Housekeeping

Based on recent activity, I've decided to make a reluctant change to my comment policy. I am no longer going to allow anonymous comments on this blog. Let me explain what this means:

• If you wish to comment, you do not have to provide your name. You will have the option of using Open ID and you can establish a screen name without having to register with this blog, or with Google or any other provider. You can remain anonymous in practice, but you can no longer be anonymous as a screen name. I am not requiring that you provide me with an e-mail address or other method to verify your identity.
  
• My primary reason for this change is this: I have had the experience in recent weeks of having up to 3 different people make comments on the blog and all be labeled as "anonymous." I know they are different people, but I can't keep them straight.
• Having said that, I am concerned about anonymous commenting generally. I have in the past moderated comments, but decided to remove that restriction some time ago. For the most part, comments on this blog have been reasonably civil and I've never had to drop a ban hammer on anyone. About the only comments that get nuked around here are spam. Having said that, as the readership and reach of this blog increases, the potential for problems increases. It is possible that I will reinstitute comment moderation in the future, but for now I'd prefer not to.
  
• There are nearly 2000 posts on this blog and we are 4 1/2 years into this enterprise. It's becoming increasingly complicated to monitor everything that happens here, especially since I now have co-bloggers on the site. I'm hopeful that this change will help without causing anyone too much pain.

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