OddThinking

I was just reminiscing about an old BBS I used back in the day that was written and run by a young gentleman who went by the handle of Bream LeFish.

One day he added an evil new feature, and then sat back and watched the fun.

Every time you posted a message, it included your chosen name/handle and, in parentheses, your assigned nickname.

You could set anybody’s nickname… except your own. You could also view a list over everyone’s name, nickname, and the person who set the nickname – so retribution for a nasty nickname was possible encouraged.

As a teenager, it was a lot of fun; it was a fairly tight-knit and friendly group, so the nicknames were all made with the cutting and vicious nastiness that you only get from your friends.

My tactic was to save up all the ideas, and then blast them all out in one go. That way, when all the people rushed to change my nickname to get revenge, they all stomped on each others changes, and I only suffered the indignity of the last nickname change.

I have always thought Microsoft Exchange should have had this feature. I am sure they would have sold my Enterprise licenses if they did…