That was pretty interesting.

(Except I'm pretty sure you can't get a valid photo ID proving your age w/o a legal name on it. Unless he's counting fake IDs as "valid.")

I didn't think he was saying he can, just that there's no real reason why you couldn't do it that way.

Except I'm pretty sure you can't get a valid photo ID proving your age w/o a legal name on it.

I don't think he's saying you can, but that there's no reason they couldn't do it that way. You don't need to know my name to sell me beer, just to know that the person in the photo has been certified by the state to be over 21.

Project Runway: When they announced that Daniel and Andrae had won -- I really thought that Daniel was going to kiss Andrae -- right there! On the Runway!

Huh -- maybe. I think what threw me is that the other examples:

Historically, accountability has been tied to identity, but there's no reason why it has to be so. My name doesn't have to be on my credit card. I could have an anonymous photo ID that proved I was of legal drinking age. There's no reason for my e-mail address to be related to my legal name.

are all things that are true of the real world, right now. The photo ID example is the only hypothetical one.

Do you think Project Runway could be improved if the models had to fend off attacks from large predatory birds that try to swoop down and pierce the models' skulls with their thumb-like back talons?

Yeah, I can see how it could be taken that way now that you point it out. Didn't occur to me, though.

Your name doesn't have to be on your credit card? I thought even company cards did that. Is it then all about the signatures matching? Because as often as not, I need to show picture ID when I use the credit card.

Well, often as not when I'm not at a restaurant. They never seem to care.

I don't think I've ever been asked for ID with a credit card.

I do know that restaurant critics often have credit cards with fake names on them to preserve their anonymity when they're eating out (to avoid getting special treatment and skewing the review).

Stores are supposed to care about signatures, but I remember reading a while ago about a guy who decided to test this theory and started signing all of his credit card receipts with increasingly obvious fake signatures. He started with celebrity names, moved on to fictional characters, and eventually just doodles. He never got caught, and ended the experiment only when he got bored with it. [eta: Here's the story.]

Your name doesn't have to be on your credit card? I thought even company cards did that.

I'm assuming they can do that for things like restaurant reviewers - I didn't look to see what this guy actually does, or if that sort of thing would apply. I wonder what you have to do to get them to do that.

I wonder what you have to do to get them to do that.

You can order additional cards for your account and put any name you want on them. There's no special procedure.