Slashdot Mirror


Reddit's Case for Anonymity on the Internet (theatlantic.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: All that's required to create an account and post on any of Reddit's 1.2 million forums is an email address, a username, and a password. You don't need to tell the company your birthday, your gender, or even your real name. As Huffman put it on Thursday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which is co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic, "Reddit doesn't want the burden of personal information ... and is not selling personal information."

Huffman argued that anonymity on Reddit actually makes using the site "more like a conversation one has in real life" than other exchanges on the internet. "When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves," he claimed.

361 comments

  1. Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    With usernames people will still go through your comment history and judge you on previous unrelated comments. Only true anonymity, not pseudonymity, can lead to discussions completely detached from identity.

    1. Re:Pseudonymity by cre1mer · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've been told that Slashdot trolls are nicer than Reddit trolls.

    2. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Who doesn't love the GNAA?

    3. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You are a cow. Cows say moo. MOOOOOOO! MOOOOOOO! Moo cows MOOOOOO! Moo say the cows. YOU PSEUDONYMOUS COW!!

    4. Re:Pseudonymity by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      With usernames people will still go through your comment history and judge you on previous unrelated comments.

      That is ok. I just don't want my online comments to affect my real life. I don't want conflict with my boss or coworkers or family because of political comments I made in a forum.

      I had a co-worker who posted online in a psychology forum using his real name. Some of those posts were used against him in family court, and he was denied custody of his children.

      Only true anonymity, not pseudonymity, can lead to discussions completely detached from identity.

      I am fine with identities, I just want more than one.

    5. Re:Pseudonymity by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am fine with identities, I just want more than one.

      A long time ago I used to use the same user name on every forum and site I signed in for. It was my childhood nickname, which whilst not my real name, was fairly unique.

      I was stalked by an individual who searched for my username and tracked me back to every forum I had ever used at that point (even ones I hadn't been active on in over a year). They then tried to use my comments and information against me; and, generally tried trolling me all across the internet. I now use a completely different user id on every forum I go to. I have a half dozen e-mail address and pick one at random to sign up to things so not all on the same account.

      It makes life slightly more complicated but it is worth it to not be trackable across the internet. I really don't understand people that link things to their facebook or google accounts and use facebook to log into somewhere. They're making it easier for some future harasser to harass them.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    6. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With usernames people will still go through your comment history and judge you on previous unrelated comments. Only true anonymity, not pseudonymity, can lead to discussions completely detached from identity.

      Well, why does it matter? People always have their bias anyway. Why do you care of others judging you? Everyone is judging everyone else. It is human behavior. Anonymous is also being judged. Thus, it shouldn't matter if it is a true anonymity or not, as long as it is anonymity enough would still lead to a more authentic discussion.

    7. Re:Pseudonymity by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny

      With usernames people will still go through your comment history and judge you on previous unrelated comments.

      I've done that, Mr. "Coward", and it's clear that you are by far the worst user on this site.

      You always post dozens of off-topic comments and trolls on every single story, going back decades. How do you manage to do that? Do you even get any sleep at all?

    8. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe that any identity that you use can be subverted in a similar manner, that is why it is AC all the way for me

    9. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      trolling is a art

    10. Re:Pseudonymity by Riceballsan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd have to disagree, psudonymity gives you a consistant personality. You still can be yourself, Assuming the service doesn't betrey you, and you don't poorly link or leave some kind of connection to your real world identity you can have a personality that is judged purely on what you've posted (yes past posts included), and have some kind of dialogue. Total anonymity I haven't really seen any serious discussions occur with, to me that always degrades into just trolling etc... with a good chance that many involved are arguing both sides for drama rather than anyone actually speaking their mind on the topics. Which can be good for humor, not so good for real discussion.

    11. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Your argument is that nothing matters because nothing matters? That's not very helpful.

      A quality discussion should strive towards eliminating bias and undue judgement to not waste time and energy with nonsense. Anonymity can help with this, but still isn't perfect.

    12. Re:Pseudonymity by Megol · · Score: 1

      Not even then. Style, arguments used, topics replied to, time of posting etc. all make most contributors unique. Sure, fire off one post per month and people will most likely not recognize you unless the topic + arguments used are standing out too much.

    13. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's fine. If you read my post I was not referring to having a personality. I was stating that anonymity is the only way to have a discussion void of external biases and judgement. I use multiple pseudonyms on various websites to do exactly what you describe.

      As for you not experiencing quality anonymous discussions, that's anecdotal. As a counter-anecdote, I have had hundreds of very high-minded discussions completely anonymously.

    14. Re:Pseudonymity by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      I had a co-worker who posted online in a psychology forum using his real name. Some of those posts were used against him in family court, and he was denied custody of his children.

      That's the problem, though. Using only the information you've given here (so not relating to your co-worker himself), let's consider the scenario objectively.

      If he's saying something that is concerning enough to take children away, why would it be better if he could say those things anonymously or pseudonymously? Having an attached real identity doesn't change the factual basis of what he said, or the fact that he said it, or that whatever he said is concerning enough to make the court question the well-being of children in his custody.

      While I do agree that having multiple disconnected identities is useful, and I dare say it's necessary, I would also argue that it's necessary to allow a court or law enforcement to pierce that veil, for the purposes of an investigation or discovery. Of course, the other side of that is that the judiciary must be trustworthy enough to only use that power for such limited purposes, which means the courts must show similar restraint in other areas as well. In turn, that means investigators must show restraint in what warrants they seek, so as to avoid embarrassment of the entire process.

      The only resolution I can see is to have pseudonyms protected like wiretaps, requiring exceptional warrants and oversight before they can be pursued. I don't expect to see that happen anytime soon.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    15. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If someone is looking for stylistic trends in your anon posts then you are dealing with an advanced troll and the discussion probably isn't worth having.

    16. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      trolling is an art - FTFY

    17. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you claim a "handful" (well, it was me who started the ball rolling by signing up "cdreimer", remember that?) of trolls made your life a living hell here.
      What must it be like for you on Reddit?

    18. Re:Pseudonymity by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      If he's saying something that is concerning enough to take children away, why would it be better if he could say those things anonymously or pseudonymously?

      Because "concerning enough to take children away" is such a low bar you could easily trip over it.

      Getting treatment for mental health issues is generally the right thing to do, but is seen as the wrong thing to do - especially by judgemental idiots who are present in large numbers in the legal system, social services and teh intarwebs.

      This is what's called a perverse incentive.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    19. Re:Pseudonymity by cre1mer · · Score: 1

      Never tried Reddit. Slashdot has been my home for 20+ years. I refused to let a bunch of rabble evict me from Internet home.

    20. Re:Pseudonymity by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Slashdot trolls can be hidden at -1. Reddit trolls will often be right there in the middle of the comments. For example, I was reading a Reddit thread where someone began saying that (paraphrasing) "Jews aren't people because only those who believe in Jesus Christ are people." I've seen anti-Semitic comments like this on Slashdot before but I need to go to -1 to spot them usually. On Reddit, the comment is right there.

      Now, this could be a good thing in some instances, sparking conversation and bringing unpopular ideas up for debate instead of moderating them to oblivion. In other instances, though, the commenter isn't looking for an exchange of ideas. They just want to say "Jews aren't people" (or something else) to spark outrage and then laugh as people get upset.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    21. Re:Pseudonymity by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      If the real problem is how the the courts treat a particular condition, why is it better to just hide the evidence of the condition?

      Shouldn't we instead seek to fix the court?

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    22. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We can do both, dipshit. Like most idiotic binary arguments, one isn't actually exclusive of the other.

    23. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      high-minded? pffft.... SuperKendall, is that you?

    24. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's how you get put in prison for making a sarcastic joke. Don't be a bootlicker.

    25. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never tried Reddit. Slashdot has been my home for 20+ years. I refused to let a bunch of rabble evict me from Internet home.

      6 digit number from 20 yrs ago?

    26. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldn't we instead seek to fix the court?

      Perhaps in this case fixing the court is possible, but when the court in question is the Court of Public Opinion, it is a might bit more difficult to change.

    27. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      thanks friend I didn't even see my spelling mistake in my post. upvoted

      EDIT: Wow thanks for the gold XD

    28. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, I had a slashdot account in the late 90's but abandoned the AOL account that it was tied to, so it was lost.
      the next account that I started was based on a hotmail account, and is in the high six-digits.
      That email account was linked to a facebook account that was forcibly converted to a 'real' identity.
      So, rather than risk swatting, or even worse getting a 7-digit account, I switched entirely to AC.
      fyi, just another AC and certainly not creimer

    29. Re: Pseudonymity by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      We certainly can do both, but why should we, when one "solution" has far-reaching negative impacts, and does nothing to help fix the actual problem?

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    30. Re:Pseudonymity by Kjella · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's the problem, though. Using only the information you've given here (so not relating to your co-worker himself), let's consider the scenario objectively. If he's saying something that is concerning enough to take children away, why would it be better if he could say those things anonymously or pseudonymously? Having an attached real identity doesn't change the factual basis of what he said, or the fact that he said it, or that whatever he said is concerning enough to make the court question the well-being of children in his custody.

      "If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him." -- Cardinal Richelieu

      "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." -- Ayn Rand

      "Don't talk to the police" -- James Duane & many others

      Basically, anything you say can and will be used against you but not for you. The more you say, the more ammunition you give someone to play devil's advocate and take things out of context or discussing hypothetical possibilities and so on.

      It also doesn't mean that what you're doing is wrong and the reaction you get is fair or whether you're with the majority or minority. Take for example James Reeb, he was a white man that got beaten to death for supporting MLK. I'm not saying he'd want to be pseudonymous or anonymous, but he'd sure run a lot less risk that way. You never know what kind of fanatic/lunatic will latch on to you and decide to make your life miserable.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    31. Re:Pseudonymity by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I've been told that Slashdot trolls are nicer than Reddit trolls.

      Oh yeah? What about this, then:

      Your handle is stupid because you used a ONE instead of an "i"!

      How's that for a "nice" troll? Not so funny now, eh?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    32. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen anti-Semitic comments like this on Slashdot before

      by Jason Levine

      ololololol

    33. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like someone has a throw away account! Or maybe lost the original. :(

    34. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      np buddy, I'll use all my karma points on you this week ;)

    35. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If something is concerning enough then the police can get a warrant and track the person down.

    36. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grammar mistake*

      Not spelling mistake.

    37. Re:Pseudonymity by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

      You can delete your comments if you want anonymity.

    38. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was not a spelling mistake.* FTFY

      Sentences need verbs.

    39. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your handle is stupid because you used an "a" instead of an "o"!

    40. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can delete your comment for being really stupid.

      TOO LATE I already took a screenshot and send it to my mom.

    41. Re:Pseudonymity by mrbester · · Score: 1

      I'll swear with my dying breath that I SEE 7 DIGITS!

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    42. Re:Pseudonymity by dryeo · · Score: 2

      The problem is that the courts are always biased to some degree. Look at the American Supreme Court and the importance put on the political affiliations of the Judges. This reflected in simple things like rights. Which is more important, the right to swing your fist or the right not to get hit by a swinging fist? While this one seems obvious, lots of questions are more subtle and some types will rule one way and others will rule the opposite.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    43. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zuckerberg The *Jew* should have learned about the importance and value of the right to privacy, and the need for a Stateless Society with no Archy, from all those in his family that got GASSED and SHOT by the Nazi State.

      But he didn't. And he doesn't give a fuck. He's about that Jew Money.

      So he datamines, sells, identifies and puts that Yellow Star on you all so you can be controlled, manipulated, thieved, taxed, etc...

      Fuck Zuckerberg.
      Fuck the State.

      Heil Anonymity, Anarchism, and good old Agnosticism.

    44. Re:Pseudonymity by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      All lovely quotes, but still no closer to a solution.

      Basically, anything you say can and will be used against you but not for you.

      You say that like it's a given rule, but yet it's part of your attorney's job to find the things said in your favor and argue for you. No, it's not the prosecutor's job to argue on your behalf. That's pretty inherent in having an adversarial justice system.

      Your quotes also don't address the actual question at hand. You seem to advocate making investigators work for their results, but is that worth the risk to society if it's trivial to hide behind pseudonyms? Is absolute anonymity a freedom that's worth preserving? Why or why not?

      ...he'd sure run a lot less risk that way. You never know what kind of fanatic/lunatic will latch on to you and decide to make your life miserable.

      Certainly true, but I'll note that he was murdered by civilians - not the courts. That is why I suggest that having pseudonyms is necessary, even if the courts can get to one's real identity.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    45. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A long time ago I used to use the same user name on every forum and site I signed in for. ...

      It wasn't "HostFiles", was it?

    46. Re:Pseudonymity by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Shouldn't we instead seek to fix the court?

      Golly, that is an excellent suggestion. I will call him and ask him why he didn't do that.

      Btw, can you fix global warming by the end of the week? Thanks.

    47. Re:Pseudonymity by war4peace · · Score: 2

      Here's what you tell Reddit:
      - E-mail address (unless you're one of the low-single-digit percentages which don't use their main e-mail address to register)
      - Username (people tend to use the same username everywhere)
      - IP address (linked to the username, allows the website to build a nice list of IP addresses you post from, together with at least approximate geolocation)
      - Online times (often overlooked, but important to build a profile)
      - Browser type.
      - Any other info derived from your posts.

      Those just off the top of my head.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    48. Re:Pseudonymity by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      yet it's part of your attorney's job to find the things said in your favor and argue for you.

      No. This is wrong. Anything you say to the police is inadmissible by the defense, because it is hearsay evidence. It CAN NOT be used by your attorney to help or exonerate you.

      You really REALLY need to watch This Video before you talk or write about this further. In fact, the video should be mandatory for any resident of the United States.

      If you are over 18 years old, you should always say exactly 4 words to the police:
      1. I
      2. want
      3. a
      4. lawyer.

      If you are under 18 years old, you should always say exactly 4 words to the police, but the last word is "parents". If you have kids, you need to teach them this, and you need to make sure they watch the video. The police are NOT THEIR FRIENDS and are NOT there to help them.

    49. Re:Pseudonymity by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Beats the shit out of doxing.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    50. Re:Pseudonymity by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Perhaps he was evicted from home and returned under a new name?

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    51. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A home you claim no one has heard of, that you claim is populated by idiots, and a home that you tried to shit in by spamming your foul Amazon links, a home you made unlivable with your constant ego-puffery and trying to shill your terrible eBooks?

      That home?

      So much for "reinventing" yourself if you just want to cling to 20 years ago, huh?

      "I'm so fat that I have my own channel"

      OK, that was funny!

    52. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The police are NOT THEIR FRIENDS and are NOT there to help them.

      Shit, the way things have been going in this country, you would think kids have already had that literally beat in to them, if not shot into them.

    53. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If global warming is really a problem, I TheRealDonaldTrump will just sign an executive order against temperature and then poof - problem resolved before week end! Instead since it's just a hoax made up by CROOKED Hilary, her email server and whatabout Benghazi, then we must endure this incessant argument.

      Sad!

    54. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wtf does "online times" mean? Some sort of reddit-imposed curfew? Or does it just do that for timezone info.

      I am all for online-life balance and disconnect time, but that grid-is-offline-on-thrusdays-for-nookie-time-with-our-actually-hot-for-real-girlfriends-no-really-she-is-not-a-dude was about the least believable thing in Ready Player One.

    55. Re:Pseudonymity by loufoque · · Score: 1

      I had a co-worker who posted online in a psychology forum using his real name. Some of those posts were used against him in family court, and he was denied custody of his children.

      I have a solution for that: live in a country with less backwards values about marriage and divorce.

    56. Re:Pseudonymity by SeaFox · · Score: 2

      Slashdot trolls can be hidden at -1. Reddit trolls will often be right there in the middle of the comments. For example, I was reading a Reddit thread where someone began saying that (paraphrasing) "Jews aren't people because only those who believe in Jesus Christ are people." I've seen anti-Semitic comments like this on Slashdot before but I need to go to -1 to spot them usually. On Reddit, the comment is right there.

      On Reddit you can't post as an AC, so there is no automatic -1/hidden. If the comment gets downvoted on Reddit it will get hidden, just like on Slashdot. The difference might be in how the default Reddit settings are as far as when something crosses this threshold and gets hidden. If I or you posted the anti-Semitic comment (as logged in users) it would be scored as 1 and visible depending on how many comments the story has.

    57. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the magic incantation was "I want my lawyer."

    58. Re:Pseudonymity by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

      Oscar Wilde

    59. Re:Pseudonymity by Sarten-X · · Score: 2

      Anything you say to the police is inadmissible by the defense, because it is hearsay evidence. It CAN NOT be used by your attorney to help or exonerate you.

      That's not entirely true. Exculpatory statements to the police cannot be admitted on their own, but once admitted for any reason they can be used and referred to by the defense. The reason they aren't generally admissible is because you can testify yourself, under oath, and present the same statements. From the perspective of justice, the only reason that would be problematic is if you had lied in the initial statement.

      More to the point, it is an exemption to the hearsay exclusion rule to use statements to establish character or history. For example, postings in a psychology forum about something that could impact the safety of someones' children - regardless of being positive or negative - could be argued to show a character trait, and thus would be admissible. Once in the court, the sides would argue about whether the trait is a good or bad thing.

      If you have kids, you need to teach them this, and you need to make sure they watch the video. The police are NOT THEIR FRIENDS and are NOT there to help them.

      ...and with that bias right from the start, you've condemned them to always have that fate. Personally, I'd rather teach them that the law matters, and it is my kids' responsibility to learn those laws before they find themselves in a situation where those laws could affect them.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    60. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I believe by "online times" he means the regular times you are using the internet. Like people at a normal workplace would be online 9am-5pm, or maybe some nightowls would regularly be online later at night. This info can identify your sleeping habits and maybe your location or occupation.

    61. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The nazi strategy didn't worked very well. I mean, they're all dead and buried, while the jews are not only alive, but according to people like you dominating the whole world and they even have an ethnostate of their own.
      So maybe you should see what they did and do it too.

    62. Re:Pseudonymity by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      All lovely quotes, but still no closer to a solution.

      Basically, anything you say can and will be used against you but not for you.

      You say that like it's a given rule,

      It is, in fact the cops literally tell you this when you get arrested, as it's part of Miranda:

      "Anything you say can and will be used against you."

      And cut it out with the incessant questioning. It's fucking lame and annoying when you bitch about other people not offering solutions when you're not offering shit yourself.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    63. Re:Pseudonymity by war4peace · · Score: 1

      Online time” is a well known expression in certain online games communities (for example EVE Online), and it means the periods of time someone is most active in that game, or on that website. It's a commonly overlooked metric, however it could be critical knowledge for a malevolent entity. The NiceHash hack on the 6th of December 2017 was successful partly because of this metric: the attackers knew when NiceHash employees were asleep and acted during that timeframe.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    64. Re:Pseudonymity by war4peace · · Score: 1

      mod parent +1 informative :)

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    65. Re: Pseudonymity by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Moran is a correct name so there is actually nothing wrong with his handle.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    66. Re:Pseudonymity by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Just one more question: Is it intentional or accidental that you're missing the point?

      The "you can't use your exculpatory statements" claim is what's not a hard rule, because there are a number of implicit and explicit exceptions to it, to the extent that it legally does not usually factor into a suspect's rights, and is not necessary in the Miranda warning.

      And cut it out with the incessant questioning. It's fucking lame and annoying when you bitch about other people not offering solutions when you're not offering shit yourself.

      I'm still looking for an actual answer, beyond the higher-standard concept I actually mentioned in my first comment in this thread. So far, there's a lot of support for an anarchist position of "fuck the police", but nothing actually based in legal or political theory.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    67. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      trolling is a fart.

    68. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Definitely. Then I won't be in a country with a boner for assault weapons. Win fucking win.

    69. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If this is a legitimate question, you are SERIOUSLY out of touch. How much control over the culture of the judiciary system do you think any one crazy person has?

      Of course we should seek to fix the courts. Duh. But there is no "instead". It's more like, "until". UNTIL the courts are fixed and don't act like any mental health treatment makes you a leper, people will and SHOULD avoid treatment. For their own sake.

    70. Re:Pseudonymity by user+no.+590291 · · Score: 1

      I use a system similar to yours with rigorously different usernames on every forum I register for. Makes it more difficult for stalkers/doxxers to connect the dots.

    71. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been here since 96 or 97 and I have a 5 digit account number

    72. Re:Pseudonymity by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/...

      It's even been used by Weird Al Yankovic in his music video "Word Crimes".

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    73. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nazis are alive and well in the "free" USA. They've just been biding their time. That kind of hate never dies, it just picks easier targets.

    74. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The GNAA totally dox'd the shit out of people where were you?

    75. Re: Pseudonymity by bingoUV · · Score: 1

      Because at a personal decision making level, we can do one of those - hiding our pseudonymical identity. And at that level, we cannot do the other entirely - fixing the court system.

      Though at a personal decision making level - we can do 1/300millionth part of fixing the court system - assuming a country population of 300 million.

      --
      Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
    76. Re: Pseudonymity by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      It's true; they call themselves "progressives" now and go around chanting slogans like "anti-Zionism isn't anti-Semitism!"

      Crafty fuckers.

    77. Re: Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure that gets you all the women.

    78. Re: Pseudonymity by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      And it's complicated because in a lot of cases, a lot of divorce cases, both sides are shit people and neither one deserves to win.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    79. Re:Pseudonymity by stealth_finger · · Score: 2

      With usernames people will still go through your comment history and judge you on previous unrelated comments. Only true anonymity, not pseudonymity, can lead to discussions completely detached from identity.

      That's not what you were saying on that other thread.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    80. Re:Pseudonymity by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      At least the /. trolls are consistent.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    81. Re:Pseudonymity by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      I want a parents?

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    82. Re:Pseudonymity by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      I had a co-worker who posted online in a psychology forum using his real name. Some of those posts were used against him in family court, and he was denied custody of his children.

      I have a solution for that: live in a country with less backwards values.

      FTFY

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    83. Re:Pseudonymity by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      nice.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    84. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an autistic moron who thinks he wouldn't be eaten by cannibals if the the government wasn't constantly protecting him. Guys like you are the last people who should be decrying the nanny state. You'd be dead in a second.

    85. Re: Pseudonymity by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Good point. I'd hate to be a Judge.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    86. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Because it protects you from potential backlash that can significantly decrease your quality of life (or in some cases, your ability to live.) What kind of inane question is that?

      Shouldn't we instead

      What do you mean 'we?' You blatantly don't have skin in the game if you're wondering what good reason people have for protecting themselves from oppression.

    87. Re:Pseudonymity by infolation · · Score: 1

      that is why it is AC all the way for me

      You mean PC.

    88. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wrong, roman. You haven't been downmodded in a long time (we can see it by looking at your comments or those of your sock puppet). Your karma is in the shitter because you use slashdot as a recruiting tool for your religion and you constantly sling insults at people who disagree with your constant preaching of the gospel of your favorite living god. It's not hard to bring your karma back up; you just need to stop being an asshole. If you were to start actually talking about technical - rather than spiritual - matters again you could likely bring up your karma pretty quickly and you'll post at zero (or even 1) like others.

      One thing that will certainly not fix it is constantly bitching about it. Another thing that doesn't work is starting more sock puppet accounts.

    89. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " I refused to let a bunch of rabble evict me from Internet home."

      Oh of course Chris, instead you asked to have yourself evicted , so that you can play the victim even better later on?

    90. Re:Pseudonymity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was lucky enough to have would up with a nickname/online persona that's really damn common. It never occurred to me for example back in 1996 when I created a hotmail account that such a thing would even matter, but here I am in 2018 and I still use that damn thing for some stuff.

      I've pissed off so many people over the years online, and a few of them have tried to track me down both virtually and physically. It's just by sheer luck that my innocence and lack of basic OPSEC back in the 90s didn't leave me wide open to get fucked over in the years that followed. I've long since learned to make efforts to be hard to identify (email addresses, IP addresses, patterns of activity time, writing style, stuff like that) but some of my early digital footprints exist to this day, and it takes some real effort to stay "hidden" from certain types.

      I can't hide from government level entities, so I make a point to not do anything so stupid that they feel I warrant attention. Everyone else I can handle. If my threat model is the odd jealous husband and a bunch of social justice douche bags, I don't even have to try too hard.

  2. One shocking downside to Reddit, however by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    first posts are not allowed

    The site will never catch on

    1. Re:One shocking downside to Reddit, however by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If first posts weren't allowed there would be no posts at all.

  3. Simple argument... by Kenja · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a fairly unique name, and I purchased a house, putting my name and address on the public record. Frankly, I don't want you crazy people to know where I live.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Simple argument... by Calydor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So many times this. My real name together with the country I live in will yield exactly one match. Now consider shit like SWATting and there is no way in f'ing Hell I'm letting anyone but close friends come CLOSE to finding out what my real name is.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re: Simple argument... by houghi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The reason i do not use my real name is bevause of "Why should I have an excuse?" There is no reason that I should reason or defend why I do it.

      Do the sites have a legal AND moral reaaon to do so, i might do it (e.g if I open a bank account). Ifyou make it "legal" by putting itin your policy (like Facebook) than fuck off and there is no reason I should explain myself.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    3. Re:Simple argument... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Challenge Accepted! This is easy. You live at 1544 South Main Street. There's that creepy guy across the street who keeps his lights off and you think he has dead hookers in his basement. There's the woman next door who walks her dog every morning and the damn dog takes always a dump in your front yard yet she never picks it up. There are the kids down the street a bit always playing in the front yard and making a lot of noise. There's the young couple who just had a baby. There's the house with the cars forever parked in the front yard. The woman who parks in the road near the fire hydrant and when she reaches her front door she points her remote at the car to lock it and it goes "HONK!" so she has the satisfaction the door is locked before heading into the house. There's the old guy who's always working in his yard and has a pile of sticks and branches at the curb because he thinks the town will eventually pick them up but they don't. There's that guy who has a broken-down pickup truck with out of state plates that seems to go around the neighborhood picking up discarded furniture. There's that one house with no curtains and they have all their indoor lights on full power all night long. There's that one house that cars honk their horn as they drive by and then ten minutes later that car stops at the house, goes in front door and comes out 10 seconds later trying to look low-key. Amiright?

    4. Re:Simple argument... by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      I grew up on the internet (we got dialup when I was 15), we were always 'anonymous' as we could be. Mainly making up stupid 15 year old-eqsue usernames.

      The problem with a lot of people is that they never update those usernames. I've found the real person connected to a Reddit comment because their username was the same they had attached to Facebook, SoundCloud and a bunch of other sites.

      I actually went back to facebook, under 2 pseudonyms completely disconnected from anyone I know because sadly thats where a lot of 'forums' are for stuff like 3D printers and such because it has the lowest cost of entry.

    5. Re:Simple argument... by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Slashdot is one of the few places where I post with my real name. (I created this account when I was much younger and don't feel like switching to a new account.) For everything else, I don't want people to know who I am because of the possibility that you could track me down. Sure, there are a lot of Jason Levine's (138 according to HowManyOfMe.com), but a read through my comment history on Reddit or other sites could easily narrow that down.

      A few years ago, I attracted the attention of a cyber-stalker. She was convinced that I was the same person as someone she had a beef with (because we both enjoy photography - apparently anyone who likes taking pictures are just one guy). This woman was off her rocker. She literally believed that god spoke to her and she was a prophetess. Needless to say, arguments weren't effective against her. (How do you argue with "God told me this"?!!!) She knew one of her targets' name and location so she reported him to his employer (a school) for crimes that "God" told her he did. It's a good thing he warned his employer first because the crimes (inappropriate contact with children to put it mildly) would get any teacher fired. She also had a habit of reporting her targets to the police for their "crimes." Since she didn't know my exact name/location, she couldn't do this to me. (She's still mucking around but luckily moved on from me.)

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    6. Re:Simple argument... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not fooling anyone, Tibor.

    7. Re:Simple argument... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please be Trogdor the Burninator!
      Please be Trogdor the Burninator!

      The country doesn't matter. :)

    8. Re:Simple argument... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The original The Twilight Zone had an episode where a guy reported people for their alleged 'crimes', and called them personally from his landline phone trying to put fear into them. He set a certain time when all of these 'small people' would receive their 'justice'. Of course, it had a twist ending which I won't spoil here, worth the watch if you haven't seen it before. Four O'Clock (The Twilight Zone), Season 3, Episode 29

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_O%27Clock_(The_Twilight_Zone)

    9. Re:Simple argument... by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      I have a fairly unique name, and I purchased a house, putting my name and address on the public record. Frankly, I don't want you crazy people to know where I live.

      I have some bad news for you, Kenneth Dyers.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    10. Re:Simple argument... by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      (That was the first name that showed up in a google result for "Kenja". For all I know the user could be Jan Hamilton, instead. :)

      As an aside, I just did a google search for my own username to see what would happen. I (predictably) found a bunch of slashdot comments and stuff from the other site and straight-up content-theft dumps of slashdot and, oh yeah, dozens of actual news articles quoting me by username as if I was an authority on anything.

      Now, I stand by all of my comments that are not purely shitposting, which I really try to limit these days. But what the actual fuck Pharr Technologies from 2011? I am literally some random nobody with a fake name online. I could be actually making shit up completely. The comment is old enough that I don't recall typing it, though the story does describe something that did happen to me, and so is likely true.

      And Katherine Noyes of Linux Insider, just posting a bunch of dumb comments from slashdot as a news article? I thought I was lazy.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    11. Re:Simple argument... by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Oh, and I am in a legal document, predictably, shitposting.

      Fuck me, there is no hope for society left. (I would like it to be on record that I stand by that shitpost, however.)

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    12. Re:Simple argument... by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      Ditto here, too. "My real name together with the country I live". I think my real NAME is enough for uniqueness -- the only consolation is that it's a little hard to actually spell correctly.

      I have a Twitter and FB account I use maybe once a year; the only correct profile info there is my name and phone number. The other info basically says "You should know this already. If you don't and want to, call me and we'll chat." (And it's a direct but virtual number.) I have actual friends that I literally talk to, personalized just for them.

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    13. Re:Simple argument... by smi.james.th · · Score: 1

      I'm actually kind of curious as to what this unique name of yours might be, though I realise it's futile to ask... ;-)

      I on the other hand, have been informed multiple times (by none less than the Guiness book of records) that my name / surname combination is the most common one (I forget if it's in the world or just in the English-speaking world), so if I want to be anonymous on the internet, I just use my real name...

      --
      One thing I know, and that is that I am ignorant...
    14. Re:Simple argument... by smi.james.th · · Score: 1

      Sure, there are a lot of Jason Levine's (138 according to HowManyOfMe.com), but a read through my comment history on Reddit or other sites could easily narrow that down.

      Interesting resource! I get 47,994 people in the US with my name ;-) but I'm not in the US so I suppose that complicates things a bit.

      --
      One thing I know, and that is that I am ignorant...
    15. Re:Simple argument... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Rather fewer of me, but enough to fool Google.

      I did though get the personalised url on LinkedIn.

    16. Re:Simple argument... by Kenja · · Score: 1

      You know... I plumb forgot I used Kenja as my alias here. But no, that's not me. I think I got the name from the old anime Peacock King.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  4. What Reddit really is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Huffman argued that anonymity on Reddit actually makes using the site "more like a conversation one has in real life"

    Reddit is more like being told there are cool kids hanging out, chilling, and having a good time, but finding out that it's just a couple of retards mumbling to each other.

    1. Re:What Reddit really is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reddit is ruined. The far-left MSM bots, puppets and paid shills infest everything bar the fringe /r/ It's nothing more than a queer echo chamber.

      They're worse than children, so the age demographic is clear. And anyone that thinks they're regular people should look at those that go to the "meet-ups". It's life's losers. Fat, extremely ugly, and all looking as through they're from the same mold. Purple hair, dark rimmed glasses, never been near an orthodontist, and "males" that squeak like seven year old girls.

    2. Re:What Reddit really is by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      No matter how cool you are, High School kids conversations go like this.

      Teenage one: Me, space, Me, space, Me, space, space, Me
      Teenage two: space, Me, space, Me,space, Me, space, space
      Teenage three: space, space, space, space, space, space, Me, space

      There isn't much listening or conversation just people talking about themselves and being quite waiting for the other to finish.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:What Reddit really is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      s/Me/oh muh gawd\!/g or the ever present s/Me/like/g

    4. Re:What Reddit really is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reddit is great for what it is! I have jumped into VR and it has a lot of VR-related discussions and suggestions and activity to watch or join.

      Slashdot is nice for much-more informed opinions in the comments of the tech news. But if I want to focus on a topic of my choise? Reddit.

    5. Re:What Reddit really is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot he heavy laden use of "like" and "you know".

      Like, you know, when like. You're saying something, you know, and like. It just makes sense, you know? Like, you know, a thought.

    6. Re:What Reddit really is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Honestly, that describes a lot of adult conversation, too.

  5. Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Problem with anonymity, (and you can look at this article and poster as a proof of concept) is that trolling Reddit is trivial. Spam a board, and if you get the banhammer, make another account and repeat. At least with Facebook, if I block someone and they try to contact me again, all their accounts are in jeopardy of getting Zucced, so there is some personal responsibility there.

    1. Re:Trolls? by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The word "Troll" is meaningless today. Many people use the word "troll" to mean "a person who says something I don't agree with". For example, I call Elon Musk a scam artist and some people reply screaming that I am a "troll". No, that is not a troll. I might be wrong, or I might be stupid, or I might be right and you don't want to hear it, but it isn't trolling.

    2. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >I call Elon Musk a scam artist and some people reply screaming that I am a "troll". No, that is not a troll. I might be wrong, or I might be stupid, or I might be right and you don't want to hear it, but it isn't trolling.

      Well, yeah, that is trolling if you are disparaging someone's reputation without any consideration or care as to whether you're wrong or right. You ought to at least provide some evidence to back up your assertion.

    3. Re:Trolls? by grumbel · · Score: 1

      Trolling is overrated. The amount of time a troll causes issues and isn't easy to ignore are pretty minimal. Meanwhile the problems caused by measures to deal with trolling tend to far outweigh the problem it causes in the first case, e.g. no anonymity, heavy handed moderation, shadow banning, censorship or just outright getting rid of comment sections altogether.

    4. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With all due respect, but that could very well be a trolling attempt, it depends on the context and your intentions. Trolls are trying to instigate discussions and get negative replies only in order to put more coals in the fire. Even on Usenet the distinction between crackpots, trolls, and morons was never very clear.

    5. Re:Trolls? by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Trolling is partially intent in my opinion. You can state pure facts, but if the reason (and manner) in which you're delivering them is designed to stir up shit, it's trolling. Any idiot can get involved in a flame war argument on the internet, but a troll (or at least a good one) is where you can get everyone else to have the flame war for you while you watch from the sidelines. It's not even necessary to state a point of view. Even asking a question that you know is going to provoke some strong responses (e.g., "Has anyone had good experiences with System D?") and derail the thread can be construed as trolling.

      If you call Elon Musk a scam artist and spend several paragraphs defending that point with examples and further explanation of your reasoning (whether any of it is good or not is immaterial) it's probably not a troll. If you're calling Musk a scam artist because you're just shit talking on the internet, it's much more likely to be a troll. As you point out, you could just be an idiot who doesn't know better, but that's much more difficult to know on the internet.

    6. Re:Trolls? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      No. You don't need to provide an explanation. You can call my opinion an unsubstantiated one, because I didn't provide any evidence, but that doesn't mean it is a troll. That is my point: the word "troll" has become useless.

    7. Re:Trolls? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      No, that isn't trolling either. You just proved my point. Being disparaging IS NOT TROLLING. It may be bad behavior, but it isn't trolling. The word "troll" has become meaningless, just like the word "hack".

    8. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better is to call a spade a spade. Elon Musk is a huckster.

    9. Re:Trolls? by Megol · · Score: 1

      Of course not. Trolling is posting with the intention of generate responses. If someone have an unpopular opinion it doesn't necessarily mean he/she/it* intend to create an argument with many participants.

      (* _this_ is an example of trolling)

    10. Re:Trolls? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      Trolling used to be a subtle art. You had to post something just outrageous enough to cause a stir. Then people weren't sure if you were serious or not. That was trolling.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    11. Re:Trolls? by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      The art of trolling is lost.

      I went trolling this weekend about immigrants stealing our jobs coming from famine and war. All of the responses, on both sides were yelling and only one person pointed out that I pointed to their native tongues, Irish and German.

    12. Re:Trolls? by Ichijo · · Score: 1

      Trolling is posting with the intention of generate responses.

      Encouraging discussion is trolling?

      No, trolling is posting something you yourself don't believe with the intention of generating responses. If you aren't misrepresenting yourself, then you can't possibly be a troll.

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    13. Re: Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not trolling at all. That's devil's advocacy, and is a powerful rhetorical tool to check someone's assertions as well as your own.

      You are the type to call anything you disagree with "trolling", because you're incapable of arguing a point or admitting when you are wrong. When soundly defeated, you retreat to "you're a troll!" or "racist" or "bigot" etc etc.

    14. Re: Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have no idea what trolling is, fool.

    15. Re:Trolls? by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      Actually the tricky part about trolling is it all has to do with intent, which is unknowable except by the Troll and God. However, making ad hominem arguments is still a horrible way to win any argument.

    16. Re: Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not even trying.

    17. Re: Trolls? by Ichijo · · Score: 1

      That's not trolling at all. That's devil's advocacy, and is a powerful rhetorical tool to check someone's assertions as well as your own.

      How would you distinguish between trolling and devil's advocacy? Does devil's advocacy require explaining that you're being the devil's advocate?

      I wonder if the use of the word "trolling" is just a way of dismissing someone with better reasoning skills than your own.

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    18. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NO, I didn't just prove your point, because your point is stupid and therefore you are stupid. QED.

      BTW, I am not trolling, I mean it.

    19. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Encouraging discussion is trolling?

      No, troll comments aren't made for the purposes of creating a discourse, they're made specifically to illicit a reaction (preferably an emotional kneejerk one) from anyone who takes the bait. You can certainly believe your own troll comment - as I believe that 110010001000 does - but when trolling his interest in discussing other people's views and willingness to possibly change his mind on Elon Musk is nil. He only makes his unsubstantiated opinion to disrupt others from discussing Musk in a favorable way. That's trolling

    20. Re:Trolls? by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Depends on whether you're hoping to troll up some responses by name calling or whether it is just your opinion.
      Lots of people think troll means someone who lives under the bridge and hates goats rather then a means of fishing.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    21. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      However, making ad hominem arguments is still a horrible way to win any argument.

      Calling a third party a scam artist is not ad hominem. Specifically, to denounce an argument based on attacking the person making the argument is ad hominem.

      Calling Elon Musk a scam artist is a simple assertion. A statement that can be true or false.

      Finally, no one wins an argument. Either the argument is valid or invalid, sound or not, cogent or not. I would not bring this up, but you have used two references to the field of logic incorrectly. It's like a person claiming that the hacker's compiler has crashed their computer's TV. The meaning is communicated, but part is applied incorrectly and the other is always wrong.

    22. Re: Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *Yore

      FTFY

    23. Re: Trolls? by another_twilight · · Score: 2

      I'd argue that if someone plays devil's advocate and doesn't announce it, then they are taking advantage of one of the social niceties that help smooth communication - the trust that people are being genuine when they represent or argue an opinion. If someone is attempting to examine a position that they don't feel strongly, that should be clear from their manner, argument and response. If they present an appearance of belief that is different from what they actually hold, whether for the purpose of Socratic education or trolling, then they are exploiting that trust. To the degree that this erodes and degrades social interaction, then I'm not sure that there's much difference between a dishonest DA and troll.

      Looking at the original meaning (pulling a baited hook through the water, esp. multiple lines or hooks) I'd distinguish a troll as someone who is looking for any reaction, and someone who is playing 'devil's advocate' is someone looking for a specific reaction or interaction.

      This isn't perfect. Some of my favourite trolls have been very specific (the chiro posts by DrBob(?), for eg) and someone who just likes to argue and uses devil's advocate as a beard cross over, IMHO.

    24. Re:Trolls? by bluegutang · · Score: 1

      What they mean (if they are thinking) is that you are knowingly degrading the quality of the discussion with your comment.

      If people are having a thoughtful conversation about X, and you interject to post a 4 word comment "X is a scam artist!", then your comment is noise to the discussion, which adds nothing and interferes with the serious conversation.

      If you are aware that you are having this effect (which anyone over puberty should be aware of), then you are in fact a troll.

    25. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're the one that has become useless.

    26. Re:Trolls? by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      Woosh. You can definitely "win" an argument in that you win over popular opinion. Logical fallacies are actually excellent ways to win over many audiences. More informed and logical audiences will not be swayed.

      Calling Elon Musk a scam artist would be a simple assertion if it occurred in a vacuum. However, context matters and if you post this in an article where Elon is saying that Tesla will do great in the future then the assertion is actually and argument used to dismiss Elon's argument. In this case, it is an ad hominem.

    27. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Saying something deliberately over-the-top - whether or not it's correct - to elicit a response is exactly trolling. Clearly, you're now trolling about trolling. How meta.

    28. Re:Trolls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trolling - to have a controversial opinion without any evidence.

      If you don't like that definition, kill yourself.

      That's trolling.

  6. reddit does not require an email by snapsnap · · Score: 0

    Fake news is out of control. It's trivial to prove that wrong just by clicking on sign up at the top right then next to skip the email question. I don't get why so many journalists constantly like when they know they can trivially be proven a liar? In the past week, a guy attacked a newspaper he didn't like where a girl that had rejected him worked, so the local paper decided to lie and claim the guy was wearing a MAGA hat. There were several witnesses and even pictures proving that journalist a liar, but he still made the decision to try to get away with that lie. There are no ethics in journalism any longer.

    1. Re:reddit does not require an email by greenwow · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't say no ethics. The guy that lied and claimed the shooter was a Trump supporter was fired. If they had no ethics, he wouldn't have been fired, much less so quickly.

    2. Re: reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Might not be a lie, just an oversight on the reporter. They aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, other than Hitchens.

    3. Re:reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right reddit doesn't, and this "journalist" is a liar. The question to ask is what does he gain or profit from this lie? I guess since Condé Nast owns reddit and since The Atlantic is a competitor, he hopes to damage Condé Nast with this lie.

      For over 150 years The Atlantic was a respected publican. Too bad they're trashing that now.

    4. Re:reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The so quickly part is the shocking part. These days most news organizations "circle the wagons" when one of their own is caught in an anti-Trump lie. Good to finally see some consequences to pushing fake news.

    5. Re:reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That wasn't fake news since it wasn't news. It was a joke made by a reporter. Republicans have no sense of humor.

    6. Re:reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would be nice if people like you could link to the actual stories so other people can verify any of your allegations. Otherwise your post is just contributing to the problem (which mostly consists in people claiming that real news is fake news).

    7. Re:reddit does not require an email by Sarten-X · · Score: 2

      Never attribute to malice that which is explained by stupidity.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    8. Re:reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah bro, the Republicans have a fine sense of humor. The amount of ribbing Trump gets from his supporters is borderline absurd. And it's absolutely hilarious.

      What isn't comical is lefties like ol' fucky ear screaming incoherently into the camera.

      That's just desperate. And sad!

    9. Re: reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mass murder is hilarious!!

      Of course that would be the Leftist position, who also has no problem with the literal genocide of children, just as long as the heads, arms, and legs are being cut up and pulled out of a vagina.

    10. Re: reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice strawman.

    11. Re:reddit does not require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what I suspected. A single journalist did something stupid and immediately lost his job for it, and all you can say is that "fake news is out of control". You're part of the problem.

  7. Duh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves

    Um, yea... We've known this for a long time.
    Anonymous commenting is much preferable to the expanded blah-blah bullshit of having all sorts of info about your account.

    That is one(of a lot) reason I don't have a FB account, even though I know people have their ways of even gaming that.

  8. A bit sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nice that they aren't selling personal information. But it is a bit sad that people apparently need anonymity to be authentic. Anonymity is convenient in that you don't need to remember yet another site password. Real-life conversions are not like that - the people I talk to usually know who I am.

  9. Don't mean shit by AlanBDee · · Score: 2

    I can tell you from my experience on Facebook that having your account tied to your personal identity doesn't mean shit for how credible your posts are. Maybe knowing that on Reddit any ol' bot can easily post something means people are far more critical with post/comments on Reddit then on Facebook.

    I'm sure we can all agree that more people need to think more critically when reading things they read online; like that fact that this comment is based on one person's experience and therefore cannot be trusted as a true representation of the crap posts online.

    1. Re:Don't mean shit by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      It's like with Slashdot. You can 'earn' credibility by actually posting good content.

      Uniden's downfall was that he cheated the system to get himself started.

      AWildSketchAppears, shittymorph, are all novelty accounts that became Reddit popular without being tied to a real human.

      In a lot of subreddits there are 'credible' users like /r/askhistorians or /r/askscience.

      But if you're expecting someone famous to show up to /r/pics to refute something as himself, don't count on it.

    2. Re:Don't mean shit by mrbester · · Score: 1

      Unidan's (note the 'a', unidens are not native to US mainland) real downfall was that he fed the trolls who were getting tired of his holier-than-thou attitude. Then he created sock puppet accounts to feed them further. People got suspicious and in delicious irony it was him that ended up eating crow.

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    3. Re:Don't mean shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the idea that you have a base karma of 2 is every reason in the world to abandon identities

    4. Re:Don't mean shit by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      Read my username.

      Read the username of the person you're confusing me for.

      Compare.

  10. It works if the forum is well moderated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Good moderators, plus the up/down voting system, make this work pretty well for the handfull of subreddits that I frequent.

    1. Re:It works if the forum is well moderated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agree with you, the reddit community decides via up/down votes, and it makes /.'s system seem antiquated. I was a contributor here on /. for 4 years or more (sternishefan), but when /. tried to force it's users to its new Slashdot 'better' page debacle, they lost a huge amount of their contributors. Big mistake, and that is rather sad in retrospect, though it shows how easily a comment powered site can piss of their users who figure out that there are a lot of sites that they can switch to.

      Slashdot has improved greatly with their new group of editors. Yep, still some typos and double posts here. Never change the human factor, makes it more fun sometimes. I want /. to succeed again, however the horses have left the barn, many will not find their way back.

      capcture: workably

    2. Re:It works if the forum is well moderated by grumbel · · Score: 1

      The up/down voting is rather terrible as it heavily favours clickbait and popular content (not to be confused with correct or good content). Slashdot's moderation system where your votes fall into categories (funny, insightful, etc.) is far more useful, as it tells you something about the content of the post, not just a number.

      Moderation on Reddit also does often more harm than good as it actively works against the already existing scoring system and just makes mods power tripping and remove content that they don't like. There is nothing in place for users to override the mods or even just see what they are up to. Overreaching bans and deletions are common place on reddit.

      The real strength of reddit is far basic: Everybody can create subreddits. This allows people do go different ways when they no longer like the state of a subreddit or when they have interests not covered by any of the existing ones. This allows reddit to grow far beyond the regular web forum that is limited to a few predefined categories that an admin has to invent.

    3. Re:It works if the forum is well moderated by another_twilight · · Score: 1

      I like that Slashdot caps both positive and negative moderation. No-one can be modded below -1, nor above +5. Because of that, and by limiting the moderation any one mod can do, you will still see posts at all levels of moderation rather than a few posts attracting the majority of attention (good or bad).

  11. More from the Aspen Ideas Festival by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can Sacrificing Privacy Stomp Out Disinformation Online?

    According to Dipayan Piku Ghosh, a digital-privacy expert at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government,“the commercial interests of internet platforms like Facebook and those of disinformation operators are at some points aligned.”

    Ghosh specified that keeping users engaged for as long as possible is a core goal for both internet companies and entities spreading false information. “For the internet platform, it allows them to create more ad space and collect more data,” he said on Thursday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which is co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic. “For disinformation operators, it allows them to try to persuade the individual. And that alignment is what we need to really try to solve.”

    Renée DiResta, who works as Data for Democracy’s head of policy, offered one possible solution—but it’s a bitter remedy for those who would wish to hold their data close: “Really, the solution ... is better information sharing,” she said on Thursday.

    DiResta’s vision of online truth enforcement consists of a “triangle” of independent and academic researchers, researchers at big tech companies, and the government, all exchanging what they know and working in concert to stomp out disinformation. For some, that’s a chilling proposition—after all, it was data sharing between academics and Facebook that allowed Cambridge Analytica to create 30 million psychographic voter profiles without users’ consent. But without data and analysis flowing between each point of the triangle, DiResta argued, there’s no hope of triumphing over nefarious actors in a disinformation arms race.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    1. Re:More from the Aspen Ideas Festival by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, all of this is predicated on laws and enforcement. When Trump goes to prison for life, several of our current problems will be solved forever.

    2. Re:More from the Aspen Ideas Festival by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      When Renée DiResta shares her medical history, pornography habits, and other private information with the rest of the world, I might take her proposal seriously.

      What a fucking awful idea though. Data for Democracy, indeed. I didn't realize that Stasi were operating under a new name now.

  12. I like real names by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I use my real name here, and on Reddit. It's a credibility thing. I did get sued for $3 Million for something I wrote on my personal blog. That person ended up swearing a $300,000 bond for my defense, which should be a warning to others.

    1. Re: I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're an example of why you shouldn't post personal info online.

    2. Re:I like real names by Calydor · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You are also considered important enough that DDOS mitigation services go way above and beyond when you get slammed. They're not gonna do that for any random Joe.

      It's a matter of celebrity status, if you will. You have a background, a name, a history that all add up to making you Someone. That is not the case for the vast majority of people on the internet - for them the best defense is not in having everyone know their name, but in making sure no one knows that name.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    3. Re:I like real names by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      I use my real name here, and on Reddit. It's a credibility thing. I did get sued for $3 Million for something I wrote on my personal blog. That person ended up swearing a $300,000 bond for my defense, which should be a warning to others.

      The fact that you won the case is immaterial. You still got attacked from something you wrote online. If you were anonymous that likely wouldn't have been an issue. Your life was made more difficult BECAUSE of not being anonymous.

      As a poster to Slashdot, I don't care if your name is Bruce, Bob, or Betty. It's nice that you have a name (as opposed to being an anonymous coward) so that I can perhaps remember you from previous comments and it gives meaning if I can put a comment in perspective to other comments you may have made- but, no offense, I really don't care what your real life name is, nor anyone else's. As a slashdotter, I really don't care about anything anyone does outside Slashdot. No one's real life name means a thing to me.

      I certainly don't want anyone knowing my real name or anything about my life outside Slashdot.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    4. Re:I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      For you, that makes sense. The ability to opt into nonymous posting is fine for e-celebs and luminaries, but a bit riskier for the average Joe. I don't want to be sued for something I write on a blog, even if I will eventually win. No one will care if I rise or fall, because I haven't crafted mithril chains with a holy forge for the open source war or whatever it is you do these days. If you were unjustly imprisoned in some country because of something you said or created, there would be protests, and there would be NGOs and probably the state department on the case. I'd at best be a shit tier meme posted for someone's political gain, and likely eaten by rats.

    5. Re:I like real names by lkcl · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I use my real name here, and on Reddit. It's a credibility thing. I did get sued for $3 Million for something I wrote on my personal blog. That person ended up swearing a $300,000 bond for my defense, which should be a warning to others.

      that's down to creating a "brand" - a trademark in which people can "trust". it's a very reasonable, rational argument that assumes that there is a central "higher" authority to which one may appeal in the instance(s) where attackers make attempts to "phish" that name "bruce perens". for example by attackers registering bruceperens.info, or bruceperens.io, or bruceperens.name and so on. all of these you can go to a court of law for trademark infringement - the "higher authority" - or present a copyright registration certificate to nominet - the "higher authority" - and so on.

      now let's roll back about 15+ years, to before these insane and extremely dangerous real-name policies existed. you're on the internet, it's lawless, you have *no* idea who you are talking to. you have no idea if they're a real person. you have no idea if they're who they say they are... and ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT.

      consequently, because everyone KNOWS that you absolutely do not, under ANY circumstances, EVER trust someone by their ***NAME AND NAME ALONE***, everything's fine. even people who use GPG *know* that the digital signature does not authenticate the *person*, it authenticates the *key* that the person is *responsible* for. or, if they don't, they're damn fools, but that's another story.

      now let's move forward to the incredibly dangerous and extremely insidious but "perfectly justified" real-name policies. google. facebook. establishing themselves as "god". the "higher authority" to which we must appeal. the "higher authority" that we must place our absolute absolute faith and trust in, or be told "go fuck yourself and oh incidentally we're terminating access to 10 years worth of business email (and we don't give a fuck) because you REFUSED to accept our google+ real-name policy".

      what effect do these "real name" policies have? where previously EVERYONE KNEW that you NEVER trusted an online identity... suddenly we can?? oink?

      and what happens when that system fails? what happens when someone claims via one of these "real name" policies to be the President of the United States and sends out a "fake message" that there's a nuclear strike been ordered? what happens when someone claims to be their doctor, and orders them to send pictures of themselves naked for quotes medical review quotes? what happens when the "real named" account is COMPROMISED?

      it's *unbelievably* dangerous to blindly place our trust and faith in these criminally-pathological companies that are so deluded by their belief that they can take away our right to be responsible for our own lives and decisions that we LET them, en-masse, sleep-walking into incredibly dangerous scenarios.

      PLEASE WAKE UP, people. take responsibility for checking if people are who they say they are NOT by their "real name" but by heuristics on their *behaviour*.

      i got phished on facebook by someone pretending to be my deputy head-master from 30 years ago. it took me almost 10 minutes to work out that they weren't that person. facebook had allowed the phisher to use the EXACT same name - and their photograph. if instead facebook had gone by "handles", like people used to 15+ years ago, (and like yahoo still does) the extra numbers on the end of the name would have given the game away almost immediately.

    6. Re:I like real names by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1

      This is a chicken-and-egg thing, though. I got the notoriety because I made myself a public figure on the net.

    7. Re:I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Consider that people might not want notoriety, but still want to converse online.

    8. Re: I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This lol.

      Once again, Bruce is totally clueless.

    9. Re:I like real names by dromgodis · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, in contrast to you, most people (would) gain notoriety by making asses of themselves in public.

      Myself included, probably.

    10. Re:I like real names by i.r.id10t · · Score: 1

      So I guess one of my favorite statements you made in "Revolution OS" is no longer quite accurate then, huh?

      "Now if you're like just a guy on the net who's not doing this for a job at all and you sort of write a manifesto and it spreads out through the
      world and a year later the vice-president of Microsoft is talking about it you'd think you were on drugs wouldn't you?"

      That's OK - I still like it :)

      For those bashing Bruce over this, or pointing out that he's Somebody and so "its different", I'd like to remind them that there are other Somebody's that post here, or reddit, or on fark, or on specific forums (like a Porsche one I'm part of - Jerry S. is a member, but the user named "Jerry S." is someone else - or a gun forum where Keanu Reeves may be hanging out) who DO want to be relatively anonymous, and just be a Regular Joe for a little part of their lives.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    11. Re:I like real names by Tailhook · · Score: 1

      This is a chicken-and-egg thing

      No, it isn't. Few can be notable, by definition. Few will, therefore, ever enjoy the independence your status provides you. Most have three choices on the net; flatter the prevailing group-think, be silent or use anonymity. Think hard before having the last removed please.

      --
      Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
    12. Re:I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use my real name here, and on Reddit. It's a credibility thing.

      Yes exactly, we look at the stuff you posted and there's no way you are ever going to work where I do.

    13. Re:I like real names by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1

      I couldn't have pushed that manifesto without being an identifiable figure. Or the whole No-Code International thing about the Morse code test for ham radio licenses (which IMO was as important as Open Source, we got a UN treaty changed and the rules of almost every country on the globe). It happens that I do post on the TrailManorOwners.com forum under my real name.

    14. Re:I like real names by Calydor · · Score: 1

      Are you absolutely sure you want 4 billion notorious public figures on the internet?

      How much effort did it take you to get to where you are now? Does it seem like something the average net user is going to be able to do, let alone WANT to do?

      How much crap do you have to put up with as a result of your name and fame? Should the net be off limits for anyone without a skin thick one to stand against that much crap?

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    15. Re:I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a chicken-and-egg thing, though. I got the notoriety because I made myself a public figure on the net.

      Why is it that attention whores don't seem to be capable of understanding that most people don't want fame / notoriety.

    16. Re:I like real names by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 1

      There is an upside. It's nice to know that your influence has made a difference in the world. The notoriety opens a lot of doors when I want to further influence people. It is also nice that people have flown me all over the world to speak and that my consulting rates can be really high because of my known expertise.

    17. Re: I like real names by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      You also, Bruce, are the person with whose name other people used to make shill accounts with similar looking names, and made such a big deal about it that slashdot changed the interface so that UIDs were made visible.

      Before you made the big deal, UIDs were invisible and people here were not aware of them.

      "Thanks" for forcing a little bit more elitism here than there was before, to protect your good name. Protect that brand.

    18. Re: I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you've no objection if I create an account under the name "Binq Tsher E" and start posting about "your" man-crush on Bruce? Great!

      You're a fucking moron suffering from envy, and nothing but. Feel free to prove me wrong.

      CAPTCHA: desire

    19. Re:I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You did that? Thanks for the help with my amateur radio license! :-)

    20. Re:I like real names by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's any consolation, I have no fucking idea who you are - never heard of you, and won't remember your name 10 minutes from now.

      Celebrity is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

    21. Re:I like real names by Alsn · · Score: 1

      You are probably correct that it did earn you that, but on the other hand:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

    22. Re:I like real names by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      The egg came first.

    23. Re: I like real names by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      No, why would I care? It's academic, though, because the UID fix is complete.

      Envy for not being Bruce Perens? Have you heard his voice narration in 'Revolution OS'???

  13. My experience with Reddit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I created an account and started posting stuff (not spam). After recieving zero views/clicks/comments for a long time, I contacted the support, and it eventually turned out that they had silently put me inside a "bubble", not because of anything I posted, but immediately after creating the account because I was using a VPN. Same thing happened on Hacker News.

    Forget anonymity -- they require you to use your uniquely identifying home IP address to post anything that will be seen by anyone other than yourself. They do not believe in anonymity and I don't blame them, because it has countless problems associated with it, but the point here is that they are not being honest, and I can't stand that.

    Any service that employs these underhanded, disgusting tactics such as "putting you in a bubble", showing fake error messages, etc., are absolutely vile and I want nothing to do with them.

    1. Re:My experience with Reddit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you have any comment karma prior to submitting posts? From their perspective a new account on a vpn with no karma making post submissions is like a textbook spam account.

    2. Re:My experience with Reddit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Karma? It was a new account. And posting is what you do on the site...

    3. Re:My experience with Reddit. by admin7087 · · Score: 1

      Shadowbanning is a very reasonable and good measure against sockpuppets and trolls. Man up and use your real IP are don't use HN or reddit, it's as simple as that. As you might imagine, sockpuppets, bots, and trolls use VPNs and we already have enough of those. Nobody cares about the false positives.

    4. Re:My experience with Reddit. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      I created an account and started posting stuff (not spam). After recieving zero views/clicks/comments for a long time, I contacted the support, and it eventually turned out that they had silently put me inside a "bubble", not because of anything I posted, but immediately after creating the account because I was using a VPN. Same thing happened on Hacker News.

      Forget anonymity -- they require you to use your uniquely identifying home IP address to post anything that will be seen by anyone other than yourself. They do not believe in anonymity and I don't blame them, because it has countless problems associated with it, but the point here is that they are not being honest, and I can't stand that.

      Any service that employs these underhanded, disgusting tactics such as "putting you in a bubble", showing fake error messages, etc., are absolutely vile and I want nothing to do with them.

      It's a shame for you that they mistakenly put you in a bubble; but in many ways it's a clever technique. You put a troll in a bubble and he posts away and doesn't cause trouble. You ban a troll and he starts a new account. You presumably got labeled a troll incorrectly, so they have problems, but the idea behind what they were doing is sound and designed to protect the users.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    5. Re:My experience with Reddit. by fafalone · · Score: 1

      If I had to guess, there was probably troublesome activity coming from that VPN at some point. Just a couple weeks ago I wanted to post something anonymously, and did so by creating a new account and posting, over Tor. It showed up publicly right away (though I was extremely rate-limited; each post or edit triggered a 10 minute wait).

    6. Re: My experience with Reddit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Man up and use your real identity says "unknown user". Great advice. /s

    7. Re:My experience with Reddit. by grumbel · · Score: 1

      The problem with reddit is that they use shadow blocking and banning all the time. Post something that triggers their overzealous filter and your post gets disappeared. No explanation, no notification. Doesn't even matter if your account is years old with thousands of karma. You basically have to use Incognito Mode or Tor and check everything you submit to ensure that it goes through. I am not even sure if it's helping against spam and trolls, as those can just check if their stuff goes through, it's the average user that gets hurt by this as they generally don't expect to run into issues all the time.

    8. Re:My experience with Reddit. by tepples · · Score: 1

      uniquely identifying home IP address

      Since when does a home IP address uniquely identify a person? In cases like North American wired Internet, an IP address uniquely identifies a household. In cases with carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT), an IP address uniquely identifies no less than an entire neighborhood. Mobile ISPs also tend to use CGNAT. Another suggestion is to post from a public place instead of home while building your initial comment karma, such as a coffee shop.

    9. Re:My experience with Reddit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While on ArsTechnica.com a few months ago, I read a story, clicked on 'comments' then 'best comments' and was re-directed to a page that told me I was banned for spamming, and to contact ArsTechnica at the link provided. That I did, and to their credit I was contacted by email quickly. Told them I made an account years back, gave my user name, that I hadn't posted in many years. After providing my IP Address I was whitelisted. Ars was getting a lot of spam posts, excellent response and I have not had that issue since.

    10. Re:My experience with Reddit. by ayesnymous · · Score: 1

      It's pretty obvious when they do it - nobody replies to you or even upvotes/downvotes you - the karma on your posts stays at 1.

    11. Re:My experience with Reddit. by bingoUV · · Score: 1

      Another suggestion is to post from a public place instead of home while building your initial comment karma, such as a coffee shop.

      With Android devices that never got the update to fix KRACK wifi vulnerability - VPN is typically the safest easy security measure , right ? One of my own phones has that problem - and I never thought I would be judged for using VPN.

      --
      Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
    12. Re:My experience with Reddit. by tepples · · Score: 1

      When you use a VPN, you're judged for using the same IP address that several other people have used to post abusive messages in the past.

    13. Re:My experience with Reddit. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      And often it only identifies a particular household at a particular point in time.

      It amazes me how many site admins don't know what a dynamic IP is.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  14. That's awful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves,"

    Wow. That's awful.

    My real-world identity (which I simply call my "identity") IS my authentic, true self. WYSIWYG. It must be terrible to have your authentic self imprisoned in a virtual world.

    Can't imagine what the world is like for peeps like SuperKendall. Is he or she as much an asshole in the real world, or is that vitriol only saved for Slashdot?

  15. Read Reddit's Privacy Policy... by Computershack · · Score: 1

    Then tell me they don't want your data and don't sell it. https://www.redditinc.com/poli...

    --
    I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  16. Anonymity is a double-edged sword by Lucas123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves," he claimed. And in many cases, that means more trollish, uncivilized and downright nasty. They write and post things they'd never do if their identities were known; that's why many media sites require an authentic (or at least an attempt at it) Facebook or Twitter account. Zero accountability isn't always (and typically isn't) a good thing.

    1. Re:Anonymity is a double-edged sword by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The only reason Facebook orignally wanted personal info is so that people could find their "friends". Similarly, LinkedIn has legitimate reasons for asking you to list where you have worked in the past. It is NOT about accountability, since you can lie all you want on those sites (and many do).

      But Reddit, Slashdot, etc, have no legitimate interest in knowing who you are. But there are ways to know who's worth listening to and who should be given less credence - ie, modding, anonymous cowards, who recently the person joined, ignore lists, etc. That's how things worked in the early internet days, such as with usenet, bboards, etc, and you didn't know who people were except by their email addresses (which would change with every job, or for students every semester).

      I have gone and posted anonymously several times when I was including details that would make it easier to identify who I was in real life or what company I was currently working at, etc.

    2. Re:Anonymity is a double-edged sword by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 2

      So you're in favor of self-censorship? That people shouldn't be able to express unpopular ideas unless their real-life identity can be harassed or punished?

      The fact that my name is attached is precisely why Facebook only gets non-controversial, non-personal content. I only post about things I see out in public, or info about upcoming events or recent news.

      I have a diversity of friends and I'm not interested in damaging my "brand" by posting a bunch of personal content for them to see. Just like Hillary I have both a personal and a professional image to maintain.

    3. Re:Anonymity is a double-edged sword by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      There is a pretty simple solution here. Don't get offended at what anonymous people who never met you in real life say on the Internet. That's your choice and you are in control. On the flip side, you get real feedback on ideas. If you ask a question with a genuine desire to know the answer, you are more likely to find it on an anonymous forum.

    4. Re:Anonymity is a double-edged sword by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You self censor for real dontcha? Call 6'3" 350lb Bubba a faggot to his face and see if he don't knock you upside your ugly head. Look, be as racist, sexist, whatever-ist you want...in your damned head. You keep that shit to yourself or you could pay the consequences for it. It's always been that way.

  17. Or even the other way around by aglider · · Score: 1

    They can be less authentic, more false to themselves. It's a matter of personalities, non persons.

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
  18. Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Huffman argued that anonymity on Reddit actually makes using the site "more like a conversation one has in real life" than other exchanges on the internet. "When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves," he claimed.

    But what if you're an asshole?

  19. they don't require an email by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's far from anonymous. Reddit heavily tracks their users. And if law enforcement gets involved they have the tracking and IP data. Anonymous? No. Revenue through tracking? Yes.

  20. Thanks, Slashdot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    BTW: thanks, Slashdot, for enabling posting as AC.

    That's one of the reasons I stick with you.

      (I'd register if you figured out how to enable that without cookies & without Javascript, but hey, I make do as AC).

  21. The good ole BBS days by TheDarkener · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Some of you may not know the glory of anonymity in the BBS (Bulletin Board System) days. But it really was glorious. Everyone had a "handle" or "alias". It was generally encouraged to be anonymous online back then, or at least be something that contrasts who you were IRL. It was part of the fun. It was part of the drive of going online in the first place, it was like role playing.

    Many people I knew had complete online alter-egos based around characters they'd play in door games (hence my alias TheDarkener, a character I created when playing L.O.R.D.). I was a young teenager then and it was absolutely liberating to be able to converse with people of all ages and, for the most part, know they only knew of my intellect, my character and not my IRL age (for obviously bias may come into play).

    Sure, there were boards that demanded you put in your real name, had a callback verification system so they'd know your real phone number..and those boards were hardly as popular as those who didn't do that.

    Remember the movie "Hackers"? When Joey said, "I need a handle, man. I don't have an identity 'till I have a handle!" Man, I miss that. Now there's pressure for online platforms to ensure people are putting in their real names, real birthdays, upload photo IDs for verification, all this crap..what happened to the innocence of imagination? Oh yeah, it got crushed by the Internet becoming a global economic machine, and the money people got their grubby mitts into how it should work.

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    1. Re:The good ole BBS days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Geezer... ;)

      I had the opposite experience, probably because there was no way in or out of my county without long distance charges. So basically anyone I met 'online' who was a teenager went to my high school. Nearly all of my friendships started on BBS's. I even met my future ex-wife on my BBS.

    2. Re:The good ole BBS days by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I even met my future ex-wife on my BBS.

      If you knew she was going to be your ex-wife then why the hell did you marry her? DUMBASS!

      Hey, TheDarkener was right, anonymity is great!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:The good ole BBS days by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "Some of you may not know the glory of anonymity in the BBS (Bulletin Board System) days."

      Uh, no, you had no anonymity. CID before you connected to my BBS pretty much ensured that, and most of you had no clue about it back then.

      Being able to call someone back after they tried to raise hell on my system was always fun. Having a child berating you for being stupid enough to not cover your tracks before trying stupid shit pretty much got most of them to never try connecting again.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    4. Re:The good ole BBS days by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      "CID before you connected to my BBS pretty much ensured"

      Unless the caller blocked CID ;}

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    5. Re:The good ole BBS days by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

      Some of you may not know the glory of anonymity in the BBS (Bulletin Board System) days. But it really was glorious.

      Anonymous to other users, sure.....but not the SysOps. Most of the boards I remember required call-back authentication* when you registered an account. You had to place some fairly heavy blind trust that they didn't do anything stupid with your phone number. I had a friend who started to get trolled by a SysOp, which is pretty serious when it's a phone call.

      *For those of you too young to remember, when you went to register for an account on a BBS, you had to provide the telephone# that you were calling from. The system would disconnect your' modem, and then call you back on the number provided to make sure that it was legit.

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    6. Re:The good ole BBS days by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      I even met my future ex-wife on my BBS.

      Don't ever speak to my future ex-wife's son like that.

    7. Re:The good ole BBS days by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Callback verification was not employed by all boards. Like I said in OP, those boards, at least in my area, were less frequented because of this.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    8. Re:The good ole BBS days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Uh, no, you had no anonymity. CID before you connected to my BBS pretty much ensured that, and most of you had no clue about it back then.

      pfft. ATDT *69 ~~~ number

    9. Re:The good ole BBS days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From Wikipedia:

      BellSouth was the first company to deploy caller ID in December 1988 in Memphis, Tennessee, with a full deployment to its nine-state region over the next four years.

      There was very little overlap between the BBS heyday and caller ID.

      However, nearly all the BBSes I spent time on actually dialed you back to verify the number you had given as part of the verification process.

    10. Re:The good ole BBS days by Major+Blud · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately that wasn't the case for me. There were probably only about 6-7 boards in my area that you didn't have to dial long distance for, and I think all but two required call back :-(

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    11. Re: The good ole BBS days by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      In the BBS days almost all accounts were local. Yes, in the later period there were things like fidonet, but for the most part people couldn't afford long distance connect calling, so people like me would get a second phone line and hang a spare computer off it running a board. People all knew each other and in the case of one board community I was part of, we started playing softball every other Sunday. People still went by their 'handles' at the softball games, incidentally.

      My board even ended up hosting a bowling league. Not a team, a whole league of teams. Online was different in the 80s.

    12. Re:The good ole BBS days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, I only really got into online communities after gaining access to the internet from a .gov account.

      From that point on (1990-ish) I found that I could log into almost any resource with anonymous/guest (was that like a social thing or just a default account that people left laying around?) and, yes, I put the flame-proof suit on more than once and may have provoked somebody to red-faced, keyboard banging anger, but it was a learning experience that not only helped with my career, but assisted my semi-autistic self to learn social norms and play well with others.

      I think that we would all do much better in a relatively-anonymous mosh pit, just my 2-bits

    13. Re: The good ole BBS days by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Being "online" most certainly *was* different in the 80s (and 90s when I was mostly on). It was local by requirement because of telco industry/long distance like you said. Every board was an island. Distributed. If you didn't like a board, you didn't call it (or if you REALLY didn't like it you'd hack it =p). It was every board for itself for the most part. It was an awesome time =}

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    14. Re:The good ole BBS days by philmarcracken · · Score: 1

      They can have my real name, street address, blood type and color of my piss this morning if they make their password rules as flexible as they were in 2001.

    15. Re:The good ole BBS days by dknj · · Score: 1

      Toll calls were real back then. It wasn't hard to make BBS' reconsider that policy. Between 2 and 6 am, spoof a few hundred toll calls would typically cause that BBS to go missing the next month or continue without the callback functionality.

      yea, i was that asshole. sorry.

    16. Re: The good ole BBS days by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I had the opposite experience, probably because there was no way in or out of my county without long distance charges.

      Never figured out that "blue box" thing, eh?

    17. Re:The good ole BBS days by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "BellSouth was the first company to deploy caller ID in December 1988 in Memphis, Tennessee"

      Guess where my primary BBS was hosted from from July 1993 onwards until I moved to California and shut it down. :)

      "However, nearly all the BBSes I spent time on actually dialed you back to verify the number you had given as part of the verification process."

      This is why I had CID. Roboboard handled it just fine for my multi-node BBS.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    18. Re:The good ole BBS days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firstly, you had zero anonymity unless you hijacked somebody's phone.

      Secondly, Hackers was a truly terrible movie. Like pretty much every other movie that Angelina Jolie was in, everyone was so busy staring at her and drooling that no one even noticed what a shit show the film actually was.

      Lastly, please stop capitalizing the word internet. It isn't a proper noun anymore and hasn't been for quite some time now.

  22. Control, not credibility by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can tell you from my experience on Facebook that having your account tied to your personal identity doesn't mean shit for how credible your posts are.

    You're missing the point.

    It isn't for credibility, it's for control. If you say something that Facebook doesn't like, it can ban you, and if you're *required* to prove your identity Facebook can keep you banned. (Gun enthusiast sites, for instance.)

    There's also the issue of consequences. If you say something that the community doesn't like (but is otherwise legal), the community can pound you into the ground for it. For example, harass your employer until you get fired (this actually happens).

    While there is certainly a lot of trolls and general assinine behaviour on the net, forcing people to use their real identity has more important consequences. It's throwing the baby out with the bath water.

    It's about control, not credibility.

    1. Re:Control, not credibility by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      Yep. This is why 4Chan ends up being way more civilized than you would otherwise expect. Morally bankrupt but civilized.

    2. Re:Control, not credibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The language on 4chan, 8chan, et. al. is also normalized profanity and offensive language. This is by design in order to A) Filter those complainers with thin skin out. B) Desensitize those who stick around to offense. and C) Eliminate the power of offensive words.

      For instance. On chans, I am known as a "coderf4g", and a medical student would call themselves a "medif4g", but only if those titles are appropriate for the content of the post. Thread starter / original poster / OP is a f4ggot. This isn't homophobic. These are generally terms of endearment used on and by everyone to refer to all other users and themselves.

      Terms such as nigg3r & kik3 are rendered near useless for offense, used on anyone and everyone so as to remove the racial component:
      "Don't be a nigg3rf4gg0t, reverse image search before asking for sauce" (reply in response to request for source of an image). The offensive words have become nothing more than insulting than "Don't be a newb" (t.n. newb is short for NewBoys - a term traditionally applied to British armed forces recruits, now commonly spelled as "noob" for a slightly more insulting effect).

      This has the effect that any unfamiliar with the site sees it as a hive of moral bankruptcy when in fact the chans have largely transcended the prejudice their nay-sayers accuse.

      E.g., there is no sexism on chans. If you assert your sex, such as "BTW, ima gurl", then you'll typically be told "Tits or GTF0" not because the users are misogynistic but because the users frown on the use of gender to gain additional attention. The hivemind consensus is that posts should stand on their own merit regardless of the Race, Gender, Sexual Preference, Creed, etc. of the author. So, if one uses their sex for attention, they "agree and amplify" saying, "might as well post your tits too for max effect, or not even try".

      Ergo, the chans have actually achieved the SJ\/\/ "paradise" where the insults are no longer insulting, and hilariously the 'morally superior' social justice crowd claims the exact opposite due to ignorance. There's no sex or race on 4chan. Everyone is anonymous.

      1337 used because "Filter error: Lameness filter encountered" - SJ\/\/s administration detected... sigh.

    3. Re:Control, not credibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of the most repugnant things I've witnessed on the internet comes from blog sites authored by purported champions of privacy, who expect a log-in or valid email from people wishing to post comments on their blog.

      The same is true of sites promoting discourse about controversial subjects, or any other kind of website where membership and accurate identification might prove to be a problem for visitors, or be cause for unwanted scrutiny. This seems to be the rule, and is hypocrisy or much worse !!!

    4. Re:Control, not credibility by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      I don't think the Chans are morally bankrupt because of the language; I think they are morally bankrupt because of the REKT and Scat WEBM posts.

  23. "more true to themselves" by taustin · · Score: 0

    And generally, their true selves are stupid assholes who play with their own poo.

  24. Penny-Arcade on Internet Anonymity by poobah75 · · Score: 1

    Penny-arcade had a similar analogy... https://www.penny-arcade.com/c...

  25. No more anonymous browsing by what+about · · Score: 2

    I left reddit since it did not allow me to browse anonymously anymore, had to register to just lookig to it.
    And now they say that they value being anonymous ? Lie, a plain lie.
    A verified Email is all it takes to track a user , build a profile and tag it back to a real person.
    Then, the next step will come in: disappearing articles from your view, your posts will not get upvoted.
    Nothing new, history is bound to repeat itself, worse.

    1. Re:No more anonymous browsing by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      They still allow anonymous browsing. I can go into Incognito Mode (to ensure no login cookies) and browse Reddit forums all I like. Perhaps a few sub-Reddits have login requirements built in, but none that I frequent do.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:No more anonymous browsing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At work I sometimes browse reddit without logging in, never had any issues.

  26. Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject for a perfect example of what you say. He made that SOCKPUPPET to harass me https://slashdot.org/comments.... & cheaters on /. use MULTIPLE SOCKPUPPETS to UPMOD their MAIN registered 'luser' account + downmodbomb opponents with.

    * You're EXACTLY right!

    APK

    P.S.=> ... & folks, THAT is the downside of /.'s EASILY CHEATED so-called "downmoderation system" that doesn't even SHOW YOU WHO ISSUES DOWNMODS (so they can 'hide' & NOT have to STAND BEHIND THEIR STALKER WORDS)... apk

  27. That's pretty normal by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 1

    Most sites are like Reddit, in this regard. Pretty sure /. is another. Indeed, exceptions are relatively rare, though one of those exceptions does happen to currently be pretty popular (Facebook).

    --
    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  28. That works for you by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I use my real name here, and on Reddit. It's a credibility thing. I did get sued for $3 Million for something I wrote on my personal blog. That person ended up swearing a $300,000 bond for my defense, which should be a warning to others.

    I use my real name here, and on Reddit. It's a credibility thing. I did get sued for $3 Million for something I wrote on my personal blog. That person ended up swearing a $300,000 bond for my defense, which should be a warning to others.

    Suppose you say something that the community doesn't like. Suppose it's OK to say that today, but tomorrow the community standards change. (Such as the thing with Apu in "The Simpsons". Poking fun at Indian convenience store owners was OK up until recently.)

    (Or gun enthusiasts.)

    The community could ostracize you, they could call up your employer and complain about you. Your business could be downrated to 1 star on Yelp (or GlassDoor or whatever). You could be doxxed, you could be swatted. If you were a Facebook user, Facebook could ban you, and the community could talk about you all day and you wouldn't be able to respond. Your voice of protest wouldn't be heard.

    And as to your court case, how much did you have to pay up front to fund that? And it was a gamble up front, meaning that you might not have gotten that investment back. Additionally, how much of your time and energy went into proving yourself in a court of law?

    You're honestly saying that regular people - people full-time of families and jobs, who don't have ten grand to wager on a court case - should shoulder that sort of burden?

    Using your real name works for you, but don't expect it to be the right solution for everyone.

    1. Re:That works for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yours is a truly insight filled comment.

      History is repeating itself in the US and everyone seems to be so blissfully ignorant of it. The thought police are gaining more traction and power every day, and it really feels like we're just two or three steps away from grabbing people off the streets and throwing them into "education camps" over some perceived wrong thing they did, said, or thought. It might have been yesterday or it might have been 20 years ago (and god forbid you try to explain that people can actually change and evolve over the course of their lives, that's no acceptable excuse!)

      It's popular to compare what's going on in the US these days with Nazi Germany, and there's a scary amount of accuracy in those comparisons. The problem is that everybody is wrongly staring in the direction of the White House when making those comparisons, when they should in fact be looking at what's unfolding on college campuses across the nation. Things are getting really ugly, really fast, and looking at history, almost nobody saw it coming back then either.

  29. I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by DatbeDank · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I live in a place where it's unfashionable to say certain things. The only reason it's unfashionable is because a vocal minority have deemed my speech "hateful" even though it's free.

    The fact that my free speech can now get me barred from establishments is on par with the ideologies we conquered in the 20th century.

    I should be able to say:
    1.that abortion should/should not be abolished
    2.gays can/can not marry
    3. women are/are not fundamentally different than men
    4. Illegal immigrants should/should not be able to stay in my country
    5. Islam is/ is not a violent, hateful, and supremacist organization.
    6. Apple and Macs are / are not the best computers around.
    7. PCs are / are not the best computers around.

    Without fear of reprisal or imprisonment. The fact that statements like this are being punished in western democracies is frightening and a sign we are in critical decline.

    1. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by edtice1559 · · Score: 2

      You should also be able to say that the earth is/is not flat and that the sun does/does not revolve around the earth. You certainly shouldn't be imprisoned. But you'll have to define reprisal a bit more specifically. If you are saying any of these things too loudly, I may not want you in my establishment. (Well if I had one that is) Many of the things you listed above can be said in both hateful and non-hateful ways. So how you say those things would be a factor as well.

    2. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 3, Funny

      I agree with most of your examples. However, saying that Windows PC are the best computers is clearly hate speech and should be illegal.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    3. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I should be able to say....Without fear of reprisal or imprisonment. The fact that statements like this are being punished in western democracies is frightening and a sign we are in critical decline.

      What is truly frightening is that you have failed to grasp the painfully obvious here.

      Freedom of speech has NEVER meant freedom of consequence. East or West is irrelevant; that truth has existed since the dawn of time. Open your mouth all you want; just be prepared for the consequences. This is also exactly why the hell you shouldn't talk about politics or religion around the family dinner table.

    4. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forget being barred from an establishment, it may get you fired lol

    5. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the beautiful thing about ethical relativism. Your "critical decline" is "socio-economic progress" to someone else. Who is to say who is right? We must consider all opinions, even if we do not agree with them, and not shout people down for disagreeing with us. I may be personally disgusted by your insinuation that societal progress is actually 'critical decline,' but at least I can sit here and consider why you might hold such absurd opinions, and that those absurd opinions might be something you are quite passionate about. Do I think people who hold absurd opinions should be jailed? Of course not. Who actually believes that?? I would say nobody really does.

    6. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And don't mess with the Apple zealots.

      One might scream "Steve Jobs Ackbar!" and come at you with their nerd cannon.

    7. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      As a Mac user on the desktop, a unix user for servers and a PC user for gaming, I think your narrow opinion should be revised.

      Windows PCs are the best gaming computers.
      Unix PCs are the best servers.
      Macs are the best desktop computers... apart from the butterfly keyboards, the OLED touch bar, the forced thermal limits of the CPUs and GPUs, the limited or absent upgradability of RAM and storage drives, the single-mindedness of thin above everything else including usability. Apart from those flaws, Macs are the best.

      Posted from my 2010 Mac mini, later upgraded to 16GB RAM and its slow HDD replaced with a fast SSD.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    8. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > If you are saying any of these things too loudly, I may not want you in my establishment.

      Gosh, what if I never said any of those things in your theoretical establishment at all, but elsewhere on social media? And what if what you read or heard was not an original statement from me, but just what was reported by people who were upset at what I said or wrote? Would I still be allowed in your establishment?

    9. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      If you are saying any of these things too loudly, I may not want you in my establishment. (Well if I had one that is) Many of the things you listed above can be said in both hateful and non-hateful ways. So how you say those things would be a factor as well.

      If he said them elsewhere, not in your establishment?

      Like, say, in a discussion forum, which is supposedly for discussion?

    10. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are saying any of these things too loudly, I may not want you in my establishment.

      So you say that Jesus Christ was a real person? And I ask you to leave my establishment. Lets see how well that plays out.

    11. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      Who do you know who has ever been banned from an establishment because of something they said on a discussion forum? If that happened to me, I sure wouldn't be bragging about it. You'd have to be expressing some pretty extreme viewpoints. And at that point, maybe what the OP is saying really is dangerous/hateful.

    12. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Still depends. If you say that you don't respect gay people and will call them out whenever you see them, I may not want you in my restaurant. If you say you don't respect gay people, but will tolerate them for civility sake, then I probably wouldn't mind you being in my restaurant.

      The key point is that, a "discussion" in one sense is an exchange if ideas, but when "discussing" social and political topics, also conveys how one will conduct themselves in public and will expect others to conduct themselves. If the "discussion" reveals that a person will conduct themselves in a certain way in public that I find detrimental to my business, or simply do not want in my private quarters, then that "discussion" will lead to consequential action.

      Honest, meaningful "discussion" reflects actual consequences and actions. There will possibly be a consequence for the discussion. Otherwise, the "discussion" isn't actually meaningful or honest.

    13. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unix PCs are the best servers.

      Nah. Managing users and complex file security is a pain in the ass. So is clustering, failover, and clouds until the numbers get large. I use AD (lets face it, Microsoft Servers are really just Active Directory servers that might have extra functionality. Realms sucks. Real bad.) for most tasks where other people are involved and overall management but use linux for many but not all specific features like network infrastructure, db, email, often hypervisors, and storage.

    14. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I live in a place where it's unfashionable to say certain things. The only reason it's unfashionable is because a vocal minority have deemed my speech "hateful" even though it's free.

      Uhh. Who are you saying these things to? And why? These aren't typical topics of conversation for most people in common conversation. There are a great many people who would prefer political ideologues not use their place of business as a platform, regardless of positions held. If you're shouting these things at people apart from an organized rally, don't be surprised if it gets you kicked out of establishments.

      Your freedom to speak in no way equates to everyone else's requirement to give you a soapbox to stand on for your speeches.

    15. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But if they're not saying it in your establishment, why bother them at all?

    16. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. Moreover, speech and thought influence actions. If you believe that a minority should be oppressed, it influences your actions. Therefore, it's in society's best interests to get people to change their ignorant beliefs. (See slavery as an example of an ignorant belief that has been challenged and changed.)

      Also, "gays" is ignorant and othering language. There is no such thing as a gay. Gay is an adjective, not a noun. Your "us vs them" language serves to divide rather than unite.

    17. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Open your mouth all you want; just be prepared for the consequences. This is also exactly why the hell you shouldn't talk about politics or religion around the family dinner table.

      and look how often that isn't followed.

    18. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The problem is that for you to say those things and feel comfortable and not unwelcome it requires other people's freedom of speech to be censored.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a vocal minority have deemed my speech "hateful" even though it's free.

      The fact that my free speech can now get me barred from establishments

      Whatever it is, thats not a vocal minority when it gets to that level. Are you sure your speech is not deeply unpopular with a much larger group of people? Free speech is what empowers the vocal minority too you know...

    20. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it really doesn't.

    21. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only people being imprisoned for statements like those in western democracies are the ones who are making those statements in the form of threats of death and other violence against anyone who disagrees.

    22. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only reason it's unfashionable is because a vocal minority have deemed my speech "hateful" even though it's free.

      Even in healthy democracies, there's the problem of tyranny of the majority. In particular, when a democracy faces a question of whether to enact a policy that causes severe harm to a small minority while leaving everyone else unaffected, the unaffected majority often turns out to be extremely cruel to the small minority. Of course, the classic example is Germany sending Jews to the death camps: while it was extremely cruel to the Jews, most Germans weren't really affected one way or the other - but it was exactly this unaffected majority that made the (wrong, IMHO) decision to send the Jews to the death camps.

      And there are quite a few items on your list that fall into the "tyranny of the majority" category (abortion, gay marriage, immigration, Islam). For example, if someone is in a predominantly Muslim country then there probably isn't much harm if they hold forth with their view that Islam is a violent and hateful religion: there's not much chance that the Muslim majority is going to vote to severely persecute themselves. But if it's a country where Muslims are a small minority - where most people don't even have any Muslim friends or acquaintances - then there's a big risk that the non-Muslim majority will do like Nazi Germany did for Jews and vote in favor of severe persecution for Muslims - secure in the knowledge that they themselves will be unaffected by this persecution because they aren't Muslim and don't have any Muslim friends or acquaintances.

      Ultimately, I'm not sure it does much good for a persecuted minority to try to fight back against the persecutions by hurting their oppressors. It just makes it easier for the oppressors to pretend to be victims to rationalize the persecution. Then again, I also wouldn't necessarily say that something like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was unethical - even if it was ultimately ineffective.

      But I do think there may be a role for decent people in the majority to fight back against tyranny of the majority of which they are part. For example, if two people in the majority are friends and one friend advocates persecuting some minority then the other friend has a right, perhaps even a responsibility, to disagree - even to the point of ending the friendship.

      So I'm not sure it's entirely wrong for people who advocate tyranny of the majority to face consequences.

    23. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Who do you know who has ever been banned from an establishment because of something they said on a discussion forum? If that happened to me, I sure wouldn't be bragging about it. You'd have to be expressing some pretty extreme viewpoints. And at that point, maybe what the OP is saying really is dangerous/hateful.

      That's kind of the point of TFA, that anonymity should be preserved so that it won't happen.

    24. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Honest, meaningful "discussion" reflects actual consequences and actions. There will possibly be a consequence for the discussion. Otherwise, the "discussion" isn't actually meaningful or honest.

      Hmm, OK.

      So if someone's a loud, obnoxious, threatening BLM type online, it's OK to ban them from your establishment? For what they said online?

    25. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Stomper_Stoddard · · Score: 1

      I live in a place where it's unfashionable to say certain things. The only reason it's unfashionable is because a vocal minority have deemed my speech "hateful" even though it's free.

      The fact that my free speech can now get me barred from establishments is on par with the ideologies we conquered in the 20th century.

      I should be able to say: 1.that abortion should/should not be abolished 2.gays can/can not marry 3. women are/are not fundamentally different than men 4. Illegal immigrants should/should not be able to stay in my country 5. Islam is/ is not a violent, hateful, and supremacist organization. 6. Apple and Macs are / are not the best computers around. 7. PCs are / are not the best computers around.

      Without fear of reprisal or imprisonment. The fact that statements like this are being punished in western democracies is frightening and a sign we are in critical decline.

      My question is are you asking for freedom of speech or freedom from the consequences of your speech? If you say something controversial don't be surprised when people disagree with you. I have had many discussions with many people over the years on all of those subjects and not one of them has devolved into a fist fight, not a single person has ever been put in prison for being on either side of those debates. If you are being threatened with reprisals and imprisonment for any of those items you mentioned, perhaps you should reconsider your delivery.

    26. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      False, you are the one that wants censorship, to control people's minds, and to control what they talk about.

    27. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's kind of like you don't go around bragging about being gay in Iran. There, it is considered an extreme, hateful and dangerous thing, and gets you executed by hanging.

    28. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah. Replicating UNIX, backing it up, archiving it, restoring a machine etc are so much easier than on Windows it makes sense only to think of Windows as a replaceable throwaway machine that dies with its boot drive.

    29. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > severe persecution for Muslims

      You mean like killing nonbelievers, stoning gays, making women cover themselves, and cutting hands off for minor infractions?

    30. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      Well I'm all for avoiding problems. But it doesn't seem that this is one that we're in danger of having. We have the OPs anecdote but is there any actual data on this? I've never seen a restaurant ask to see your Facebook profile before seating somebody.

    31. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The earth is scientifically verifiable to be flat. Vid shows a laser shot 5km (3mi) across the surface of a lake. Steven Hawking did the experiment and claimed to measure 6ft of curvature (which is the amount predicted by the 25000mi circumference globe model). However, there are ZERO independent researchers who can verify Hawking's experiment. This is because the earth is MUCH flatter than academia claims, and fools like you don't verify experimental claims. See also: Replication Crisis: (most "science" findings are bullshit; Pick a published peer reviewed paper & Flip a coin, same chance the "science" is wrong today) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis

      NASA is a gov propaganda outfit. Do the experiment yourself. You can see a flashlight from over flat water far further than refraction or curvature should allow. Look into it. Our world is much larger than the establishment wishes you to believe. Would YOU let another "America" happen? How much are continents worth of resources worth? Why not keep it all yourself rather than give it away to "pioneers"?

      Furthermore, there is overwhelming evidence that the universe is not expanding. Big Bang (god did it) Creationist dogma rules academia, and presenting findings against it gets you blackballed from astronomy. Protip: Electromagnetism is more powerful than "gravity", it plays a very significant role in the structure of our "universe".

      Wise Up: Knowledge is Power. Rulers do not give serfs Power. Academia is a censorship tool.

    32. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I live in a place where it's unfashionable to say certain things. The only reason it's unfashionable is because a vocal minority have deemed my speech "hateful" even though it's free.

      You don't have "free speech" on someone else's property, pal.

    33. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear evilminded fuckstick,

          How do you sleep at night knowing that you and your whole family will soon be raped to death for your treason against our highest aspirations as a people?

      Sincerely,
      Donald Jefferson Trump

    34. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      We do have schools punishing kids for things they do on their own private online account that take place off of school grounds and not during school hours. How much more of an example do you need?

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
    35. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Choice
      2. Sure, why not?
      3. Duh. Also, let's stop pretending there are more than two fucking genders and also stop pretending that if you truly believe otherwise that there's no mental health issue in play.
      4. Follow the rules or GTFO.
      5. The religion of peace and tolerance, as long as you don't disagree with any of my beliefs, and if you're a woman you better cover your damn face and bow down when I walk in the room or I will unleash Allah's wrath upon you.
      6. I prefer to use a PC, but if you've got a few extra thousand dollars to spend on Apple products, good for you, you won't be disappointed.
      7. I had a few extra thousand dollars of my own to spend so I sunk it into a 5930K, 64 gigs of RAM, an NVMe, and a 1080 Ti. Luckily I did this before the price blow up or it would have been worse. As in #1, I value my right to choose. I'm also a sadist so I run Gentoo with OpenRC because Lennart is a cunt who reminds me of the sjw assholes always trying tell everyone else how to live their lives, also his software is trash.

      I loathe "social justice" types who only want to impose their will on the rest of us, and I believe that political correctness is destroying our society. I'm in complete agreement with you on your last statement and the fact that my views on 3-5 don't mesh with the PC/SJW agenda means they'd consider me an enemy and act violently towards me. What a fucked up world we're living in.

    36. Re:I want to say Unpopular Opinions Anonymously by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      Your statement is factually correct but somewhat misleading. Schools have punished to the extent that kids have intertwined these activities with their school activity. The cases that I'm aware of involve kids making statements outside of school that they themselves link to school. i.e. sexually offensive comments about other students/teachers. I'm not aware of a case where say a kid advocated for something unpopular in a way clearly separated from their school activities and got into trouble. There seems to be a lot of legal grey area about how much association with school is necessary. But I'm not aware of a case where a kid didn't create their own grey area by linking their out-of-school and in-school activities voluntarily. (i.e. if you want to make a pornographic video, don't mention your principles name)

  30. Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And it's filled with a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who think they're actual intellectuals. Meanwhile, 4Chan, while veiled in vulgarity, consists of actually intelligent people.

    1. Re:Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I will give you that while 4chan is an environment where intelligent people _can_ be found, it is also full of the least common denominator if internet users and that mixture severely lowers the average intelligence of the posters

    2. Re:Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it's filled with a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who think they're actual intellectuals. Meanwhile, 4Chan, while veiled in vulgarity, consists of actually intelligent people.

      Cite.

    3. Re:Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4chan intelligent hahaha, that is a good one. Are you writing new material for your show tomorrow or can I expect the same joke?

    4. Re:Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it's filled with a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals who think they're actual intellectuals. Meanwhile, 4Chan, while veiled in vulgarity, consists of actually intelligent people.

      Just ask Ebola-chan

    5. Re: Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have trouble believing a forum which advocates for no gun control can ever be fucking intelligent.

    6. Re: Reddit is crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because you're an idiot.

  31. LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: It's always a pleasure showing everyone how stupid you are drug addict mentalboy https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... you piece of SHIT from a country of men w/ NO BALLS & yes, you're from Sweden shitbag!

    Which you tried LYING about to me after your twisted weak ass sent me a postcard from there (like the obsessed stinking little MENTALBOY whimp w/ "depression" (lmao, whimp) & drugged up CREEP you are fucker) but too bad I saw your post about the restaurant in Stockholm recently.

    * You & yours from "SWEDEN"? NO BALLS - you let your women get RAPED by muslims (whereas MY TRIBE, poles, DROVE THEM OFF when all the rest of Europe, except Lithuania, RAN)!

    You pitiful little no balls worms (which is WHY You are HOW you are - you can't help it - you're DESCENDED FROM SHITBAG PUNKS!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Truth HURT cocksucker? Meet me in person (you 'brag' you're a 'world-traveller' (big deal, I've seen europe too) 'rich man' (not - you're just some impoverished little LOSER, no questions asked) - come meet me FACE TO FACE & talk your shit to me bitch... apk

    1. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Zontar The Mindless no likey caught making sockpuppets to stalk and harass apk with https://yro.slashdot.org/comme... ?

    2. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Post your address or stfu you stupid polock.

    3. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APK has got to be the biggest faggot on Slashdot.

    4. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hasn't Zontar said a bunch of times that he's not from Sweden, he just lives there now? He's actually from Australia, isn't he?

      And when did he ever brag about being rich? wtf??

    5. Re: LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone posted his address (indirectly, it's some public info aggregator site) in "Firefox 61" discussion few days/a week ago.

    6. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APK tends to confuse people. A/Cs with each other. A/Cs with users. Even users with each other. This in spite of what to most people would be fairly obvious signals like grammar, sentence structure, spelling etc. He doesn't seem to have a very well developed ability to model other people. Lack of ability or lack of interest - both are true of people with NPD.

      Not sure about Zontar's origins. I'm from Australia (Sydney) and am not Zontar. I mention this because it came up during one of APKs periods of physical threats.

      But the thing about no-balls is absolutely true. Everyone down here has them taken off. Nasty things. Always sweaty and getting in the way. Better off without them. It's bulk billed. Routine stuff. A kind of rubber band is clipped around the base and a few weeks later they just drop off. Reduces risk of fly strike. Poor APK, still running around with his. He's what, mid 50s and single. What's he need balls for?

      APK. Now running APK.humour.test.1

    7. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to his user page:

      Originally from the US, I have wandered my way round a fair chunk of the planet over the last few years, having lived in Australia, Thailand, and now Sweden.

    8. Re:LMAO @ mental loon Zontar the Mindless by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The funny thing is I suspect APK is closet homosexual. I don't buy his gay bar story, a man in his 30s don't know the difference between regular and gay bar, what?

  32. Gabe seddit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SHITCOCK!

  33. They ask for an email, but they don't require it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yet. You can just hit next with an empty email....

    the usual email address is in no way anonymous....

  34. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    APK is the primary reason I wish Slashdot required identities, and provided a means to completely hide certain users' drivel.

    Offhand, does anyone know if there's a GreaseMonkey script to remove APK's crap?

    Ironically, I'm posting this anonymously because I know that APK will stalk me if he ever sees my username.

  35. Anonymous? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah right, if Reddit really cared about anonymity, they'd let you post there without an account, like Slashdot.

  36. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    The funny part is APK isn't anonymous at all. People have posted his real name.

  37. Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    "When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves."

    And we all know how that ends.

    SHITCOCK!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  38. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And address, and his mothers phone numbers, and more! He just can't learn!

  39. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And he links to posts that contain it, admits he's that very person... and keeps going with the same antics.

    His physical address, email address, and probably-his phone number are also out there, usually in his own posts or otherwise brought in by his own doing.

  40. He Forgets Usenet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is a boast?

    When it comes to anonymity and freedom the medium of Usenet has them beat by 20 years and it is still a viable forum.

    It still puzzles me why people put up with the burden of web forums when Usenet is far more open and convenient.

  41. Reddit co-founder is delusional by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is no such thing as more or less anonymity on the internet. It is binary - either you are anonymous, or you are not. So what reddit doesn't want to know our names? They still know which IP address we browse their forums from (with the ISP, it reveals my name and address), as well as the forums we browse (build my personality profile). Put these things together, and there goes your anonymity BS. This is just a start...

  42. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You make multiple sockpuppets to stalk us plus upmod your primary registered 'lusr' account plus downmodbomb Apk https://yro.slashdot.org/comme...

  43. ive been on reddit for 10+ years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "more like a conversation one has in real life"

    LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
    LOLOLOLOLOL
    LOLOLOLOL

  44. Thank-u 4 my mood today... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: "... w/ wind in your hair of a 1,000 places" JET https://www.youtube.com/watch?... + "Feelin' Stronger every day" https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... THANKS 2U vs. DOZENS of REGISTERED /.ers BLOWIN' U AWAY... lol!

    * "... climb in back & we'll go for a RIDE IN THE SKY..." JET!

    APK

    P.S.=> No folks, it's NOT EASY being "World-Class" vs. UNIDENTIFIABLE ANONYMOUS STALKERS of me being JEALOUS "Lil' Jowies" they are who also IMPERSONATE ME (proving they WISH they were ME, lol) as "Imitation = SINCEREST form of FLATTERY" but this? Man, gotta say it (it's tradition vs. trolls) THIS? This, was just "too, Too, TOO EASY - just '2ez'" ... apk

  45. That was the case before by aepervius · · Score: 1

    In my view it is the same to refuse service to somebody for their political affiliation, or because they are gay. That restaurant red hen refused service to Sarah Sanders is on the same level as the guy refusing to decorate a cake for gay marriage. Your religion preclude you to give anti abortion pill at a drugstore ? get another job. Your opinion is that you don't want to give cake for gay marriage ? Get another job. You don't want to serve politician in restaurant ? get another job. Etc rinse and repeat. If one is allowed by the constitution and law , then all are. Now if you ask my opinion, as soon as you are in a service industry you should not be allowed to discriminate *either way*.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:That was the case before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my view it is the same to refuse service to somebody for their political affiliation, or because they are gay. That restaurant red hen refused service to Sarah Sanders is on the same level as the guy refusing to decorate a cake for gay marriage. Your religion preclude you to give anti abortion pill at a drugstore ? get another job. Your opinion is that you don't want to give cake for gay marriage ? Get another job. You don't want to serve politician in restaurant ? get another job. Etc rinse and repeat. If one is allowed by the constitution and law , then all are. Now if you ask my opinion, as soon as you are in a service industry you should not be allowed to discriminate *either way*.

      Cut the crap, Sarah Sanders is not welcomed because Sarah Sanders is Sarah Sanders and Trump’s spokesweasle, not because she’s a Republican. Everybody knows she and this administration do not speak for or represent all Republicans.

    2. Re:That was the case before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was no different than refusing to serve somebody because they weren't white. The brain trust defending them is a prime example of cognitive dissonance in play, and watching the mental gymnastics in their "justifications" would be amusing if it wasn't so scary.

  46. Only kids hide behind pseudonyms by loufoque · · Score: 1

    Real adults like myself use their real name.

  47. How to post pseudo-anonymously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The summary is stupid. You can fake most of the stuff that websites ask you for anyway. It doesn't mean you're anonymous, Google, et al know who you are without your sign-in. The only really annoying websites are the ones that ask you for a phone number. I don't want anybody but friends and family to have my phone number and it's a little harder to fake that one.

  48. Voat only need username and password... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... no email.

  49. "Newspaper taxis appear on the shore..." apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & "... waiting to take YOU, away - climb in the back, w/ your HEAD in the CLOUDS & you're gone..." ZD NET "How to use a Hosts file to improve your internet experience" http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-use-a-hosts-file-to-improve-your-internet-experience/ (where Steven Vaughan Nichols says "Where Hosts files really shine is by letting you block ads, spyware sites, malware sites, and tracking sites" )

    (He missed DNS bennies vs. tracking logs, avoiding DNS security issues (redirect poisoning) & slowup BUT it's STARTING (as I knew it would)).

    APK

    P.S.=> Lucy in the Sky w/ DIAMONDS = APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ for Linux 64-bit https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... + my MOOD today per the tune about (THANKS 2U actually) & other tunes https://yro.slashdot.org/comme... I used to express my thanks to you, lol... apk

    1. Re:"Newspaper taxis appear on the shore..." apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's STARTING (as I knew it would))

      *laugh*
      Sure. After nearly 30 years.

      Tech journalists post these articles every year or so. It's a curiosity. A 'hey did you know' kind of thing. It's niche, of limited utility and none of them make the sort of exaggerated claims you do.

      Let's see, following the links from the article, we get to mvps.org. Do you download their file? Here's what they say - "Simply using a HOSTS file is not a cure-all against all the dangers on the Internet"

      How about that. They disagree with your outrageous claims.

      Let's try hosts-file.net. Do you use them? They say - "hpHosts is a community managed and maintained h0sts file that allows an additional layer of protection against access to ad, tracking and malicious websites. "

      Hmm, they seem to think that this is, at best, an additional layer to add to your existing security.

      Would you care to comment? Or are you going to go off on one of your ridiculous rants about how I need to prove something before you'll listen; how I'm a stalker/anonymous/something; how you've beaten/made-me-eat-my-words/won before; etc

      APK. Even the people who compile the lists you use don't make the claims you make

  50. Email? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Email isn't required on Reddit. That's what makes it so anonymous. It's like an old school account where it's useful for ME, not the for THEM.

  51. Yeah, right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    reddit doesn't want the burden of having to police bots and/or shills that spread the kind of disinformation and propaganda reddit/Conde Nast supports. Just let the hive mind take care of it.

  52. have a side-debate while facebook finishes raping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you all.

    Reddit vs. Facebook is a stupid argument. IRC is still king.

  53. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  54. No can do, internet warriors get people fired by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

    It happens all too much, people get fired for things they say online. The 'tolerant left' are doing this significantly lately. If you're not in with the gang and say something they don't agree with, bam they're trying to get you fired.

    (The right likely do this too, but it's the hypocrisy of the left and the excessiveness the past few years which makes it feel cult-like and screwed up)

    It's just not worth it.

  55. Should have thought about that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Should have considered that this was your home before you took the advice of a Make money online book suggesting that you shitpost an affiliate link anytime you see the remotest opportunity.
    If someone suggested that you can make money indoor farming with manure would you take a big shit in your tiny living room when there's a barn in your back yard? Plenty of people warned you about that behavior and you responded that you have thousands of karma points saved up so basically you can do whatever you want and nobody can stop you?

    Fuck man you have horrible judgement please go pay off your credit cards and take your spam to reddit dipshit.

  56. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  57. Authentic? True? Oh, Huffman, you're VERY funny. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Huffman argued that anonymity on Reddit actually makes using the site "more like a conversation one has in real life" than other exchanges on the internet. "When people detach from their real-world identities, they can be more authentic, more true to themselves," he claimed.

    REALLY? Bwahahahahah! Yes, because people are OFTEN their "authentic, more true" selves in real-world, in-person, face-to-face conversations.

    Why, just the other day I was telling someone what a total asshole I thought he was, despite him outweighing me by about 150 pounds, and it being all pure muscle, and also the fact that I thought he stopped too fast, that it was therefore HIS fault that I rear-ended his car, and that his abrupt change in speed even caused me to spill my DRINK! Then I told him what I thought of his haircut, fashion choices, disparaged his genetic inheritance, the upbringing he received, his taste in music, and for good measure, everything I could think of that was wrong with whatever his favorite sports team was. Then I whipped out my dick and bitchslapped him across the face with it.

    Everything turned out REALLY well, just as it always does, while I was being my true, authentic self, just like on Reddit. Though I have a slashdot login, I am posting this anonymously, in honor of being MY most "authentic," true self. (Oh, PS, obviously I made some of this up. I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out which part(s).)

  58. Stop being a dick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you weren't such a shithead on this site, you wouldn't have to worry about this. Same goes for Kenja, houghi, and several others downthread who are whining. You guys want the ability to say vile shit daily and then not get any shit for it. Fuck every one of y'all.

  59. Don't mean credible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I much prefer Everipedia's block-chain approach to determining and enforcing credibility.

    https://everipedia.org/

  60. No Fucking Way by BrianMarshall · · Score: 1

    ...consists of a “triangle” of independent and academic researchers, researchers at big tech companies, and the government, all exchanging what they know and working in concert to stomp out disinformation.

    Fuck that shit. No one is going to "stomp out disinformation".

    I don't want the government, along with major corporations, deciding what is truth, what I am allowed to say.

    --
    "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -- HST
  61. You can't defend Huckasanders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can stop trying to defend Huckasanders. She isn't gonna fuck you. I can plainly see where you're steering this discussion and I'm not having it.

  62. Good enough for Benjamin Franklin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Benjamin Franklin published letters under the name Silence Dogood, partly so that people would consider the what was being written, without being influenced by who it was written by.

  63. This is how things used to be. by ZorinLynx · · Score: 1

    I remember, back in the 90s when I first started getting online, and well into the 00s, EVERY SINGLE PUBLICATION about getting online stressed how important it was not to reveal your real identity on the Internet. This ESPECIALLY applied to anyone who was under age. It was in every single "Tips for Internet Safety" list, right next to not telling anyone you don't know and trust your name, location, and even phone number.

    Then Facebook came along, and started pushing the real name thing. They started as a site for college students, so it made sense to use your real name to find other people on campus, but then it expanded into a general social media site, and they kept the mandatory real name policy going.

    This shifted the culture to the point that these days, people think there's something wrong with you if you DON'T use your real name online. Luckily, several sites like Slashdot, Reddit, and Twitter are still big on letting you not use your real name, but for how long? The right to be anonymous online is something that has been around since the very early days. It should remain with us.

  64. Annette, Avatrix by speedlaw · · Score: 1

    Back in the primitive dial up days, I'd look at my local ISP's "web pages". Now, the concept of a page was pretty leading edge, and only one place I knew of had a T1 line, so the web would actually load like we assume today-DSL was still a bit off (ok, I'm old) There was a young woman who posted everything about her life. Nursing Student...graduates...music she likes as MP3....photos of her flying lessons. I had no idea why she would do this-she seemed totally normal, kind of cute, and clearly was smart enough to do HTML before it was easy. I was fascinated as to why, on the anonymous web, she was posting all this stuff. It only stopped after her BF became her fiance....she even posted a ring photo. Again, sounds a lot like FB, but it was in the dial up days. No idea who she is/was, but she was totally ahead of the curve. I only followed it because on the random list of web pages the ISP had, A loaded first, and most web pages were primitive business pages. Today, people do real business on the web, the IRS requires you to pay "on line", and the ultimate way Corporate America tells you your transaction is basically valueless to them is "visit us on the web". I thought she was out of her mind, nuts. Turns out she was about 15 years early.

  65. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given some of the information that has been provided by A/Cs over the years, I'm OK with the odd troll or even the sorts of posts by people like APK.

    While browsing at +1 would mean skipping a lot of material and not just APK, even browsing at 0 would eliminate the majority.

    While APK is likely to continue (his pattern of interaction looks more and more like a mental disorder) replying to him, remaining civil and pointing out his flaws is something that reinforces the standards of the forum. Banning or blocking would also harm other posters in other situations, would likely not be completely effective and would lend him a kind of legitimacy. Give him as much rope as he needs to hand himself.

    APK. Sometimes the purpose of a life is to serve as a warning to others

  66. Stop it dude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We're trying to get TardChris to fuckoff to reddit.

  67. Freedom as in speaking to beer? by TiggertheMad · · Score: 2
    You're honestly saying that regular people - people full-time of families and jobs, who don't have ten grand to wager on a court case - should shoulder that sort of burden?

    Using your real name works for you, but don't expect it to be the right solution for everyone.

    And I think you just hit on one of the ideals that Americans should be striving for: The freedom of an individual to make a choice. Bruce has made the choice to become a public figure and stand up for what he believes in. Other people might make the choice you describe, and not reveal their real names because they cannot afford the time, money, or effort that it might cost them to be a public figure.

    Neither choice is correct or incorrect, but what is important is that each person have that choice, and that it isn't decided by a private corporation or a government intent on spying on them for political or financial purposes.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  68. You can make up any stupid scenario by aepervius · · Score: 1

    You example are what I would call stupid. Legality always trump everything, you cannot be required to do something illegal. And THAT is already enshrined into laws. But for the rest ? I am sorry moral quandary are not a reason. If you have moral quandary about something which your job legally entail, then that job is not for you, do get another job.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
  69. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  70. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  71. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Somebody appointed himself my personal PITA, so I returned the favour." -> Looks more like APK can dish it out, but can't take so much as a thimblefull in return.

    You can't even get the username right, I had to guess at it.

    And it looks like that account hasn't been used in about 3 years. Anybody that cares can read his journal entry and figure out pretty quickly that:

    (a) you tried to shitflood Zontar off the board

    (b) he decided to give you a taste of your own medicine

    (c) he abandoned the account after he'd had a little fun with it (LOL) & made his point

    CAPTCHA: populous

  72. Re:Zontar The Mindless = TrollingForHostsFiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's what a classy looks like. Between the postcard and the Burma Shave tribute, this is about as gentle as it gets. Given the nature of some of your critics and how harsh/blunt some of them have been, to keep harping on about Zontar is just ...

    To be blunt, they're a better person than I am and if you think they are your enemy then you really are trapped in a special kind of hell.

    APK. Damn, mate. Someone, somewhere really let you down.

  73. Do I use 'em? Look @ their download page by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's try hosts-file.net. Do you use them?" by UNIDENTIFIABLE Anonymous STALKER on Monday July 02, 2018 @10:48PM (#56883666)

    Do I use 'em? Look @ Malwarebytes' hpHosts download page: They host my APK Hosts File Engine & your *laugh* bs gives you away - hence my quote above's alteration fitting you as you STALK ME constantly by UNIDENTIFIABLE anonymous.

    APK

    P.S.=> Lastly as to your question: I also already KNOW you can't show anything for yourself so I won't ask you that now again, lol (no point in my asking IF I already KNOW you're a "ne'er-do-well" as a fact)... apk

  74. My real name is Brian Ansorge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I'm a poor, homeless fucker.

    Come and get me.

    Oh, wait, never mind; I have the homeless court advantage.

    Bwaaa haaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa