The option to log in as "hidden" and post in the mysterious "hidden" shroud is a mystery to me.

So, out of real curiosity, why do people bother to hide their online status?

They're afraid of sharks.

I might be making things up, but in the realm of paranoia one might deem it logical that being hidden would make it harder for someone to track one's IP address. Or, that might be completely made up. I'm not really hacker savvy. Also, to hide from the trolls.

Did not know you could. I guess I need to become anonymous first.
Rob

I used to do it all the time but never bother anymore. It's mostly a privacy thing. Sometimes you don't want people to know whether you're online or not. If they check your profile it also doesn't register under the "Last visited:" field.

Weird and useless feature, as I imagined. If it hid the IP address it would make some sense.

I am curious and not at all judgmental on this one. But why would you not want anyone to know you'd looked at the forum?
Rob

I don't see it as "weird" or "useless". Neither do I understand why it's judgemental to ask about it. When I just started posting I used to feel more comfortable if people didn't know I was online. It's also helpful if you get a PM update. Sometimes you just want to check the message and don't have time to do anything else. If you log in as hidden people don't expect anything from you while you're online. It's not the most useful feature around but I have occasionally found it helpful. It's certainly a more useful feature than the "friend" and "foe" setting.

Ed makes a fair point -- I saw PeachyPete on here yesterday, I believe, and checked back about 20 minutes later to see what he'd posted. Nothing, as it turns out. Disappointment followed and so I'm moved to agree with ed's stance... anything else is strictly none of my business, anyway.

Agreed on the "Friends" and "Foes". My "Friends" list does actually exist... Tuco is still on it, so is Damaj, and so is aameen....


AAMEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Remember recently when aameen emailed asking for a poem?
P.P.S. I heard you recommended Lamb (is that creepy for you to hear)
P.P.P.S. My reading comprehension is so bad that I thought he wanted the reader to write a poem. So I did. I think I heard him laughing from all the way in India. You have my permission to request a copy of said poem if you ever have the urge to reading something truly and utterly horrible.

Yes. I was wondering who the members of the BCC were. I wanted to be special. I was not.



I recommended Ginsberg's Howl. No matter what I recommended, I'm surprised you held onto the info for so long... .



I'm formally requesting a copy of that poem. It's only fair as I've e-published enough truly and utterly horrible stuff that you've had to read. Remember the blog? *shudders*

I'm posting this "hidden" right now... and it feels great. Now I know what I've been missing: an almost godlike sense of power.

Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. It's truly atrocious and this isn't me being humble. Enjoy?

I like it. I'm assuming the quoted text is your poem... it's very warm, self-referential and gently self-deprecating. Now, since the quoted text isn't your poem, I'm going to assume you had a moment of better judgement and withheld the link -- I'll accept that, too. Poetic and spare.

Judgmental because people can be very pissy when you ask questions like this
I simply don't get why I could possibly care about people knowing I was on line.
But like anonymity, if it makes people happy that's great I guess.
Maybe I need a second account, second ID, nice rob and nasty rob
Rob

I really like that idea, Rob. I've taken the liberty of working up your avatar to reflect the change.