Forum Name Changes

Black Hole

Black Hole

May contain traces of nut
An apparently new name on the block popped up, which I didn't recognise but is credited with a few hundred posts since 2011. For information, "Code is a Hole" was previously "Andrea Edwards".
 
The forum allows name changes and I suppose people can choose what name they want (within reason). Personally, I find it confusing as there are references in conversations to people who no longer exist.
 
Indeed, and I'm sure there was another one recently but I have forgotten the details (which is the problem).

Allowed or not, I see it as a falsification of the record - innocent or deliberate. Yes, the paper trail still exists linking the new name with old posts, but those posts become dissociated in the human memory (which is not so straightforward to update as when a database simply links a new display name with an existing user ID).

For reference:

Existing quote link-backs (which say "<somebody> said:") are updated to the new display name. It took a while for that to propagate through: to start with I was seeing "Code is a Hole" (whatever that is supposed to mean) in the post avatar pane and "Andrea Edwards" in the link backs, but that didn't last long (and might have had something to do with browser caching).

Existing @ tags (I believe) will still show the old display name, but will still link to the correct user because the invariant user ID is embedded in the tag.
 
Andrea was one of the few users on this forum who used her (presumably) real name on this forum rather than using a screen name and so I can understand the desire to conform to common practice, it might have been less confusing to have chosen something closer to the original such as Andrea, or A.E, but it is her choice.
 
Black Hole said:
Indeed, and I'm sure there was another one recently but I have forgotten the details (which is the problem).
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Could that be Mike001, who became Mike2 and now is Scrat?
It's all getting very silly - and I can't follow what's going off.
 
:eek:

He's done that recently then (after I created this thread), unless I'm going mad... (entirely possible)
 
Code is a Hole said:
Then ask
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You mean you've never noticed in my posts (replies to your queries) hints about gender? That's a point to me, I think.

Code is a Hole said:
So a new thread is created to announce a name change, will you be announcing each and every change,
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This is not a discussion specifically about you (as much as you might like it to be), I see no need to open a new thread each time (this one will do). The discussion is about the confusion which arises when we (or at least I) don't spot a new name is actually an old character.
 
I didn't change my name! My name changed me!

PS Black Hole is an impostor. His picture looks nothing like a Black Hole.

nasavisualiz.gif
 
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