Welcome to the 21st century where privacy is a thing of the past.

I just got on Facebook a few months ago and at first didn’t pay much mind to the ads on the far right side of the screen.  Then one day, one of them caught my eye–CreateSpace, Amazon’s self-publishing arm.  Since I won a freebee for participating in and winning the 2009 NaNo, I winked and said to myself “too late I already got a coupon for it”,  and moved on.  Next came an ad that said, “Apple needs 49 yr olds to beta test iPads, keep device”.  Wow!  I’m 49!  What were the odds?  (My palm slapped the side of my head a few seconds later.)  So now I have a firsthand taste of how and why con artists target the elderly.  Doy!

My awareness is now heightened of this new thing called targeted advertising, or whatever the official name is, doesn’t matter other than it was gathered via personal info supplied for a different purpose.  But my main beef, aside from the breach of my privacy, is that I’m not too happy with what is being targeted my way.

Here’s what’s currently displayed on my Facebook Profile or My Yahoo inbox pages: Continue reading →

Sometimes you see products that someone perceived a niche for but all you can do is shake your head and say, “Really?  Really????”

One of my employees sent me a link to a website (yes, we do work from time to time) that sells panties and thongs for dogs.   The thongs are for the boy dogs and the panties are for the girl dogs, though I think it should be the other way around.  They make the panties with or without tail holes, because you wouldn’t want your tailless dogs to get a draft in their nether regions.

Really? Continue reading →