up my efforts.
The Internet. How does a nostalgic, old school kind of guy like me embrace looking for the girl of his dreams in cyberspace? Not very easily. I mean, I obviously have no problem stalking someone’s neighborhood and taking pictures of someone without their knowledge so why does searching a name over the Internet make me feel like an obsessive pervert?
I’ve put off the whole technology piece in looking for Caroline for a reason. Invasiveness. Th e reason is that it just feels too invasive to go snooping around looking into other people’s business. I know you’re going to say that social media today takes the tactlessness out of the equation. Nowadays people post their business online for the purpose of having others read about and know their business and spread it around. In other words, we’re not snooping if others are advertising. But that’s why I’m one of the remaining few dinosaurs not on Facebook, or Twitter, nor am I posting my pictures on Tumblr or Instagram; my life is my own and I’ve no interest in sharing it with strangers. Besides, I’ve learned it’s best to keep my identity as secretive as possible. No one can find me who I don’t want to find me.
Ironically, that brings me to finding Caroline. The minute I type her name in the search bar, I know I’ ll be crossing a line. There might be something I could learn about her that I don’t want to know or to find out in this way. Can I do it? I weigh the pros and cons of going any further in my online search. Besides, with only her first name and a picture of her, how much could I possibly find, I wonder.
So, I begin by typing in “Caroline Toronto Canada” in the search bar, I then click Images so that pages of images pop-up. I take a deep breath and scroll down page after page of images looking for Sweet Caroline. I work slowly and methodically through the images and even click on a few that look similar to her. I don’t see her. I keep scrolling down both hoping and not hoping that I’ll find her. After studying all of the photographs, I accept the fact that Caroline’s photo is not here and inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. Out of curiosity, I search my own name and feel nothing but the same wave of relief when I see that none of my images are posted anywhere online either.
The next thing I try is the image recognition Google app on my iPad. First, I grab my iPad and snap a picture of the image of Caroline’s face on my screen saver. Then, I press the ‘Goggles’ button and Google does an image search to see if there’s a match. Little colored boxes would start floating across the screen with matched up images found on the web. Fortunately, not one matched image comes up. Sweet Caroline’s picture is nowhere online. You’d think that for a guy in such fervent search for a girl, the web would be the fastest and easiest way to find her. The relief I feel because I’m unable to find her is indescribable, even to me. I find it pretty remarkable that she has maintained some anonymity in today’s extroverted world. Could it be for professional reasons why she isn’t on Facebook or better yet, has chosen not be? Or, maybe like me, she too has secrets to hide and people to hide from so a Facebook account would be the last thing she’d need? Nevertheless, I know now that a search for Caroline in Toronto and an image recognition search have turned up nothing. Moving on.
The next thing I do is go back on Google and type in “Chicago conferences May 25-27 th 2012.” Caroline mentioned that she was at an annual conference in Chicago last weekend so if I can find a list of organizations that held their conferences there, then that might give me a clue as to what field of work she might be in here in Toronto.
A few clicks of the mouse later, I find the 2012 Global Finance Conference. I scroll through the conference programs and schedules scanning for a Caroline as a presenter or keynote speaker and nothing comes
The Internet. How does a nostalgic, old school kind of guy like me embrace looking for the girl of his dreams in cyberspace? Not very easily. I mean, I obviously have no problem stalking someone’s neighborhood and taking pictures of someone without their knowledge so why does searching a name over the Internet make me feel like an obsessive pervert?
I’ve put off the whole technology piece in looking for Caroline for a reason. Invasiveness. Th e reason is that it just feels too invasive to go snooping around looking into other people’s business. I know you’re going to say that social media today takes the tactlessness out of the equation. Nowadays people post their business online for the purpose of having others read about and know their business and spread it around. In other words, we’re not snooping if others are advertising. But that’s why I’m one of the remaining few dinosaurs not on Facebook, or Twitter, nor am I posting my pictures on Tumblr or Instagram; my life is my own and I’ve no interest in sharing it with strangers. Besides, I’ve learned it’s best to keep my identity as secretive as possible. No one can find me who I don’t want to find me.
Ironically, that brings me to finding Caroline. The minute I type her name in the search bar, I know I’ ll be crossing a line. There might be something I could learn about her that I don’t want to know or to find out in this way. Can I do it? I weigh the pros and cons of going any further in my online search. Besides, with only her first name and a picture of her, how much could I possibly find, I wonder.
So, I begin by typing in “Caroline Toronto Canada” in the search bar, I then click Images so that pages of images pop-up. I take a deep breath and scroll down page after page of images looking for Sweet Caroline. I work slowly and methodically through the images and even click on a few that look similar to her. I don’t see her. I keep scrolling down both hoping and not hoping that I’ll find her. After studying all of the photographs, I accept the fact that Caroline’s photo is not here and inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. Out of curiosity, I search my own name and feel nothing but the same wave of relief when I see that none of my images are posted anywhere online either.
The next thing I try is the image recognition Google app on my iPad. First, I grab my iPad and snap a picture of the image of Caroline’s face on my screen saver. Then, I press the ‘Goggles’ button and Google does an image search to see if there’s a match. Little colored boxes would start floating across the screen with matched up images found on the web. Fortunately, not one matched image comes up. Sweet Caroline’s picture is nowhere online. You’d think that for a guy in such fervent search for a girl, the web would be the fastest and easiest way to find her. The relief I feel because I’m unable to find her is indescribable, even to me. I find it pretty remarkable that she has maintained some anonymity in today’s extroverted world. Could it be for professional reasons why she isn’t on Facebook or better yet, has chosen not be? Or, maybe like me, she too has secrets to hide and people to hide from so a Facebook account would be the last thing she’d need? Nevertheless, I know now that a search for Caroline in Toronto and an image recognition search have turned up nothing. Moving on.
The next thing I do is go back on Google and type in “Chicago conferences May 25-27 th 2012.” Caroline mentioned that she was at an annual conference in Chicago last weekend so if I can find a list of organizations that held their conferences there, then that might give me a clue as to what field of work she might be in here in Toronto.
A few clicks of the mouse later, I find the 2012 Global Finance Conference. I scroll through the conference programs and schedules scanning for a Caroline as a presenter or keynote speaker and nothing comes
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