[thechat] Neurothon II

[Luther, Ron]

Joel noted some things about forms and middle initials,

>the form only has one space for middle name. 
>stupid inflexible government forms


Hi Joel,

Well, *some* folks have been known to use fictitious middle initials to 
trace spam routes.  If the only place you have ever used 'Joel Q.' is 
to get an LL Bean catalog and a few weeks later you start getting 
unsolicited mail for 'Joel Q.' you pretty much know they sold their
list.

Other folks have been known to test 'secret word' prompts for 'bad word'

screens ... your mother's maiden name is WHAT???  [Trust me - it gets 
to be great fun when you have to validate the information on the phone 
with a live service rep! "No. That really is the name. We're, uh, 
'Vulgarian'."]

So far I've only run into one person who has used numerics.  I worked 
with a fella who had the same name as both his father and his
grandfather, 
and yet, he was quite embarrased when folks pronounced his name followed

by that imperious "The Third!" However, the family was closely knit and 
he did not want to dishonor his heritage. Eventually he hit upon a plan 
where he started spelling his last name with a '3' smack dab in the 
middle of it.  He claimed the '3' was silent, but if you listened very 
very closely ....

RonL.

Who will probably start abusing forms by using special characters in
lieu 
of a middle name.  <conspiratorially /> Culling the weak forms from the 
herd ya know.