Two Internet tools – or is one really a weapon?

Remember the old college theme-paper directive: “Compare and contrast”?

The Net is full of interesting comparisons and contrasts. Take two Websites, one neat one I’ve known about for months, the other new to me – and quite worrisome.

First there’s www.caringbridge.org. It’s a place where the critically ill or those caring for them or about them can create free Websites to keep everyone far and wide up to date on their conditions. Take, for example, the page created for Bend concrete finisher J.R. Litehiser, citically burned in a SE Portland house explosion in late July. I’ve never met the man, and signed up for purely professional reasons (as we told people about his injuries weeks ago), but getting the daily updates, reading of his daily struggles, his will to survive and the support of his loving wife come through loud and clear.

What a neat service – and totally free. Something we can point out to some of those who call us at the station, asking (or pleading with) us to do a story on someone with a rare disease, etc. Granted, our on-air audience is different, but this is another way to reach out to folks (and let them know of fund-raising efforts as well), and not have to wait for the media to do its thing.

Now, the yin to my yang. A New York Times article today pointed me to www.criminalsearches.com – a fairly self-explanatory name for a Website that lets you plug in ANYONE’s name, and come back with their bare-bones criminal history. (It really helps if you know their birthdate, especially if the name is very common at all.)

So imagine all the uses, or abuses, beyond the likely ones by prospective employers, parents checking on their children’s teachers, etc. – it boggles the mind. A freaky parlor game, for one. And it’s clear the records linger there for more than a decade, at least.

Its easy to say criminal records should be public records – but what if they’re wrong, for example? I can only imagine the hassle of trying to get a court clerk somewhere to correct a long-ago record.

But it also allows you see what’s on file about you – and isn’t that a good thing? I sure can see both sides of this argument – small businesses that in the past couldn’t afford to spend much time/$ looking into a job applicant now can do so easily – and if they find something of concern, track it back to the court of record.

So what do you think – Big Brother run amok, or “find a need and fill it” free enterprise at its best?

That darn Internet – every time you find a great new tool, you also find a worrisome new weapon. Only nature, I suppose.