Name Changed to Protect the Innocent

Hi Everyone While surfing on the web I noticed that if I put my name onto google and then search-- my WLS info comes up on the computer. I decided to change my name to protect my personal and confidential WL journey making it available to only those I want to have access to it and me. I do not want any Tom, Dick or Harriet to know my business. So, for the time being I will go by the name of MF which as you know are my initials. I know you all can understand........Thanks! Hugs Marianne (Flynn)

Unfortunately, people don't realize that this is true for anyone who posts, writes or puts up a webpage. All the search engines have a spider or webcrawler that eventually picks up whatever info is on the Internet (this is why people shouldn't pay for search engine fees - they get it anyways). When I was in college, I had this heated argument with another student and it got really ugly. A few years later, my son happened to check our last name in Altavista and guess what? Along with Tons of info, up came that argument - angry words and all! And it's still there to this day. So, it would be a good idea to keep your real name off the web. JOhanna

I changed my name completely also. A while back woman in the main room were saying that they were getting crank calls from a man and he would eventually say something for them to know that he got their names here - cause their first name, last name and city & state were all posted here. When someone posted it other women responded saying that they spoke to him too and they changed their profiles on here. That was enough for me / I believed them.

You know, I do that all the time. I am a memeber of other boards and if you type my screen name in there you can access all my conversations that aren't located at members only sites. Unfortunantly people can access a lot of info you may not want them to. I suggest just doing what your doing now. I use my name most of the time cause I don't really care but I totally understand your issues and keeping things private is important... As long as your face is still here I will remember... Shannon

I'm pretty lucky. I guess there's a country singer with the same name as me, so if I google my name, a ton of websites about her come up. I did change my name though. I've decided that I'm never again going to surrender to the bad habits that made me morbidly obese. MaryAlice (278)268/234/135 (-44) Lap RNY 9/3/04