Huckleberry Hax
ideological distance from Google's recently criticised stance against the use of 'fake names' – it's more of a knowing wink, really – but given the many complaints thrown in Linden's direction over the last couple of years concerning all manner of perceived ideological departures, the opportunity to sneak in a subtle, “See? We're doing something right, aren't we?” must have seemed just too good to pass up on. Quite right too. I have a Google+ account for my SL avatar. I'm half expecting it to be suspended any day now. The other half of me thinks this won't actually happen, the same way it hasn't actually happened for my Facebook account. Facebook have – apparently – a similar 'real names' policy, though quite how this applies to, for example, 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' (who I follow) I have no idea. Did HBO change a volunteer employee's name to Curb Enthusiasm (middle name Your)? I think not. It's all exceptionally confusing. And search the Google+ guidelines for a definitive no-you-may-not-use-an-online-identity-for-yourprofile and you're unlikely to be satisfied (I say “you're unlikely” rather than “you won't” because Google policy statements on this issue appear about as stable as the world economy). The latest official comment (at the time of writing) reads, “It’s important to use your common name so that the people you want to connect with can find you. Your common name is the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you.” On the issue of pseudonyms, they add, “Put nicknames or pseudonyms in the Other Names field.” In other words, where everyone can see them. Kind of missing the point about pseudonyms, isn't it? There's a certain phrase that tends to get wheeled out at about this stage in these sorts of conversations. You know the one I'm talking about. “If you've nothing to hide,” it begins and then tails off into one of a variety of finger-waging wisdom impartations like, “you've got nothing to fear” (true wisdom, by the way, never gets accompanied by a finger wag, which should be considered by law the grounds for instant dismissal of all implied knowledgeability). Of course you have something to 15