In the log, I would like you to explain the origins of your username and choice of your profile picture. Read on.
EN: The first thing you have to do when registering at geocaching.com is pick a nick (alias/nickname/logname) and a password. A lot of people do not give enough importance to this step. This word that you pick is what you will be known as in geocaching world, it would be written on your badges/nametags on geocaching events, and most probably, geocachers will refer to you not as John, Marc or David, but as Wizard36, Toxic Slime and Dave the Brave.
So before you choose a name like DragonsAsshole or FlamingFart69 (which might sound appealing at first, I admit), think again.
Thinking ahead, it is also a good habit to choose a name WITHOUT special characters your language might have. Why? Well, if you have to access your account in an internet café in a foreign country (and a foreign keyboard), good luck with “Čađava Žuža”, “Vi är bäst” or “العزيز أحمد”
I have seen a lot of couples’ nicks that look something like “Brad&Jennifer”. This is probably chosen at the peak of your relationship, as a proof that your love will be eternal, like the one of Romeo and Juliet (hmmm, maybe a bad example, we all know how this one turned out). Well, guess what? Shit happens! Angelina happens! Innocent party at work where you have an extra glass of wine with Susan from accounting happens!
Trust me, unless you’re Siamese twins that share a vital organ, there IS a real possibility that you WILL split up, and in the imminent fight over who’ll get the house in the country, kid, CD collection, car, dog or a hamster, your geocaching name will be just another item to fight for. I *have* seen backdating logs to my caches, saying “Hi, this is “AngryJen42”, I was part of “Brad&Jennifer”, but I’m not together anymore with that rotten pig, so I’m backlogging all the caches that we found together, with my new account.”
Embarassing.
There are various opinions about teams consisting of many members, going under one geocacing nickname. I guess this is OK when all the members are *always* together when they go geocaching. However, I have seen many examples where this is not true. Different team members go to different countries and search for the caches independently, after which you see their logs from Japan and Norway at the same day(s). Not OK in my opinion, but that’s for geocaching site to regulate.
So, the your “task” for this mystery is to tell us the story about the origins of your geocaching name and avatar picture (if it doesn’t show you), how did you pick it, what it means in your language, and everything you might find interesting about this matter.
Of course, if I ask you to do something, it would be only fair for me to do the same. For the nickname is simple, when I was discovered geocaching, I wanted my name to be an adventurous one. First one was (naturally) Indiana Jones. “Existing user, please choose another nickname”. Sherlock Holmes! Same answer. Guybrush Threepwood! (yes, I was and am a big Monkey Island fan). Taken. Some 10-15 names later, with my initial enthusiasm seriously shaken, I found out that literally *ALL* the cool names were taken. (BTW, true fact: nickname “IndianaJones” belongs to a guy who found 1 (one) cache in 2001, while “Indiana Jones” found a whooping 70 caches in 13 years, while not moving a foot from south Australia. Facepalm.)
So, after getting back to various permutations of Indiana Jones (yes, even “In DianaJones” was taken), and n-th suggestion from Geocaching (“IndianaJones is existing user, BUT “IndianaJones1523” is still free!!”), I tried with his cousin, ArizonaSmith, and rest is history (naturally, because all this happened back in 2008). I was without my profile picture for a long time, and while logging a cache one day, I noticed that I was the only one in the long list of persons who didn’t have an avatar. So I chose an image of Gaston, one of my favorite comic books from my childhood (by the author Franquin), who is lazy, clumsy, and always making fantastic inventions which always somehow end up being disasters. Wonder why I chose this guy… (sigh).
Last but not least - even if you DID chose a stupid nick to begin with (yes “fuckbitches_getmoney”, I mean you), do not despair, there’s a way out – your nick CAN be changed (read this), and you DON’T have to find all the caches in your inventory again.
So, PLEASE leave few words about your nickname and avatar selection process, I am sure it would be an interesting read.
Molim vas da u logu objasnite porijeklo vašeg geocaching imena te izbor profilne slike. Pročitajte dalje za detalje.
HR: Prva stvar koju morate napraviti pri registraciji na geocaching.com je izabiranje nadimka (alias/nickname/logname) i password-a. Mnogo ljudi ne daje dovoljno značaja ovom koraku. Po riječi koju izaberete će vas znati u geocaching svijetu, ona će biti napisana na vašim bedževima na geocaching eventima, te vrlo vjerojatno, drugi geocacheri vas neće zvati Ivan, Marko ili Robert, već Wizard36, Toxic Slime te Heroj Ulice.
Tako da prije nego što izaberete ime poput ZmajevChmar ili VatreniPrdac69 (a koja na prvu, priznajem, mogu izgledati primamljivo), razmislite ponovno.
Razmišljajući unaprijed, isto tako je dobra praksa izabiranje imena BEZ specijalnih znakova koje vaš jezik možebitno ima. Zašto? Pa, ako trebate pristupiti vašem account u nekom internet café-u u stranoj zemlji (i na stranoj tastaturi), puno sreće sa “Čađava Žuža”, “Vi är bäst” ili “العزيز أحمد”
Vidio sam dosta nickova koji izgledaju poput “Brad&Jennifer”. Pretpostavljam da je nick izabran na vrhuncu ljubavi dvoje ljudi, kao dokaz da će vaša veza biti vječna, poput ona Romea i Julije (hmmm, možda loš primjer, znamo kako je to završilo…). Znate što? Događaju se sranja! Događa se Angelina! Nevini party na poslu gdje popijete čašicu vina previše sa Šteficom iz računovodstva se događa.
Vjerujte mi, ako niste Sijamski blizanci koji dijele neki od vitalnih organa, postoji REALNA mogućnost da ćete prekinuti, i u neminovnoj svađi tko će dobiti vikendicu, dijete, kolekciju CD-ova, auto, psa ili hrčka, vaše geocaching ime će biti još jedna stvar oko koje ćete se boriti. Osobno sam *vidio* logove na mojim cachevima logiranih s datumima od prije par godina, koji kažu otprilike ovo: “Ciao, ja sam “AngryJen42”, bila sam dio “Brad&Jennifer” nicka, ali kako više nisam s tom pokvarenom svinjom, sad ponovno logiram sve cacheve koje smo bili našli skupa, ovog puta s mojim novim nickom.”
Neugodnjak.
Također, postoje različita stajališta o timovima koji se sastoje od više osoba, a imaju zajednički nick. Pretpostavljam da je ovo OK kad su svi članovi tima *uvijek* zajedno kad idu u geocaching. No, vidio sam puno primjera gdje ovo nije istina. Različiti članovi tima odu u različite zemlje, i traže cacheve nezavisno od ostalih, pa tako u njihovom profilu vidite logove iz Japana i Norveške tijekom istog dana. To po meni i nije baš u redu, ali stvar je do geocaching sajta da takve slučajeve regulira.
Uglavnom, vaš “zadatak” u ovoj misteriji je da nam ispričate priču o značenju vašeg geocaching imena i profilne slike (ako ne pokazuje vas), kako ste ga izabrali, što znači na vašem jeziku, i sve drugo što vam se može učiniti zanimljivim obzirom na ovu temu.
Naravno, ako već postavljam pitanja, red je da i ja odgovorim na njih. Za ime je stvar jednostavna, kad sam otkrio geocaching, htio sam da mi se iz imena odražava avanturizam. Prvi izbor mi je (naravno) bio Indiana Jones. “Postojeći korisnik, molim izaberite drugo ime!”. Sherlock Holmes! Isti odgovor. Guybrush Threepwood! (da, bio sam i još sam uvijek veliki fan Monkey Island-a). Zauzeto. Nekih 10-15 imena dalje, sa već ozbiljno poljuljanim entuzijazmom, uvidio sam da su doslovno *SVA* cool imena već zauzeta. (BTW, istinita informacija: nick “IndianaJones” pripada osobi koja je našla 1 (jedan) cache u 2001-oj, dok je “Indiana Jones” našao nevjerojatnih 70 cacheva u 13 godina, ne maknuvši se pritom iz južne Australije. Facepalm.)
Uglavnom, nakon brojnih permutacija imena Indiana Jones (da, čak i “In DianaJones”, je bilo zauzeto), te n-tog prijedloga geocaching sajta (““IndianaJones” već postoji, ali “IndianaJones1523” je još uvijek slobodno!!”), pokušao sam s njegovim “rođakom” ArizonaSmith-om, a sve ostalo je povijest (očigledno, jer je sve to bilo 2008-e godine). Što se tiče profilne slike, bio sam bez nje jako dugo, par godina, sve dok nisam jednog dana logirao cache, i primijetio da sam na dugoj listi nalazača jedini koji nema sličicu u profilu. Onda sam se primio toga, te izabrao sliku mog omiljenog stripa iz tinejđerskih dana, Gastona (autor Franquin), šeprtljavog i lijenog junaka koji uvijek izmišlja neke izume, primjena kojih pak uvijek završi nekom katastrofom. Ne znam stvarno otkud mi ideja da baš njega izaberem kao profilnu sliku… (uzdah).
I na kraju, čak ako i JESTE izabrali stupidni nick (da, “Pimpek52”, mislim na tebe), ne očajavajte, postoji rješenje – nick se MOŽE promijeniti, (pročitajte ovo), a pri tome NE morate ponovno tražiti sve cacheve koje ste do sada našli.
Uglavnom, MOLIM VAS, napišite par riječi o svom odabiru imena i profilne slike, vjerujem da će drugima biti zanimljivo čitati o tome.