What makes internet input identifiable?

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Bundokji
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What makes internet input identifiable?

Post by Bundokji »

Friends,

We mostly know each other through contributing and posting on this forum. Apart from our username, what makes our input identifiable?

I do not think i am good at identifying members if they change their username. Apart from IP address, and if i were to change my user name, how would you spot me?
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: "Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness!"

This was the last word of the Tathagata.
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Sam Vara
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Re: What makes internet input identifiable?

Post by Sam Vara »

Bundokji wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:38 pm Friends,

We mostly know each other through contributing and posting on this forum. Apart from our username, what makes our input identifiable?

I do not think i am good at identifying members if they change their username. Apart from IP address, and if i were to change my user name, how would you spot me?
I find that there are some members who are very recognisable due to their writing style, their thought-patterns, and preoccupations. Others are less individualistic, and therefore potentially more interchangeable.

It's also worth noting in this context that some people are better at identifying others. This shows up when they alert mods to sock-puppet and multiple accounts.
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Radix
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Re: What makes internet input identifiable?

Post by Radix »

Bundokji wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:38 pm We mostly know each other through contributing and posting on this forum. Apart from our username, what makes our input identifiable?
A person's spirit.

I do not think i am good at identifying members if they change their username. Apart from IP address, and if i were to change my user name, how would you spot me?
Mwhaha!
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SDC
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Re: What makes internet input identifiable?

Post by SDC »

Bundokji wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:38 pm Friends,

We mostly know each other through contributing and posting on this forum. Apart from our username, what makes our input identifiable?

I do not think i am good at identifying members if they change their username. Apart from IP address, and if i were to change my user name, how would you spot me?
Because you are very good natured and have been one of, if not the most, even-tempered member on all of DW. Your posts are consistently well-written, thorough, with clean formatting, which is very easy to look at.

As a (former) moderator tasked with ensuring the ToS is kept, you grow very skilled at picking up the signs of the temperament and sensibilities of the members. There are members I can identify simply on account of the name they choose, time of day they are posting, how they embed links, how often they edit, who they quote, just to name a few. Occasionally, it comes down to the theory of omission, in that it is what a member is deliberately withholding or avoiding that puts up an flag and makes them easily identifiable. They only thing that makes a member invisible to those who know them is to change, and those who would go an return with different usernames are typically those who are uninterested in doing so.

Everyone has slightly different reasons for being here, and whether we want it to or not, what we say is part of an ongoing theme, inclined as a result of a persistent intention that has been revealed through repetition. For my part, I’m here because it is generally a wholesome way to pass the time. I legitimately enjoy having my words be understood by others, and enjoy when I read others describe things in a way that is relatable. I’m pretty sure that this broader intention and preference has grown more and more obvious over my many years here, and I would expect at least a dozen or so members to be able to pick up on that flavor were I to participate with a different name.
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3
SarathW
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Re: What makes internet input identifiable?

Post by SarathW »

Dhamma Wheel hires a forensic scientist. :tongue:
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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