Why it's better to be yourself

I got an email this morning from someone in Everett. This person says that s/he has good information that a power that is, in Everett, has tracked down, or is trying to track down, all the people who criticize him anonymously, on websites, blogs and such.

Remind you of anything?

No, not me!

I was thinking more of Tom Ryan, former editor of The Undertoad - who, of course, wrote as himself.

I had a similar discussion with someone the other day - can't recall who at the moment - and I think it's always better to comment, criticize or advise as yourself ... if you're on line, someone can track you down anyway.

Apparently this is being done in Everett using a WhoIs feature, which most, if not all, domain providers provide for free. This isn't new - I was using this function/application/whatever 15 years ago, at a place I used to work, when looking up domain names that my employer wanted to secure for himself.

I believe there's some kind of a privacy feature attached to this, so use it. Not that it will stop some agency like the FBI.

I can't stress this enough - if you're on line, you can be tracked. And what you put out there, you put out there forever.

Just because I'm reckless doesn't mean you have to be.