So much for that

Well, that made it about a month. So much for discipline and focus and actually following through and finishing something for once.

So, updates on my last updates . . .

In my last post, I talked about a theoretical reorganization at my office and how it would effect me. As an indication of how quickly things move at my job (and maybe in all industries; I don't know about any jobs other than this one) it finally came to fruition starting at the end of August. My part-time staff were laid off and more or less replaced with full-time staff from another department. Same job. Theoretically new position.

I could go on and on about my job. In fact, some might say I already have. However, on the off-chance that someone at my job stumbles across this fragment of data floating in the ether-net, I'm going to end it there. One can always come across those horror-stories of things being posted on a person's personal website that gets him or her fired from their job. I'd rather not risk it.

Here is the problem I am observing (again for the first time) with this not-a-blog specifically, and with the internet in general. People are aware of (and have been, since the internet's establishment) both the power and risk of the anonymity that online affords. People have also long been aware of the risk that comes with sharing personal information online (it's publicly accessible, etc). What I haven't seen discussed is the dilemma that results from power of each side. On the one hand, you cannot trust anyone online; every interaction via blog, chat room, comments section on any news article, or anything else is viewable to a large percentage of people who could use the information you provide maliciously. So it is better not to provide any information at all; any information you offer carries with it a potentially devastating risk. On the other hand, without providing information about yourself to the general public, then you yourself are deemed untrustworthy; otherwise you'd be perfectly willing to share about yourself. So in order to be viewed as a credible and trustworthy source, you cannot maintain 100% anonymity online. But in order to maintain personal security, you ought not reveal anything to anyone. It is a treacherous minefield, and I suspect that most people err on the side of revealing too much.