Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, WA Home Inspector (King of the House)

Being a home inspector I go through digital cameras. I have lost count of just how many have died on the job, although their bodies are in my drawer. Every once in awhile I "harvest" an organ from an old one to keep another camera operating for a few more days.

I am not going to pay $200.00 a pop for cameras that I then take into crawl spaces and submerge in water or that I drop off ladders from roofs. Yes, I have lanyards but I would actually have to have my wrist through the strap for it to work.

My solution is that I have found a couple Olympus model cameras that I like. One is good for general shots and exterior, the other has better detail for closeup work. These cameras I have chosen, at this point, are getting older so they keep showing up on Ebay for under a hundred bucks each. Often the cameras on Ebay are, actually, in great shape because normal people -- not a home inspector -- used them instead of abused them.

Now we get to the point of my post. In this age when everyone is so concerned about privacy, it is amazing the number of cameras that are sent to me that come with one, or several, memory cards that are full of private images. Now, being an honorable sort, I am not going to post these anonymous people's photos online, other than I do think the two authentic examples below are safe to post. Probably the people in the photos would not recognize themselves.  

The photo at the right gives an example of the "party" type photos that people send to me. Least you think I am a pervert, I only discovered this fact the other day. I do not froth at the mouth waiting for UPS to deliver my used camera to see what kind of special bonus I might have received. I discovered this by accident when I desperately popped a memory card from my ever growing stash into a new used camera. Gee, it has stuff on it. What might that be? I have since erased the card, but it had several naked photos of an individual, with the primary focus being on the rear-end. The downside, quite a steep downside actually, was that the naked photos were more in line with, or similar to, this photo, than photos of anyone with a resemblance to Catherine Zeta Jones or Angelina Jolie. Heck, even Angie's dad, Jon Voight, would have been a huge step up.

Everyone thinks about privacy issues, it is big talk right now. Therefore, I think it strange that people do not think to erase their private photos, instead they send them on to a total stranger that they encounter on Ebay. It is a strange world out there. And, if you do not believe me, take another gander at this.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith