Weblog on the Internet and public policy, journalism, virtual community, and more from David Brake, a Canadian academic, consultant and journalist

Archive forAugust 3rd, 2002 | back to home

3 August 2002
Filed under:Science & Technology at1:45 pm

(Quoting from the newsletter you can get by visiting the site)

“Scientists have discovered why being hugged feels so good – human skin has a special network of nerves that stimulate a pleasurable response to stroking.

Until now, no-one knew the function of these nerves. But the revelation came after doctors realised that a woman with no sense of touch still felt a “pleasant” sensation when her skin was caressed with a paintbrush.”

It’s nice to see the site I started back in 1995 is able to offer so many more sophisticated services (like daily email newsflashes) today.

Filed under:Personal,Privacy,Search Engines at12:23 am

Jennifer 8. Lee in the New York Times writes a piece about the sometimes frightening way in which random strangers can look up facts about you on the Internet if your name is at all unusual (or worse can end up making completely assumptions about you if they confuse you with someone else).

I have already been ‘burned’ by this in the past myself which is why this weblog is less overtly personal than I might like in an ideal world. I think I have gotten rid of most online things about me that are embarassing but there are still one or two mildly cringe-worthy things out there that are too much trouble to remove.

Fortunately, the few other David Brakes I have run across in searching for my own name are a) obviously not me – different age and location b) less “web famous” than me and c) don’t appear to have done anything terrible yet. Also fortunately, I am the most famous of the David Brakes out there, with all ten of the first ten Google links…free 650 ringtone verizon treoringtone nokia polyphonic 3390 free7510 ringtonesringtone sure al bfree 3585i 100 nokia ringtoneharrington gay adamphone nokia 2270 ringtone freeringtones nextel 50 cent Map