An acquaintance recently sent me an email describing an offer for insurance (of all things) to protect my identity. I take this issue pretty seriously because like a lot of Americans, I’ve worked long hours over a number of years and don’t want other persons to use my “good name” without my knowledge and consent. Also, I don't part with my hard earned money easily. We traded a few barbs after I made the point that when credit card providers bestow customers with a product that has known safeguards that could easily be implemented and fail to pass on an improved product one after a reasonable amount of time, we should seriously consider it to be “defective”. The solutions are known (and have been known for some time), and are available now, the hardware and software is cheap and easy to find. The solutions remain un-implemented.
http://www.biometricgroup.com/in_the_news/anchor_desk.html
Needless to say, I’ve got no intentions of purchasing so called “identity insurance” from some company when it’s easier (and cheaper) to be careful with my private information and check my statements on a regular basis. There’s no such thing as 100% safety out there anyway and insurance, if you can afford it, is not as good as prevention. Besides, most credit card providers waive charges made on fraudulent purchases if they are reported in a timely manner.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=%22identity+theft+insurance%22
So if persons are motivated to use your identity continue to damage your reputation as a “loyal and trustworthy bill payer” or good citizen what is a person to do? Not much. In fact, more often than not, no one is actually charged with a crime or apprehended. There’s no one around to blame, unless you like the sounds of voice response units or pre-recorded menus as you contact your creditors and fix what damage you happen to know about at the time. The goods are used by the perpetrators before the long arm of the law catches up with them and when it does, these scoundrels merely skip out on bail and assume someone else’s identity. The story continues… luckily there is some help.
http://www.ncdot.org/DMV/other_services/licensetheft/identityTheft.html
I don’t like the idea of the next wave of terrorists having easy targets when it comes to getting into the country and using the names of honest citizens either. Most legislators don’t want to touch this issue because certain groups and individuals oppose just about every safeguard that can be automated (biometric authentication). All of these folks mention the costs of implementing such safeguards or perceived loss of privacy but none of them reference the costs of doing nothing. Since when has the world stopped on its axis when it comes to processing transactions? Good or bad, things are not going to stay the same so why make it easy for a “common thug” to take advantage of our economy or wealth? What about the poor bloke who loses his civil liberties when a thug uses his identity?
I’ve contacted the Attorney General. A while back (more than a year ago) in some public service announcements the man stated that he was championing efforts to reduce identity theft. I am still waiting for something to change that truly benefits North Carolinians. Yes, he’s paid the subject some extensive “lip service” and provided some of the same tips and information that can be found at other sources but how many North Carolinians have to lose their identities (or worse) before he addresses the issue with the companies that distribute and encourage the products that are so easily abused?
http://www.ncdoj.com/consumerprotection/cp_idtheft.jsp
My point here is that many constituents (approx 286,000 North Carolinians) don’t need to view bureaucrats on their TV to develop an understanding of the problems with identity theft. They need to know what solutions industry has to offer and the companies that provide customers with financial instruments (credit/debit cards) to process transactions need encouragement (or mandates, deadlines) to get them to implement them.
Identity theft provides an “economy” for criminals who have to live “off the grid”. The fraudulent purchases offer them an almost endless supply of goods that they can barter for drugs, services or to fund other illegal activities. What they have no immediate use for they sell to whomever they can. They for all practical purposes, convert their victim’s credit card to cash in many instances. Why do we allow this to occur? If we make it harder to commit financial crimes, engage in acts of fraud or avoid paying sales taxes, isn't this in everyone's best interest?
For as long as certain (credit card?) companies (or banks) provide their customers with arguably defective products (or fail to require biometric authentication on the majority of financial transactions) why shouldn’t they be responsible for all (not just some) the costs of the fraud that are conducted with them? Shouldn’t citizens be able to take these companies to courts of law and demand that they be compensated for the lousy products that are circulating today? Obviously, that’s not the answer either, because these companies would only pass on these extra costs of doing business (with trial lawyers) down to their customers. This same strategy is what has wrecked the healthcare business with rising costs.
What we North Carolinians need to do is educate fellow constituents, government and businesses about biometric authentication technologies and demonstrate to them that biometric authentication has value in their processes. Preventing fraud or identity theft is “good business” and we (North Carolinian’s) must become more receptive to dealing with companies that protect customers from identity theft. The market (or customers) should provide the incentive to implement a strategy, and industry should be allowed to choose which technologies to implement. Goverment's job should be to stay out of the way of business for the most part and to prevent the misuse of information that is collected from transaction processing (many exposures exist already and could be better protected by implementing biometric authentication technologies).
No protection or strategy will ever make transaction processing perfect, but having little or no protection at all only makes identity theft available to the masses. Doing nothing would be doing wrong.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Hootie and The Blue Dogs
On a Friday night not so long ago my wife Kathy and I went to a concert in Cary, North Carolina. This is a relatively more affluent town close to where we live that in many ways reminds me of Boca Raton, Florida. The tendency towards certain color palettes in this higher priced area and the shopping seems to be what strikes the eye first. In case you haven’t already heard, the town of Cary is also an acronym and it is well known as a “concentrated area of relocated Yankees”.
This was just another concert as far as I was concerned. We expected to enjoy the music and were glad to go. I didn’t expect that the venue would be all that crowded or rowdy and it wasn’t. The drive to Regency Park was not new to us and the facilities are nice. If fact they are probably the nicest that I’ve seen anywhere. Almost everything there looks new. The views include a nearby lake and pine trees surround the place. Certain acts, venues and pricing draw their own types of audiences too. I did my level best to leave any preconceptions at home before we left. We would enjoy the night out and that was that.
We got there a bit early, that’s a tendency some of us have that I’ve never been able to break. That usually allows one to look around, “check out the facilities” so to say and settle in at the right seat before the lights dim. The weather has been getting a bit cooler recently and the leaves are only starting to change color now. Being early to events is a real tension breaker and we sat down a few minutes before the first band came up on stage and sipped my first and only beer of the night.
Act one for the night was the “Blue Dogs” http://www.bluedogs.com/ and we were pleasantly surprised with what I thought was a good performance. It’s worth noting that just as the sun set in the sky and before Blue Dogs came out, that the couple (mother and son) next to us were challenged for their tickets and discovered that they were in the wrong place. They moved a bit closer to center stage. We were in the second row and that meant that there was only one set of heads and bodies between us and who was on stage. We were seated in those cheap lawn chairs that are usually provided by the venue and the ground was covered with pine straw. We could smell the crowd (soap and perfume) over the damp ground. Behind us was a family with about four kids in their preteen years.
It was a clear night, we wore long sleeves(and jackets). There were no mosquitoes. We were left of center stage or close to the bass speakers but the seats should have been decent. The sound would occasionally make your innards rumble. We were definately in Cary.
At 8:30 the main act “Hootie and the Blowfish” http://www.hootie.com/ took the stage and we witnessed what I would say was a respectable performance. They did a good job doing what they do and the sound was great. They played a number of songs in tribute to the troops serving in the Middle East and made a few jokes about each other and were pretty good at keeping the audience involved. I’d make a positive recommendation to anyone who happened to ask about the venue and the groups we saw that night.
Unfortunately that wasn’t everything I have to relate about the experience because after all, we were in Cary, North Carolina. This usually means that there is at least one especially self-absorbed individual in the audience that deserves some special note. I won’t give this individual a name because I don’t know him personally and it would require further explanation about someone I know only through his physical attributes and actions. I don’t want to get to know him and made no effort to either. Somewhere out there, other persons are living with or sharing space with this man and that is their problem for now at least for as long as it takes for him to move on.
I’m supposed to be 43 years old and I do not look for trouble anymore. I measure my actions and consider risks versus what one might actually accomplish now and knew that what I might have to say would probably not be very diplomatic. So I kept my mouth shut for once and learned from the experience. There are benefits to not acting like an ass sometimes I guess. For comparisons sake, I could mention an ex-neighbor of mine who is in prison now, all because of his so-called principals. He is proof that age and adulthood are not necessarily related. And so was the guy sitting in the seat in front of me.
You see I have no quarrels with large persons. This man was dimensionally challenged in the sense that normal seats didn’t fit him. Even seated it took an effort to see around his large head and shoulders. He was there with his significant (in both senses of the word, but shorter) other too. So why embarrass him? I didn’t. I didn’t do anything; I just enjoyed what I could of the show.
The man in front of me had a seat in the front row. From the time that the main band took the stage at exactly 8:30 and until the house lights came on after the show was over (about 10:30), he was standing. This meant that everyone behind him (who also paid good money) got to see his back and head, and not the band. He didn’t so much as sit down for half of one song. It’s worth noting that I did see some other tall men closer to center stage that displayed an obvious situational awareness and they sat down for short periods of time but the man in front of me never so much as turned around to look behind him. It’s conceivable that he knew he was obstructing the view for everyone who was unfortunate enough to be behind him. It was very likely that he just didn’t care too.
For as long as we are considering persons who are supposed to be adults, I admit that persons who don’t say what they mean or complain when there is a problem, don’t deserve to whine about what happens when they fail to make a real effort to communicate. I won’t whine. The concert was about more than “just me” or my personal enjoyment. On a separate note, I’ve decided to learn from the experience.
Forty-three years on this earth have taught me again (this probably ain’t the first or last time I learn this lesson either), that there are consequences for every action. Just because I might happen to be surrounded by a few self-absorbed individuals, that doesn’t mean I have to respond to every one of them. That man in the front row missed an opportunity to meet persons who are more aware of the world and more thoughtful than he was that night because he couldn’t be troubled to look around him. His concerns were focused on the band and the noise that it made and what it did for him. This overrode his responsibility as an adult to share. There were after all kids and persons behind him who wanted to see the show as much as he did and would have if he’d been more careful. After all, he didn’t become a “big person” in one night and should have been aware of the fact that his body was not transparent. Despite my disappointment in the man in front of us and in myself for the “experience” I’ve put the whole thing into perspective. His problems aren’t mine and I won’t share mine with him.
I walked away from that concert not thinking about Hootie or his blowfish or the folks that happened to be sitting in front of me. I was thinking about the lyrics of one of the songs from the first band that hit the stage. They might have been a little less polished but they were more appreciated. Here are the lyrics to the song that made the biggest impression on me.
http://www.top50lyrics.com/t/thebluedogs-lyrics-590/halfofmymistakes-lyrics-755021.html
It was a pretty song and all things considered, I don't think I really missed the show. The "Blue Dogs" rule!
This was just another concert as far as I was concerned. We expected to enjoy the music and were glad to go. I didn’t expect that the venue would be all that crowded or rowdy and it wasn’t. The drive to Regency Park was not new to us and the facilities are nice. If fact they are probably the nicest that I’ve seen anywhere. Almost everything there looks new. The views include a nearby lake and pine trees surround the place. Certain acts, venues and pricing draw their own types of audiences too. I did my level best to leave any preconceptions at home before we left. We would enjoy the night out and that was that.
We got there a bit early, that’s a tendency some of us have that I’ve never been able to break. That usually allows one to look around, “check out the facilities” so to say and settle in at the right seat before the lights dim. The weather has been getting a bit cooler recently and the leaves are only starting to change color now. Being early to events is a real tension breaker and we sat down a few minutes before the first band came up on stage and sipped my first and only beer of the night.
Act one for the night was the “Blue Dogs” http://www.bluedogs.com/ and we were pleasantly surprised with what I thought was a good performance. It’s worth noting that just as the sun set in the sky and before Blue Dogs came out, that the couple (mother and son) next to us were challenged for their tickets and discovered that they were in the wrong place. They moved a bit closer to center stage. We were in the second row and that meant that there was only one set of heads and bodies between us and who was on stage. We were seated in those cheap lawn chairs that are usually provided by the venue and the ground was covered with pine straw. We could smell the crowd (soap and perfume) over the damp ground. Behind us was a family with about four kids in their preteen years.
It was a clear night, we wore long sleeves(and jackets). There were no mosquitoes. We were left of center stage or close to the bass speakers but the seats should have been decent. The sound would occasionally make your innards rumble. We were definately in Cary.
At 8:30 the main act “Hootie and the Blowfish” http://www.hootie.com/ took the stage and we witnessed what I would say was a respectable performance. They did a good job doing what they do and the sound was great. They played a number of songs in tribute to the troops serving in the Middle East and made a few jokes about each other and were pretty good at keeping the audience involved. I’d make a positive recommendation to anyone who happened to ask about the venue and the groups we saw that night.
Unfortunately that wasn’t everything I have to relate about the experience because after all, we were in Cary, North Carolina. This usually means that there is at least one especially self-absorbed individual in the audience that deserves some special note. I won’t give this individual a name because I don’t know him personally and it would require further explanation about someone I know only through his physical attributes and actions. I don’t want to get to know him and made no effort to either. Somewhere out there, other persons are living with or sharing space with this man and that is their problem for now at least for as long as it takes for him to move on.
I’m supposed to be 43 years old and I do not look for trouble anymore. I measure my actions and consider risks versus what one might actually accomplish now and knew that what I might have to say would probably not be very diplomatic. So I kept my mouth shut for once and learned from the experience. There are benefits to not acting like an ass sometimes I guess. For comparisons sake, I could mention an ex-neighbor of mine who is in prison now, all because of his so-called principals. He is proof that age and adulthood are not necessarily related. And so was the guy sitting in the seat in front of me.
You see I have no quarrels with large persons. This man was dimensionally challenged in the sense that normal seats didn’t fit him. Even seated it took an effort to see around his large head and shoulders. He was there with his significant (in both senses of the word, but shorter) other too. So why embarrass him? I didn’t. I didn’t do anything; I just enjoyed what I could of the show.
The man in front of me had a seat in the front row. From the time that the main band took the stage at exactly 8:30 and until the house lights came on after the show was over (about 10:30), he was standing. This meant that everyone behind him (who also paid good money) got to see his back and head, and not the band. He didn’t so much as sit down for half of one song. It’s worth noting that I did see some other tall men closer to center stage that displayed an obvious situational awareness and they sat down for short periods of time but the man in front of me never so much as turned around to look behind him. It’s conceivable that he knew he was obstructing the view for everyone who was unfortunate enough to be behind him. It was very likely that he just didn’t care too.
For as long as we are considering persons who are supposed to be adults, I admit that persons who don’t say what they mean or complain when there is a problem, don’t deserve to whine about what happens when they fail to make a real effort to communicate. I won’t whine. The concert was about more than “just me” or my personal enjoyment. On a separate note, I’ve decided to learn from the experience.
Forty-three years on this earth have taught me again (this probably ain’t the first or last time I learn this lesson either), that there are consequences for every action. Just because I might happen to be surrounded by a few self-absorbed individuals, that doesn’t mean I have to respond to every one of them. That man in the front row missed an opportunity to meet persons who are more aware of the world and more thoughtful than he was that night because he couldn’t be troubled to look around him. His concerns were focused on the band and the noise that it made and what it did for him. This overrode his responsibility as an adult to share. There were after all kids and persons behind him who wanted to see the show as much as he did and would have if he’d been more careful. After all, he didn’t become a “big person” in one night and should have been aware of the fact that his body was not transparent. Despite my disappointment in the man in front of us and in myself for the “experience” I’ve put the whole thing into perspective. His problems aren’t mine and I won’t share mine with him.
I walked away from that concert not thinking about Hootie or his blowfish or the folks that happened to be sitting in front of me. I was thinking about the lyrics of one of the songs from the first band that hit the stage. They might have been a little less polished but they were more appreciated. Here are the lyrics to the song that made the biggest impression on me.
http://www.top50lyrics.com/t/thebluedogs-lyrics-590/halfofmymistakes-lyrics-755021.html
It was a pretty song and all things considered, I don't think I really missed the show. The "Blue Dogs" rule!
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