Forum Monikers/Handles/Names

[Kidphone]

All...I have been a member of the forum for almost two months and enjoy it immensely. I have been on the ATCA and TCI lists and this is head and tails above them. BUT....I have one thing that bothers me. I really don't feel like I know you. Most everyone signs their posts with their moniker or doesn't sign at all.  Is there a reason for it?  When I started, I signed off as"kidphone" but began to feel foolish and stopped. I'm Doug, not kidphone. Kidphone was my eBay handle for a long time. Even at Flea Markets, people who knew me by sight, called me the "phoneguy" or "phonedude" etc, never kidphone. After the relationship with them developed, I was just Doug. Hasn't the relationship developed? This is is no way a criticism and please do not take it as such. Just wondering why, if your name is Alexander, why you'd sign your name phoneinventor...Just my two cents....Doug

[Dan/Panther]

Hi My name is Dan and I'm a phone Junky...
In my case we have more than one active Dan, and a couple times we got our answers crossed in posts. So I started using D/P, for my login name of Dan/Panther, which is a nickname I've had for  years because of a Panther tattoo on my right forearm. It has turned into a tradition of sorts, My two older daughters have the same tattoo, my two stepdaughters have gotten the same tattoo, my son has it, as well as my ex wife.
DAN  

[JorgeAmely]

Hi Doug:

I agree with you 100%. And I wish the ATCA and TCI clubs would modernize their "listserv" (I think the name is from the Unix days) and use some version of forum software where you can post pictures with a very decent resolution. Many of their problems with Off Topic problems would go away, well, because there are areas in this forum dedicated for Off Topic subjects. If you don't like Off Topic subjects, don't open that area of the forum. As simple as an On/Off switch.

I think people use pseudo names to protect their identities, just like cars have license plates. But after I while, and it happens around where I live, I know who is the owner of a particular car. Sometimes you will see post where in the introduction a message is addressed to a particular fellow forum member by their first name. To that I say give yourself another month or two and you will know who is who.

I don't mind signing my name in my posts because I always say to myself "Would you be happy to see your comments on the 10PM evening news show?"

That's my editorial comment of the day. Now back to work.  

[gpo706]

I just came up with one of the top of my head that I could remember easily, after a while most post their given names, like me.

Scot!

[Dennis Markham]

Interesting topic, Doug.  I have always used my name because I probably won't forget it.   Really, my eBay name is my name (but I messed up and used all lower case)....dennismarkham.  I used to sell a few phones on eBay and part of my schtick (yes there is some schtick involved) was that I don't "hide behind some made up name".  Nothing against most of the rest of the world that uses a "handle" on eBay.  And I understand for privacy reasons why some people would rather not use their real name. 

Maybe it goes back to the CB radio days when people had handles.  Maybe it's just because people like the anonymity of the internet, which is OK for some things.  But this forum, or others reaches a smaller group with similar interests.  I also think for some their identity is some embedded within their "handle", or a life-long nickname.  I think it's OK to have a Handle but it would be nice then to have a name at the bottom so we remember how to address someone. 

Like Jorge said, I'll often reply to Bingster by saying Darrin and then completing my reply.  But I also like Jorge's comment about seeing my comments on the 10 o'clock news. 

DP it's been good like you said, when I see DP I know it's you and not Dan.   So for that reason it's a good thing to have a handle.  But it would be nice if everyone put their real name at the bottom, like most people do.

I've noticed that a lot of the users have part of,  or all of their name in their e-mail address listed in the profile page. I don't think anyone is trying to hide----except the occasional spammer.

There's my 2c worth.

[Craig T]

I use my real name - Craig, most my friends just call me " T "

If you are stealing my identity, the joke is on you.

[bingster]

I've been using my username since I first logged onto the internet in the late 1990s.  It seems a silly username now, but I'm so used to it that I keep using it for everything.  I don't have any problems with using my real name, though, and most folks know my name by now (especially if they've exchanged PMs with me).  For some reason I always sign PMs with my name, but rarely posts to the open forum. Probably just because I'm too lazy to do it for that many posts.  Maybe I'll put it in my signature or something.

[Phonesrfun]

I like the idea of using real names too.  When I first started this forum in May, I decided to go along with the crowd and come up with a name, as dumb as it is.  After a while, I began signing all my posts with my real name.

-Bill Geurts

[McHeath]

I'd agree with Dennis that the handle thing online is the direct descendant of the CB radio era.  I've been doing online stuff since the 80's and we pretty much just adopted the whole have a handle thing, and I've been McHeath online ever since.  (a pun on my first and last names) 

Doesn't bother me if people use their real name, like Dennis, or a handle like so many others.  My family has always been huge on nicknames anyway, and nobody at home calls me "Heath" much anyhow.  I had an uncle we called "Spy" all his life, another uncle called "Nick", along with aunt "Goldie", uncle "Rex", aunt "Fannie" and so on. (none of these were their real names, and I'm not sure what Goldies real name was)   My dad went by "Jr".  (He was not a Jr as he was not named after his dad, but I never heard anyone call him Hubert, at least not in his hearing )  Even dad's awards and papers from work were tagged for "Jr". 

And at work they all call me "John", even says so on the ID card I wear.  If the phone rings and they want to talk to "John" it's from work, or if they want "Mac" it's family, and if they want "Heath" then they don't know me very well. 

So nicknames are just a normal deal for me, and the forum's handles have always seemed just like another use of them.  I, personally, like nicknames as they are rather friendly, seeming to give some insight into a person.  But others mileage may vary. 

-John
or
-Heath
or
-Mac
or
-McHeath

[Dan/Panther]

O.K.
I tried to go into my profile and change My On screen name to my real name, and it wouldn't let me
Dan

[Dan/Panther]

My onscreen name and my forum user name are the same, DAN/PANTHER maybe that's why ?
Dan

[Dan]

Hey I'm the  other Dan, originally known as Dan squared or Dan to the second power.

You can call me Dan or Doc or whatever.

Donna, while I am thinking of you, what's the story behind your name "bwanna?''

[Dan/Panther]

Isn't Bwanna the leader, or Head of the group ? 

D/P

[foots]

  My name is Joshua D. Fitzgerald. I go by foots 'cause that the nickname the guys at work gave me, its sort of a play on Fitz. Anyhow, if you ever been around this part of Louisiana you'd quickly find out that  everybody gets at least one nickname. There's people I've known almost my whole life and only knew them by their nickname. I have had friends such as Gristle, Lurch, Possum Grits, Turkey Wing Thomas, Keebler, Swivel, Couyon, T-neg, and Grand Tete to name a few.

[stub1953]

Hey everybody,
                          Kenneth Stubblefield here and you can see where stub came from and 1953 is clock number! Too much to write down !  Nice to meet you!!!!!!!!!!!stub1953.