[ExI] Who is safe?

[spike]

... On Behalf Of Stefano Vaj
Subject: Re: [ExI] Who is safe?

2010/12/23 spike <spike66 at att.net>:

>> So if some transparency is an overall positive, then more of it is still
better, ja?

> I *like* transparency and information, especially when I am not the one
whose secrets are being disclosed.--Stefano Vaj

Ja me too.  I few years ago when I was more of a vocal advocate of greater
openness, it occurred to me that I was a poor spokesman for the notion.  I
can easily hide, even if I don't want to.  If one googles Eugen Leitl, one
gets the right guy immediately, but if one googles on Spike Jones, the first
several thousand hits are the band leader.  

When I was a teenager there were two others with my same first and last name
in my home town.  One was a little older, black, became a painter (houses
not canvas), never met him.  The other was a year younger, was also a skinny
blonde kid and we even looked a little alike.  We met once in high school,
agreed we could pull off some good gags, never got it done because shortly
after I graduated he perished in a traffic accident, not all that far from
where I lived at the time.  For some time, many thought that hapless lad was
me.  At my 30th high school reunion I ran into someone who thought I had
perished way back then.  

For those of us who have common names, it would be difficult to reveal our
own secrets accurately, for they would be mixed with others sharing a name.
For most who want privacy, the best bet might be intentionally mixing one's
own life story with that of others.

spike