# why did you choose the Username you are using on TalkedAbout ?



## Mark

there are some great usernames people have on this board.

why did you choose the Username (and photo) you are using on TalkedAbout ?


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## Eric

niji said:


> there are some great usernames people have on this board.
> 
> why did you choose the Username (and photo) you are using on TalkedAbout ?



I just stuck with what I've been using at MR because that's where most of us come from. Fry is just my hero.


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## Alli

niji said:


> me too about just keeping same name from MR.
> 
> but i don't understand "Fry" who is he?



He’s a character from Futurama.


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## Alli

Why did I chose my user name.... Well, actually I didn’t. I’m just too lazy to think of anything creative. I used “Allibama” for a while, but all those extra syllables....


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## Arkitect

*Arkitect*…  it was a lovely misspelling of Architect on my first _professional_ business cards in Singapore!

I have always used it.

Ah… 1989. What a year!  

Edit: Though it is actually used in Malaysia and Indonesia, so the mistake was an easy one.


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## Clix Pix

I've been "Clix Pix" online for many years now and use this name on all the forums in which I participate.  Interestingly enough, though, when I first joined MR, I had been reading posts and threads there for a while and was getting more and more interested in actually buying and using a Mac myself, so one day when I had a couple of questions to which I didn't find any answers, I joined up.  For some reason I had the idea that probably I wouldn't  be hanging around there long, so instead of using "Clix Pix," I came up with "On the Brink," as at that point I was still trying to decide whether or not I wanted to take the plunge into the world of the Mac.   This was back in October 2005.   I joined, got my questions answered and shortly thereafter, there was a keynote, and I watched and listened as Steve talked with great enthusiasm about the latest version of the iMac, which he proudly announced, "and it has a built-in iSight camera!  Our first iMac with this!"  I shrugged, thought, "I don't need a camera in the computer, I like the last model just fine...."

BOOM!!!  Yeah, that was it.  I suddenly realized that, hey,  with the new version of the iMac arriving in stores, they'd be wanting to clear the inventory of their older Rev B G5 iMacs......  I could save a little money and take the plunge, see if I actually liked this Mac thing.....!!!  Went to the Apple store the very next day and bought my first iMac.  In the car, coming home, I wondered if I had just gone to the Dark Side.    By the time I'd set her up, used her a little, I realized, that, actually I'd just come into the Light and was leaving the Dark Side behind.... Wow!    I fell in love with my G5 Rev B iMac immediately and promptly was enveloped in Steve's magical Reality Distortion Field....

Soon thereafter I realized that I was no longer "on the brink," and that it was time to change my user name on there to my familiar "Clix Pix," and so got in touch with Doctor Q once I learned that it was something he did, and he made the change for me.  It was also around that time, too, that I decided to become a contributor, a Demi-goddess, and still am.

Hey, I've just realized that it is now fifteen years that I've been using Macs and have been integrated into the Apple ecosystem!  Wheeeee!!


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## Mark

i chose niji:
the japanese means rainbow and comes from the full name name of the area i lived in just outside of Tokyo: Rainbow Hills.


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## Apple fanboy

niji said:


> there are some great usernames people have on this board.
> 
> why did you choose the Username (and photo) you are using on TalkedAbout ?



User name? Whats that? This is my actual name name and photo!


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## Joe

JagRunner 

Jaguar - undergrad mascot 
Runner - grad school mascot - Roadrunner 

Im a big sports fan.


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## Alli

JagRunner said:


> JagRunner
> 
> Jaguar - undergrad mascot
> Runner - grad school mascot - Roadrunner
> 
> Im a big sports fan.



So you went to the University of South Alabama for undergrad?


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## Arkitect

niji said:


> @Arkitect were you in Spore in 1989?
> i was there in December 1986  to August 1989 (if i remember correctly now).
> to be an architect in spore at that time must have been fascinating.
> so much of old spore still there but so much promise for tomorrow's spore.
> it was heady days.



Indeed it was.
I started at an Australian Architectural firm in Hong Kong and then moved to SG when they opened an office there. I was in Singapore until… 1993. Then back to HK for the next 10 years… 

There was indeed a lot of old buildings around… all being "restored" Singapore style… meaning, torn down completely and then rebuilt. Disneyland restoration/conservation… I am not a fan. (Talking of the olden days, I remember the original Bugis street during a visit in 1978. Not the sanitised version it became…  )


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## Gutwrench

It’s a carryover from MR. I’m username challenged when choosing and have used it since being active at USA Wrestling.


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## lizkat

username same as over there...  and yes of course I'm named after British royalty so please take a knee.

photo is that of my fearless PorchKitty who deserved to live longer so now she gets as much immortality as the net hands out.


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## Mark

lizkat said:


> username same as over there...  and yes of course I'm named after British royalty so please take a knee.
> 
> photo is that of my fearless PorchKitty who deserved to live longer so now she gets as much immortality as the net hands out.



i have often admired that photo of PorchKitty from the days of TheOther(TwliightZone)Place. 
its good to know her name.
s/
thank you yr Royalness! 
/s


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## dogslobber

I have 4 legs and salivate all the time. Isn't it obvious?


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## Clix Pix

Arf, arf!   A welcoming "bow wow!!" to you,  Dogslobber!


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## Yoused

niji said:


> i chose niji:
> 
> yes. its the same name i have been using at MR.
> but niji comes from an area i lived in outside of tokyo.
> the japanese means rainbow and comes from the full name name of the area: rainbow hills.
> for the future i think i might change the name but keeping niji right now.



"Niji" always reminds me of a brand of writing instrument. We had this thing called a "Niji Stylist" which was a felt marker with a tip that was angle-cut to about 33mm square (really big) and somehow the name sticks in my head. I remember as a teenager using it to mark my big toenail black.

I originally registered as "*You*", but it turned out to be somewhat problematic, and I am accommodating when I need to be. This name has a touch of ambiguity (it can be seen as meaning two completely different things).


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## Mark

@Yoused
yes. its the same word (niji) as you remember in that marker series.
the name of the company that made (and still makes Niji branded art markers you refer to is Yasutomo. still available in Japan.
probably used the name niji as brand name since, as i mentioned, niji means rainbow.


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## Scepticalscribe

I have a somewhat sceptical cast, or turn, of mind, and I like to write.


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## Clix Pix

Scepticalscribe said:


> I have a somewhat sceptical cast, or turn, of mind, and I like to write.



There is a woman writer from India who also uses the moniker "Scepticalscribe," on Twitter and other places, and for a while I thought you were she!


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## Scepticalscribe

Clix Pix said:


> There is a woman writer from India who also uses the moniker "Scepticalscribe," on Twitter and other places, and for a while I thought you were she!




Seriously?

I never knew that.

On Twitter, I use my own name, but that also severely limits what I can write.

In fact, I was working in Kabul when a Dutch colleague persuaded me to open a Twitter account - he argued (correctly) that it was an excellent way of keeping abreast of local (informal) political thinking, and that is its main function for me, even now.  

However, I deliberately put a lock on my own account while I was in Kabul so that I couldn't tweet - after all, I was there in a diplomatic capacity - and I was terrified that I would write something stupid - or, unwise , or intemperate - while in an uninhibited and relaxed and unguarded state having consumed a few glasses of beer or wine some evening.

I didn't unlock it until my deployment ended.

(Yes, it could be argued that there are some who have held office more recently who could - perhaps - have taken a similar approach and used Twitter with restraint).

When I joined MR, and tested a few possible user names, all of the original ones I had thought of were already taken.

Anyway, when I eventually came up with Scepticalscribe, I liked the look of it on paper, and I also like the alliteration of the word.  Above all, I like how - as with your own user-name - it echoes my life, my preferences, temperament, character, and my profession - as writing analytical (or descriptive) reports has been a key part of my job since I started working in an international environment, whereas, prior to that, as an academic, I also wrote a lot, and am the author of a (published) history book.


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## rdrr

I always have tried to rdrr for most of my IDs everywhere.   Its from an old Simpsons (Season 1 Episode 2) episode where Bart cheats on an entrance exam for a AP school and is in a math class that the teacher says here is "and if you determine the rate of change in the curve correctly, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."    Everyone but Bart gets it right away.

The equation breaks down to rdrr = har dee har har.


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## Clix Pix

Just took another look and it seems that journalist Rina Chandran has now changed her user name on Twitter to "Distantly Social," for whatever reason....   Anyway, she used to call herself Sceptical Scribe on there.   Looks as though she is now based in Thailand, but she has lived in several places around the world.

Definitely "Scepticalscribe" is a moniker well-suited to a writer!


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## SuperMatt

My name is Matt, and as a kid I was a big comic book fan... so this was my original nick on IRC back in the early 90s and I just stuck with it.


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## Alli

SuperMatt said:


> My name is Matt, and as a kid I was a big comic book fan... so this was my original nick on IRC back in the early 90s and I just stuck with it.



I had a friend named Matthew who always used MattorantiMattR.


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## Clix Pix

I post in both forums but as it happens I tend not to post or participate in the PRSI forum at MR, while I have been more actively participating here in the current discussions of voting/election-related events here in the US......  I initially joined MR because I was interested in the tech -- at that time, Apple was still doing the PPC platform -- and I still tend to hang out more only in the subforums discussing some new Apple item I've bought or am thinking of buying, as well as a couple of subforums in the "Community" section or in the Privates.  I also hang out daily in the Photography subforum there and usually have an offering to submit on a daily basis.

That said, yes, because I was posting in non-PRSI subforums on MR today I indeed was careful about my wording after certain news broke in the US so that I would not get nailed for posting something political in a non-political section.....


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## lizkat

niji said:


> @Scepticalscribe @ericgtr12 @Alli @lizkat
> 
> good morning.
> 
> for people who have accounts in both forums, in general, do you think the tenor of their posts changes depending on if they are posting on TalkedAbout or posting on MR?




Hell yes  (in PRSI).   I started censoring myself over there a long time ago, somewhere around the time there were site and forum feedback discussions about group slurs and whether something was racist. 

 Regardless of how I felt about any of that I had been noticing that people who didn't like left leaning folks posting facts would do stuff like take a thread slightly off topic,  draw people into the sidebar and keep that going until they themselves would suggest maybe the thread was drifting off topic and they'd post some deflection back to their BS in the main thread and then SNAP! --and a whole raft of posts on the sidebar with assorted cogent arguments against the BS in that digression would disappear.  Then the thread would revert to the main topic and the BS on that subject would resume.  

 I was like OK I get it... and I don't have time to waste with those games, I was tired of seeing posts and citations disappear behind a mod's notification that "post deleted as it was an off topic response to an off topic post." Seriously?  why not grab the drifty part and stick it in a separate thread ffs.   Well bc sometimes the original driftmaker had in mind an off topic drift, usually to some reliably hot-button subject,  and maybe even enough provocative remarks would ensue in that sidebar to fetch a left-leaner's off guard violation of guidelines?   

Well I'm old and conscious of being in the late afternoon of my life so even if I enjoy jousting on social media sometimes, that sorta stuff takes the worth AND the fun out of it. So F that stuff, I'm out.

Lately I don't post more than maybe a like or a considered one-liner over there, maybe a link to a mainstream piece to support something I find of interest.  If the planet doesn't blow up before Biden's inauguration I'll maybe pop over there and have some fun if there's any to be had.  It's more reliably fun to hang out here, that's for sure, even if I have concerns sometimes that we could use more diversity of opinion.   But that may come in time anyway once this orange creature and his minions are dislodged from "leadership" of the American government.


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## Alli

niji said:


> for people who have accounts in both forums, in general, do you think the tenor of their posts changes depending on if they are posting on TalkedAbout or posting on MR?



We don’t try to self-censor here, as Liz pointed out in her post above. And because we’re not working crazy hard not to offend anyone, we tend to curse...cause it’s allowed here, damnit!


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## Eric

Alli said:


> We don’t try to self-censor here, as Liz pointed out in her post above. And because we’re not working crazy hard not to offend anyone, we tend to curse...cause it’s allowed here, *damnit*!



Okay everyone, stop reporting Alli


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## Zoidberg

I'm a SCUBA diver, I've grown despondent over the years, and I love a good alliteration.


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## Thomas Veil

Like others, I'm using the same name I used in The Old Country.

Here is where my name comes from:



> _Nowhere Man_ is the story of photojournalist Thomas Veil, who discovers that his life has been abruptly "erased": his friends claim not to know him, his wife claims not to recognize him and is living with another man. His ATM cards and credit cards no longer work. His best friend turns up dead. His private studio is now owned by someone else. His mother, recovering from a stroke, is incapable of confirming his existence. He is ejected from his favorite restaurant as a total lunatic. In the course of a single evening, every trace of Tom's identity is gone.




A user name is, after all, a way of remaining anonymous on the internet...and nobody is more anonymous than Thomas Veil. 

...

I should note that I am _so_ looking forward to changing my avatar come January 20th. I've been using this one for four years, and I'm more than ready to get rid of it.


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## Alli

Thomas Veil said:


> Like others, I'm using the same name I used in The Old Country.
> 
> Here is where my name comes from:
> 
> 
> 
> A user name is, after all, a way of remaining anonymous on the internet...and nobody is more anonymous than Thomas Veil.
> 
> ...
> 
> I should note that I am _so_ looking forward to changing my avatar come January 20th. I've been using this one for four years, and I'm more than ready to get rid of it.



I recall a season of a tv show based on that. I would like to have seen it go longer.

I’m also looking forward to your changing your avatar!


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## Mark

Thomas Veil said:


> Like others, I'm using the same name I used in The Old Country.
> 
> Here is where my name comes from:
> 
> 
> 
> A user name is, after all, a way of remaining anonymous on the internet...and nobody is more anonymous than Thomas Veil.
> 
> ...
> 
> I should note that I am _so_ looking forward to changing my avatar come January 20th. I've been using this one for four years, and I'm more than ready to get rid of it.








Since I had not heard of Nowhere Man I searched for it.
I’m very very very glad for you it is the 1st one above and not the 2nd one above.


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## Clix Pix

I remember that years ago Karen and Richard Carpenter recorded a song called "Nowhere Man."  I wonder if this were their inspiration?


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## Thomas Veil

And of course there was the Beatles song. Both of them predate the series and share nothing more than the title.

If_ Nowhere Man_ is related to anything, it’s because it bears a thematic resemblance to _The Prisoner._


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## Clix Pix

Ah!!!!  I think maybe what the Carpenters recorded was their version of the Beatles tune "Nowhere Man"......  The mention of the Beatles triggered a long-buried memory.  Thanks!


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## Thomas Veil

Never heard the Carpenters version, but I looked it up and you’re right, it’s a cover of the Beatles.


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## User.168

.


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## Scepticalscribe

niji said:


> @Scepticalscribe @ericgtr12 @Alli @lizkat
> 
> good morning.
> 
> for people who have accounts in both forums, in general, do you think the tenor of their posts changes depending on if they are posting on TalkedAbout or posting on MR?



Yes, I realise that I am more relaxed (and a lot less annoyed) here, than when I post in The Other Place, The Other Country.


Clix Pix said:


> I remember that years ago Karen and Richard Carpenter recorded a song called "Nowhere Man."  I wonder if this were their inspiration?






Thomas Veil said:


> And of course there was the Beatles song. Both of them predate the series and share nothing more than the title.
> 
> If_ Nowhere Man_ is related to anything, it’s because it bears a thematic resemblance to _The Prisoner._






Clix Pix said:


> Ah!!!!  I think maybe what the Carpenters recorded was their version of the Beatles tune "Nowhere Man"......  The mention of the Beatles triggered a long-buried memory.  Thanks!




Yes, the original version of this song comes courtesy of the Beatles, from an album named Rubber Soul, an excellent but regrettably under-rated album, to my mind.

Absolutely loved The Prisoner (with the debonair, urbane - and, to my mind, impossibly and inexpressibly cool - Patrick McGoohan).

Actually, when Patrick McGoohan died, Other Brother (knowing that I had liked him) phoned me to commiserate.


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