Gents-Okay, the tinfoil hat reference was actually pretty funny... Vin used to wear a tinfoil hat around PMDG HQ- but then he lost one of those "if that is true I'll eat my hat!" bets- and he didn't like the way the tinfoil reacted with his fillings...Seriously gents- anyone so concerned about their privacy that they cannot sign their name to a post should probably spend time searching for their name in public records databases, whitepages.com etc etc etc. Your name is already out there- and there is nothing you can do about it. The good news: Nobody is going to hurt you by looking at your name.Heck I've been signing my name all over this forum for years and the only time someone stole my identity was to run for public office. (Darn politicians...) :Big Grin:John: Got your note- thanks. Glad to know it was an accident, I thought it seemed a bit strange. :(

This always cracks me up when people talk about "hacking" like it's some easy thing to do if you just know the right keystrokes or something. That may be what it's like on TV shows like 24 or CSI, but it's not even close to that way in the real world. You can't just "hack" someone to find out info about them.

+1 Totally agree with you

This always cracks me up when people talk about "hacking" like it's some easy thing to do if you just know the right keystrokes or something. That may be what it's like on TV shows like 24 or CSI, but it's not even close to that way in the real world. You can't just "hack" someone to find out info about them.

Yes "hacking" is the stuff of movies and TV. Having said that there are examples where identities have been stolen based on information posted in internet forums and facebook. The information wasn't all in one place, it was name here, an address somewhere else - it's called data matching. Heck people have had their houses broken into based on comments made about "going on vacation" posted on facebook. It is actually more rampant than you think.

Hi from the caribbean!I have a question about that: How putting my name on my signature will prevent me from being a troll or act in a fashion that is counter to decent? i mean, you can't verify that my real name is Juan Ramos (by the way, it is! :D). I can say that my name is Antonio Banderas, and no one can say the contrary. Im not against the rule but, how can it help? i don't get it

EDIT:-Question sent to user in messages!-

Sure, that's great. Since you believe that, mind giving me your address, DOB, SSN, etc.? Afterall, I could find it out anyway, right? :( You know, you could be slightly less patronizing here. It's not just about stolen identities, there's a wide variety of reasons as to why someone would be researching someone else on the internet, e.g. potential employers, potential mates, etc. And yes, you're absolutely right, no one has ever had their identity stolen from the internet. Indeed.-John Rodgers

When it comes to potential employers and things like that, the rule actually helps you. If you were to put your own name...you wouldnt say dumb things (im just using this as an example....you havent really said dumb things lol) or act in a bad way. When the company searches your name, thwy will never see anything bad because you yourself showed constraint when posting because your actual name was attached to each post. That being said....it could always go the other way too.

Gents-Okay, the tinfoil hat reference was actually pretty funny... Vin used to wear a tinfoil hat around PMDG HQ- but then he lost one of those "if that is true I'll eat my hat!" bets- and he didn't like the way the tinfoil reacted with his fillings...

:) glad you liked my joke! Now can I get a beta copy of the NGX.. LOL Anyway, the NGX looks awesome, can't wait for it.

Sure, that's great. Since you believe that, mind giving me your address, DOB, SSN, etc.? Afterall, I could find it out anyway, right? :( You know, you could be slightly less patronizing here. It's not just about stolen identities, there's a wide variety of reasons as to why someone would be researching someone else on the internet, e.g. potential employers, potential mates, etc. And yes, you're absolutely right, no one has ever had their identity stolen from the internet. Indeed.-John Rodgers

Just kidding around but think about it for a second. How many john rodgers are out there. If a potential mate is searching for you and finds your posts here and she does not like them for some reason you could always lie and say.. " not me, must be one of the other 1,238,998 other guys with the same name. " BTW unless your going to date one of the guys from IFLY or are trying to get a job with them I don't see a problem. Yep you are right people do get their identies stolen from the net. That is done in a variety of ways, none of them involving a name posted on a hobby forum. IF they were telling us we needed to put our soc, address, DOB and full name, yes I would be on the other side of this argument.