Careful what you Tweet!
Twitter porn-name game sparks privacy warning
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May 15, 2009 04:30 AM
Nicole Baute
Staff reporter
Twitterers twittering into the great abyss should be careful about the games they play, Canada's privacy commissioner warned this week after catching on to a new trend.
The privacy commissioner's office expressed concern about a game that has found its way onto the micro-blogging site: combining your first pet's name with the first street you lived on to discover your porn star alter ego.
Before you Twitter that, think about protection.
The information could be used to hack into your email or online banking account, where security questions such as, "What was your first pet's name?" are used for authentication.
Anne-Marie Hayden, a spokesperson for the privacy commissioner, said individuals should be cautious about the information they publish online.
"The point is that with Twitter, people can actually be shockingly casual and revealing," Hayden said.
Dozens of Facebook groups also encourage people to post porn star names, with some variations on the formula involving middle names or mothers' maiden names.
The privacy commissioner's warning is spreading on Twitter, which means the fun might be over.
According to one Canadian porn star, the Twitter method is not unlike how porn stars get their names.
Maxwell Schmart says it's common for stars to use old street names or spoof the name of someone they idolized growing up.
As a child, Schmart's favourite TV show was Get Smart – so he plunged into the porn industry with a play on the name Maxwell Smart. If he had used the Twitter game, he would have been Sparky 6th Ave.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION
A sampling of porn star names, created with names of first pets and first streets, posted on Twitter:
Coco Swan Lake
Twinkle Stanford
Reggie Cummings
Kaiser 13th
Keithy Melody
Hulk Yellowstone
Sherman Orbit
Spanky Luella
Misty Laureldale
Sally Saratoga
Poochie Thomas
apologies, i missed the 'mostly'.
tallg, I said mostly... You need to be picky about who to follow.
bleu - twitter is as good as the people using it make it. If the people you're following are dumb and boring then yes, it will seem dumb and boring to you.
But, how do :
Kaiser 13th, Keithy Melody, Sherman Orbit, Poochie Thomas become porn star names ???
I've tried Twitter and just cant seem to get into it?? Too much, with QL, FB, email and skype!
I would be Rusty Woodhaven!
Whatever you vividly imagine, Ardently desire, Sincerely believe and Enthusiastically act upon, Must inevitably come to pass.
Twitter is mostly dumb
I'm going to sleep.
I woke up early today.
I just had eggs, a gallon of milk, and 3 sausages for breakfast.
I'm bored at work.
@somebody I'd love to do that
I'm having McD for lunch.
@somebody thanks
...
..
.
am thinking about pinder :P
a lot of pets name Fred?
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HE WHO DARES WINS
back to the topic - mine would be Fred Chestnut :)
Well that sucks, mine would be Fred Longview, but I am a girl, maybe I could alter it to Fredrika Longview :P
Motherhood...The hardest job you'll ever love! : )
And not everyone tweets all the mundane stuff in their lives, like going to the toilet.
Some of my friends back in the UK use twitter. I have their feeds in my RSS reader, and it keeps me up to date with what they're doing. For example, this weekend I know they went to the rugby at Twickenham and ended up in the player's bar afterwards. I wouldn't have known that without twitter (since being a bloke, obviously I don't phone friends up and talk to them or anything like that!).
Gypsy -
As well as updates from friends there are a lot of businesses and groups tweeting, so there's some quite useful info out there, as well as the fun side of it.
There's a fair amount of useful Qatar info being tweeted too. Perhaps I'll make a post listing all the Qatar ones. Please start listing them if you have any.
thanks for giving me the idea
Yes but QL is conversations about stuff. Not just an update on whether or not my friend is using the toilet
get twitter here on QL quick
and why would you want to know whats going on QL and what topics are hot :?
mine would be Jacky Copper
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HE WHO DARES WINS
But why would I want to know what people are doing every second of the day?
is like you get updates from the one you have subscribed to
be it an individual or some website you will get updates from them when ever they login and feed something.
Smokey Lee ;-)
I don't get the point of twitter.
and i never get reply :/
You can't teach experience...
I never thought of that....hehehehehe
Just so you know, mine would be Muffy Cavalier.