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In addition to both of those, there is the "if you work for the company, your name and image may be used in documentation" (but we are nice and try to blur out or fake any phone or e-mail identifiers because no one needs the extra spam). I know back in the early 90s there was a lot of "take my name/image out of there!" from other people in the company, but a lot of attitudes have changed and people are a lot more receptive to it now (maybe so in ten years, they can be looking at someone online and go "hey look! There is my picture! I almost forgot I worked there....").
We're currently dealing with a world where a name and an associated image are the big identifiers of other users... it'd be nice if we had the time or the resources to create a whole system with a set of fake users that we could all use for reference/screen captures, but that never seems to be the reality. And it's much easier to erase/overwrite values like e-mail addresses, phone numbers and other information than it is to come up with a new fake name/picture pair every time we need one.
And of course, as the writers, we use our own details more often that other system users, but if you're a lead on the project, there is a likelihood that you'll end up in an example during the course of the project.
- V (who likes to think she is famous among people who've user the phone hardware she documents)
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Hanson
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 2:04 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Help with fake names issue
I have used the names of my kids and an uncle in my docs in the past.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Goldstein
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 1:54 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Help with fake names issue
When listing fake names in a document, some tech writers quietly include their own names. That way, if another company "lifts" material from the manual, it's easier to detect later on.
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