This chapter excerpt is from Little Black Book: Protecting Your Digital Life, a book to be released sometime this summer. Here, however, is a preview of one of the chapters from that book.
Chapter 6: “Google” Yourself
By
far the most interesting thing to do in this new digital era is to look up your
name on Google – the magical,
answer-all search engine and modern-marvel tool. This one tool has become the connection to a
world once dominated by public libraries and phone books across the globe. It is where you can find an article, book,
sports fact, famous quote, stock symbol, phone number, business name, bank
balance, and traveling map in a matter of seconds on a phone, computer, or
tablet. The world of “quick connections”
and “Wi-Fi” has become the library of the future, balancing a world of useful
facts that drive business and social media.
The act of “Googling” yourself is
now a necessary act. It is surprising
how many people and active computer users have yet to perform this transaction,
a simple lookup of your name, your identity, trying to find some “dirt” on
yourself. When the deed is complete, you
will feel better knowing the truth of the footprints already presented in cyber
world. Even a photograph or a story
would be interesting to note – that is if something really comes back after
clicking the “I’M FEELING LUCKY” Google button.
What is the Google Business Philosophy?
You do not have to be at a desk any
more to get timely information about the world and its events. New mobile applications have taken over what
towers and laptops took pride to offer in the past. The trend is the elimination of these devices
and everything being accessible on a mobile device (on-the-go technology that
can be done anyplace, anytime, anywhere).
The GOOGLE business philosophy states this fact in one of their “Ten
things we know to be true” page on a posting found on their Google website (http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/). Your information can be accessible through so
many means, easily, without any effort, in a matter of seconds. You cannot hide anymore from the world. The Internet has found a way to break into
your private life!
Regardless of the changes ahead, the
Google business model will continue to grow.
This one fact still stands true:
they are in business to make money.
Thus, your information will grow right along with it. That is where the curiosity comes into play,
a curiosity that should continue into adulthood and long into old age. The fact that you want to control your
information would be a good reason to have interest. The concern grows as you age; the same goes with
information as it grows older.
What is the Internet’s real problem?
Is there an Internet crisis?
Is there an Internet crisis taking
place? That is a real and valid question
in today’s business world. Everything
you can name is run off of the Internet platform, and the far-reaching effects
of the issue go beyond a pen and paper and note taking. You have a generation of adults who have no
idea how to run a business without the comfort of a computer or, better yet,
the basic ability to figure out how to do a process, let alone finish it in a
timely manner. Is this the makings of a
dramatic, classic novel or the makings of our first-ever Internet crisis? Some may beg to differ, but the mere facts of
the case become more present each and every day. A world of total control, a world turning
away from the ordinary and twisting into a function, a button, a process.
You need to think back for one moment
(go back to about twenty years ago). How
did you live before this technology? Did
cell phones and laptops really change you that much? And did you let yourself fall for this sales
pitch not knowing the magnitude of the sale?
The days of past data communication were antiquated and slow, with a mix
of frustrations and lots of waiting time between a business week and getting
the job done. It took time to get the
project done, and patience helped to get you through any given crisis. You are
at fault for this situation, and you already know that to fix it means to
tackle it first-hand with everything in your power.
How can you protect your digital life?
One way you can help yourself is to
give less. To give less means to give
less information to the beast, to Google, to the Internet in general. The less information you post, you send, you
freely give away really means a lot less possibilities of it ending up on some
website for the entire world to review. You
now understand that this information will never get old, never turn yellow like
paper, and never disappear from the world’s biggest servers. This seems like such an obvious way to deal
with the crisis of your digital life, but this simple answer is meant to be
direct and life-changing.
The hope is you can help yourself by
using common-sense tactics, common-sense problem solving, and common-sense skills. The world is not a bad place, but the
Internet, as you have learned, does have that odd potential to be evil and
threatening to everyone. The main reason
for this book is to bring to light some of the ideas and strategies to help you
as the technology grows in your life.
The mere idea that it will be there ten, twenty, thirty years from now
is apparent and obvious.
In the following chapters, this book will
examine and break down the safety and trust factor. This book will break a part every piece of
the digital life into simple terms and will challenge the belief factor you
carry inside yourself. Ideals you have
been taught from the corporate world, living inside your decision-making skills. To learn exactly what is safe and how it
should be properly used is the goal of this one book. That is one thing you did not learn growing
up from teachers, instructors, professors, trainers, and friends. You missed out on the key skills to keep your
life, your family, and your children safe.
And now you have a chance to “catch up” on learning and mastering skills
for a bright and better future.
Brian Wayne Maki
Date Posted: May 26, 2012
