So again, I'm wondering.....

Barbara · Posted: February 1, 2009, 1:43 am Post subject: So again, I'm wondering.....

Hi Guys,

I'm just wondering about everyone who has a nickname of some sort that doesn't give a clue to their actual name. I guess I'm getting old (duh..) but it seems better to me to know the name of the person to whom I am replying or whatever.

Does that make sense at all, or is that so pre-computer that it doesn't apply any longer? I don't actually know, and that's why I thought I'd just ask......I blame the nuns--"salutation, body, signature" or you spend hours in front of a blackboard.....

Funny how that works..... Laughing

xsjohn · Posted: February 1, 2009, 1:47 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Paranoia strikes deep and you have to be careful who you share your needles with........ Cool

.........xsjohn

Barbara · Posted: February 1, 2009, 2:02 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

John,

Does that mean that you have a "clean needle exchange"? Laughing

xsjohn · Posted: February 1, 2009, 2:06 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Nope......once you've caught everything it doesn't matter anymore.....then you take an alias .... Laughing

xsjohn

5twins · Full Member Joined: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 1616

So Barb, does that mean you're still standing in front of that blackboard? Very Happy

xsjohn · Posted: February 1, 2009, 2:25 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Oh ..........................

gantzcb · Posted: February 1, 2009, 2:48 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Guess I better change mine and go incognito...

xsjohn · Posted: February 1, 2009, 2:56 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

What if I told you that was me above all along......... told you these were girly bikes....... xsjoan

5twins · Full Member Joined: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 1616

xsjoan?

Retiredgentleman · Posted: February 1, 2009, 3:45 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

I think the idea of anonymity is something that some people like about the internet. There may be several reasons. When you first join a website, you don't have to post a picture or your real name. Lets say you are a meek, mild mannered accountant. You can sign on as "Bigbadbob", and all of a sudden you have a new image. People might take you for a badass biker dude. As you get more comfortable with the website, you might decide to post your picture.

Hiding behind the internet also allows some people to be rude, and say things they would not say if they were talking face to face.

I'd say there's no need to use your real name. A picture would be nice so you can see who you are talking to. It sure would be great if everyone listed there location and type/year of their bike. It would make answering questions a lot easier.

It doesn't take many posts before you see who are genuine, and this site has plenty of quality bikers.

Barb, you have to stop asking these profound qestions. Smile

thorshammer · Full Member Joined: Dec 12, 2008 Posts: 58

Barb the reason for my handle is that my friends have called me hammer for about 35 years. The reason for Thor is pride in my ancestory and to differentiate myself from all the other hammers out there. The language and the way I use it on the computer is more polite than I may be in person as I read it before I hit submit. This gives me time to check my spelling and grammer and also bite my tongue.

yamaman · Posted: February 1, 2009, 4:10 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Another web forum I visit (4wd's) you must include your type of vehicle, location and your given name in your signature. I'm not sure that it feels any different knowing peoples names, as user names are just what you use........I'd probably have a hard time calling Retiredgentleman or xsjohn Ralf or George or whatever their real names are! Once you meet someone, thats the name your going to know them by forever, even if they do prefer their real name!

If it makes anyone feel more comfortable, you can call me Mark!

Yeah I get what your saying RG, I'm sure there are plenty of split personalities out there! Every time I've tried to use my name as a id, it's already gone and the computer offers you an alternative like mark17324 or m_rk7979.........useless to me. I came up with yamaman a few years ago and now I use it wherever I go, just easy is all!

650skull · Support Staff Joined: Jul 19, 2007 Posts: 1186

No i don't think it is pre computer to want to know the name of some one you are talking to..........The internet has made your own personal space null and void, hackers and the likes who only want to cause mischief........., and anyone can be traced if their names are known....................handles give that back.............for me trust has to be earned and with another billion people on the net it takes me a while to feel comfortable..................Skull is a nickname i have had for years and i have crammed my Skull so full of XS650's the last couple of years i thought it fitting to use. Hi every one .........My name is Alex but i use the spelling term Lx

RG i am old enough to be rude to peoples face if it warrants such behavior. Don't have to hide behind a handle...........maybe a broom Laughing

nj1639

Hey Barb et al,
nj is where most of my ancesters are buried, the home grounds. 1639 is the date of one of my ancesters arrival to the colonies. Avatar is a pic of of my gggg grandfather sometime around the early 1800's.
I've included a pic of me on one of my first rides. 1956?
Rick

xsleo · Posted: February 1, 2009, 9:07 pm Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

well my name is leon, most people call me leo . as mark said leo and leon are all used. on most of the forums i'm on i use the leo with a prefix or suffix that applies to the forum.

gordo

Hey you guy's!?!?!>Like 650 said,there are alot of people out there who will pat you on the back while stealing your wallet.My name is gordon,& gordo is not the worst thing that I've been called,actually kinda like it.Thanx Barbara,I was curious, too.

drifter

nj1639, I got you beat...my ancestors were here long before that. We didn't arrive here, were have always been here! LOL
Barb, I go by Drifter since my last bike was a Kawasaki Drifter. I also go by Bluzglide having owned a '73 Superglide and hosted a blues show on public radio. I also always end my posts "Dave", my real name.

Dave

pumps

John is usually taken..but that's my name. Smile

The type of truck I drive and operate is referred to as a pumper as it carries the hose and pumps water.

sesamharold · Posted: February 2, 2009, 1:06 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Good morning Ma´am (or may I say Miss/Mrs. Barbara or even Barb?)! Laughing

This is Harold speaking here.

I do not think that it is a strange "pre-computer-habit" to give an actual name and location on any internet community. Because I think that politeness never runs out of fashion.

I always compare an internet community (forums, blogs, mailing lists, whatever) to a room where many different people meet because of a mutual interest. The only difference is that here the people are bits and bytes.

So, what do you do when you enter such a room in "real life"? You say Hello, you say your name, you ask your question in a friendly way, you give answer or advise as good as possible , etc.

Not much help to me when I attend a business seminar or a big party or new to a sports club and the name tag of a guy only tells me that he is a retired gentleman. Although he surely is ...

What I miss mostly on motorcycle communities is that people do not show their location. Quite often I had to experience in those german motorcycle forums which I am member to that a technical problem had been discussed with a guy living just round the corner. If I would have known before, I would have shown up at his / her place in a minute and help out with parts, tools, advice. Or get the same immediately when I am in need of that.

Oh, and coming back to that comparison with a room in "real life": Once in a while you as a guest thank the host and the people helping him / her for organizing that seminar - party - club.

Hey, all you admins and mods out there: THANK YOU FOR THIS HERE!

Snake · Posted: February 2, 2009, 4:01 am Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

hey Barb, i agree with RG....when you first sign up you don't really know what it is or if you will stay, so you just think of something quick n easy....mine came from an old "chopper" biker book i read as a kid, the lead guy was called snake....logging into a bike site...needed a name..first thing that came to mind.......of course my current wife thinks it's appropriate......

jimmythetrucker · Full Member Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 1283

If it weren't for anonymity, a great many of the people who post on the Internet wouldn't post on the Internet -- or anywhere else. Nobody needs to think that people would hand out death threats -- as I've seen them do when and wherever politics is discussed on the Internet -- if they had to post under their real name and address. When I was a trucker, I had the same beef with CB radios: give some social cripple a microphone, he morphs into "Rambo" or "The High-Performance Stud" and potty-mouths everyone within earshot.

It's true that many people don't abuse their anonymity. It's also true that just as many do abuse it. Anonymity makes it possible for social cripples to say in public what would never be said in public if they had to sign their real names to it. People who say things they can be proud of don't need anonymity and have no real use for it. The morons who write on s***-house walls -- and on many Internet venues -- don't use their real names when they sign their poetry.

Barbara · Posted: February 2, 2009, 3:11 pm Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Hi Guys,

Well, first off, I didn't want to suggest that anyone was doing anything wrong. I have my preferences, and I'm sure everyone has theirs, and everyone's comfort level is different, which is what makes it fun.

I'm a bit handicapped in that I think of the computer as an electronically generated "page", and being used to the rules of writing, I apply them insofar as I can. So I was simply wondering how everyone felt about it.

I did notice, a couple of years ago on the CW site, that the ones constantly throwing clods in the churn seemed to have hidden identities. One woman who didn't leave a clue as to her real identity went so far as to insult my little town of Mount Vernon, calling it "Mount Virgin". I had to correct her, and let her know that the proper and accepted insult is to call it "Mount Vermin". And then, I'm sorry to say, I metaphorically shook my head, rolled my eyes and said, "So much anger--so few brains".

For some reason that didn't calm her down much....... Laughing

So anyway, I went out and asked the shed kids, and they said that it is OK to use their names. One should check now and then, don't you think?

Pure-Pork · Posted: February 2, 2009, 4:28 pm Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

Well, mine is James Dean, but have been called Jimmy Dean since before school, didn't have kindergarten then. But my ridin' buddies started calling me Pure Pork Sausage, due to the TV AD that Jimmy Dean was running at the time in the early eighties. They eventually shortened it to Pure Pork and that's me.

Retiredgentleman · Posted: February 2, 2009, 5:34 pm Post subject: Re: So again, I'm wondering.....

I've got the same problem as pumps does. John is my name and xsjohn was taken. I worked in a Nuclear power plant for quite a few years, so maybe with a little thought, I could have come up with something better. Ummm...................radioactivejohn, mutantjohn, or gonefission..................I guess RG works for now.

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