Most people would not have BEGUN to go to so much trouble to help a
stranger...
As usual John, you are to be commended a THOUSAND times.
L
----- Original Message -----
> It's funny all this talk about getting information on people on
> GOOGLE. Look at what just happened these last two days.
>
> Here is the story:
>
> Leaving the apartment Tuesday morning for work, I find a wallet
> nestled in the grass getting wet by the sprinklers. It was a few feet
> away from the bus stop. Nobody else was around. I pick up the wallet
> and with a glance I see a driver's license, credit cards, basically
> the whole works. It belongs to a young woman named Kimberly. (No need
> to give the last name, I suppose.) Since she is not there, and the bus
> stop occasionally attracts weird characters, I take the wallet to work.
>
> Arriving at my office, I right away try to get a telephone number to
> tell Kimberly that I have her wallet. I figure she must be frantic
> with worry. The driver's licence shows her address (near 19th and
> Pico) but there is no telephone number. I use GOOGLE to find the
> telephone number. I then use WHOWHERE. Then I call the operator. No
> luck at all! It doesn't matter that I have her complete address. Her
> number is not listed.
>
> What next? I hate going through her stuff... Another quick look, and I
> find her Blockbuster membership card.
>
> I call Blockbuster. The guy on the line verifies her membership
> number, and says he cannot give out her phone number. No problem! I
> tell him to tell her about the wallet and give her my name and number.
> He gives a lukewarm "Sure..."
>
> Now in the afternoon, I call back Blockbuster. I learn that the guy
> did in fact try to reach Kimberly but that the number they had was no
> longer current. Ugh.
>
> I leave work in the early evening with the intention of going to
> Kimberly's apartment and giving her the wallet. The location is not
> out of my way at all. I knock on the door, and a young woman answers.
> She is not the one in the driver's licence - a possible roommate??
>
> I find out that this woman has lived here for six months. Kimberly was
> the previous tenant. No forwarding address or telephone number. Ugh.
> Well, enough for one day...
>
> Now at work this morning, I try again. I carefully go through the
> wallet. More cards and numbers. Is there anything with Kimberly's
> current number or address??? Or even a friend's number or address??
> Success!! I find an insurance card with an address for Kimberly on
> Montana Avenue. Maybe she moved here? It makes sense, since I found
> the wallet in the area. Now for the second time I use our wonderful
> GOOGLE to get her telephone number. Again, not listed!
>
> Convinced that this must be her current address, I call my mother who
> lives nearby, and ask her to go to that address. Either tell them in
> person, or leave a note!
>
> About ten minutes later I get a call here at work from Kimberly's
> roommate. He was grateful that the wallet was safe with me. They had
> been very worried. I will see them tonight to return it...
>
>
> Anyway, if someone wants to keep their number unlisted, I don't think
> it's so easy to get it!
>
>
> John
>
> --- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com, Joy McCann
> <jmmccann_at_s...> wrote:
> > "Weird Uncle David"? Hm.
> >
> > When I got this message last winter, I tried it maybe 25 times, and
> > it worked it in perhaps a third of the cases. I only freaked and sent
> > out frantic e-mails when it displayed the addresses of single women
> > living alone--which only happened in one or two cases, since most
> > single women living alone are careful and have unlisted numbers. BTW,
> > it does *not* work with John T.--you get a town and a zip code, but
> > no actual street address. Mostly all you get is a zip code, and
> > sometimes even that isn't accurate (90405 instead of 90403, etc.).
> >
> > Actually, Lenny, I had been meaning to talk to you about it, but I
> > kept losing the little piece of paper with a note on it to let
> > the remaining "positives" know.
> >
> > --Q.M.
> >
> > * * * * *
> >
> > Not this again. Our daycare sent out a panic message about this,
> > asking parents to tell their kids never to give out their home phone
> > number in fear some evil person would use to trace the home address
> > and kidnap the kids.
> >
> > So after teaching my kids about our number and address (in case of
> > emergency) I now have to figure out someway to teach the kids who's a
> > good versus bad person. Great, considering most incidences of kid
> > abuse/kidnapping involve relatives...
> >
> > "Kids, don't give our home phone to anyone - not even Grandma or weird
> > Uncle David. Don't dial it on a public phone since someone may be
> > covertly watching you dial. Don't use a cell phone since someone may
> > be eavesdropping. When you talk don't move your lips since someone may
> > be lipreading. Only grunt using encrypted Klingon with the sun behind
> > your back for maximum blinding purposes."
> >
> > -Ozzy
> >
> > "Paranoia's for those without a nuclear arsenal." - Ozzy 4/13/04
> >
> > --- In OliveStarlightOrchestra_at_yahoogroups.com, "7visions"
> > <7visions_at_p...> wrote:
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From:
> > > Did you know about this? My number worked, so did John's. Mike's did
> > not...Did not test anyone else's
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >
> > > This was sent to me by a friend -- it works -- .
> > >
> > > Google has implemented a new feature wherein you can type someone's
> > >
> > > telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and then you will
> > be
> > >
> > > given a map to their house. Before forwarding this, I tested it by
> > >
> > > typing my telephone number in google.com. My phone number came up,
> > and
> > >
> > > when I clicked on the MapQuest link, it mapped the location to my
> > home!
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Please look up your own number. Read below for details. Consider the
> > >
> > > issues here -- if ANYONE gives out his phone number, someone can
> > >
> > > actually now look it up to find out where he lives. The safety
> > issues
> > >
> > > are obvious, and alarming, particularly for youngsters.
> > >
> > >
> > > This is not a hoax as you will see. the article appeared in Sunday's
> > >
> > > NYTimes. In order to test if your phone number is mapped, go to:
> > >
> > > www.google.com Type your phone number in the search bar with dashes
> > >
> > > only (i.e., 555-555-1212) and hit Enter. This will divulge your name
> > >
> > > and address. You will see a link option to the right for Mapquest
> > >
> > > (click on it), which will use the address to provide a map to your
> > home
> > >
> > > or place of business.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private
> > >
> > > information, click on the telephone icon next to your phone number
> > >
> > > after Google responds with your name and address. It takes 48-hours
> > to
> > >
> > > remove it with a form to complete.
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > To visit your group on the web, go to:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OliveStarlightOrchestra/
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > OliveStarlightOrchestra-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com
> >
>
<mailto:OliveStarlightOrchestra-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscr
> > ibe>
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
> > <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
Received on 2004-04-16 15:32:54