I think that this site should show our IP addresses when we post...that would eliminate lots of confusion with the many orgers with multiple accounts...

Sadly, I only have one account.

EDIT: Nobody could deny being someone else either... much like a certain aquatic orger who is no longer with us.

...
[This message was edited Tue Oct 29 13:54:24 PST 2002 by IceNine]

IceNine said:

would that not violate the rules by exposing personal/private information of orgers?

bad, idea. we used to have this in the chatroom many moons ago. it's better without it.

AaronForever said:

It shouldn't be any kind of violation... but, then again, a clever hacker could destroy some things by using the IP address...

You have a point... one can only imagine what would have happened to Nep2nes' PC about a billion times if people would have had her IP address...

the boards i moderate for only show the IP address to the mods and webmasters. not everyone needs to see that info...

twonabomber said:

Yeah... I agree... I was off with the IP thing...

I just wish that the IP could be used to make posts tell all of the user IDs that are used with that IP address...

That would be neat...

Here we are, SkeletonKee...

Some ideas on the IP thing...

wow..great minds do think alike..

and i dont think it an issue of disclosing private information if you dont list the entire IP address...how else could other sites, chatrooms and BB Boards do it?

AaronForever said:

how and why is it bad?

With the IP posting, you could run searches to see where the perosn using that computer has been all over the internet. Most of us don't really want that. What's worse, sometimes any one of us could be on a different IP and confusion would reign supreme.

tommyalma said:

simple solution...dont list the entire address...

like ive said, other BB Boards and Forums do this to cut back on the aliases...

SkletonKee said:

what difference does it make on a personal level for each of us to see everyone's IP addresses? exactly what problem is it we're trying to solve with this particular solution?

AaronForever said:

I'm guessing the intent is to spot people who post under multiple accounts. It's a good idea, I think, if only the most significant octets of the address are given.

I don't know, guys...

Look at what has been done with information that
IS available (i.e., avatars, profile pics, and
all other profile information).

Anything can be abused.

IceNine said:

How is this problem addressed by a person who can
access a computer from home, from a university,
from work, and from a library?

That's four different IP addresses, only one of
which may actually be under their name.

RoseOfSharon said:

i just cant see anyone going to an extreme to hide their identity by running from office to library to home...

and if they are that hell bent on keeping an alias a secret, they deserve to have an alias...but, one slip and they are found out...do you think anyone would take this risk?

and thanks ian for responding to aaron...i thought my responce that he quoted answered his question...you clarified it perfectly for me.

Obviously we (prince.org staff) have access to this info anyway. I certainly wouldn't suggest publishing someone's entire IP address for all to see, but at least the 3 most significant octets would tell you roughly what country / internet provider / organisation the person is posting through.

It merits further discussion at least. I wouldn't want to publish anything that compromises anyone's privacy. I'm a "hacker" (in the old-school sense) myself so no-one is more concerned about privacy than I

I don't really mind people having multiple accounts, as long as each of these accounts behave themselves and follow the site rules.

SkletonKee said:

who says they're hiding? perhaps they're just living their life, spending time in those places.



you're taking all of this way too seriously.

ian said:

A good idea why? What purpose does it serve to know everyone's aliases? I mean really... who cares? Moderators have the info... why does anyone else need it?

SkletonKee said:

no, you really didn't answer it and neither did he.

why do YOU need to know anyone's IP address?

AaronForever said:

Well I don't believe anyone really NEEDS to know the IP addresses apart from the people running the site.

However I can imagine why someone might WANT at least a part of the IP address - other bulletin boards provide it because it helps people spot "trolls". Example: someone with a new account starts posting and posting what looks like "baiting" questions trying to start a racist flame war. A quick glance at the IP will show the resourceful Orger that it's just someone they know who is winding them up, and will respond in a more cheerful and less vitriolic manner.

I don't really have a strong opinion either way... I understand the value of it for the users, but it also does damage the anonymity / privacy of posting on the site. On the whole it sounds like a big change to make to our Org policies etc for little reward... deserves to be discussed further though.

ian said:

Agreed! There's a very few scary humorless wackos on here that I don't want to read my posts as it is let alone know my IP address (whatever the fuck that is)!

I think that would be opening up a whole new can of worms and inviting more problems (stalking etc.)

What about a mutual killfile feature? I know that idea has been floated before and it seems less intrusive than the IP thing.

People need to learn to walk away from shit starters and not escalate things by constantly engaging with someone who is always "on." It's a big site, let's not make it smaller.

no way

Well now 2the9s, I think the killfile idea is a great one!It's one we suggested ages ago but I guess it was forgotten.

Next time we're doing an overhaul of the Org, I'll scour through these suggestions from everyone (I notice Lavishh had a few nice ideas too for the site) and maybe we could do a poll on it again like we did last time (on the old black and purple Org) to get a list of the most desirable features.

ian said:

how will looking at the IP reveal that they are a troll? name-recognition and reading the posts themselves should do this more effectively than looking at some arbitrary IP address.

I don't want anyone knowing my I.P Address. The thought of being stalked by some cretin scares me.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 2 17:01:29 PST 2002 by Zthe9s]

AaronForever said:

Er, because the IP address will match a known user's IP address. It doesn't have to the be numerical representation either, it could be the DNS record - after all the whole point of DNS is that it is a more meaningful-for-humans representation of an IP address. So for a purely hypothetical example, one might display "lemoyne.edu" instead of "192.231.124.140". It refers to exactly the same thing, it is just presented differently.

Anyway it seems that the IP address idea is a non starter because of privacy concerns.

ian said:

right, but one has to create a history of trolling/flame-baiting for the IP recognition system to work with org readers. and we've already demonstrated that we're quicker than that. we recognize the trolls most of the time when they change their names. the best example is the one you cited... we figured out who the new Nep2nes was before she even had a chance to post. and we sussed out oceana quicker than she could change names, many many times.

SkletonKee said:

You missed my point. It's not whether they are going
to extremes to hide, it's the availability of multiple
computers--and hence, multiple IPs--that makes this
"solution" non-efficient.

I don't post as frequently as others, but I do watch
the site. And like Aaron suggested, you get to know
who you want to talk with and who to avoid like the
plague. If you're observant, you can tell who is who
no matter how many aliases they try to use.

The problem with multiple accounts at the org is in
how the accounts are set up. It is too easy to get
multiple e-mail accounts, and as a result, multiple
org accounts as well.

Personally, I say just wait. People will show their
true nature soon enough.

RoseOfSharon said:

AaronForever said:

no...im not taking it to serious...i was just curious what others thought about the matter...just discussing things...cha know?