Why are people so paranoid?

[drmessimer]

You guys are keeping me busy! Good work and keep it up. This is fun. Anyway, Burt, I wish you the best of luck on getting hooked up with the USS Ranger. Tony, You're absolutely right about awkward becoming second nature and I'm sure we all do it. Earlier in this thread someone explained why he watermarks, which is to prevent unauthorized use, and possible abuse, of the photo or item. I had never thought about that, but it does make sense. I'll tell you all a funny story about unauthorized use. Twenty years ago I was teaching a lower division class, "US Aviation History, 1908-1947," and assigned a term paper. One of the papers that I received was, "Naval Aviation and Billy Michell, 1925." That caught my attention because that's a subject area near and dear to my heart. I was three pages into an excellent paper, well written, well organized, and thoroughly documented, when I realized that this paper was strangely familiar. To make a long story short, the student had lifted almost vrbaitm the introduction to my book, No Margin for Error: The Navy's Transpacific Flight of 1925, Naval Institute Press, 1981. No watermark was involved, but the book did have my name on it, which, surprisingly, exactly matched the name of the professor in the course description. I think I even introduced myself to the class. Thanks to you all for taking part in this thread and I look forward to more replies. Dwight

[Datrus]

I think the nicknames or monikers is easier to recognize than Steve T SteveR or Steve this or that. No offense all you Steve's. We also have a "who's behind the user thread" in wich most of us can be found with picture and so forth. The internet is also used for less than admirable purposes by some people, and for this reason alone, some might not want to post their full name and eventually address here. I'm Lars from Denmark but i live in Russia. Datski is Danish in Russian and Rus is self explanatory, so i am Datrus. My avatar comes from my interest in Div. Wiking having a grandfather who serverd there.

Regards

Lars

[Panzer 3]

Hi Dwight,
You Started a good thread here very interesting, I was on another forum as Panzer 1, but most times i use Dave P,
there are quite a few Dave,s on here so i stuck with the Panzer name. It seems to fit in and everyone knows me as that now, but i do sign off as Dave. I never did get around to put an avatar on but this could be rectified, my full name is Dave Pendrill,
Dave.

[Battery Command Post]

My name just reflects my interests, and goes with my avatar, although I was a member of the once great, now sadly gone, www.milcol.net forum and my user name there was 'Rob'.

I would see the use of names (or monikers) as an internet standard practice anyway, all part of what is known as 'netiquette'. It's also a typical practice in any large communication network to have a 'callsign' or 'station identifier', 'handle' (CB radio), or even telephone number! The point of these is to assign yourself a unique identity to avoid confusion and disruption in the flow of messages. This was true in WW2 wireless nets as much as the internet. I'm sure it's mostly just a habit born of this, than any paranoia.

My real name is Robert Ball, which I always use to 'sign off' (another comms net term we're all using) and which is written right between my user name and avatar on the left.

Rob

[drmessimer]

Dave: I can understand the use of a Moniker, but I do think it's nice to sign off on a post with your given name. But clearly, some people don't feel comfortable with that. If I were still teaching, and had a grad student who was looking for an original research topic, I would probably suggest a study of the use of Avatars and Monikers in the forum society. It is a many faceted subject that has never been addresed. I am certainly learning a lot from this thread, and many of my ideas on the subject have been tossed out the door. Like many of of you, I have been a member of several forums, each with its own focus and each with its own set of personalities. In my experience, this forum has a broader range of personalities than I have previously encountered. This is also the most educational forum to which I have belonged, and probably the most civilized. I am regretting that I used the word "paranoid' in the thread title, because paranoia isn't a factor here. But it did get your attention. Dwight

[Panzer 3]

Hi Dwight,
You are so right i think the study of a research topic of this sort would be a learning curve for some, i really dont think it has been done so you may have something there. This forum for any one weather it be a collector of many years or a new member just starting out is a mine of information. And will help and guide members the right way to fulfill there collections and research.
Best regards Dave.

[Andrew]

paranoid ??? who's paranoid ???? just because you think some one is out to get you, dont mean it's not true !!!! lol sorry i just wanted to have a little fun. i'm just me. my real name and ugly mug. i understand the use of nic names though.
Andrew

[mpw]

Interesting thread. My avatar is the Albanian flag because I married a ex-Albanian soldier (female of course) and I think it is cool image. MPW are my initials and I always sign off with my name.

Regards, Mark.

[Nitram]

I use the username for a simple reason; It gives me semi-anonymity, and it's a "standard" to use a username that differs from your real name. I wasn't very creative with mine.

I don't use watermarks on my photos, as there's nothing of particular value anyone could try and put up on eBay, though if I ever post pictures of valuable items, I'd watermark them so scammers can't use them.

- Martin

[drmessimer]

Andrew: I'm with you, I'm not at all paranoid, I just wish those people would stop following me.
Mark: I'm glad you cleared that up for us.
Martin: Good point and one I haven't thought of. Thank you for that. In my case, I don't have much of a problem if the user name is something like a name, such as your username, Nitram. It even has the capital first letter. But when they get complicated like morningwarbler or recoilsurperssor, that causes me to pause before going on. Dwight