New at Reason
Katherine Mangu-Ward mulls over Google's evolving and long-ranging effect on your reputation.
Comments to "New at Reason":
What is up with the subway assaults by teenagers? Why didn't someone help that poor guy? How much fun would it be to beat the living snot out of some mouthy teenager harrassing some poor guy? I doubt I am living well enough to have that kind of opportunity.
Kwix | December 20, 2007, 4:13pm | #
John,It could be because engaging in fisticuffs with a teenager is "assault of a minor" and carries a far harsher sentence than fighting with your same age peer.
Cesar | December 20, 2007, 4:13pm | #
What is up with the subway assaults by teenagers? Why didn't someone help that poor guy? How much fun would it be to beat the living snot out of some mouthy teenager harrassing some poor guy? I doubt I am living well enough to have that kind of opportunity.When there are a lot of other people around, folks think "oh someone else will help him".
If theres only one or two people, they usually help.
Theres a word for this phenomenon, but I don't remember Psych 101 well enough to recall it.
John | December 20, 2007, 4:16pm | #
"John,It could be because engaging in fisticuffs with a teenager is "assault of a minor" and carries a far harsher sentence than fighting with your same age peer."
But if the little bastard is assaulting someone, you have a vicarious right to self defense for that person. Now, you have to be right. If it turns out they are just fooling around and he wasn't assaulting the person, you are guilty of assault. But if he or she really is assaulting someone, you have a right to meet force with force and beat the living shit out of the little bastard.
Typed my name. Well, now people know my politics, that I'm a hiker, and I am an adoptee. Pretty tame, considering some of the fun I've had.
joshua corning | December 20, 2007, 4:37pm | #
To all you pussies out there at Hit and Run comment land who use aliases out of fear...You are full of Bullshit!
JOSHUA CORNING
STENDEC@GMAIL.COM
332 W Penny Road apt 4
Wenatchee WA, 98801
Thanks, Joshua. I'll just need your Social security number for confirmation.
R C Dean | December 20, 2007, 4:40pm | #
Now, you have to be right. If it turns out they are just fooling around and he wasn't assaulting the person, you are guilty of assault.Actually, you just have to have a reasonable belief that you are acting in (vicarious) self-defense. If anyone looking on would think its an assault, then you are entitled to step in without first grilling the participants on their intentions, family history, etc.
My name is so rare that there would be no confusing it with anyone--except my father who has the same name. But that's it.
iowan | December 20, 2007, 4:55pm | #
To all you pussies out there at Hit and Run comment land who use aliases out of fear...Fear is not the only reason for using an avatar to surf and participate in online communities.
John | December 20, 2007, 4:58pm | #
Joshua,Please don't foget, your DOB, SSN and mother's maiden name. Also, if you could just assist me in getting a few hundred million dollars out of my family's frozen Swiss bank account, that would be great.
Joshua Corning | December 20, 2007, 4:58pm | #
Thanks, Joshua. I'll just need your Social security number for confirmation.535-04-9383
Danny | December 20, 2007, 4:59pm | #
lol @ Joshua!J sub D | December 20, 2007, 5:00pm | #
I'm an actor, a Dick Cheney aide, a hall of fame football player, a research professor of historical theology, a furniture designer, former MSU president and stopped looking.When I was working on the then new Aegis Combat System in the Navy, I warned that there was so much info available that it would be easy to drown in it. Unable to make a decision because there was too much info. Googling a name, mine's neither common nor rare, sure does lead to a shitload of stuff to sift through.
There's an element of privacy in all that clutter.
sixstring | December 20, 2007, 5:01pm | #
You forgot to ask for his bank account numberDon't need it. If I were so inclined, the SSN would be enough.
Funny thing with those Nigerians -- they're still around because the ruse still works. Greed can surely blind.
I thought my name was uncommen until I googled it. Now I know there are country music singers (I bought his cd) and deep sea fishing captains out there with it. Worst is when I found out on Skype that there is a CEO of a tech company in my own town who has the same name. My sister keeps calling him and showing him her babies.
Patrick | December 20, 2007, 5:01pm | #
Typed in my name and the first result from the google:Re: I want to build a bomb
To: Patrick Joiner ; Subject: Re: I want to build a ... On Thu, 7 Oct 1999, Patrick Joiner wrote: > All I need to know is how to ...
iowan | December 20, 2007, 5:02pm | #
Fearless, foolish, minor differencesEpisiarch | December 20, 2007, 5:04pm | #
When I search, it comes back with only my father--not me and not anyone else. I have managed to completely stay off Google's radar (so far). Excellent!It also is a testament to how fucking rare my name is.
I share a name with one of the richest men in the world and the victim on the largest divorce settlement in history. His wife went from being a belly dancer in London to getting a settlement in the billions. That is called marrying up.
Danny | December 20, 2007, 5:07pm | #
Oh, and since this isn't much of a thread anyways, I want to let everybody know how nice it is to be on this site where there is absolutely no censorship. The content isn't always the greatest, but at least there's no moderators or constant bickering.I made my way over to the conservative website http://www.freerepublic.com/home.htm earlier this week and was met with quite hostility... They called me a troll when I responded to a post about gays being "purely evil". My comment about teaching kids at a young age about homosexuality not being a horrible thing (since knowledge is a great thing, IMHO) was instead censored, and my posting privileges revoked. From there, the only possible action is to e-mail the webmaster... Yeah, like that lazy ass is going to do anything about it.
Steve S. | December 20, 2007, 5:10pm | #
Hey - I'm ahead of the curve. I did a column back in 2000 on Web-searching my own name."Web hits include a painter of owls (pictures, I believe, not the actual birds); an executive vice president of Southwest Bankcorporation of Texas; a research director of MicroBioRhizoGen (really) Corp.; the assistant coach of the 1981 USA Men's World University Games basketball team; an advice doctor on KPDQ radio; a simulation system expert at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory; a top designer of steeplechase courses; the past president of the Arkansas Biotechnology Association; the author of Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines of Kansas; a swimmer at Oregon State University; and the honorary general secretary of the Fordingbridge (England) (Lawn) Bowling Club.
Far as I know, none of these is me (although my memories of 1981 are hazy)."
Danny | December 20, 2007, 5:10pm | #
Well... it wasn't much a thread when I was writing my post. Sorry gents!John | December 20, 2007, 5:11pm | #
Danny,The worst troll on Hit and Run, and I am sure many would consider me one of them, is better than the average poster on a lot of blogs. This one and Althouse and Volokh tend to have pretty good commenters.
Blue | December 20, 2007, 5:12pm | #
Fuck you Danny, you're out of your league..
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Sorry. Happy Festivus.
Brandybuck | December 20, 2007, 5:12pm | #
To all you pussies out there at Hit and Run comment land who use aliases out of fear...Meriadoc Brandybuck
brandybuck@hobbithole.ts
123 Shyfoot Lane
Crickhollow, Buckland, T.S.
I actually did it early this week, just hours before I heard about the survey, wierd. My first relevant hit was joe agreeing with me about something, how embarassing.
joe | December 20, 2007, 5:28pm | #
I've got you all beat.I am Yukon Joe Boyle, Arctic explorer, organizer of a Machine Gun Company during World War One, and wearer of history's greatest blonde handlebar mustache.
NoStar | December 20, 2007, 5:30pm | #
Joshua Corning,I'm just 80 miles away from you in Moses Lake.
I think Sage is a dry-sider too.
jon | December 20, 2007, 5:31pm | #
I'm a famous guitar player and that's about it.Pro Libertate | December 20, 2007, 5:32pm | #
True story: I spoke at a conference in Florida in 1999, and one of the other speakers had the same name. The organizer was so amazed at the coincidence that she had us join her for lunch. I'm the superior version, I note--I could totally take him in sword fight.I only had to look through 5 pages of stuff about me. I sure feel sorry for Ron Paul. It would take him 2 lifetimes to check out everything that is said about him. (Did you know he accepts money fron NAZI's!!!)
Danny | December 20, 2007, 5:40pm | #
NoStar: That's a fallacy!Oh wait... That's true... But that he is a Nazi because of it--that's the fallacy.
sage | December 20, 2007, 5:46pm | #
think Sage is a dry-sider too.Not hardly. My heart's over there, but my home is in the Sound area. West sound, to be exact. My job is in the North end.
NoStar | December 20, 2007, 5:49pm | #
I don't know if that's fallacy or not, but I know for a fact that he has accepted money from a former disreputable rock and roll drummer who has espoused radical anarcho-capitalism in the past.And I'll be giving more money in January.
Merry Christmas to all Reasonoids and Reasonettes.
Sage, How far north? My sailboat is moored in Oak Harbor. I get over to see her about once a month.
NoStar, I'm working in Lynnwood. When's the last time you were up there? Is the situation with the ferries going to screw your plans up?
Danny | December 20, 2007, 5:58pm | #
Oh yeah? What kind of a set did you play? I've got a Tama Rockstar kit with Zildjian A Customs.Oh, and Merry Christmas to you, too.
NoStar | December 20, 2007, 6:11pm | #
Sage, I drive all the up to deception pass bridge to get to the island. I was there last in early November.Danny, when I played professionally (1971 thru 1987) I played a set of chrome Slingerlands with 3 mounted toms on the bass plus a floor tom. 20 inch ping ride cymbal, 18 crash/ride, 16 inch crash, 14 inch New-beat (medium top, heavy bottom) hi-hat, all Zildjian.
Nowadays, I have a cheap but servicable set from CB, but the cymbals are Zildjian. I can play cheap drums (I can make cardboard boxes sound OK) but great cymbals are imperative.
Taktix® | December 20, 2007, 6:12pm | #
Being Jon Kyle, screw that bastard senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl, for opening a flood of misspellings over what used to be an easy name.I could go by Jonathan, but that's a bit too pretentious.
Oh, and I play a cheap kit with Sabian cymbals. Zildjian always sounded washy to me...
Joe S. | December 20, 2007, 6:20pm | #
Say, Josh. Was just looking at the satellite view on Google Maps. Did you know that you live in the middle of a freeway interchange?http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=332+W+Penny+Road+apt+4+Wenatchee+WA,+98801&sll=48.57479,-85.253906&sspn=25.215522,59.238281&ie=UTF8&ll=47.465374,-120.337447&spn=0.00157,0.003616&t=h&z=18&iwloc=addr&om=1
joe | December 20, 2007, 6:23pm | #
joshua corning | December 20, 2007, 4:37pm | #To all you pussies out there at Hit and Run comment land who use aliases out of fear...
You are full of Bullshit!
JOSHUA CORNING
STENDEC@GMAIL.COM
332 W Penny Road apt 4
Wenatchee WA, 98801
And now you're a donor to the Hillary Clinton campaign!
Remember to recycle, joshua.
After doing some serious sleuthing about "fish" I've determined that I have a fairly significant role in religion!
joshua coring | December 20, 2007, 6:39pm | #
Say, Josh. Was just looking at the satellite view on Google Maps. Did you know that you live in the middle of a freeway interchange?Close...zoom out pan west on penny and about where penny hits School street the east side of penny you will see a horse shoe of buildings one of those buildings is my big bros house and i rent one of his apartments....i am looking for a house and no i do not bum money from him for pot =P
And now you're a donor to the Hillary Clinton campaign!
Remember to recycle, joshua.
Actually that would be pretty funny.
dhex | December 20, 2007, 6:49pm | #
Actually, you just have to have a reasonable belief that you are acting in (vicarious) self-defense.john, as far as i know in nyc - legally - you basically are allowed to intervene so long as you do not escalate the situation. this does not mean someone or something else won't escalate, which is what i presume bothers most people.
i dunno man, last halloween i watched one of the deadest drunk dudes ever sit down on an imaginary bench that just happened to be the tracks; me and two other dudes rushed forward to grab him and pulled him back up (the train was coming, but a whiles away, it's slow at night) and no one else moved. it happens though, and i didn't see the whole crowd.
on the other hand, they were girls! yay sexism, but really... i know a guy, a boxer, who gave a gang of seven high school girls twenty bucks rather than be faced with the decision to beat on high school girls. i can't say i totally blame him. same with this dude. what's he gonna do, punch someone out?
"wow bro, you really showed her. someone won't be participating in any spelling bees for a while."
M | December 20, 2007, 6:53pm | #
Is it true that greatest gift you can give your children is a very common name, so that future snoopers cannot distinguish them from other, say, Ronald Pauls?But my guess is that by the time anyone's children are grown, googling will be conducted by DNA samples or the like, and only by government agents. That, or the terrorists will have won.
We have the makings of a fantastic Reasonoid Drum Circle. I can feel the liberty and the testosterone rising.
J sub D | December 20, 2007, 6:59pm | #
And now you're a donor to the Hillary Clinton campaign!Hilarious, joe. If I'd have thought of it, I'd have signed him up for a she-male newsletter or something like that. Now guys, I'm joking of course. None of us at H&R would do anything like that. Right? Right???
Remember to recycle, joshua.Naw, just kidding.
prolefeed | December 20, 2007, 7:01pm | #
joshua -- Lotta weird or nasty folks out there. I prefer to keep what little privacy remains, thanks. But feel free to expose yourself to harm if you like.I hope that was a fake SSN you posted. If not, I'd keep a careful eye on your bank accounts and credit card statements for suspicious withdrawals or charges in the near future.
prolefeed | December 20, 2007, 7:04pm | #
Hilarious, joe. If I'd have thought of it, I'd have signed him up for a she-male newsletter or something like that. Now guys, I'm joking of course. None of us at H&R would do anything like that. Right? Right???Of course not. I'm indignant you would even suggest such a thing. We'd sign him up for a shemale pornsite, not a frickin' hardcopy newsletter. What, you think we're technologically illiterate?
Neu Mejican | December 20, 2007, 7:04pm | #
Sabians sound too bright to me.More tinny to my ear.
Not that I have a problem with tin.
I have had quite a variety of scrap metal and duct work as part of my kit throughout the years.
Actually, making all SS #s known would be the best way to stop their use as identification, which the Government promised they would never be used for. hahahaha.
Neu Mejican | December 20, 2007, 7:13pm | #
fantastic Reasonoid Drum Circle. I can feel the liberty and the testosterone rising.Love those anarchy drum circles...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3cnaG3BX3lw
crimethink | December 20, 2007, 7:15pm | #
A weatherman, a saxophonist, and a kung fu (?!) actor. I gave up looking for myself after 10 pages...ed | December 20, 2007, 7:20pm | #
I use my real name here. A halfwit could find my home if he really wanted to. That makes me special. Special Ed, as it were. Remember...when we use aliases, the terrorists have won.Are you listening, thx1138_10538?
Neu Mejican | December 20, 2007, 7:22pm | #
Flattering to be classed as a special case, however...http://www.grylliade.org/wikka/HitAndRunTrolls
LarryA | December 20, 2007, 7:34pm | #
What is up with the subway assaults by teenagers? Why didn't someone help that poor guy?[rant] NYC philosophy of self-defense is, don’t. You can’t get a license to even own a gun, much less carry one, because you don’t “need” to. (Turns out the only people who “need” to have that rare privilege are the politically connected.)
If you aren’t supposed to protect yourself, what kind of a fool would you be to protect someone else?
It’s the old, “If they want your wallet, give them your wallet. Otherwise someone might get hurt.” Somehow that leads to, “If they want to beat the snot out of you, let them. Otherwise someone might get hurt.”
See: England. There you can get in a world of trouble if you make almost any effort to protect yourself. [/rant]
googling will be conducted by DNA samples or the like, and only by government agents. That, or the terrorists will have won.
Is there any difference?
Turns out my namesakes include a posthumously heroic sergeant, the commanding general of NORAD on 9/11, a poet, an assistant professor of music, an actor with ten mostly uncredited movie parts, and a guy who writes books on spontaneous human combustion.
They also list my novel and my firearm instructor website in the first two pages, so that’s good. The eerie part is that I’m a retired infantry officer, and an amateur musician and actor.
Neu Mejican | December 20, 2007, 7:36pm | #
Crimethink,I gave up looking for myself after 10 pages...
Strange... when I google "crimethink" you show up at the bottom of the first page.
miche | December 20, 2007, 7:36pm | #
We have the makings of a fantastic Reasonoid Drum Circle.Ooh, I want in! You have heard anything 'till you've heard me bang my Rock Band kit.
ed | December 20, 2007, 7:42pm | #
“Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.” A.J. LieblingHuh? I believe it's "freedom of speech". Whatever.
crimethink | December 20, 2007, 9:11pm | #
I'm more famous under my alias than under my real name, I guess. I'm surprised people in my real life don't call me a pussy for not calling myself "crimethink" in real life!person in crimethink's real life | December 20, 2007, 9:23pm | #
I'm surprised people in my real life don't call me a pussy for not calling myself "crimethink" in real life!We do when you're not around...
crimethink | December 20, 2007, 9:53pm | #
^ hurts. Baaaaad.I'm apparently a French physician who's published so many articles that the only positive review from that stupid rock band I was in is buried on page 15 or so.
Question for Joe: Do you post on Alternet? If so, as Joe? I see that a lot and am always curious.
FrBunny | December 21, 2007, 5:00am | #
Sweet! I'm an ACW wrestler!x,y | December 21, 2007, 5:53am | #
I just googled Dondero. His mustache made my year.Chucklehead | December 21, 2007, 8:52am | #
Only three hits on my name.I'm a MD Ph.D, recent college grad, and sold property in September.
Two of the three are me.
joe | December 21, 2007, 9:54am | #
Lamar,I've never posted on Alternet.
And I never capitalize joe.
Michael A. Clem | December 21, 2007, 4:11pm | #
I Google myself every now and then. There are two namesakes who seem to have a higher profile than me--a musician in New Jersey and a soccer player in Australia.And no, Katherine, I can't for the life of me imagine why my name would turn up on reason.com!!
;-)
I just Googled and Yahoo'd myself and I've decided that I've said a lot of stupid shit in my life. (i've said one or two smart things as well, but those things will get lost in the noise.)