On Wed, 20 Sep 2000, Steve Furlong wrote:
Call me a moron, but what do you mean here? I had figured that "A. Melon" was the nym of one individual, "Nomen Nescio" was the nym of one, probably other, individual, and so on. Are "A Melon" etc group nyms, like "Publius" of the US Federalist Papers? Does some anonymizer give the same name for everyone who uses it?
In the past, I have been Secret Squirrel. I have the means to be A. Melon. Usually I post under my True Name. There is also a nym which is mine and mine alone, whose continuity I maintain using a PGP key that no one knowing my True Name has ever signed. But there is not much continuity to maintain, since I have need of that nym very rarely. Many remailers (almost all good ones, I think) use the same name on all outgoing posts. On some of them, you can override it by including appropriate instructions in the last layer of the envelope, but it's rarely a good idea -- if you want hard anonymity, you are in the business of not giving any unnecessary clues. Judging from writing style and grammatical habits, I think there are at least 3 "A. Melon"s on this mailing list. But I could be wrong, and if I am, that's okay. Bear PS. For bonus points, can anyone name the now-defunct remailer whose default posting name was in fact "Publius?"