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The Merchant Magazine (ISSN 7399723) (USPS 796560) is published monthly at 4500 Campus Dr., Ste. 480, Newport Beach, Ca. 92660-1872 by Cutler Publishing, Inc. Periodicals Postage paid at Newport Beach, Ca., and additional post offices. lt is an independently-owned publication for the retail, wholesale and distribution levels of the lumber and building products markets in 13 western states. Copyright@2013 by Cutler Publishing, Inc. Cover and entire contents are fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without wriften permission. All Rights Reserved. lt reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter, and assumes no liability for materials furnished to it.

By Alan Oakes

Whots watching you?

fn rHe SnowoeN cesr has emphasized anything, it's that nowadays we are under lconstant surveillance-and not just by the government. Your smartphone and tablet are constantly asking if they can push this app or that app based on your location. Today, they know where you are, what you are doing, what you are buying, and worse, if someone hacks into your personal files and tries to do harm. Look, they know where your phone is even when you don't! Today, they can even tell, if you are in, say, a Macy's, what departments you visited. Hopefully, they can't also see you in the 360'mirror!

It is amazing how technology, as it changes at an ever-increasing pace, can overwhelm you even more than it helps you. You cannot seem to escape phones ringing nonstop, dings from your inbox, or kids playing games or watching videos.

I recently went out of the country and within six hours, despite having an international data plan, somehow managed to spend $1,100 on downloading my emails and visiting a few websites before being cut off. It has taken me four weeks, six calls, three emails, and a visit to the local store to get the charges removed-long story! Just as well, as after two weeks I would have had to take a bank loan to pay AT&T.

At a business level,I cannot imagine working without the great benefits technology has brought us. But there are times I just want to scream, "Enoughl" I suspect we are starting to move backwards due to the oveluse of technology. How much time do I waste daily sorting through upwards of 500 emails, particularly as the scammers become more and more sophisticated. I think Nigeria must have university degrees in scamming and spamming.

The web is a source of great information-and an awful lot of garbage, too. And, there seems to be an insatiable appetite to read about nonsense! The rush to get stuff up on the Net has led to completely fabricated stories and pure and utter journalistic drivel written by unpaid intems. This is what you get when you do not want to pay for anything of value.

I know I have readers embedded and invested with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedln and their lookalikes. The problem is that there are some people I just may not want to be in contact with. Yet here is Linkedln and others telling me people who I might know and, no doubt, telling them about me. If I don't invite them, what message is that saying? Who is poring over my site, determining I must be lonely and in need of more friends or asking why I haven't tweeted lately? Are they missing my prose?

What about losing 500 points in the stock market in 20 minutes, while I'm blissfully singing to my car radio, due to electronic trading programs that kick in? Who do they benefit? How about being on Candid Camera as you drive through toll booths or walk down the street? Does this mean I have to dress up and not look like a slob now? At home, despite being told I need only one remote, I, of course, need three. And, the combination of getting sound, cable and programming at the same time seems to be beyond me.

Last week, while simply looking at mortgage rates on a website, I clicked to the next page and-lo and behold-3O seconds later I was getting a phone call to see if they could be of service. It was a company I had spoken with in the past, but that is just plain spooky!

How about those emails about your boss to your best friend? Do you realize that someone in IT may be chuckling over you calling your boss an idiot, as they forward your comments to HR?

I read recently that Facebook's former head of security is now at the NSA-yes, the agency that has been monitoring your digital usage for years. Read how much data Apple and Microsoft are being told to hand over to the NSA. If Facebook can garner our most intimate details, how much the sovernment knows about our political views, medical data, and the sites we visit is getting out ofcontrol.

Alan Oakes. Publisher aioakes@aol.com

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