FAQ writer

Somebody else thinks up the questions. I write the answers. Right now, I'm looking at this question: "Can I be anonymous, netside?"

And I'm thinking: who doesn't know this? But then, there's always a first time for every FAQ. Six month-old babies can go netside. Some are born there. But they don't know the answer to this question until they read what I write.

So I write: "You can change identities, netside, but they are all traceable back to you by accountable authorities and those you personally authorize."

And then I had a thought, so obvious that it had never occurred to me before: you can only be completely anonymous - worldside!

Worldside Too Long

I'm always saying things that anybody living knows. I imagine people who don't know these things; who don't know anything beyond a certain time in the past. And I fill them in, explaining everything in obvious detail, even though they aren't around to read it; and those who are, don't care.

I was thinking about this, just now, as I was logging in, after being worldside for several days, and I got amused when the guard kept asking me little chatty questions about what I'd been doing while I was away and how my mother is getting along.

I've been in a lousy mood all day, and I kept saying things like, "Nothing much," and "She's fine," so, naturally, more questions were posed, each one more pointed than the last. I interpreted this as a slight increase of suspicion on the part of the guard. And I thought about how I would explain this to someone who didn't know what was going on. And then, I got amused. Being worldside too long will do that to you.