Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Should you posting on RCU be anonymous or not? I’m posting this in the AMA forum because for the most part this is where I spend most of my RCU time.

In the past I have always thought that an individual’s RCU logon name (“handle”) and whether or not the individual should be anonymous should be left up to their own discretion. For the most part I believe that what is said on RCU by the members doesn’t warrant an anonymous handle but an interesting situation presented itself to me the other day.

The other day someone contacted my corporate office to complain that I was spending all of my days on the RCU website in the AMA forums and provided my user name and how to look up the website and search for postings that I had made. This individual even went so far as to suggest that I should be terminated for such actions.

Not to defend myself to any of you reading but, I work more than 50+ hours each week and lead a very hard working team of individuals. I work from home in the evenings and am on call on the weekends and on my days off as well. I do have some down time in the office and check emails, personal banking, and do some other surfing on breaks or when I take my lunch in the office. I also allow my employees the same flexibility. At my company we work very hard and everyone in my department is productive. At the end of any given week, month, or year I can look back on what I’ve done and without a doubt know that I have had an impact.

Now for the reason I decided to pose the question above. Without a doubt the contact by this individual was extremely troubling. For anyone to pull this kind of stunt where a person’s livelihood is put at risk is unbelievable. I have two small children (a four year old son and a new born son), and a wife that I provide for. I can only assume that who ever did this took issue with my positions in my posts and as such felt that this was a “cool” way to get back at me.

It’s hard for me to believe that anyone who participates in this great hobby would do such a cowardly act as endanger ones lively hood by sending an unsigned letter to their corporate office. Needless to say, here is just one benefit to an anonymous screen name. Maybe everyone posting in the AMA forum should be required to post with their AMA number and the number of years that they have been an AMA member.

I don’t know if I’ll change my handle in the future or not, but I just thought that I’d share my view on the subject.

Take care,
Jimmy Skids

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

JS, pretty rodent-like of anyone to pull such a stunt, especially if it was done by another "man".. ..it sounds more like something that a pouting teenage girl would do.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

pretty low indeed. although not the first time it has happened. i even know of one forum owner, mark r, that contacts the employers of folks he disagrees with, so even anonymous posting may not be the protection needed.

actual name and ama # of posters would not stop the reader from contacting employers, and would, in fact, make it easier for them to do the rotten deed.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Jimmy, that is a sad situation, however, you can control your identity. You can sign up with a fake name, bogus town, etc. I personally don't want to be anonamous. However, I do understand where you're coming from. I was threatened here on RCU a while back via the private messaging system. I don't wish to share the details, but if you look back in my post, the majority of them are in this forum. Maybe someone was playing a joke on you, or maybe they were serious. If you wish to be anonamous, get a different account and dump the one you currently are using. start from square 1.


50%

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

*shrug*

1) You've answered your own question. It should be up to the user to select his/her own username.
2) If you're spending time debating whether or not you want other people to know who you are, or what you're doing when...then you probably shouldn't be doing it online.
3) Why let us know you're not going to defend yourself and then proceed to do so?

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Well Skids I think we all know who did it..... Nonetheless, even if I knew your real name and AMA# how would I know where you work unless I had personal knowledge? I have in the past been as bold as to post my realname and home phone number to show that I was not just blowing smoke or hiding from my opinion. I am outspoken and usually try to be reasonable in my beliefs, but I never run from a good fight or have never been afraid to stand my ground. HEre is my point, my handle is SSRCCPREZ, granted you can figure out I am the president of the SSRCC, from that you can go on the site see a picture of me and get my home phone etc.. but it would be a little more difficult to find out where I work, if I were in the private sector.
Obviousley this was done by someone who has more knowledge of you than just your name and what a sad little man he is, but not completely surprising he did it.
Did he really think he could get you fired? And, when you try to screw with a man's livelyhood and family, all bets are off for fair play. I'd like to help you fight back, Name it and Ill help.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

I'll throw in with you SSRCCPREZ. What a cowardly act from a lowly individual, (and I have no idea whom it coulda been). This forces people whom are vulnerable to use psuedo names to protect themselves, among other things. I'm self employeed and have no boss to tattle to, (except the wife). I have a feeling that if it's proven and made public whom this slimeball is that their opinions will never be taken seriously here or on any other website once their identity has been established.

If I can help Skids, just let me know. What a lowlife.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

When I saw the location of JS I instantly had my suspicions. I have a feeling a left coast sock party is in the future. Indeed all bets are off.[sm=punching.gif]

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

I would bet that the person I suspect of this act would not touch this thread with a ten foot pole.......

If he were a balanced individual.

As far as anonymity goes, that is up to the individual user.

Be warned though. Just changing your handle does not expunge your posting history.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Ok guys, let's be really careful about accusing people. Unless there is absolute concrete evidence that someone did we need to make sure we keep names out of this. Let's try to keep the discussion about the topic of anonymous posting. Thanks

Ken

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Obviously there are a lot of psychos out there, but I never figured that modelers would carry a grudge as far as contacting someone's employer. These are admittedly toy airplanes (though they are pretty darned nice toys), but we don't have act like children to enjoy them.

I have met several R/C Universe and R/C groups posters on a personal basis. One guy was moving to my area, so I invited him to my club and we've become personal friends. We work on planes together and go flying and hobby shopping together. There are other guys I've talked to here that are in Florida and not too far away from me, and I really need to take up their invitations to go flying with them at their clubs, but I am so busy with students the safety team that I can't get away.

Seems to me this is a better use of the internet than contacting the employers of people one may disagree with.


///////////OK, the rest is just a frustrated rant, so read it at your own peril:///////////

I use the same handle I have used for years on the motor sports forums, but I have never hid who I am or where I'm at. I've used the internet as an opportunity to meet a lot of nice folks. The fans of the Grand American Roles Sport scar Series meet up at all the races and they are a great bunch. There is also a rival sport scar series, but there is very little hostility between participants or the fans. Basically we all like sport scar racing and most people like both series. Strangely enough, the one guy I disagree with most often corresponds with me by email and PM. We would probably be friends on a face-to-face basis if he wasn't all the way across the country.

But, if you think these AMA discussions are heated, check out how hostile it gets on the racing forums when the topic is American open wheeled racing. Some of those morons have gone so far as to vandalize cars at people's homes and there has even been a confrontation or two at the races. Even on the most heavily moderated racing forum on the internet, you can't have a civil discussion without open warfare breaking out within a few pages.

Obviously, it was this sort of behavior that helped me lose interest in open wheel racing. There is no one in my area that likes open wheel racing, and the ones on the internet want to do nothing but nitpick, fight and tear everything down. Nice sport, eh? I mean, do you have time for that sort of crap? I like a good debate, but then again I don't get my butt kicked and then go to another forum where they can't respond and start calling my adversaries raunchy names. Some of the intelligent people I have sparred with in civil fashion for years, and some of those have even become real life friends. You know, the stinking fans are tearing their own sport apart and are driving each other away.

I don't think we want this to happen to aeromodelling, do we?

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

I would like to say that the vast majority of the posters here are helpful,friendly, happy folks. Yes, we have our share of trolls or narrowminded one trick ponies, but all and all we are all very nice guys that would probably love to fly together, build togethr and talk together. Unfortuantely it only takes a few to ruin it for the rest.
Now here is the problem, It is more than evident to most of us who did this, and RCKen is right we will never be able to prove it. So that person can go on in here without moderator repricution. So we are left to handle it in here ourselves and risk sanctions from the moderators.
I am so dissappointed in the person who did this, but not surprised. This is a new low.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

WOW!
How low can you go?
:eek:[&o][:@][sm=thumbs_down.gif]

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Ummm let the record show that you post 1.6 posts per month so don't sweat it.

However, lots of companies are cracking down on websites visited so your not the only one in that boat. There have been plenty of people fired for less then just browsing websites like RCU. The smart thing to do is to learn how to proxy surf, just google it for instructions.

For instructions on how to get the guy back for ratting you out, check out a few episodes of season 2 of The Sopranos.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Ok...I really dn't wish to be snarky here...rather, I'm just curious about general mindsets and such.

Why is "learning how to proxy surf" the "smart thing to do"? Why isn't "abide by your company's policies, and stay off websites they don't want you on" the "smart thing to do"?

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

IMO such should be the choice of the poster.

OTOH, I personally have little faith in those that hide behind a mask. Each individual has to make his choices as he/she so determines according to the circumstances of that individual. Still, don't expect to be a creditable witness in my book, if afraid to say, "This is who I am."

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

For the same reason cars aren't limited to speed limits. And for the same reason they invented proxying no different then the same reason they invented radar detectors.

From the time you wake up till the time you go to bed the average person breaks a whole bunch of rules and laws. I forget what the statistics was a while back when I learned it, but it was pretty funny just how much you don't realize the amount of rules and laws the average person breaks in a day, you included.

Like I said, google proxy surfing and you'll be home free!

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Just for the record, It was not me but.....

This is kind of funny...... and hippocritical... coming from the guy who
created a whole new RCU account just to go on the attack
on RCU......I guess some folks here forgot about that.

I regret that someone stooped so low to do something like that, but what comes around goes around.

I feel everyone has a right to voice their opinion, but to try to cut the throat of
the opposition is .....well unamerican.(read your bill of rights)

I don't even like seeing peoples posts get cut, or edited.

How does it feel?

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Jimmy Skids, this is a dispicable act by a low life coward. Maybe it is time to resurrect your alter ego-John's Crazy-in order to strike back at this anonymous(LOL)agitator. Guess all we need to do is go back and find the main antagonist to all of your posts to make a wild stab at establishing an identity!!! [:@][:@]

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Some yrs ago I had the same thing happen to me. Guy at the flightline
forums (now hangarflying) and I had some disagreement and he traced
my IP at work and basically threatened me with notifying my company.
Well, at the time I was working 100 miles out in the GOM on a production
platform and was on duty 24-7, so any downtime I got I could use the
puter to surf the internet. Guess he figured it was the only way to win.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

After following past threads and interactions here in the AMA forums, all I can say is boy does that suck, that is - if it really happened ;) Who knows? Just more mud slinging going on :eek:

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

Well its time for this thing to backfire on you Mr Skids

For the record It was not me, (John Casey) I don't know where you work,
and unlike you Mr Jim Smith, aka Jimmy skids, AKA johns crazy,
I did not have to go create a seperate RCU account to debate and defame another RCU member (mainly me) like you did.
(SEE civil discourse in this forum)

So When your at the field telling your buddies about this;
Don't forget to tell them that this is exactly the same thing
you and your boys do to Jeff Weiss and his business, Airborne hobbies ......he's got a wife and two kids also.

Tell us how you ran him out of your club,
removed his ads from your newsletter,
embarked on a campain to destroy his business
and how you have some of your members that are dual members in multiple clubs are
doing the same and are trying to get the other clubs to do the same. (remove his ads, boycott his shop)

You did'nt give a care in the world about destroying his livelyhood as a hobby shop owner and the family he supports,
And you have the balls to come here and act as if your some sort of victim,
when in fact you and your crew were the ones to "invent" this " tactic".

I think we have some RCU members in the Sacramento area that like
having more than ONE hobby shop and have decided to "protect" it from
guys like you and have started using your own tactics against .........YOU. How does it feel?

From Doc Austin
" Some of those morons have gone so far as to vandalize cars at people's homes
and there has even been a confrontation or two at the races"."
for Doc Austin.
The guys doing airacing in this area have exactly the same mentality..I guess its universal in racing.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

I do not disclose my name very often, but it is not a deep dark secret either. You will notice that if you go to any kind of waiting room, the mailing labels are torn off the magazines. This is a prudent precaution.

My political views are a bit to left of most model aircraft enthuseists, who are, on average, a little to the right of center. Politics rarely comes up in the forums I usualy visit, but sometimes something may slip out, so I am cautious.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

I've always used my real name, when some RCU guys
meet me in person they are astounded that I don't have
pointed ears, a forked tail, and horns coming out of my head.

We get along just fine.

RE: Should RCU posting be anonymous?
 

I find no particular relevance to a poster’s actual name, AMA# or any other position within the modeling community unless he gives accounts of situational issues being discussed as first hand knowledge.

When information is given as fact it must either be readily and independently verifiable or the witness must make himself known to gain any credibility.

I also think as a matter of forum etiquette, moderators should refrain from weighing in on philosophical discussions with their opinions to prevent the polarization of a thread. Of course, relevant facts are not only welcomed but desired! OTOH omissions of facts, favorable or not, are inexcusable if known by participating moderators.

The above are merely my opinions… you are most definitely allowed yours!