Location Information

[Stick895]

Short question: why do so many people not give valid location information in their profile? These fall into 3 categories: 1) no information at all; 2) bogus/unclear location like South of the UP, somewhere, USA, planet Earth, etc. ad infinitum and: 3) state only. I am a native of VA and there is vast difference between the regions and cities of this state in terms of geography, economy, etc. I am just mystified by this. Do they think they're hiding?

 

[kennyd]

Do they think they're hiding?

Probably...

 

[dave1949]

It is hard to give advice to folks who ask questions that are location dependent when there is no, or sketchy info provided. Building projects, wood lots, gardening, etc. are examples of those.

People do seem to want some anonymity on the 'net. I don't why that is, and it's surely different than getting to know someone in person.

While we are at it, there have been several threads lately where people ask for help with a tractor problem, get advice, including good ideas , but never let people know if the problem got fixed or not. I think that's a violation of some unwritten DIY code of honor. :laughing: When that loop never gets closed, people can't learn as much from each other.

 

[HillStreet]

Definitely not hiding but I do live in a small town. In some conversations the names of dealers or repair shops come up and I will only comment in a favorable manner. Nonetheless I would not want to offend anyone by an omission or mistatement. I really do like this site and have gained much more than I can contribute, as my experience is limited with tractors.

I do however use my name and location when I write to newspaper comments, and even write to the White House now and then. Mr. Obama and I don't get along.

 

[Looking4new]

Definitely not hiding but I do live in a small town. In some conversations the names of dealers or repair shops come up and I will only comment in a favorable manner. Nonetheless I would not want to offend anyone by an omission or mistatement. I really do like this site and have gained much more than I can contribute, as my experience is limited with tractors.
I do however use my name and location when I write to newspaper comments.

I too live near a small town. The town has a population of 600, the township I live in has a population of 800. I think I have posted on here my town in the past, but it will never be under my nick.

 

[aczlan]

It is hard to give advice to folks who ask questions that are location dependent when there is no, or sketchy info provided. Building projects, wood lots, gardening, etc. are examples of those.
People do seem to want some anonymity on the 'net. I don't why that is, and it's surely different than getting to know someone in person.

IMO, its smart to not give out your exact location online. Make someone who wants to stop by and steal your tractor while you are on vacation (that you mentioned on a public forum) have to at least work a little to get your address...
Do you generally wear a badge while in public listing your name and the town you live in?

While we are at it, there have been several threads lately where people ask for help with a tractor problem, get advice, including good ideas , but never let people know if the problem got fixed or not. I think that's a violation of some unwritten DIY code of honor. :laughing: When that loop never gets closed, people can't learn as much from each other.

This XKCD comic comes to mind:

Source: https://xkcd.com/979/

Aaron Z

 

[JD 4520]

Short question: why do so many people not give valid location information in their profile? These fall into 3 categories: 1) no information at all; 2) bogus/unclear location like South of the UP, somewhere, USA, planet Earth, etc. ad infinitum and: 3) state only. I am a native of VA and there is vast difference between the regions and cities of this state in terms of geography, economy, etc. I am just mystified by this. Do they think they're hiding?

You didn't give your name or details...why not?

 

[MossRoad]

Short question: why do so many people not give valid location information in their profile? These fall into 3 categories: 1) no information at all; 2) bogus/unclear location like South of the UP, somewhere, USA, planet Earth, etc. ad infinitum and: 3) state only. I am a native of VA and there is vast difference between the regions and cities of this state in terms of geography, economy, etc. I am just mystified by this. Do they think they're hiding?

Personally, I think whatever someone is comfortable posting about themselves is just fine. A small state doesn't need much specifics, while something like Texas is broken into regions, but specific towns doesn't really matter that much in the big picture. For example, take you: just what kind of project information do you need in Arlington, VA that is so location specific VS, say, the metro DC area? How specific do you want folks to get? For instance, if I put my exact town location that would do little to help with projects at my remote tree farm, just 9 miles away. The soil types there are completely different. There's a micro-climate at my home that makes it less windy and I get less precipitation here, too. It just doesn't matter that much. What you should be concerned about when you ask for advice is that you do a better job of explaining the situation to begin with. Rather than saying "Need help with a barn", how about "Need help with a barn foundation crumbling" and in your post put the specifics of where you're at, what the barn foundation is made of, how old it is, why you think its foundation is crumbling, etc.... give a good story to begin with and it won't make people wonder about what you're asking.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Short question: why do so many people not give valid location information in their profile? These fall into 3 categories: 1) no information at all; 2) bogus/unclear location like South of the UP, somewhere, USA, planet Earth, etc. ad infinitum and: 3) state only. I am a native of VA and there is vast difference between the regions and cities of this state in terms of geography, economy, etc. I am just mystified by this. Do they think they're hiding?

I simply do not want my full name, address, date of birth, profession, email address. etc. available to everyone on the internet. I'm sure that a very clever criminal bent on identity theft could probably find out enough information on the internet if they tried, but I don't want to make it easy for them. Besides, if a thief knows that I own a particular item, I don't want him to know where I live. Example if you are on a firearms forum, and make a post telling how many and what kind of guns you have, do you want folks to be able to look at your profile and see where you live?

Try Googling your handle, Stick895 and see what comes up. It might surprise you.

 

[The Fred]

I blame Edward Snowden and plead the fifth.

Fred might not be my real name.

 

[LJH]

I blame Edward Snowden and plead the fifth.

Fred might not be my real name.

:laughing:

My permaculture forum has one of those maps you can stick a pin in to mark your location. Some of us place it accurately, some just 'mark their territory' as it were, and some choose not to participate at all, but it is fun to read an interesting post and be able to see where the poster lives. Might be neat to have one of those here.

 

[bigtiller]

I don't think people are hiding, at least I'm not.

If I told you what town/city I live in/near, I bet there wouldn't be very many readers that know where it is.

Central Iowa is close enough.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Nation, City & State or Province are about as specific a location as it's 'safe' to provide in open forums with pseudonyms.
As someone mentioned, knowing an exact address of a tractor owner means you know there's a tractor there to steal.
I'd rather not have my tractor stolen, or have to call the local police to bring a body bag for any thieves I stop.

 

[DeereMann]

I blame Edward Snowden and plead the fifth.

Fred might not be my real name.

Fred,

hOOterville was just north of Bugtussle, wasn't it?

 

[turnkey4099]

I don't think people are hiding, at least I'm not.

If I told you what town/city I live in/near, I bet there wouldn't be very many readers that know where it is.

Central Iowa is close enough.

True that. I seen no need to know even the city location.

Harry K

 

[dave1949]

I Googled my TBN name. Out of the first 30 results returned, only one is for me, and that was a TBN post back awhile. There is another dave1949 who is all over the place.

I don't participate in any other forums. I might tell people online how I enjoyed a trip somewhere, but I don't say when and where I'm going beforehand. With enough computer smarts, a person can get close enough to identifying a location to be able to visually figure out an address if they want to.

No, I don't walk around with a name & address tag on in public, but it wouldn't be at all unusual for people I interact with to ask which town around here I live in. There are internet services that will return the owner & address for a license plate. Done from a public computer such as a library or stolen smart phone using an anonymous payment method would be fairly safe. The vulnerability to know who and where you are is there already if people wish to exploit it.

The theft around here is mostly aimed at getting drugs, or something that can be easily sold/traded for drugs. There is the odd chainsaw or tool that walks away. Those are crimes of opportunity mostly, not planned by searching the internet. Another common target is summer camps during the off season. Okay, that's obvious, no one is around, the tracks in the snow or lack of them tells you everything you need to know.

Anyone driving down the road can see my tractor when I'm near the road. Who is going to bother to steal an 11-year-old CUT tractor anyways? Common sense is fine, but I think some of this identity vulnerability feeling is overdone for my particular location. It could be different in other places.

In general when we are to afraid to tell people who we are, the good guys aren't winning. I just don't like the idea of that.

 

[George2615]

I have no problem if people on line know my first name or the town I live in or what I do for a living. There must be at least 1500 people with my first name that live in my town. I see no need to give my last name or street address. The zip code for my area covers about 50 square miles.

 

[davrow]

I tend to put the nearest city I think a majority of the people I am interacting with will recognize.

If I put Jurupa in my location, would it do you any good? Saying San Diego let's a large number of people know "ah, sunny Southern California". Or even "somewhere close to Los Angeles". Even if they don't really know where it is.

 

[tcreeley]

Some like their privacy, what little is left. Some don't care. I like to see a state or region named. I used to name Central Me.
Googling pulls up posts from 10 years ago on different sites. If you want to stay out of it- frequently change usernames and the rest of it. Google always knows, and reminds us with those ads about tractors in our email!
re Snowden- He just told us it was happening, it was the NSA who was doing it along with google and the online business community.