What�s in a screen name?

[Dr88s]

Here"s a post I never thought I would have to make.

 

Yesterday I made the cardinal sin of commenting on someone"s social media post and within an hour I was accused of being a Neonazi. It was all quite bizarre seeing as how neither the post nor the comment had anything at all to do with anything that would prompt such an accusation.

 

It was subsequently explained to me by a third party reading the post that '88" is sometimes used as a code of sorts to mean 'HH", an abbreviation for a salutation in those circles that I won"t write here.

 

I think it goes without saying on a keyboard forum that the 88 in Dr88s refers to the 88 keys on a piano keyboard and not anything more nefarious. I just wanted to make that clear in case anyone on here was wondering all of these years...

[CowboyNQ]

Godwin"s Law

[stoken6]

I always and exclusively associated the 88 in your handle with a piano keyboard, nothing more/nothing else.No offence taken (no concept of offence ever entered my head).

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Dr88s]

Godwin"s Law

 

My first thought was of course Godwin"s law, but this ended up not being an accusation born of frustration or ideology; there was actually a concrete reason the poster thought I had such leanings.

[johnchop]

[video:youtube]

[lightbg]

If you were 'Dr. 97' I would assume you owned/played a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand. Otherwise, the 88 signifies you play a piano that most of us have crossed paths with.

 

No worries.

 

 

Jake

[Delaware Dave]

How do you say Sieg Heil in Canadian?

 

[drawback]

the 88 signifies you play a piano that most of us have crossed paths with

 

...and your posts often have some weight around here.

 

[ElmerJFudd]

Here"s a post I never thought I would have to make.

 

Yesterday I made the cardinal sin of commenting on someone"s social media post and within an hour I was accused of being a Neonazi. It was all quite bizarre seeing as how neither the post nor the comment had anything at all to do with anything that would prompt such an accusation.

 

It was subsequently explained to me by a third party reading the post that '88" is sometimes used as a code of sorts to mean 'HH", an abbreviation for a salutation in those circles that I won"t write here.

 

I think it goes without saying on a keyboard forum that the 88 in Dr88s refers to the 88 keys on a piano keyboard and not anything more nefarious. I just wanted to make that clear in case anyone on here was wondering all of these years...

 

Ha ha ha ha ha, just goes to show how context is everything!

[wineandkeyz]

On another musician forum, I used to use an ID that included '88' and was once accused by another poster of being a Nazi. I had no idea what he was talking about, but thought it said more about him as a musician that he didn"t associate the number with the piano.

[Tom Williams]

My perception is that, perhaps per Godwin's Law, symbolism is made up as necessary by the offended person, in order to justify the accusation. Not long ago, someone decided that the "OK" hand sign (looped thumb and forefinger, other three fingers extended) was a "dog whistle" for white supremacists.

 

I'll stop here lest I vector into unwanted political territory.

[ElmerJFudd]

My perception is that, perhaps per Godwin's Law, symbolism is made up as necessary by the offended person, in order to justify the accusation. Not long ago, someone decided that the "OK" hand sign (looped thumb and forefinger, other three fingers extended) was a "dog whistle" for white supremacists.

 

I'll stop here lest I vector into unwanted political territory.

 

The human monkeys use symbols for everything - it"s how we share ideas and generally communicate. So context is super important because a symbol in music can mean something very different in physics, just as example. And you don"t want to use a colon where you should have used a semi colon in programming or the machine won"t run. If your chapter of the He-Man-Woman-Hater"s Club isn"t using the high sign for entry and you don"t know the password, you ain"t getting in today.

[Docbop]

that's why I have a big handful of screen names I use or have used over the years. It became how clear how crazy people were when I was working doing tech support for a big compiler and dev' tools company. We were told to use are full names with customers on the phone. Then some of us started getting phone calls at home at night with people asking support questions. These crazies took our names, knew the city the company was located in and looked up our phone numbers. After that we complained to management we no long had to give our last names.

 

In one really low point in my life needed money and a friend said, I do telemarketing calls, but these are for charities so not selling crap. So I went signed up and went thru their few hours of training. One of the things I remember is them giving us a list of non gender specific names to use when making calls like Pat. Pat could be a male of female name. Why you say... because when a ticked of customer calls and says I talked to Pat they can say we have lots of Pats was it a man or a woman we can't help if we don't know exactly who your spoke with.

 

My screen names boil down to ones from my time in the computer world and ones from music world.

[Joe Muscara]

There goes my idea for a license plate. Next you're gonna tell me "61" has a negative significance like that, too.

[conundrum]

Concrete? That accusation is made of sand.

[ElmerJFudd]

There goes my idea for a license plate. Next you're gonna tell me "61" has a negative significance like that, too.

 

Surely you meant '69', hee hee hee.

 

See you at 420!

[Dr88s]

Thanks for all the super kind words of support, folks. I appreciate it.

 

I was really bummed out when this all happened yesterday but I"m feeling a lot better now.

[David Emm]

I'd like to take this moment to pitch a socio-political micro-hissy about how certain white supremacist circles have taken to using the "OK" sign as one of insider recognition. Well bloody bleep, there's another casual gesture I have to discard, heh! Nothing is safe anymore, seemingly. Its becoming the case that you can scarcely sneeze without overly-inflamed political correctness trying to take a bite out of your giblets. I do understand most of WHY; its generally based on real need & good intentions. I also recall a standout Titus Levi column in an old Keyboard, where in addressing rap, he said that he understood the desire to burn away the deadwood, but not to take out the whole forest as you do. There you go.

 

Its become too much like the old joke about the kid who asks where he came from.

He gets a huge, premature lecture on conception and baffled, replies "Jimmy said his family is from Missouri."

 

This is why I stick to instrumentals. I came to understand that if you want to beat your own lyrics with a stick, singing them is probably contraindicted.

[jazzpiano88]

I'm glad you're not going to 86 your 88. Neither am I.

[ElmerJFudd]

I 69 my 88 royally.

 

I remember at one point my signature was,

ElmerJFudd

'I own a mansion and a yacht'

 

Now a large segment of the population would get that reference to a certain classic episode of Looney Tunes (less people as the years go by). But I remember getting a PM from a not native English speaker who was very disappointed with my need to brag about my wealth. Context! We"re living different realities based upon our experiences, upbringing, education, etc.

 

And that"s why there"s so much fighting in the national and global world we live in today through the internet. Lack of communication and understanding of where someone is coming from. How are you supposed to get the joke, know that the gesture means something different, what the local customs are? You can"t. So, look for what you have in common and build from there. Make the effort to understand why the expression, comment, gesture brings out a negative reaction in your audience.

[timwat]

Thanks for all the super kind words of support, folks. I appreciate it.

 

I was really bummed out when this all happened yesterday but I"m feeling a lot better now.

 

Glad you're through it and over it. Very very messed up.

 

There's some value in using your real name as screen name.

 

Until that time someone accused me of being a short ugly Asian, and, sh*t....wait a minute...

[KuruPrionz]

Some things cannot be fixed because there is no intention to be condemned.

 

On the other hand, my screen name is completely despicable if you are not into dark humor.

 

I don't care, I could have chosen a worse one!

[Tom Williams]

That's terrible Tim -- how dare they call you short!

[Tom Williams]

my screen name is completely despicable if you are not into dark humor.

I had wondered if your screen name had something to do with Prions, e.g., Mad Cow Disease. Upon googling it I see that you're just an unfortunate zombie. No condemnation at all.