# Lo, Damn Ye Vile Software That Knows Not My Name... **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 10, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621 "2001-11-10T13:03:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/1 "2001-11-10T13:03:14Z")
------because when I search by my own username, nothing comes up. Is it too short? (my username, that is) (and shut up) - MC ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/2 "2001-11-10T13:12:35Z")
Yep, you need at least three characters to do a search. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/3 "2001-11-10T13:12:44Z")
Yes There’s a bug (feature?) in the search function that requires three characters to work. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/4 "2001-11-10T18:18:05Z")
I wonder if it’s a symptom of the days when the staff used to urge us to use the search feature sparingly because of the drain on resources. If somebody did an “All Forums” search on a word like “if” or “as” or “to”, it would probably return thousands of threads, and tie up a lot of ‘resources’. It’s not like there are a whole lot of two-letter words that would be really useful in a search. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/5 "2001-11-10T21:36:26Z")
- - - Yea, but, -I’m _special_. ~ - I guess I gotta change it now, but I rather like the direction this has taken: “…a poster of legendary enlightenment, whose words of wisdom (-as great thinkers of other ages) have become lost in the mists of time…” - MC ---
**Author:** ![TotalRecall\_cb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@TotalRecall\_cb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TotalRecall_cb)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/6 "2001-11-10T21:51:38Z")
You just defined your perfect new name, with three characters… **-MC** ---
**Author:** ![TotalRecall\_cb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@TotalRecall\_cb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TotalRecall_cb)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/7 "2001-11-10T21:54:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wolfstu \* > **I wonder if it’s a symptom of the days when the staff …** I doubt it’s a local choice at all. It’s pretty common in all word search programs, not on the web but on non-web PC’s too. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/8 "2001-11-10T22:44:27Z")
MC - you may already be aware of this, but if you change your username, your old posts will be displayed with the new name, but they will still be indexed under your old name. Thus, you still can’t search for your old posts by username. ---
**Author:** ![Co-op](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/57b2e6/32.png) [@Co-op](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Co-op)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lo-damn-ye-vile-software-that-knows-not-my-name/92621/9 "2001-11-10T22:59:18Z")
That still beats what he’s got if he _doesn’t_ change.