Ok, this time I forgot to factor in the drive to and from the closed gym when I set my alarm. However, the early morning allows me time to do this, play a little guitar, attempt to duplicate the intro to 5 Days in May [archive.org link] on my harmonica, and have a nice relaxing bath.
So how do you put the genie back in the bottle. When I got online in ’92 or ’93 I didn’t think about privacy, or keeping my name secret. Hell, I don’t think any of the “surfers” (that is, non server running people, but those online at the time) thought about privacy. I certainly didn’t. I posted to newsgroups with my own name, registered with services such as bigfoot [archive.org link]. So what do I do now, should I want to remove my real name (lets just call me Billybob Murphy for now) from the net. Or at least remove my real name from association with my alias. Is it possible? I could nuke any homepages I have with my Alias and name tied togeather that I have, but what about when you (heaven forbid) have a fan site [archive.org link]? Do you go out and find the owners and get them to take them down too? What about cached homepages on google, records in newsgroup archiving pages and the like? How do you remove an old online existance without actually physically moving, assuming a new name, in a new town, and starting again?
I don’t think you can.
No, I didn’t kill anyone (yet) and I am not planning to wipe out my existance here. No, I didn’t get as silly in the heydays of the Internet to not only give out my real name but my address, phone number, but my cat’s birthdate, so it’s not like there is anything that important to remove. But just a thought (maybe I’m planning on killing someone.. have you pissed me off lately?). It’s an interesting question anyway.
Just remember ya’ll, the mind is more important than the body anyway.