting on the internet, as long as they have a warrant. If they need a warrant to search my home they should need a warrant to search my facebook.