Totally unacceptable treatment

[Me.Participant @me1]

Seems if someone totally unrelated to an issue can have someone else’s profile changed with no consultation between that user and Admin.

After years of use of this site and forum and with no issues before my user name has been changed.

I’d like others opinions on this please – do you think its acceptable for this to happen with no word or should i just take it on the chin and let others do as they wish.

Surely if there was an issue you would have thought the Admin team would have contacted me first and not just applied changes suggested by another user.

Thanks

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Dave, he has not fixed the bug and it is a recent issue not one that slipped through when “Me” joined

As can be seen the username has no affect, it is the @** where the problem lies. Just hold your mouse over “Me1” and look at the url it is taking you to.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I imagine Andy (admin) has been trying to sort out the problem reported to him by Bill.

I expect he is still working on things as the problem is still there, if there is a need to change your username then he may contact you but it looks more like the original @** is where the problem is not the actual username so he may well be able to revert it to “me”

As you said in the other thread PMs have been working I suspect it is a recent problem due to some change in software, plug-in etc

I’m happier that Admin are trying to sort things out then just ignoring the reported bug

Not everyone had a number added there are quite a few without including myself

Only admin can change a user name, Moderators can’t and certainly not other users

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Hells bells!  I withdrew my answer on finding it overlapped yours in Camel-Back.

You post appeared here well after I’d hit submit so I didn’t see it.

Same thing with your post in this thread appeared: arrived after a delay!  Our posts are crossing.

My main reason for commenting was Me clearly feels aggrieved.  No need for that, what he’s experiencing is bug fixing in progress, not a personal attack.  As the fix is ongoing I shall leave it to you.

Dave

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Dave, he has not fixed the bug and it is a recent issue not one that slipped through when “Me” joined

As can be seen the username has no affect, it is the @** where the problem lies. Just hold your mouse over “Me1” and look at the url it is taking you to.

Jason, it looks like admin are part way through, as the portion after @ has now changed.

I did add screenshot to the other thread, but that bug has re-appeared and replaced it with an image placeholder icon.

Bill

[Me.Participant @me1]

And here’s me still in the dark as to what is going on with my account – my point of this thread is get someone to tell Me, that’s me as the user me what is going on…. it would only be manors to inform the user of the issues.

 

Just for reference – and as i seem to be getting ignored !! I want my user name to be “Me.” my participant can be @me1 @you5 @someone else27 – I don’t care about that I just want to be told.

[Jon LawesParticipant @jonlawes51698]

Maybe a little perspective is required here? A bug has occurred on the forum, you haven’t been burgled. Life is too short to throw your toys out of the pram over minor stuff like this.

[Jon Lawes]

On Jon Lawes Said:

Maybe a little perspective is required here? A bug has occurred on the forum, you haven’t been burgled. Life is too short to throw your toys out of the pram over minor stuff like this.

Thanks for your input.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Possibly not trying to use a name that could be taken as a regular expression would have been a good move?

[Mark Rand]

On Mark Rand Said:

Possibly not trying to use a name that could be taken as a regular expression would have been a good move?

I think your missing the point Mark, I have had the same user name on this site for a very long time, when i registered there was no issues with the name or my profile.

To get sarcastic replies from others telling me that my name is an expression that others may use is a real insult.

Now after others interference due to an issue with the way the look up code works my details were changed with no consultation.

I’m sure the word Mark gets used just as much as my name Me does – shall we see if Admin will alter the word Mark as its also used as a regular expression.

I’m sure you wouldn’t like the treatment I have received over this, a simple email from Admin advising me of the problem and a suggestion as to an amicable outcome would have been nice.

 

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Me or Me1 , I agree, your name is the one you chose long ago and given the sheer volume of people on any given site, let alone the whole Web means names can be hard to arrive at. It also is an indicator of Model Engineer to me, not just the word me.</p>
So carry on using it here, no issues. As you said, a little consultation would have been nice.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Earlier I deleted a post because it was overtaken by events.  In notifying Jason I said:

My main reason for commenting was Me clearly feels aggrieved. No need for that, what he’s experiencing is bug fixing in progress, not a personal attack. As the fix is ongoing I shall leave it to you.

As I understand it:

• A forum bug has allowed a member to set a name that’s used by the system.  Whoops!
• The bug affects other members, not just ‘Me.’
• Changing ‘Me.’ to ‘Me1’ looks like an attempt to solve the reported bug.  Seems it didn’t solve the problem completely, so the bug is still being worked on.
• As it’s not known what the resolution is yet, it’s difficult to consult on it!

Though annoying, it’s just a bug.

Mark’s comment about ‘regular expressions’ was an attempt to explain.   Regular Expressions are a pattern matching language often used by programmers to error check input.   REs recognise the shape of things like URLs, email addresses, telephone numbers and much else.   Chaos ensues if ‘Me.’  is interpreted by the system as a regular expression because the period symbol matches any character.

Mark’s post has been misunderstood.  Unlike ‘Me.’,  ‘Mark’ isn’t a regular expression, his reply isn’t sarcastic, and it isn’t a ‘real insult’.

I recommend patience.

Dave

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Me, it would be worth going to your profile and changing your username back the original “me”. As I said the problem that cropped up seems to be with the “@ me” which has now been changed by admin

 

Dave, once again your bulleted points are all wrong.

– the system accepted the name “me” for a long time, something changed to caus ethe problem

– Not seen the bug affect anyone else

– It has been working correctly for the last day or so since “@ me” was changed to “@ me1”

– As above resolved by changine the @

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Since the bug seems to be a side effect of certain words being treated by the software in a special way which I had never heard of before the solution is fairly obvious – have a rule on user names being at least 4 letters long (sorry Joe) and alphanumeric only, numeric limited to one trailing digit,  with a list of reserved words which may be dynamically extended during the new member acceptance process. All to avoid general silliness.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

I wonder what would happen with the username “null”? :0

In all seriousness, the system should be designed to disallow problematic names or phrases at the very start, but after spending a long time working on government databases, I can say that a) it’s more code and therefore more expensive, and b) there’s always going to be one you miss.

We were caught out by someone wanting to use the title of “Grand Vizier” once… 🙂

Rob

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

Rob, this has actually been tested IRL. An American fellow changed his name to “Null” to mess with the system, but the joke was on him when thousands of improperly filled parking tickets ended on his doorstep.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

..
Dave, once again your bulleted points are all wrong.

…

Jason please keep me in the loop.  I’m trying to poor oil on troubled waters and it doesn’t help when my colleague fails to communicate and then criticises my efforts.

I’m also human enough to resent the latest in your series of ‘once again’ cracks.  They are unjust.  I could explain why your bullets are misjudged too.   Except starting a quarrel doesn’t help Me.

Dave

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I’m not in any loop, have had no contact with Andy on this matter. I just go by what I see on the forum.

[jaCK HobsonParticipant @jackhobson50760]

I’d try and take it on the chin. I can understand the upset but I feel it is something I should not get upset over.

I find the use of the username Me annoying as it makes me think that posts attributed to that user might have been written by myself.

I try and operate under the assumption that i don’t really own anything I enter on a public forum and people might do anything with it. The use of my personal data is protected by law. Some might argue username is personal data but in this case I don’t think it benefits the world to consider it protected.

If someone changed my username from jacKhobson to JackHobson, I will not get upset. If someone changes it to ‘a ‘jacKisaPlonker’ then I probably would… so in this case I would probably fail my ‘take it on the chin’ advice.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

In a probably futile attempt to calm some of the anger … let me recount a distracting  tale:

Sometime in the late 1980s / early 1990s  I had a work colleague with the surname Allport [details conveniently forgotten to protect the innocent].

The company had an internal eMail system.

One day this system suffered an almighty overload crash … because someone had sent a message to ALLPORT [which I think was probably interpreted as ‘every port on the network’]

If I recall correctly, this spiralled out of control when recipients started to respond.

.

I have just asked ChatGPT to refresh my vague memory of the product, and the answer might ring a few bells here.

MichaelG.

.

Allport was a local area email system developed by Allport Network Systems, which allowed users within a specific organization or network to send messages to each other. It was typically used on VAX systems (a type of minicomputer from Digital Equipment Corporation) or in environments using DECnet (the networking protocol developed by DEC).

The system was fairly basic by today’s standards but was part of the broader trend in the 1980s of establishing internal, local email networks before the creation of the global internet-based email systems we use now. It allowed for the exchange of messages, file transfers, and the early stages of networking within organizations.

While systems like Allport were functional in their time, they were limited by the technology of the day. As the internet expanded and new standards like SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) were established, these early, isolated email systems became obsolete.

[jaCK Hobson]

On jaCK Hobson Said:

I’d try and take it on the chin. I can understand the upset but I feel it is something I should not get upset over.

I find the use of the username Me annoying as it makes me think that posts attributed to that user might have been written by myself.

I try and operate under the assumption that i don’t really own anything I enter on a public forum and people might do anything with it. The use of my personal data is protected by law. Some might argue username is personal data but in this case I don’t think it benefits the world to consider it protected.

If someone changed my username from jacKhobson to JackHobson, I will not get upset. If someone changes it to ‘a ‘jacKisaPlonker’ then I probably would… so in this case I would probably fail my ‘take it on the chin’ advice.

But its my name, why would my name be annoying. I have been known by Me for most of my life.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Just to confirm I can get your profile up OK and send messages if I want now that you have removed the “1”

[Me.]

On Me. Said:

On jaCK Hobson Said:

I’d try and take it on the chin. I can understand the upset but I feel it is something I should not get upset over.

I find the use of the username Me annoying as it makes me think that posts attributed to that user might have been written by myself.

I try and operate under the assumption that i don’t really own anything I enter on a public forum and people might do anything with it. The use of my personal data is protected by law. Some might argue username is personal data but in this case I don’t think it benefits the world to consider it protected.

If someone changed my username from jacKhobson to JackHobson, I will not get upset. If someone changes it to ‘a ‘jacKisaPlonker’ then I probably would… so in this case I would probably fail my ‘take it on the chin’ advice.

But its my name, why would my name be annoying. I have been known by Me for most of my life.

The problem wasn’t the ‘Me’, it was the ‘.’ The forum really shouldn’t have allowed a user name including punctuation  or special characters.

[Grindstone Cowboy]

On Grindstone Cowboy Said:

 

In all seriousness, the system should be designed to disallow problematic names or phrases at the very start.

Rob

I agree. Surely it’s not that difficult to reject any two letter names?

There was a guy on a forum whose initials were MG. He chose Emgee as a user name.

 

[Mark Rand]

On Mark Rand Said:

Possibly not trying to use a name that could be taken as a regular expression would have been a good move?

Agreed! Choose a silly name, get silly prizes! 🤣

[Author]

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