I'm Back! But it's good to know that if I ever AM sucked through a portal to another dimension that you all would notice!
Actually, I had a week long trip to meet with various folks. I actually managed to sneak in 30 minutes in the air and space museum between meetings so that was fun.
Anyway, here's the story:
I have always been pretty 'loose' about my identity because, frankly, I feel that USUALLY what I post I'd stand up for later and don't worry too much about things like identity theft etc.. (besides... that's going to happen for other reasons, NOT what you post on a board).
Anyway, it's never been a problem before but now that boards such as this one (and others) are able to be Googled, having one's 'real name' pop up can cause problems.
Now, I'm not famous, rich or powerful, but my 'day job' puts me in some interesting circles where people give a dang about what I'm like and are looking for 'tid bits' about me and what I say for whatever their particular agenda might be.
I was out at a meeting and after, I was questioned by a lawyer, in a friendly way about my hobbies and if I was a 'vocal member of game collecting hobby'.
That led to some emails to co-workers asking about me and such... Since my company is starting to get some attention, I thought it best to 'tone down' my informal presence on the web to prevent something said in jest or out of context reflect poorly on my professionalism or company. Whacked, weird, probably unnecessary but was indeed a wake-up call.
All my same beliefs hold true, I'm not 'hiding' who I am or have any problem with you guys knowing me etc.. I just thought I'd make it a little harder to track my private conversations by not broadcasting my real name to anyone who put in a google search.
That's the story... not as interesting as you'd have hoped, I'm sure. But there it is.
(
BTW, I'll be happy to invent a much more exciting version if the the boring old truth fails to satisfy!
)
-GamesGuy aka The Collector formerly known as J0N 0AK3S