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905.338.9000 KNOWSOAKVILLE.COM Aboutowne Realty Corp., Brokerage INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED JOETTE FIELDING SALES REPRESENTATIVE JOETTE@KNOWSOAKVILLE.COM mary ann schiralli SALES REPRESENTATIVE MARYANN@KNOWSOAKVILLE.COM WE KNOW OAKVILLE Watch Us Fashions Where to fi nd THE PERFECT OUTFIT 7 W ednesday , Septem ber 22, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m Letters to the editor The story I'm going to tell you is heart lifting, but definitely an eye opener to how easy it can be to find a lot of information on somebody with little details. The internet is both a scary and amazingly powerful tool. Earlier this year I was taking Oakville transit bus 19 to get to the GO Station. When I sat in my seat I saw a shiny rectan- gular piece of metal lying on the floor on the bus. I picked it up to see that I was holding what I thought was one of those touch screen cell phones. I instantly clicked on the contact list and noticed there were only three names only one which had a number. I tried to click on it to dial, but it didn't work. I realized I was holding somebody's iPod touch. I could have given it to the bus driver, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that. I want- ed to make sure that this iPod reached its proper owner and that I was there to see it happen. I also love investigating. I'm a Scorpio after all. When I got home from running my errands for the day, I sat down and examined the iPod. I felt like I was invading someone's priva- cy, but I was determined to find this person. A picture of the owner and the nickname Gabby were the only clues to the owner I could find at first. I tried calling the number of that contact I initially found, but nobody answered. Not knowing much about these new iPods, I ended up clicking on a voice record and I realized the owner, Gabby, was a high school student because the short message was her in a math class talking to her teacher. She said her teacher's name and that gave me the hint to look up the teacher's name online. I looked it up and I found out the local school of where she goes. I thought I could probably drop it by the school and have it sent to her math teacher's room. It was the weekend, so that would have to wait until Monday. I was on Facebook that night when I thought of the idea of looking up her con- tact's names on Facebook to see if any of them had a friend in their profile named Gabby. Lucky for me, one of her contacts did have someone named Gabby and even more lucky for me there was a post by her saying "iPod we will meet again". I messaged her immediately and said "Yes, you will meet with your iPod again because I found it for you". Gabby's full name appeared on her Facebook and after not receiving a response, I looked her name up in the phone book. There was only one person with her last name. I Googled the address to see if maybe it was close by so I could call and drop it off for her, and with Googles new features, I was able to locate and see the house in 3-D where she lived. What's even more interesting is that while I was looking for clues to find her on her iPod, I found a picture she took of the side of her house. I held the picture up on the Ipod to the google maps and it was a per- fect fit. I knew for sure I had found the owner. I called her right away because I didn't want to keep this iPod in my possession for any longer than I did and we were able to meet up and I was able to get her iPod back to her. I'm glad I was able to get her iPod back to her. It's both amazing and frightening what information you can find about a person with today's technology with such little clues. JESSICA LEBLANC, OAKVILLE Make sure iPod doesnt get in the wrong hands Re: Was coverage endorsement?, Letter to the Editor, Oakville Beaver, Sept. 15. I am sure that The Oakville Beaver will cover events that the incumbent invites them to. Maybe they, like me and others in my cir- cle, were deterred from attending his cam- paign kick off because you were required to make a donation to attend. Ann Mulvale's kick off was open to all, no admission charge just a friendly wel- come as she shared her reasons for running and her willingness to serve the people of Oakville. I am looking forward to the coverage of the incumbent's Sept. 30 meeting to discuss his platform; without a cost to attend I might actually go in person. COLIN RATCLIFFE, OAKVILLE I found a picture she took of the side of her house. I held the picture up on her iPod to the Google Maps and it was a perfect fit. I knew for sure I had found the owner. Re: Was coverage endorsement?, Letter to the Editor, Oakville Beaver, Sept. 15. Coverage of Ann Mulvales official campaign Kick off, was great, newsworthy and appreciated. Many thanks. Perhaps the Oakville Beaver, like me, was interested in what Mayor Rob Burton had to say, but thought it odd, to have to pay, to attend his kick off. Likely that was why more people seemed to attend Anns. But then, she is an open and accessible to all type of person. A. BETTINSON, OAKVILLE No donation required to Mulvales kick off Coverage welcomed