Why does a real name confer more validity on a TN?

Steve_Saxon · June 1, 2009, 12:55pm

Real names certainly help and there is a feature on CT so you can see your favorite reviewers notes but if there is a wine I’m interested in I usually throw out the 2 (or so) high scores and the 2 (or so) low scores. It seems to help. Kind of like Olympic ice skating scoring.

Joe_Dulworth · June 1, 2009, 1:30pm

Here we go again with the Real Names means more credible, civil, yada yada yada crap. Still don’t buy it for one minute. Other than this board (since I don’t really post on ePandload) I’m known as wineismylife everywhere else including in person.

Randy_Sloan · June 1, 2009, 3:22pm

I’ve always used my original BB handle on CT but wonder whether I should change it. Heck, I want my TNs to be trusted.

The thing that held me back was I always made my cellar visible to all registered users, (how else to interact with new people?) but there is a little security question when one must just register to see what I have stored away. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist or computer whiz for a thief to build a list of places to hit.

davetong · June 1, 2009, 4:18pm

Exactly. In fact if it wasn’t for the spock avatar I’d have a hard time remembering that you are WIML.

The other point worth considering is that we only have the word of a poster on a bulletin board that you are WIML and that Joe Dulworth is your real name. It’s not like you had to provide 3 forms of ID and a DNA sample to register.

A name is just a means of identification. Some of the most identifiable people in the world go by pseudonyms - John Wayne, Bono, Michael Caine, Benedict XVI, Meat Loaf, the Queen. In the world of wine, WIML actually carries a lot more weight and respect* than Joe Dulworth.

Dave

Okay, maybe respect is pushing it.

Gordon_Fitz · June 1, 2009, 4:23pm

Randy;

You’re absolutely correct. I have a cellar of 1500-1700 wines, depending upon shipping windows. I(well just not me) drink about 30 cases of wine per year, including yours. It became very evident at the outset that I would never get all the wine input into the system even try to keep up with the ends and outs. So I threw in a very small sample of inventory to keep the system happy, and use mostly the other benefits of the system.

The buzz at the local wine bar is that one of the other patrons home recently got hit. Besides a couple of pieces of art, it was the cellar that took most of the hit. The thieves had very fine tastes in wine.

Yep, you’re right, most of his cellar was right there on CT. That’s called being eat up with Dumba_ _ !

Eric_LeVine · June 1, 2009, 4:37pm

Gordon, you are always the one with interesting stories about CT. So did this person who got hit expose his real name on CellarTracker? Most people do not? Did he lower his cellar security? Most do not. Did he avail himself of my plea that anyone with an interesting collection owes it to themselves to look into insurance to cover theft or disaster of said collection.

davetong · June 1, 2009, 4:41pm

So he’s a well known local wine and art aficionado, but you think they got onto him via CellarTracker?
Sorry, not buying that. Occam’s razor, and all.

Eric_LeVine · June 1, 2009, 5:12pm

Gordon has thrown a few innuendo slams out there at CT. There is no one registered under the name “Gordon Fitz” on CellarTracker. He does not reply to my questions here when I challenge his posts. I hate to be defensive, but a pattern is forming. I am curious what Gordon’s actual interest is.

Gordon_Fitz · June 1, 2009, 5:59pm

Dear Eric;

Nothing sinister here. I’m not an ITBer. My interests are best described in my response to Randy Sloan’s statement above. I love, and drink a lot of wine and take enjoyment in doing so.

I don’t consider myself an expert by any definition. I do know more than many. I continue to learn all the time. I will comment on subjects where I feel I might contribute, otherwise I try not to.

I have given your program accolades in several threads. I think it does some things quite well. Like you stated above, anything put on the net should be done so under the most secure of conditions. But saying that, I have worked with people who can, and do, blow by security stops as if they’re not there. That’s not a slam on CT or any program, it’s just the way it is.

I look forward to your developments and the evolution of CT over the next few years.

Yes, shilling is going on. I’ve heard it discussed. It’s both complicated and sophisicated. CT is but a small part of the deal. But an integral part. It doesn’t really matter in the large scheme of things. It is just another reason why I don’t give a lot of weight to some average wine score done by people I don’t know. Some people have a very different view of that issue. Each to his own. None of this is a knock on CT itself.

On the shilling issue itself, I have no vested interest in any parts of the issue. So I will not start naming names. Everything to me is like a newspaper, I only believe about half of what I read. Same with TNs and subsequent comments thereon.

Dave Tong is correct, there is a lot of reasons those people may have been targeted not even considering CT.

Best of luck in the future. Keep up the good work.

Rob_MacKay · June 1, 2009, 6:05pm

I read this post too fast and it came across as “everywhere else including in prison”…

Eric_LeVine · June 1, 2009, 6:18pm

Gordon Fitz:

Dear Eric;

Nothing sinister here. I’m not an ITBer. My interests are best described in my response to Randy Sloan’s statement above. I love, and drink a lot of wine and take enjoyment in doing so.

I don’t consider myself an expert by any definition. I do know more than many. I continue to learn all the time. I will comment on subjects where I feel I might contribute, otherwise I try not to.

I have given your program accolades in several threads. I think it does some things quite well. Like you stated above, anything put on the net should be done so under the most secure of conditions. But saying that, I have worked with people who can, and do, blow by security stops as if they’re not there. That’s not a slam on CT or any program, it’s just the way it is.

I look forward to your developments and the evolution of CT over the next few years.

Yes, shilling is going on. I’ve heard it discussed. It’s both complicated and sophisicated. CT is but a small part of the deal. But an integral part. It doesn’t really matter in the large scheme of things. It is just another reason why I don’t give a lot of weight to some average wine score done by people I don’t know. Some people have a very different view of that issue. Each to his own. None of this is a knock on CT itself.

On the shilling issue itself, I have no vested interest in any parts of the issue. So I will not start naming names. Everything to me is like a newspaper, I only believe about half of what I read. Same with TNs and subsequent comments thereon.

Dave Tong is correct, there is a lot of reasons those people may have been targeted not even considering CT.

Best of luck in the future. Keep up the good work.

Gordon, thank you, I truly appreciate the response, and I apologize if I have been overly defensive or paranoid.

Joe_Dulworth · June 1, 2009, 6:22pm

Hey! Don’t tell everybody I’m still in prison!

Glenn_L_e_v_i_n_e · June 1, 2009, 6:31pm

i am old enough now i use my real name when picking up babes (no, i don’t tell 'em i am a jockey or race car driver anymore) so i figure no harm/no foul using my real name on a wine board.

mike_pobega · June 1, 2009, 6:56pm

and you can even wear that hat doing so!

Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m · June 1, 2009, 7:29pm

the “situation” isn’t mine … “the situation” belongs to those who don’t trust TN’s written by users who don’t use their “real names.” I posted my “almost real” handle as a service to anybody who might be interested in linking my real name to my “almost real” handle – perhaps this number of people who hold this interest is zero … I don’t know.

Change the name on ct and be done with it man! >

for the reason(s) I’ve already outlined, I will not do this. I write my TN’s, first and foremost, for myself. I post them on CT, here, and elsewhere for 3 reasons:

to organize and memorialize them for myself
to initiate wine-related discussion
for others’ reference, in the rare event they find them interesting, helpful, or otherwise useful.

mike_pobega · June 1, 2009, 7:32pm

Brian G r a f s t r o m:

mike pobega:

No horse blah blah but I do like to recognize the name associated with the tn on ct. Its that simple and yes, if I can’t place the name, I can’t find my ‘alignment point’ of said noter, hence I don’t pay much creedence to it. As simple as that.

Fake names forums don’t work for me either.

Brian, truth be told, posting your almost real ‘handle’ (jeez that so reminds me of ‘You’ve Got Mail’ & ‘Convoy’), really does nothing to help your situation.

the “situation” isn’t mine … “the situation” belongs to those who don’t trust TN’s written by users who don’t use their “real names.” I posted my “almost real” handle as a service to anybody who might be interested in linking my real name to my “almost real” handle – perhaps this number of people who hold this interest is zero … I don’t know.

Change the name on ct and be done with it man! >

for the reason(s) I’ve already outlined, I will not do this. I write my TN’s, first and foremost, for myself. I post them on CT, here, and elsewhere for 3 reasons:

to organize and memorialize them for myself

to initiate wine-related discussion

for others’ reference, in the rare event they find them interesting, helpful, or otherwise useful.

All right then. There you go.

Yoni_O_v_a_d_i_a · June 1, 2009, 7:45pm

Real names or fake names doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is whether or not I think they know what they’re talking about and not just spouting nonsense.

There are a lot of people who post off of real names whose TN’s I ignore as they’re useless to me. I care more about the actual note then whether or not the person posting it does so under a real name.