HELP!!

[nikitangel]

::is suddenly very very scared::

Okay.  Okay, someone please tell me I am missing something here.  Do this:

1) Google the terms "melody2tds" "icon" and "meme"
2) Click on the link to the entry that comes up first in the search (should be called " melody2tds: icon meme3) Notice the "you are not authorized to view this protected entry" error page

Comments

[calendae]

I'm just guessing here, but I think if the entry was at one point not flocked it could have been stored.

[nikitangel]

That's just freaky. I mean, a lot of people make posts that they later f-lock. I'd never really thought about it, but man. Think of the implications!

[calendae]

It is a little scary. But you also have the option of making your journal not available to the search machine robots at all, so you can avoid that all together.

[nikitangel]

True, if they listen. I don't know how Google bots operate. It was just so startling to come across that while researching! I'm sure a lot of people don't realize it.

[rm_renfield]

But really, consider how bad Google usually is at caching even public LJ entries. I imagine you'd have to know the exact title of the post (as in this example) in order to find it. And, as I've said before, connecting an LJ name to a real name requires some effort.

(Having lived with Web-savvy, snoopy fundamentalist parents, I can kind of understand your worry; however, I still say it's largely unfounded... Look, see, puppet!Angel wants you to not worry.)

[nikitangel]

You don't need the exact title - I've just been googling "icon meme" on livejournal.com, and checking them all out. I only clicked on Cached as a last resort.

I know I shouldn't worry. I believe some of my panic arises from being ever-so-slightly stressed at not having actually begun my paper until two hours ago. But that's just a guess.

[cathexys]

i'm pretty certain this person (a) didn't block robots (which is easily done) and (b) flocked after the fact.

we all know the internet has an eternal memory (if you freak about google, go to wayback machine!!!)...which is why i take both above precautions.

[when i google my name i find newsgroup comments and conference papers from the mid-nineties...very unsettling!!!) i've had 3 major fields and 5 email addresses in between!!!

[nikitangel]

That would be *very* unsettling! I occasionally find old mailing list posts from my early Nikita days, but that's about it so far. My genealogy posts are all over - can't Google me without tripping over them.

I have yet to make use of the wayback machine. Every time I try a broken URL, it's never there. Someday it will come to my rescue, though, I'm sure.