Nudge from the distant past
Sep. 26th, 2019 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoI graduated with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Michigan State University just under 50 years ago. The alumni association and university development people have long ago lost track of me after a half dozen address changes through that time. I never could afford to give them the kind of money they were asking for in any case.
Twelve years after graduation, by which time I was living in Chicago rather than Michigan, I got my first amateur radio license. Back when I was on campus, I never took any engineering classes or had any thoughts about radio licensing.
Today a letter arrived from the faculty sponsor of the MSU Amateur Radio Club, based in the engineering school. They are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year but their membership had dwindled down to just two students a couple of years ago. Through considerable effort, they managed to recruit a couple dozen new members and get them licensed. They are seeking funds for more recruitment and perhaps for some demonstrations or educational displays. This seemed like a good idea to me, and I will send them a small check.
However, I have some trouble figuring out how they even located me. The letter was addressed to me here at the farm, where I've been for the last 20 years, and it included my current call sign which is slightly different from the first one I received back in 1983. My name is common enough to have caused a lot of mistaken identifications over the years, and matching the entire list of alumni for half a century against the current FCC license registrations given only the names hardly seems a likely approach. How did they do it?
I sent an e-mail to the faculty sponsor hinting that I'd like to know what the process was. We'll see if he responds. Unfortunately, the club itself apparently describes its current activities only on facebook, so I'm not able to see much of that. I rejected facebook years ago and deleted my account with no plans to ever go back.
Twelve years after graduation, by which time I was living in Chicago rather than Michigan, I got my first amateur radio license. Back when I was on campus, I never took any engineering classes or had any thoughts about radio licensing.
Today a letter arrived from the faculty sponsor of the MSU Amateur Radio Club, based in the engineering school. They are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year but their membership had dwindled down to just two students a couple of years ago. Through considerable effort, they managed to recruit a couple dozen new members and get them licensed. They are seeking funds for more recruitment and perhaps for some demonstrations or educational displays. This seemed like a good idea to me, and I will send them a small check.
However, I have some trouble figuring out how they even located me. The letter was addressed to me here at the farm, where I've been for the last 20 years, and it included my current call sign which is slightly different from the first one I received back in 1983. My name is common enough to have caused a lot of mistaken identifications over the years, and matching the entire list of alumni for half a century against the current FCC license registrations given only the names hardly seems a likely approach. How did they do it?
I sent an e-mail to the faculty sponsor hinting that I'd like to know what the process was. We'll see if he responds. Unfortunately, the club itself apparently describes its current activities only on facebook, so I'm not able to see much of that. I rejected facebook years ago and deleted my account with no plans to ever go back.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-19 02:57 am (UTC)Given the ever-increasing accuracy with which Google targets me with advertising on topics that actually do interest me, I shouldn't be surprised that other organizations can hunt me down, I suppose.