back to article Site news: Unique commenter handles coming

We have changed the way we manage reader “handles” for story comments. Each commenter will now have a unique ID published on the site. This means that some readers — about 5000 — will see their handles change. These are people who share the same handle as others, or who have registered using more than one email address, using …

COMMENTS

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  1. raving angry loony

    dibs

    Dibs on "raving angry loony".

    So long as it's impersonation you're going after, not anonymity. Anonymous speech should be a cornerstone of any free society.

  2. system

    Suggestion

    Any chance we can get a way to have line

    breaks (<br>) without having a new

    paragraph (<p>) added after each

    line? Double

    spacing is

    so annoying!

  3. davebarnes

    progress is not always good

    all very confusing

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ooo err missus...

    >You want to change your handle?

    Will that mean getting a firm grip of myself first?

  5. Havin_it
    Black Helicopters

    Oh, really?

    I never realised we had such impersonatory powers either. Perhaps Ms. Bee could

    now inform us, how many times she has had to veto a post coming hot on the heels

    of a big long meandering post by (e.g.) "John" by a completely different "John" saying

    "HAHAHA disregard that , I suck cocks"

    ?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    Unique commentator handles away

    What if we disagree with the who got it first assessment?

    What about trademark, what if my handle is a trademark or covers one?

    What about handle squatters?

    Good gosh man, we'll need a troika to straighten these things out!

    But I bet you slick lizards at The Register have already figured out the profits to be had in graft money.

  7. Dave Harris
    Thumb Up

    Only one namesake, I think

    I think there's only one other poster with the same name as me, so I'm happy enough.

    I'd echo Lis 0r's question though, about what happens to previous posts

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    @Peyton

    "I'd say the ratio of insightful comments over waste of times from ACs is effectively zero."

    And the ratio of insightful comments over waste of times from non-AC posters is significantly greater than zero?

    ...Mine's the one that looks just like all the others.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Business Opportunity

    Why not allow people to bid to keep 'Mark' and let the other losers end up with Mark2, Mark3, etc? Whoever offers the most amount of cash gets the 1337 handle.

  10. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
    Flame

    well

    If theres another Boris the Cockroach on the site I'd be very surprised

    But it could be my long lost brother who lives in Sellafield

    Boris the Atomic Cockroach :-)

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Um, so...

    So if I post as ten different "Mark1"s today, what happens then? Will I break it?

  12. . Quirkafleeg .
    Thumb Down

    Hmm…

    UTF-8 in names isn't handled, which is a problem for some who wish to have their names (or chosen handles) correctly represented; yet UTF-8 is clearly in use nearby (yes, I checked the raw HTML: literal “”).

    Then there's this insistence on ≥two-part names…

  13. Peyton

    @@peytons

    @bluegreen, #3 - I can second that. Something as simple as a thumbs up/thumbs down would work for me (I find slashdot's insightful/funny/blah a bit tedious)

    @ac - erm, to be honest, black ops conspiracy fud is exactly what I don't care to read, but for the paranoid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym. Not that it's needed - on the web, your IP == you FAR more than any first+last combo.

    In the end it's moot - so long as the moderator remains constant, I'll not complain ;)

  14. Dave

    If it tells me...

    I'm sorry I can't do that, Dave

    then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow the pod bay doors in.

  15. tuna
    Coat

    For The Love of God, NOOOOO 2.0!!!!!!!!

    Please do not even start turning this into another MyFeceBook 2.0 wannabe friends site.

    There is no glut in the market, no need to fill a void that does not exist.

    Tweak the names so everyone is unique(just like everyone else) and step away from the control panel .

    Mine's the one with the "Does Not Play Well With Others" patch on the back.

  16. J
    Black Helicopters

    @@Peyton AC 9th June 2009 15:57 GMT

    I fully agree, but... Remember El Reg does know who you are even when posting AC (Ms. Bee acknowledged so the other day in some thread). The questions then are: how long do they keep the information, and would they give it out if so ordered by the powers that be?

    P.S.: is "tomorrow" an obscure word in the English language? I'm kinda new to it, mind you, but I have already learned it. So I would say it isn't uncommon. But who knows?

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    @sig

    "How about displaying a poster's tendency to post anonymously?"

    In what way is "sig" not anonymous? Don't be such a self-righteous hypocrite.

    Either use your real name, or shut up about anonymous comments.

  18. Gilbert Wham

    I'm not a number either

    A quick Google suggests I am the only extant Gilbert Wham.

    Probably for the best, really.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @ AC: Tuesday 9th June 2009 15:10 GMT

    Bastard, you owe me a new keyboard as I just blew water, through my nose. onto my new keyboard!

    No, I'm Spartacus!

  20. Rodrigo Andrade
    Thumb Up

    Mark #

    Can I be Mark II?

    Please?

    I have the red and gold armor ready for deployment!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Previous posts

    In the first instance, historic comments will have your old handles (if indeed they change). We will sort this out, one way or another, when we make comments publicly accessible from the site (rather than through a sideways Google glance).

  22. Anonymous Bosch

    Just couldn't resist changing my name....

    nuff said

  23. fluffy

    @peter simpson

    The issue they're fixing is multiple people using the same handle, not a single person using multiple handles. The first one is easy to fix, while the second one is basically impossible. Fortunately they're not trying to fix the second one.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Us/Me?

    My Name is leigon for we are many

  25. Mark Malley
    Boffin

    Uh oh

    I think I'm one of those Mark's!

  26. kissingthecarpet
    Go

    I do find it a bit pathetic

    when some commenters sign themselves "AC" as if they're going to be hunted down. Usually sign off with some crack like "AC for obvious reasons"

    Yeah,right

  27. Neoc
    Stop

    No fix

    What about the innumerable "Anonymous Cowards" out there? Or when a registered commented hits the "post anonymously" button?

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tomorrow?

    But it *IS* wednesday here.

    (Posting from NZ)

  29. Trevor Pott
    Thumb Up

    Apologies to the *original* Trevor

    I went back and reviewed some of my comments, and realised there was another guy posting as "Trevor." Found him as "The *ORIGINAL* Trevor" in a recent article. Consider this my official apology for having userped his "handle." Which is my name and...well...actually....

    Good show El Reg. :D

    *NOT* The "original" Trevor. (Sorry again.)

  30. amanfromMars Silver badge

    I am also a number of numbers. Aren't you too?

    "Of all people, you guys should know that speaking freely and having your own opinion has been thoroughly attacked in the Blair-Bush era. Freedom of speech, nay, even of personal opinion is no longer possible so without a means to go anonymous to a degree it would present too much risk to most people I know." .... By Anonymous Coward Posted Tuesday 9th June 2009 14:37 GMT

    AC,

    Whenever that is the case, does it render the Blair-Bush era and its acolytes, well ....... Certifiably Idiotic in the Extreme would be at least one badge they could wear without any fear of disagreement ..... for surely, only an Practising Idiot is fearful of Free Speech and only a Certifiable Mad Idiot would try to Restrict it [IT and Free Speech], and/or Create a Paranoid Environment which would actively entertain and promote it, to maintain a Sub Prime Exclusive Executive Administrative Control/Power ...... although both Power and Control are mere Delusional Concepts in such Chaotic Circumstances, born and borne of Hubris and Ignorant Arrogance, for neither is Achieved or Achievable.

    Fortunately, the Novel SMARTer Grids and Networks InterNetworking simply Bypass and Ignore such Follies to Render them as Quarantined and Branded Bit Players, Sad Heroes in their Own Small Minds.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Tomorrw?

    It's also Wednesday CET and still no handle field just a combination of forename/surname.

  32. Mike Taylor
    Happy

    Register 2.0

    Can we get vanity urls too, please?

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Suggestions

    Please give me a way of hiding comments from people I don't want to read.

    I would prefer not to read anything from AManFromMars. I think a few others here would prefer to not see anything from Anonymous Coward.

    I like the idea of digg-like ratings for comments, too.

    FWIW, I use Anonymous Coward because I'm at work, and it seems simpler to not have to discuss my comments or justify my time to my co-workers. AC works for me.

  34. r
    Joke

    Still no Handel field.

    Who will I get my Water Music from if I can't find a Handel?

  35. amanfromMars Silver badge
    Alien

    Re Suggestions .... By Anonymous Coward Posted Wednesday 10th June 2009 07:11 GMT

    Use your brain then, Anonymous Coward/free-loader nitwit*, and avert your eyes to simply ignore what you don't understand. It is by far the easiest way to remain ignorant of Alien Miens and Memes...... and ITs XXXXStreams. And which will all come out to Play with a Vengeance if Gary McKinnon is extradited and/or prosecuted, meThinks.

    * An admitted leap into the Relative Unknown, aided and abetted anonymously by the provided cowardly evidence of "FWIW, I use Anonymous Coward because I'm at work, and it seems simpler to not have to discuss my comments or justify my time to my co-workers. AC works for me." The post is a Gimme, Gimme, Gimme sort of rant, is it not?

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I must admit...

    ...that without the shelter of cowardly anonymity, I would find myself more often inclined to shut the hell up, and that is probably not a bad thing with regard to the greater good and numerous lesser demi-goods.

  37. Smarty Pants
    Alert

    W00t

    its works gosh darn it

  38. David Hough

    So who is Number One?

    Having gone from a 500 server error to a new page, it appears to be working now.

  39. Intractable Potsherd
    Thumb Up

    New name ...

    ... new possibilities!! Thanks, El Reg - I wouldn't have thought of doing this if you hadn't brought it up!!

  40. El Richard Thomas

    Damn, I wasn't first!

    Curses to my parents for giving me such a common name ;-)

  41. Lost in a maze of twisty comments, all alike.

    10 PRINT "does it work ?"

    20 GOTO 10

  42. Dave 113

    @Matt Ashworth

    Actually, I believe that Scott may well be an American citizen, and a teacher of the English Language in that fine country.

  43. bygjohn
    Stop

    You seem to be getting greedy...

    I have no problem with unique handles, but I've just been into my account details and it won't let me unsubscribe from unwanted notifications (which I haven't received up to now) without demanding more personal information (real name, number of employees at my workplace for example), which you've been quite happily doing without up to now. I've just closed the page down for now: if I start getting unwanted emails from you, you will most likely lose a reader.

    Anyone would think you were linked to Phorm or 118800 *spit*

  44. Scott 19

    Highly Suspcious

    There's another 18 of me?

  45. King Edward I
    Go

    Haha!

    New handle! Fear my mighty regal ways!

  46. Trevor Pott o_O Gold badge

    Handle Get.

    Now all we need is account merging, for those of us who ended up with multiple accounts over the years. :D

    Maybe with El Reg platinum edition subscribtion? *heads off to renew*

  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Erm

    i dont get it

  48. W

    For shame, El Reg.

    OK, so the handle box is there. And it looks like I've not been allocated a numerical suffix.

    Shame about the interim period over the past 24 hoursor so where El Reg published full names for comments instead of the already defined usernames. So anyone who had previously registered a correct name (in the account details form, on signing up back in the day) but used a psudonym so as not to resort to total AC status would have inadvertantly had their name published above their comments. Good job my comment was innocuous, or I'd have to cancel my subscription etc...

    Guess it reminds me never to trust ~anyone~ on the intertrons. Especially disappointing/ironic, even if it is the on a website that has published so many damning reports about data security leaks.

  49. Number6

    Or is it working?

    It used my full name, not my handle.

  50. Rob

    @Rob

    Hey Rob, you wanna toss a coin to see who gets the no. 1 ;-)

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