Greetings to all!

Hello everyone!

I thought I'd take a moment this morning to say hi and introduce myself. My name is Kyle Nally, and yes, that's my actual name. I'm a 40-year-old student of web design and application development at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and currently live in Kalamazoo, MI.

Many people would feel that that is far too much personal information to just "put out there". I used to agree with that; online privacy has become a serious issue and many people just don't want their "business" to be publicly available. I've decided to take the opposite stance: online privacy isn't. I've seen what's happened at the hands of anonymous users at the orange site, and in my opinion the use of one's actual name tends to make the experience better for other users- it's hard to hurl invective from behind a pseudonym when there isn't one to hide behind!

Not that I mean to do anything of the sort, but it does tend to keep a person honest, something increasingly hard to find on the internet these days. Given my age, I remember when Usenet was The Forum and NCSA Mosaic was The Browser, and yes, the internet was a more polite (if far less useful) environment back then. Oh, trolls and trolling existed, but not to the degree we see today. At any rate, yes, you really do know who I am, and what I look like.

And yes, there really is a Kalamazoo. Despite recent tragic events, this is a great town with a vibrant cultural scene. We're the home of Bell's Brewery, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, several colleges (at one of which I am a student), and one university. If you're ever in southwest Michigan, it's worth the drive; there's really something for everyone here.

In any case- HELLO! I'm happy to be here and hope I can make a contribution now and again. Drop me a line here and say hi if you like!

KGN

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KyleGNally's picture

I'm happy to be here.

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Nice to meet you. I'm in SE MI. Big day tomorrow. I already voted for Bernie absentee.

Please make yourself to home. FAQs are helpful, lots of information in the welcoming diaries and comments in other diaries on the lay of the land around here.

Let's hope Bernie kicks her behind tomorrow.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

KyleGNally's picture

Something has kind of crystallized in my mind this time.

I really, really dislike the entire primary system. The early states receive far too much perceived importance for their actual weight, among other things.

It doesn't change who has my vote in the general election, though.

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detroitmechworks's picture

and I too remember the days of alt.fan.whatever and MUDs galore.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

KyleGNally's picture

I had two users!

It lasted about as long as you'd expect in a home with one telephone line Biggrin

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I enjoyed our chat we had earlier. Make yourself at home and enjoy.

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Yes, my name is really Katie, but I have no idea how to load a picture, so my face remains anonymous by the default of ignorance.

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click the "My Account" link in the banner header, that will take you to your profile. In your profile click "Edit" and it will take you to your user settings. In your user settings, scroll down until you see the "Picture" heading, click the browse button and navigate to the picture you want to upload on your computer. Once the picture is uploaded go to the bottom of the page and click save. All done. You can change several settings on the user settings page.

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enhydra lutris's picture

Kalamazoo?

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --