In addition to the shiny inserts, my credit card companies, as a special favor to me (because they care about my privacy) also slip in the occasional “Privacy Policy” insert because, again, they care so deeply about me and my privacy—and some bloated governmental agency tells them they have to.

So, I have to wonder, since we’ve been getting these privacy policy notices—which, by the way, are always crammed on an index-sized tri-fold in 8 pt font that you can barely read, has anyone noticed any changes to their privacy? Better or worse than before?

I think it’s gotten worse.

Identify theft is at an all-time high, especially in Arizona, where our local newspaper refers to identify theft for some in our society as a survival tool. And despite the privacy regulations, which were evidently dreamed up by congressman with way too much time on their hands, I still receive truckloads of credit card applications and advertisements from realtors, insurance agencies, financial institutions and banks that I never asked for, don’t want, and shred usually as soon as I receive them. Before anyone adds a comment about the Do Not Call lists and the credit freezes, yes and yes. I know about them. Been there, done that. Barely made a difference.

So yesterday, for fun, I actually opened the little tri-fold and read the privacy policy from my credit card company. For starters, I had to get out my magnifying glass because the print was microscopic. Apparently, I have several choices about “opting” in or out as to whether my credit card company can share my personal information with others. Unless I tell them otherwise (they require a letter, certified), they can share personal information about me with anyone they want. And it’s not as easy as just telling them in a letter, “Please don’t share ANY information about me with ANYONE,” I have to select from a bunch of choices which are varying degrees of what to share and who to share it with.

The kicker?

The final choice, in teeny tiny print, says, and I quote:

Even if you do tell us to not share your personal information, we may share your information anyway within our family of companies…

So much for privacy. And opting out.

::Writer X also writes at The 100 Most Annoying Things::

Flushing Meadows, NY.  The last of the Men’s Quarterfinals.

González [11] vs Nadal [3].

A Chilean on one side of stadium court, a Spaniard on the other.

The crowds are pouring into the mostly empty stands.

It’s still early.  On serve.  Everything is live.

Sumo, the American Pitbull Terrier, walks the slate floors.  Panting.

Sake, the wandering cat, hunkers on my bright orange Human Genomics bag, which is my netbook carrier.

Inside this bag I have 240 GB.  This bag is my giga power.

Nadal doesn’t have his legs taped.  I know that he recently had a leg injury.

This detail tells me that he at least thinks he’s healthy.

*******

Some time has passed.  Nadal won the first set in a tie break [7-4].

Nadal celebrates to himself as he walks to his chair.

After the commercial break, I see Nadal and the tournament trainer.

Nadal points to his right oblique.

The trainer starts tamping the area, honing in on the source of pain.

He digs deeper.

The announcer talks about the ab muscle that the trainer relieves with his thumb.

Four games into the second set.  On serve.  Play is suspended.

Enrique, the inveterate chair ump, says the source of the rain is a bad cloud.

The bad cloud will pass though, says the forecast.

Patches of rain tonight.  Extensive rain tomorrow.

Just a regular paradise, Flushing Meadows, NY.

Now the announcers are having a conversation with themselves and everyone else.

I learn that Nadal is not entirely without tape.  Appearances deceive.

Hidden under his yellow shirt, a cast of tape supporting his abdomen.

Evidence of a preexisting condition.

And this is where things will stand for the next 35 minutes or so.

To pass the time until play resumes, previously recorded footage.

Keep it locked to the TOE.

UPDATE: After midnight, the tennis action is finally suspended for good with Nadal up 6,7 6-6, [2-3] in the second set tiebreak.

[Stills pilfered from ESPN2]

After some intense kneading, and after the allotted time expired, rains started to fall on Flushing Meadows.  The players remained on the court in hopes of the patch of bad clouds passing over.

But when the rains showed no signs of abating, the players were allowed indoors for some shelter.

Thirty minutes later, with the courts blow dried and the lines towel wiped, the players started their warm up before the second set.

It was during this warm up that Fernando González hit a practice serve directly into Nadal’s injured abdominal muscle, on the side that the trainer had just worked.

Although the Chilean apologized, and Nadal was quick to accept, I believe they both knew it was intentional.  A direct insult.  A reminder of Nadal’s preexisting condition.

It’s called gamesmanship.

Watch the video to see for yourself.

[Clip pilfered from ESPN2]

What is the source of all this memory? And is there an upper bound to it like there is with natural resources, or can we produce an unlimited amount of computer storage?

I wonder if there is an unbiased, random statistic on how many bytes the average person  in a technologically advanced country carries?  Not too long ago it was 0, but now, between MP3 players, phones, memory sticks, cameras, video recorders, laptops, netbooks, GPSs, handheld consoles, keychains, and tennis shoes, the average joe has bytes to spare.

Probably somewhere on the order of giga, or at least approaching giga.

So, how has our newfound giga power influenced people?

Does access to a seemingly inextinguishable, ever-growing supply of memory make us fitter, more likely to thrive and survive?

Or does this memory font make this a generation of tech geeks who leave their houses rarely, and when they do it’s only with a backlit screen pounding into their eyes, ready to record life in some format.

Outside, people are documentarians, inside they’re broadcasters of their material.

This is a trend that will increase as technology advances.

With the web of online servers at people’s disposal, anything we document can be made public.  Forget acceptance letters and long-term contracts.  Giga power and the fact that no one has to go through the usual selective channels to broadcast their material anymore has made this the generation of self-publishers.

Run time:  4:40.  Rated EE for everyone’s environment.

[poll id="8"]

What’s on your head?

I saw her eyes, and then I read the plaque next to this 1924 oil on canvas:

The Russian Gala Éluard (born Helena Dmitriovna Diakonova; 1894-1982) was closely affiliated with Surrealist movement for most of her adult life.  She served as a muse for two husbands, first the poet Paul Éluard (1895-1952), then the artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989).  When Max Ernst moved to Paris in 1922, he lived with the Éluard in a ménage à trois until 1924.  At the end of his affair with Gala, Ernst evoked the eyes of his former mistress in this painting, which is based on a photograph by Man Ray taken before 1924.

TOE goes places so you don’t have to.

It’s the biomagnification that should worry you…   WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE!

[Source: United States Geological Survey]

The Environmental Defense Fund and I recommend that you download and print the Pocket Seafood Selector and the Pocket Sushi Guide, which list the types of seafood considered to be both safe for eating and eco-friendly. Afraid you’ll find your favorite under the xDANGERx column? Fear not – the site will even recommend good alternatives! 

Once upon a time, people used mercury and its compounds to treat syphilis. Although not successful, it enjoyed a vogue for a considerable time until penicillin was found to be an effective cure for this disease in its earlier stages. One important use of mercury compounds was in hatmaking; 200 years ago, the furs used to make beaver felt hats was dipped into mercury(II) nitrate solution as a preservative and to soften the animal hairs. Unfortunately the workers in the felt hat trade absorbed mercury through their skins; the resulting mercury poisoning caused shaking and slurred speech, being known as “hatter’s disease”, which is believed to have inspired the character of the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, a character made famous in Tenniel’s drawing (below). [Source: Uppingham School]

Note: The image above depicts a child born with Minamata disease, a result of mercury toxicity. 

The idea is not that you should never eat seafood again, but to become aware of the types that are safe and those that should be avoided.  

For more information about the mercury issue and to calculate the amount of mercury in your body, visit GotMercury?

For more information about fish, fishing and aquaculture practices, and ocean issues, visit the Seafood Watch site of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.