If we can all attach personal picture with our post, we can know each other better. Will that be a good idea?
Your thought?
Your thought?
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Attach personal picture with our post
- Thread starter Kung Fu Wang
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I would-if it weren't for the population that I work with. When that changes I'd have no problem with it personally, but people have a right to privacy.
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skribs
Grandmaster
There's enough crazy people on this forum that I'm perfectly happy keeping my anonymity. I remember a while ago there was a new member that joined (and was quickly banned) because he kept picking arguments with people and then saying "give me your phone # so we can hash this out." That was the creepiest thing I've seen on this site.
There are some people that I am really comfortable talking to and would love to train with, and I wouldn't care if they had any of my personal information (including my likeness). There are others that I have on ignore and I wouldn't even want them to know what state I live in, if I could help it.
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Headhunter
Senior Master
Not really necessary
OP
OP
People put personal pictures on facebook. What's the difference between a MA forum and facebook?
Steve
Mostly Harmless
I'm not sure what the big deal is. Our names used to all be published in something called a phone book. By default your name, address, and phone number were publicly available. I can see maybe wanting to protect the contact information, but there's a happy medium.
Now, I will say, the internet has a long memory. I was reminded of a person who used to post here a lot, and eventually left. His name came back up, and I googled him to see what he'd been up to. Found some pretty crazy stuff he posted shortly after 9/11 in 2001. Wow. I genuinely wish I hadn't stumbled on it.
All that said, I'm not overly concerned about folks knowing what I look like. I tell people my name all the time in real life, even when they're looking right at me.
Now, I will say, the internet has a long memory. I was reminded of a person who used to post here a lot, and eventually left. His name came back up, and I googled him to see what he'd been up to. Found some pretty crazy stuff he posted shortly after 9/11 in 2001. Wow. I genuinely wish I hadn't stumbled on it.
All that said, I'm not overly concerned about folks knowing what I look like. I tell people my name all the time in real life, even when they're looking right at me.
Steve
Mostly Harmless
You look like the kind of guy who would roast his own coffee.It's a nice idea for sure. Just don't think everyone is keen for that, which is fair enough.
(Although this sort of pic would toootally give people the wrong impression, which may be fun!
Long story... XD )
skribs
Grandmaster
My pictures on Facebook are only limited to my Facebook friends. Others cannot see them. I have control over who sees them or not. If I don't want someone on Facebook, I remove them from my friends list, and they lose that access.
On this site, if there's someone I don't want to see something, I have no power to protect my privacy other than to not post something. If I put someone on ignore, they still see everything I post.
As a comparison, let me tell you a story about a company called Blizzard, and a game called World of Warcraft. Several years ago, Blizzard decided that the forums were too toxic because everyone was posting anonymously, and said that they were going to enforce "Real-ID", which would use your real first and last name to post on their forums. There was a huge backlash at this. People were afraid for their privacy and safety, especially at some of the posters who were rather unhinged.
To make a point, one of the Blizzard employees posted his first and last name. As if to say "it's not a big deal, I'll show you." Well, the point was made by the community. Just minutes after him posting his name, people replied with information, including:
- His home address
- His car make and model and license plate #
- His wife's name
- Personal information like SSN, mother's maiden name, etc
- His financial records, including his income, how much he pays in taxes, and his credit score
- Pictures of his kids, their names, and where they go to school
The more information you give people, the more they have to stalk you or steal your identity. This is one of the biggest reasons why I'm so cagey about answering specific questions about my school or my training.
Headhunter
Senior Master
Easy. I only have my friends on Facebook. On here it's not my friends....and don't fancy any weirdos having acess to that
That's actually what your avatar is intended to be used for. If people want to use a personal picture, it's put there. That's really me in mine.
There are certainly privacy issues, though, which is why users are free to choose their avatar and screen name. Because it certainly is possible to find an awful lot of personal information starting with just a name or photo.
OP
OP
Your picture shows your striking power. My picture shows my single leg balance and flexibility. We both hide our faces nicely.
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Your picture shows your striking power. My picture shows my single leg balance and flexibility. We both hide our faces nicely.
Faces are not needed, however, if someone has nefarious intentions. Most photos these days will have all sorts of exif data attached. Like where the photo was taken. Details of the camera (your phone?). Yes, exif data can be removed before posting the photo, but most people don't even know it exists, let alone how to remove it. And even if it's removed, a photo is still useful. Right click on someones photo and google search it. Does your employer have your photo on their web site? If so, Google may well have just informed the hacker of who you are and provided all the info about you from that website. And if your employers site isn't exactly secure, said hacker may have access to your files in the HR department.
It's actually extremely unlikely that your employers network is secure, especially if physical access can be obtained for even a few seconds. For example:
Man walks into office:
Hi. I'm here to see So & So, but I forgot to print out a file I need. Could you print it for me? It's only a couple pages.
Why certainly, says the helpful employee.
Man hands over a USB drive. Or at least, it looks like a USB drive, and in fact will work perfectly well as a USB drive. But it's actually a Rubber Ducky. Which contains a program that creates a connection from your computer to his. He now owns that computer and can access others on the local network from it. Once it's transferred, your computer will create that connection any time the computer is turned on, even if it's locked.
You can also just drop a few of them in the parking lot. The odds are VERY good that someone will plug one in.
Basically, if a hacker wants you bad enough, they can get you. The best you can do is try to make it difficult for them.
The programs to do this are freely available for download, although most will be intentionally flawed to prevent them from running. This keeps Script Kiddies from using them, since you have to have at least a little coding knowledge to fix the flaws.
skribs
Grandmaster
We both hide our faces nicely.
Fun fact. In that photo, @Dirty Dog is actually facing the camera. He just has no eyes, nose, or lips.
OP
OP
I don't spend time on Facebook. I prefer to talk about MA with strangers than to talk about non-MA subject with friends.
I believe that if you
- train MA, you can't be a bad person, and you can be my friend.
- don't train MA, you are not one of us, I'm not interested in you, and I don't want to waste my time with you.
I'm very interested to know what "the true hero of the east" is training. I have asked him for personal video 5 times and he did not respond.
I just hate to talk to someone that I don't event know he is a real person or not.
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There are plenty of complete scum bags who train MA.
I have plenty of friends who have never trained MA. I still like them and don't regard time spent with them as wasted.
He's not going to, either.
Everyone posting here is a real person. We used to have a robot named Clark Kent that posted some stuff here from sister forums, like Kempotalk, but he's gone.
skribs
Grandmaster
I can think of a lot of ways I've seen people who train MA be bad people.
- Some of my kid and teenage students who are there because their parents want them to learn discipline. Some do, some don't.
- Schools with a culture built around machoism instead of respect
- Competitors who cheat in martial arts competitions. Like when my Mom was an intermediate belt and got injured by a woman who was a black belt, but wore an intermediate belt so she could win.
- Martial Arts instructors who emotionally, physically, or sexually abuse their students
- Many UFC fighters have rotten personalities. Such as Connor McGregor sucker punching someone in a bar because they wouldn't try his signature drink, or the UFC fighters that purposefully go for eye gouges and leave their opponents with a permanent disability
- Fighters that go too rough, such as a BJJ fighter ignoring a tap or a boxer trying to take heads off every time he spars
That's your choice to make. I have other interests as well. I like games (board games and video games). I like football. I like guns. I like guitar and bass. I like food. I like girls. I work in IT. I have political interests. I like science fiction and fantasy. I like writing. I like movies.
And I have people that used to be important to me before they moved away, and it's nice to stay in touch.
Maybe MA is your only identity. But I have a lot of other interests.
OP
OP
MA is my religion. I like to believe all MA guys are good guys. I believe bad guys don't train MA. Have you ever seen any bad guy spend 30 minutes on horse stance training? I have not.
This is why I always treat new members nicely (include "the true hero of the east"). As long as he can start some interest MA discussion, I can't care less who that person is. It's fun to know that a "blind Shaolin monk" do exist in the 21th century
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Headhunter
Senior Master
Wow.....okay I mean I like martial arts but I wouldn't want to only talk about it all day every day...that'd be boring.
And well hate to burst your bubble but there certainly are a lot of bad people who train martial arts.
"Not one of us" lol sounds like some kind of cult.
skribs
Grandmaster
I don't think that spending 30 minutes on horse stance training eliminates your capability of being a scumbag. A few years ago, there was a Taekwondo Master a couple cities away from me that got arrested for molesting teenage students. I don't personally know him, nor did I ever train with him, but I'd be willing to bet that he did a lot of horse stance training.
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