On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 12:07:03 -0500, Spurious Noise wrote
(in message Wihgb.54977$Ms2.1056@fed1read03):

An idiot even cracked my password to QRZ and modified my Bio in a most
hideous way.


During the late 80's and until I retired from the Army in '95, I ran a BBS in
the metro are of DC.

The only reason I ever checked passwords was that, invaribly, when the new
member was a "ham", she or he would use their callsign as the password.

So I would send them a polite message asking that the person change the
password to something not everyone in the world would know.

The general response I got was: "Thanks, I never thought of that".


Were you using your callsign as your password?



Gray Shockley
--------------------------------------------------------
When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one
individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take
command. Very often, that individual is crazy. -Author Unk

I used to give my callsign and e-mail address on the NG's and had terrible
grief as a result.
I never flamed anyone and was as diplomatic as possible if I had a different
view or disagreed with a poster.

95% of my posts were to help people. I answered several hundred over a 5
year period.
Being a ham for over 20 years and retired, it gave me a sense of
satisfaction as an Elmer.

Then came the spam, false signups, hate mail, false posts in my name, and
phone calls.
An idiot even cracked my password to QRZ and modified my Bio in a most
hideous way.

And then the bozos here expect us to give them our callsigns after they have
been trolling and arguing with us first.

Another person here who is female was getting several obscene phone calls a
week when someone used QRZ to find her address, then the phone book for the
number. She had to bring in the authorities to get it stopped.

So that is why so many regular NG posters are anon.

Giving your callsign and true e-mail address DOES NOTHING TO ENHANCE
CREDIBILITY

Besides, there is no way to know that those that are giving call signs are not
just assuming that identity and it is really someone else's call sign or name.

There is no way to verify that ANYONE here is using their real name or call, nor
does it matter. No one should be concerned with anything other than the
statements being made.

Gray Shockley asked "Were you using your callsign as your password?"

No but I used my old expired (for 20 years) callsign, dumb I know as some
sources have your old callsign.
Guess that is how they cracked the password.

But you made a very good point and to add to it -- a regular change of
passwords is a good idea also - which I now do.

My e-mail address is an alias from my provider and I change the alias every
2 months or so depending on spamming. I get very little spam these days. My
friends and relatives are very tolerant of frequent address changes.

Also I ask friends never to send me an e-mail with several others in it --
(i.e., mass sending of jokes as everyone seems to like to do), rather I tell
them to send by using blind copy ONLY --- Bcc. This hides the recipient
list.

Sad commentary on today's society -- BUT one must take steps to prevent
spam, etc.

Also if you put your e-mail address on a web page -- DO NOT PUT IT IN TEXT
FORM -- use a jpeg or gif.
Apparently the spiders can not read the @ sign when it is in picture form.

--
73 From the Spurious Noise ';';;';x":.,";"'
-------------------------------------------------
"Gray Shockley" wrote in message
.com...
On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 12:07:03 -0500, Spurious Noise wrote
(in message Wihgb.54977$Ms2.1056@fed1read03):

An idiot even cracked my password to QRZ and modified my Bio in a most
hideous way.


During the late 80's and until I retired from the Army in '95, I ran a BBS
in
the metro are of DC.

The only reason I ever checked passwords was that, invaribly, when the new
member was a "ham", she or he would use their callsign as the password.

So I would send them a polite message asking that the person change the
password to something not everyone in the world would know.

The general response I got was: "Thanks, I never thought of that".


Were you using your callsign as your password?



Gray Shockley
--------------------------------------------------------
When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one
individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take
command. Very often, that individual is crazy. -Author Unk

Gee, how did I know not to use my real name because some wacko like you would be
looking me up on QRZ to get my address and whatnot. Why were you trying to look me
up? So you could put me on all sorts of mailing lists or come visit my house and
throw eggs at it? Grow up!

Why would he want to do that?

I don't know, why not ask him? He is the one that for some reason feels the need to know
my name and address. Not needed to have this discussion. I don't need to search and
find some name and call sign that belongs to someone else and pose as that identity as this
guy does. At least I am honest and don't need to hide behind someone else's identity.

All he wants to do is verify that you
actually walk the walk, and anre not just talking the talk. He's
posting his call in the clear,

Who says that is HIS call sign??? Just because someone posts with a real sounding name
or call does not mean it is theirs. I doubt even he would be so stupid to post his real
call sign knowing that his address and other personal info is available to everyone here
and then start causing arguments as he is doing. Then again, he doesn't seem to
understand why learning code has nothing to do with using a microphone, so perhaps he IS
that stupid. Point is, there is no way to know if he stole that call sign or not without
further investigation.

Never assume someone posting with a call sign really owns that callsign.

There is an ancient saying: "On Usenet, nobody knows you're a dog."
Anybody can claim to be anything (or anybody) they wish. The
operative word is "claim."

Exactly. Don't assume he is who he says he is. He just wanted to prove he was a
General and posted with a general's call sign. I could just as easy find an Extra
callsign and pose as that person too. That would not be a nice thing to do, however,
as then this nut will go and vandalize the house and property of some poor guy who had
nothing to do with this argument at all.

You make a rather roundabout claim to to be General or Extra and even
a GROL,

Yeah and I had the first class license too, before they made us turn them in for the GROL
which is nothing more than the same questions that is on the Extra ham exam, only without
the morse code requirement. If you take the Extra, you might as well just sit through
the GROL because most of the questions were taken from one to put on the other.

"Jeff Renkin" wrote in message
...
I used to give my callsign and e-mail address on the NG's and had
terrible
grief as a result.
snipped

I would NEVER give my call sign out over here. It proves nothing. Some could
hack it to make it look as their own, which adds no credibility to it - as
was already stated. OR, as I've seen - some see a call sign and assume
you're being a smart ass trying to prove a point. Nah, that is ok. I can
chat or give advice or viewpoints without divulging my personal info. IF
anyone wanted to find it bad enough I'm sure they could, so let them work
for it if it means that much.
Lou

Steve, N8KDV, General Class... look it up Butthead!

Yeah, we all are supposed to believe that a 50 year old man is going to use phrases like
"butthead" and call names like a school child. Next time steal an identity that is closer
to your age.

It also loses credibility for you to tell other people to learn code, when you pose as a
General who is too lazy to learn and get his Extra class license.

Now that you only have to know 5 wpm to upgrade to Extra which a General would already have
credit for, what is keeping you from upgrading?? Perhaps the questions are too hard for
you. Those are things you should know before operating a transmitter, not morse code.

Hey, if I go find someone else's call sign like you did and post under that, will I then
have the great credibility that you have on this newsgroup to all those gullible enough to
believe that a 50 year old is going to use phrases like "butthead"?

Jeff Renkin wrote:

Gee, how did I know not to use my real name because some wacko like you would be
looking me up on QRZ to get my address and whatnot. Why were you trying to look me
up? So you could put me on all sorts of mailing lists or come visit my house and
throw eggs at it? Grow up!

Why would he want to do that?

I don't know, why not ask him? He is the one that for some reason feels the need to know
my name and address. Not needed to have this discussion. I don't need to search and
find some name and call sign that belongs to someone else and pose as that identity as this
guy does. At least I am honest and don't need to hide behind someone else's identity.

All he wants to do is verify that you
actually walk the walk, and anre not just talking the talk. He's
posting his call in the clear,

Who says that is HIS call sign??? Just because someone posts with a real sounding name
or call does not mean it is theirs. I doubt even he would be so stupid to post his real
call sign

Hey Butthead, I guess I'm that 'stupid', cause it is MY callsign. YOU on the other hand, have
no callsign, but you'd sure like to make us think that you do. Nice try though. Now go study
that code!

knowing that his address and other personal info is available to everyone here
and then start causing arguments as he is doing. Then again, he doesn't seem to
understand why learning code has nothing to do with using a microphone, so perhaps he IS
that stupid. Point is, there is no way to know if he stole that call sign or not without
further investigation.

Never assume someone posting with a call sign really owns that callsign.

There is an ancient saying: "On Usenet, nobody knows you're a dog."
Anybody can claim to be anything (or anybody) they wish. The
operative word is "claim."

Exactly. Don't assume he is who he says he is. He just wanted to prove he was a
General and posted with a general's call sign. I could just as easy find an Extra
callsign and pose as that person too. That would not be a nice thing to do, however,
as then this nut will go and vandalize the house and property of some poor guy who had
nothing to do with this argument at all.

You make a rather roundabout claim to to be General or Extra and even
a GROL,

Yeah and I had the first class license too, before they made us turn them in for the GROL
which is nothing more than the same questions that is on the Extra ham exam, only without
the morse code requirement. If you take the Extra, you might as well just sit through
the GROL because most of the questions were taken from one to put on the other.

Jeff Renkin wrote:

Steve, N8KDV, General Class... look it up Butthead!

Yeah, we all are supposed to believe that a 50 year old man is going to use phrases like
"butthead" and call names like a school child. Next time steal an identity that is closer
to your age.

It also loses credibility for you to tell other people to learn code, when you pose as a
General who is too lazy to learn and get his Extra class license.

Now that you only have to know 5 wpm to upgrade to Extra which a General would already have
credit for, what is keeping you from upgrading?? Perhaps the questions are too hard for
you. Those are things you should know before operating a transmitter, not morse code.

Hey, if I go find someone else's call sign like you did and post under that, will I then
have the great credibility that you have on this newsgroup to all those gullible enough to
believe that a 50 year old is going to use phrases like "butthead"?

Yep, I'm 50 years young Butthead. Nice try. I guess I could upgrade, but why? I rarely get on
the air. But if I did, I'd be operating some CW. You on the other hand don't even have the
opportunity, why?, because you're to damn busy shooting off your mouth. Get to studying!

Jeff Renkin wrote:

Steve, N8KDV, General Class... look it up Butthead!

Yeah, we all are supposed to believe that a 50 year old man is going to use phrases like
"butthead" and call names like a school child. Next time steal an identity that is closer
to your age.

It also loses credibility for you to tell other people to learn code, when you pose as a
General who is too lazy to learn and get his Extra class license.

Pose? Come on Butthead, you can do better than that. If I'm 'posing' (as you are), then someone
better do the right thing and contact the 'real' N8KDV as sonn as possible. LMAO



Now that you only have to know 5 wpm to upgrade to Extra which a General would already have
credit for, what is keeping you from upgrading?? Perhaps the questions are too hard for
you. Those are things you should know before operating a transmitter, not morse code.

Hey, if I go find someone else's call sign like you did and post under that, will I then
have the great credibility that you have on this newsgroup to all those gullible enough to
believe that a 50 year old is going to use phrases like "butthead"?

Herbert West wrote:

On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 17:36:01 -0400, N8KDV
wrote:



Jeff Renkin wrote:

Steve, N8KDV, General Class... look it up Butthead!

Yeah, we all are supposed to believe that a 50 year old man is going to use phrases like
"butthead" and call names like a school child. Next time steal an identity that is closer
to your age.

It also loses credibility for you to tell other people to learn code, when you pose as a
General who is too lazy to learn and get his Extra class license.

Now that you only have to know 5 wpm to upgrade to Extra which a General would already have
credit for, what is keeping you from upgrading?? Perhaps the questions are too hard for
you. Those are things you should know before operating a transmitter, not morse code.

Hey, if I go find someone else's call sign like you did and post under that, will I then
have the great credibility that you have on this newsgroup to all those gullible enough to
believe that a 50 year old is going to use phrases like "butthead"?

Yep, I'm 50 years young Butthead. Nice try. I guess I could upgrade, but why? I rarely get on
the air. But if I did, I'd be operating some CW. You on the other hand don't even have the
opportunity, why?, because you're to damn busy shooting off your mouth. Get to studying!


Hey Steve... Check this site out! g

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/nocode0

73,

Herb N1***

LOL, that's pretty good!