Patch Monday: Google’s real names a real disaster

29 August 2011 in Internet, Only One Name, Politics, Privacy by Stilgherrian | 6 comments

Google’s disaster of a “real names” policy was the subject of today’s Patch Monday podcast. How could it not be, after my own experiences and the attention that scored globally?

Australian developer Kirrily “Skud” Robert, a former Google employee currently resident in San Francisco, has been compiling Google’s name failures, so she was a natural guest for the podcast.

You can listen below. But it’s probably better for my stats if you listen at ZDNet Australia or subscribe to the RSS feed or subscribe in iTunes.

Please let me know what you think. Comments below. We accept audio comments too. Either Skype to stilgherrian or phone Sydney +61 2 8011 3733.

Tags: google, kirrily robert, names, patch monday, podcast, skud, zdnet

6 comments

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Eric TF Bat on 29 August 2011 at 3:49 pm

Oh, how can you say that, Stil? I’m sure that there are many white, male, heterosexual, neurotypical, gender-typical, middle-class Americans of Anglo-Saxon extraction with no history of politico-legal difficulties who have nothing but praise for Google+…

So… any truth to the rumour that the new logo for G+ is a slice of white bread with mayonnaise? You know, to emphasise the flavour of its preferred clientele…?

Reply
1. David Gerard on 02 September 2011 at 6:34 pm
  
  *applause*
  
  “Lite” mayonnaise. Spelt L-I-T-E.
  
  Reply
Stilgherrian on 30 August 2011 at 8:37 pm

Well, it turns out there’s a hidden reason for Google’s insistence on real names. Whacko.

@Eric TF Bat: Thank you for so accurately profiling Google’s supporters on this one.

Reply
Pingback from Consequences of Walking the Walk « Mariis' explorations of 3D remediation on 31 August 2011 at 12:45 am
Michael on 02 September 2011 at 7:58 am

I saw this and thought of you.

This guy is bound to have trouble getting on to Google+

Geek And Poke: Geeks

Reply
Stilgherrian on 02 September 2011 at 7:24 pm

@Michael: Hey thanks for that link, a nice thing to (finally) see at the end of a very busy week.

As an aside, all sorts of comments and factoids about this issue have come to me privately. I’ll try to get them all online soon.

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