Posted by longtime lurker on September 30, 2000 at 20:41:44:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Manhattan School of Music ? posted by Jay Bertolet on September 30, 2000 at 17:42:24:
OT follow-up on the issue of anonymity:
I post "anonymously", always. Maybe I append my first name to a message, but not usually. I've been here long enough, and been stupid enough, to p*** o** certain people that are still (semi-)regulars. For me the reasons to post "anonymous" are two-fold:
1). I don't want to bring up personal issues from the past, and
2). I do not want to leave a trail here that a blind, deaf, mute, club-footed script kiddie could follow with no problem.
Most people assume that by not inputting your real name and email address they remain anonymous. This is patently false. Sean can out anonymous posters. How? Web server logs. So could other people even without the server logs given how small a community we are.
If there were a civil trial regarding posts here, do any of us believe that Sean would not turn over the server logs? He does not address the issue in the FAQ, but he should. Some might think that he implies, that by not inputting their email address, they are guaranteed anonymity.
For this post only I'm using the cotse anonymizer (a web-based proxy). I just tried rewebber.de and it did not work with this site. Both of those web-based tools make it more difficult to track who is doing what. I'd suggest Sean block the cotse.com anonymizer from his site. Other people might start use it now.
I do not input an email address because all my email drop boxes are related to different tasks and purposes. I will open a new one for private communication regarding the tuba now that I'm becoming a regular poster again.
I'd like the ability to change the subject header on my post to something else, but Sean has told me, a long time ago, why he does not have that option enabled. Based on my experience in other forums, I agree with him now.