Re: Usenet falsehoods (was Re: Bitching about the documentation...)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Real people have real names. Using your real name on the net makes > you less virtual to the people you communicate with. on the other hand, http://www.python.org/doc/Humor.html#timbot2 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Usenet falsehoods (was Re: Bitching about the documentation...)
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Grant Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >On 2005-12-06, Aahz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, >> Grant Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>>Hmm, I though he explained it: >>> >>> 1) Not using your real name. >>> >>> 2) A yahoo, aol, or hotmail address. >>> >>>In the ancient and hallowed (by net standards) history of Usenet, >>>both of these (particularly the first one) have been pretty good >>>predictors of crankness. The correlation isn't as high as it used >>>to be, now that hiding behind silly nicknames has apparently become >>>socially acceptable in other venues (web "forums" and "boards" and >>>whatnot). >> >> I've been on the Net for more than fifteen years, and while this >> canard about real names gets trotted out from time to time, it's >> quite clear that many many people have been active on the Net *and* >> taken seriously using names that aren't what you'd call a "real >> name". (People named "piglet", "tigger", and "pooh", just for >> example, who were active long before I showed up. Not to mention >> "piranha".) > >I didn't said it was 100% reliable, but in most of the technical groups >there sure seemed to be a good correlation beetween "screen names" and >kooks/trolls. My point is that I do not think the correlation has changed significantly over the last fifteen years that I've been observing. There is still a moderate correlation between screen names and trollish behavior (just as there was historically); there is still a high enough chance that people are using a screen name for reasons that have nothing to do with trollishness that it should never be used as a primary reason for selecting or rejecting posts from a person (just as it always was historically). For that matter, I have no evidence that your name is Grant Edwards. If I really cared, I could find people I know in Minneapolis to look you up... IOW, it just makes sense to me to skip the whole name issue and simply respond to people's posts (for some strange reason, I have a vested interest ;-). -- Aahz ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/ "Don't listen to schmucks on USENET when making legal decisions. Hire yourself a competent schmuck." --USENET schmuck (aka Robert Kern) -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Usenet falsehoods (was Re: Bitching about the documentation...)
>> Hmm, I though he explained it: >> >> 1) Not using your real name. >> >> 2) A yahoo, aol, or hotmail address. >> >> In the ancient and hallowed (by net standards) history of Usenet, both >> of these (particularly the first one) have been pretty good predictors >> of crankness. aahz> I've been on the Net for more than fifteen years, and while this aahz> canard about real names gets trotted out from time to time, it's aahz> quite clear that many many people have been active on the Net aahz> *and* taken seriously using names that aren't what you'd call a aahz> "real name". As the person who raised this particular flag, I will note a few things: 1. Monty Python humor aside, this is generally a serious mailing list and newsgroup. In my experience, most people deal professionally with others of like interests by using their real names. 2. While I haven't been to many PyCons, I've been to enough to have met many Python folk. Hell, maybe I've met rurpy and don't even know it. Real people have real names. Using your real name on the net makes you less virtual to the people you communicate with. 3. I'm an Internet dinosaur. I date from the time before l33t speak, the Morris worm, spam and Windows increased the need for people to hide behind virtual masks and throw away email addresses every few months. At the dawn of time, basically everyone used their real names. It's probably just my misunderstanding about how people use avatars on the net nowadays, but I still expect professional people to communicate profesionally. That includes using real names. For completeness, though I usually don't here, my full sig: -- Skip Montanaro Katrina Benefit Concerts: http://www.musi-cal.com/katrina [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Usenet falsehoods (was Re: Bitching about the documentation...)
On 2005-12-06, Aahz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > Grant Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>Hmm, I though he explained it: >> >> 1) Not using your real name. >> >> 2) A yahoo, aol, or hotmail address. >> >>In the ancient and hallowed (by net standards) history of >>Usenet, both of these (particularly the first one) have been >>pretty good predictors of crankness. The correlation isn't as >>high as it used to be, now that hiding behind silly nicknames >>has apparently become socially acceptable in other venues (web >>"forums" and "boards" and whatnot). > > To use a Panix in-joke, how old are you, anyway? Hmm, let's see "Wasting Time on Usenet Since 1989" > I've been on the Net for more than fifteen years, and while > this canard about real names gets trotted out from time to > time, it's quite clear that many many people have been active > on the Net *and* taken seriously using names that aren't what > you'd call a "real name". (People named "piglet", "tigger", > and "pooh", just for example, who were active long before I > showed up. Not to mention "piranha".) I didn't said it was 100% reliable, but in most of the technical groups there sure seemed to be a good correlation beetween "screen names" and kooks/trolls. -- Grant Edwards grante Yow! Uh-oh!! I'm having at TOO MUCH FUN!! visi.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Usenet falsehoods (was Re: Bitching about the documentation...)
Aahz wrote: > To use a Panix in-joke, how old are you, anyway? > > I've been on the Net for more than fifteen years, and while this canard > about real names gets trotted out from time to time, it's quite clear > that many many people have been active on the Net *and* taken seriously > using names that aren't what you'd call a "real name". The fact that it obviously isn't always true without exception doesn't mean it's never true. Or did that not occur to you? -- Erik Max Francis && [EMAIL PROTECTED] && http://www.alcyone.com/max/ San Jose, CA, USA && 37 20 N 121 53 W && AIM erikmaxfrancis Always forgive your enemies -- nothing annoys them so much. -- Oscar Wilde -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
