To continue on the subject of spam; not only does my new mobile number get a random spam txt but my blog is getting hammered  with comment spam. Although it sucks to moderate your friends I am glad that I choose to not leave commenting wide open. That is until now; I just enable Akismet this morning, and at 7:20 tonight it has already grabbed 28 spam comments and/or trackbacks. Unbelievable, do you think these assholes actually get paid off of comment spam?

I received my first spam text message on the new candy bar. I knew it was only a matter of time until a spambot started blasting a rolodex worth of numbers through a service provider’s website. Now the question is will I be paying $.10 for this spam.

Few people actually read the fine print disclosures they receive; nothing new. Maybe this careless behavior is the by product of fine print being too fine. I rummaged through the fine print after receiving my HIPPA Notice of Privacy Practices from my current health care insurance provider by way of snail mail. After reading the small pamphlet a wave of anxiety washed over me realizing a fact I had known all along. ALL of your private life is readily available to “commercial partners” for use in anyway they see fit and there is really nothing you can do about it. This is important information; I do not want my medical history floating around to companies so that they can try to sell me something to which I have no interest. Here are some of the more humorous excerpts from the doc:

Health Related Services: We may use your Personal Health Information (PHI) to contact you with information about health-related benefits and services or about treatment alternatives that may be of interest to you. We may disclose your PHI to a business associate to assist in these activities.

Wait it gets better…

We may use or disclose your PHI to encourage you to purchase or use a product or service by face-to-face communication of to provide you with promotional gifts.

No thank you – just pay what you are contracted to pay on my behalf. I really do not want shit from your loosely affiliated businesses.

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