Short Survey - Patterns in UserIDs (need help)
#1
Hi,

My name is Nitin. I am a graduate student at University of Illinois at
Chicago (UIC). I am conducting a few minutes short survey on "Patterns
in Userids" for my research project. We want to study patterns in
usernames or userids created by people when they register on different
websites, etc. I would be really thankful if you could participate in
this short survey. The link is:

http://www.cs.uic.edu/~survey/piu

The survey has been approved by Institutional Review Board of UIC.

I can assure you that this is not a hack or a spam. If you have any
doubts, you can also find the above survey link at the Department of
Computer Science's research page

http://www1.cs.uic.edu/CSweb/public/resear...&label=Research

Thanks,
Nitin Jindal
Department of Computer Science
UIC
email: njindal@cs.uic.edu
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#2
<_<For someone who is researching the intricacies of online communication, you seem to have made the major faux pas of posting your email address in true form text, making it susceptible to capture by any web spyders hunting for addresses to spam.

Well, I guess it is a learning experience. I'd take comfort if you (or a moderator) at least took the precaution of editing your post's signature to make safe the email address from the eyes of any mindless bots out there.
Political Correctness is the idea that you can foster tolerance in a diverse world through the intolerance of anything that strays from a clinical standard.
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#3
No, I don't think so.
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#4
This is about as creditable as those emails I keep getting from Nigeria asking me to gamble at their online sites.

"zomg we have lots of money I sewarz"

Sure...
--Mith

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
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#5
The survey is actually on the UIC CS webpage (I found it via means other than the provided link), so I'm tempted to believe that this is legit. With that being said, I'm not about to submit my name as well as my userID's, etc.

Since I suspect that this survey will rarely be taken in good faith (and it seems far from being methodologically sound) I'm thinking that it may be for some purpose other than what we are being told...
But whate'er I be,
Nor I, nor any man that is,
With nothing shall be pleased till he be eased
With being nothing.
William Shakespeare - Richard II
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#6
Quote:Since I suspect that this survey will rarely be taken in good faith (and it seems far from being methodologically sound) I'm thinking that it may be for some purpose other than what we are being told...
Well, my first thought was: "Someone is trying to make a better algorithm to guess email adresses/login names."
Hugs are good, but smashing is better! - Clarence<!--sizec--><!--/sizec-->
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#7
Hi,

Quote:I would be really thankful if you could participate in
this short survey.
Sorry, but to echo what others have said (or implied), you are asking for too much information that is too sensitive for me to share. Even if you are who you say and the information is to be used for what you claim, we have no way to asses the security of your site. To put it bluntly, the risk is too high that the information will be misused.

Now, if you were to ask generic questions, like how we generated user-names and passwords, whether we used the same names and passwords at multiple sites, etc., then maybe I'd be inclined to take the survey.

--Pete


How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?

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#8
The projet supervisor's area of expertise is data mining, so we can assume that the data collected will be mined for something. I don't know that they're very clear about the what.
Why can't we all just get along

--Pete
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#9
Quote:I can assure you that this is not a hack or a spam.

I can assure you that this does, in fact, fit the definition of spam.

I don't really think it's fair to automatically assume spam is the goal here. It could just as likely be used for tracking online sex offenders, no?

Want one of my patterns? I WILL NOT use numbers in a username. If there so many people using something that you can't come up with anything but throwing random/sequential numbers at the end of your name, you don't need to register.
--Lang

Diabolic Psyche - the site with Diablo on the Brain!
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#10
I'm sure to always use a userid that is non-algorithmic, has embedded hidden characters, and is entirely unguessable. I also have a close group of friends, who are psychics, attempt to crack it and if successful then I abandon that handle. Well, then to remember all my signons and complicated passwords, I need a password safe. My password safe is 5192 bit encrypted with an unspecified ("NSA" forbidden) algorithm here local on my triple DES encrypted hard drive and also weekly I burn a CD of the password safe and with the help of an escort of some former special forces buddies now in private endeavors, I put in the CD in my safety deposit box at a local financial instituition (in a really big safe). Of course, to keep that CD really safe at in that vault I have to use an alternate identity, which was set up for me with some relatives I have in the Swedish mafia.

Don't even ask about my password generation techniques.

P.S. This innocent request reminds me of another childrens classic... "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's gonna want a glass of milk."
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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#11
Quote:P.S. This innocent request reminds me of another childrens classic... "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's gonna want a glass of milk."

I thought it was, "If you give a mouse a muffin" :P?
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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#12
Quote:I thought it was, "If you give a mouse a muffin" :P?
The first children's book in that series was "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." The second was "If You Give a Moose a Muffin." I am not sure if the third book -- "If You Give A Moron a Computer" -- was ever published.

To nitin jindal: I was born at night, but not last night. :P Go Phish.

Occhi

EDIT due to strange double something or other.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
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In Memory of Pete
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#13
Quote:The first children's book in that series was "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." The second was "If You Give a Moose a Muffin." I am not sure if the third book -- "If You Give A Moron a Computer" -- was ever published.

To nitin jindal: I was born at night, but not last night. :P Go Phish.

Occhi

EDIT due to strange double something or other.

It's "If you give a pig a pancake". The pig is the poster child for ADHD.
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#14
Quote:Hi,

My name is Nitin. I am a graduate student at University of Illinois at
Chicago (UIC). I am conducting a few minutes short survey on "Patterns
in Userids" for my research project. We want to study patterns in
usernames or userids created by people when they register on different
websites, etc. I would be really thankful if you could participate in
this short survey. The link is:

http://www.cs.uic.edu/~survey/piu

The survey has been approved by Institutional Review Board of UIC.

I can assure you that this is not a hack or a spam. If you have any
doubts, you can also find the above survey link at the Department of
Computer Science's research page

http://www1.cs.uic.edu/CSweb/public/resear...&label=Research

Thanks,
Nitin Jindal
Department of Computer Science
UIC
email: njindal@cs.uic.edu

The hell? Could you at least feign intrest in this community before doing something like this? :/

Ok, well maybe that was a bit too coarse. But if you do intend to do research, you ought to become more familiar with the site and perhaps participate in it. Making a new account and using this as your first post is not a good way of ensuring trust, not to mention your results will be skewed.

Yes, it might take more effort, but quality work wasn't supposed to be easy.

Edit: Edited out knee jerk reactions
With great power comes the great need to blame other people.
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