- Auri Sacra Fames -

The New York Times recently published a three-part series of articles on the "cost of gold" in terms of social and environmental damage. Personally, I much prefer silver jewelry, but the accursed hunger for gold, as the Roman poet Virgil put it, is deeply entrenched in our culture, making us move tons of rock for a few ounces of the yellowish, malleable metal.
Do you remember the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin? Because of her father's boasting, the hapless girl has to spin straw into gold, create value out of worthless matter, which she can only accomplish with the help of the impish Rumpelstiltskin. Other fairy tales and legends abound with golden crowns, golden rings (would Frodo have carried a silver ring all that way to Mordor?) and entire hoards of the stuff, which occasionally have been found, while others still might await discovery, such as the legendary hoard of the Nibelungs.
Gold is permanent, and while some gets lost, much is melted down and reshaped over the ages. Thus what you are wearing around your finger, your wrist or your neck might be newly mined, or it could once have been an English Angel, Roman solidus, or the jewelry of an Egyptian lady. Interesting idea, isn't it...

So much for today. Please visit my blog again, and also take a look at www.lovebeadsunlimited.com

Cyberbeader

- Dilbert and the Mink Coat -

I remember an old Dilbert cartoon, in which Dilbert talks to someone during lunch at a restaurant. Dilbert gives his credit card to a waitress, she disappears, Dilbert rants about the dangers of using the internet, then the waitress comes back and returns Dilbert's credit card - but now she is wearing a mink coat.
With apologies to waitresses worldwide, this cartoon has a valid point. While identity theft on the internet is real and all too common, there is plenty of the old-fashioned offline variety going on. I know what I am talking about, as someone recently stole my identity, most likely from the files of a state agency (police investigations are still ongoing, so I cannot be more specific).
Even though you may be protected from direct financial damage, identity theft will cost you. I spent so many hours making phone calls, filling out affidavits, having them notarized, making more phone calls ... it is a nightmare, and it will cost you a lot of time.
Here are some resources that I found useful and wanted to share with you:

• The FTC offers substantial resources, including a downloadable booklet in PDF format
• Department of Justice site on identity theft
• Identity Theft Resource Center (includes pages in Spanish)
• Privacy Rights Clearinghouse resources
• Social Security Administration site on identity theft, particularly concerning misuse of your SSN.
• The Wikipedia article on identity theft/identity fraud
  

So, use reasonable caution and stay safe!

Until next time

Cyberbeader
http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com

- Welcome to Cyberbeader's blog! -

I finally combined two of my long-term interests: creating bead jewelry and using the Internet. I have been beading ever since I was a teen, and sold bead jewelry at a street market in the early 1990s. Now I launched my own website (well, actually, it was my SO - he knows much more about the nuts and bolts and gears of the net than I do), as well as an eBay store. Above is an example of my current work - a bracelet of shells, freshwater pearls and sterling silver.

Recently, I have been thinking how much the WWW has changed our lives. A little over a decade ago, it would have been impossible for me to start this type of business - I would have had to buy mailing lists, advertise in magazines, etc. - all at a much greater cost. Now I can potentially reach millions of customers. I also no longer have to be out in the heat of a Central Texas summer, or argue with a city bureaucrat about what exatly I may or may not sell at a particular street market.
The World Wide Web has certainly been a tool of empowerment, allowing many people to open virtual stores at a fraction of the cost of a brick-and-mortar business, while being able to stay at home.
I remember when the WWW was small and rudimentary, and Yahoo had a weekly list of newly added sites... on a nice grey background. I even remember the first commercial spam that appeared in numerous usenet groups and caused an enormous angry reaction. How innocent these days seem now.
Nowadays, I receive a steady stream of scam e-mails asking me to send items to various overseas countries, offering me much more money than I requested (one particularly absurd scammer even offered $1,200 for a $25 bracelet, so she could give it as a gift to "her Lord Reverend"). This is the dark side of the net - scams, phishing, spam and all the other terms we had not even imagined a decade ago. This is also why quite a number of people I know are actually afraid of going online, and particularly of buying anything. Of course the savvy internet user can avoid these pitfalls, but many newbies will get discouraged by them.

Well, we will have to take the good with the bad, and overall it is still a fascinating time to live and work in.
I hope you enjoy these random ruminations, and will come back for more of my musings, on life, work and the net.

Cyberbeader
http://www.lovebeadsunlimited.com