We Know Who you Are. We Know Where You Live.

So I'm trying a few web searches, trying to find the long lost Mike. Mike, one of the five finest people I've ever known. Funny how those five people were in my life in the exact same place at the exact same time. I caught up with Mike several years back, but lost him again. Through a couple of longshots, I think I may just have him. I've got a phone number to try out and we'll see.

While I love the fact that I may have found the long lost Mike again, it's disturbing just how readily available the information I found was. The only reason it was a last ditch, longshot that got me the information was that I, being the naive sort, figured the resource advertised was a gimmick or only worked if people plugged their information into it.

Nope.

It pretty much nailed everybody I know. First and last name and a year of birth and I've got possible addresses on a bunch of people I haven't thought about in years. Plug in the name and the possible city, and I've got a phone number and street address for all these people. If I had the money, I'd have full criminal background checks.

Frankly, I know what a couple of you ate last night. The information age is a wonderful and scary thing.

Now, the process wasn't perfect. I'm pretty sure that one friend left Charlottesville several years back, for example. Still, it was dead on accurate and up to date many more times than not.

The upside of maybe finding Mike and finding out that one of my long lost friends is listed on the imdb in the role of "Loud Sex Neighbor" leaves me giddy at my junior grade people spying, but I can't help but be the teensiest bit apprehensive about the ramifications of that much information being so freely and readily available. I don't want to overstate it, but it made me stop and think a minute.