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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Changing my username

Posted by: Part Pricer Sep 21 2005, 05:58 PM

I wanted to let everyone know that I have decided to change my username on the 914 Club forum.

This decision is not a reflection of any of the controversy that is currently going on in the forum. I could care less regarding the content that people choose to post. However, I have found that I need to step away from it just a bit.

Since the beginning, I have always used my real name as my username. I am proud to be a 914 owner and never felt the need to hide behind a screen name. But, something occurred last week that caused me to pause and give things some serious thought. Then, I saw something posted tonight that spurred me to take action.

Last week, I was interviewing for a job that I really wanted. During the interview, I was asked if I had checked out the company on the Internet. I replied that I had indeed checked out their web site as well as done a Google search on them.

They told me that they had also done the same with me. They knew that I own a 914, they knew that I compete in AX, they knew that I had designed the logo for the local PCA region, they knew that I had designed some web-based apps and they mistakenly thought that I was a gymnastics judge.

So, I determined that it may be best if my real name is not in the same thread as a strategically-placed butterfly tattoo.

The name associated with this post wil change as soon as a member of the admin team gets around to it.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Sep 21 2005, 06:01 PM

done

Posted by: Qarl Sep 21 2005, 06:08 PM

Great... who were you?

Posted by: SLITS Sep 21 2005, 06:09 PM

did they also tell you about the chip they imbedded in your neck while you were looking out the window formulating an answer? Painless wasn't it...........................

Posted by: scottb Sep 21 2005, 06:11 PM

i want to be called

"bob who is called bob save for every odd thursday on a full moon in a month ending in 'y' when i shall be called bobby"

thanks........

Posted by: Aaron Cox Sep 21 2005, 06:25 PM

ex - paul heery

Posted by: lapuwali Sep 21 2005, 06:27 PM

Lots of companies are googling prospective employees these days. I did so when I was hiring a web programmer awhile back, and found that he appeared quite prominently as the web designer for a local dominatrix (I'm NOT making this up). He had an unusual name, so was quite certain it was he. I didn't have any problem with this, and hired him, anyway. During lunch shortly after he started, he mentioned that he'd done work for this person, and I said: "I know". He was VERY surprised by this, so much so that my opinion of him fell a tad. I told him about finding him on Google, and he was pretty distressed, thinking this was some big secret. My opinion of him dropped mostly because, as someone who worked in the web industry, it should have been fairly obvious to him that this would get out. That he didn't said he didn't think ahead much. That he would allow something he was so ashamed of be widely published indicated he tended to be foolish.

You are what you say, esp. online. People will and can judge you for YEARS based on what you say or said online using your actual name. Thanks to Google's resurrection of old USENET newsgroups, you can find out things I was saying 15 years ago, not just last week. When you say something online, you are PUBLISHING it for the entire world to see. If you think you're likely to be ashamed of what you say here or elsewhere online in a few years time, don't say it.

Posted by: sgomes Sep 21 2005, 07:03 PM

It was actually funny recently when I was looking for some information about a side project of mine. I googled around and found a Usenet posting about EXACTLY the same problem I was having! Man I thought this guy really was a genius for thinking along the EXACT same lines as me! Yeah you guessed it.... it was a post of mine that I had written over ten years ago! Still haven't solved that problem I guess

Posted by: qa1142 Sep 21 2005, 07:32 PM

do you just enter your name and search on google?

Nothing came up on me

Posted by: qa1142 Sep 21 2005, 07:34 PM

But QA1142 turns up Ebay and 914club