From nj.com via Consumerist:
Bamboozled: Despite MVC improvements, some drivers still can't get real names on licensesQuoteMVC computers can't handle certain names on driver's licenses. That means New Jerseyans with two-word first names (Mary Ann) or last names (Price Mueller), or those who use an apostrophe (D'Egidio) or a hyphen (Smith-Jones), can't have driver's licenses that match their other legal documentation, such as passports and birth certificates.
FULL ARTICLE HERE (http://markholtz.info/ie)
Again, it's a database problem. I have a friend of mine who works for California DMV, and they had to kludge a seventh letter years ago into a database that had room for six character license plates.
My sister hyphenated her surname when she married, and so her New York driver's license had her first and middle initials along with the twelve-character surname. She had to go through a lot of hoops to get a New Jersey license when she moved.
It is really too much to ask to at least implement the ANSI character set in their system? Geez. I don't want to meet the programmer who designed that, let alone see the code.
How is it that NY and NJ can't get this together, and yet in Oklahoma, whose state government is dysfunctional as they come, I've seen driver licenses with 18-character last names with hyphens (together with a 12 character first+middle name, no less)?
Easy. NJ has an old system. They had a need to computerize things MUCH earlier than other states. As a result, the core MVC system is ancient (runs on IBM zSeries mainframes and interfaces via TN3270 emulated terminals) and with the recent additions of computerized inspection and digital driver's licenses, an unholy mess of patchworks and kludges. Vehicle data on registrations is pathetic too, only 3 characters for the make and model fields and two characters for the color. Also, the only characters permitted on license plates is letters and numbers, no punctuation or other special characters like $,%, etc. It is NOT easy to expand fields (both length and character restrictions) in older software, particularly with an old, large, existing database.
Meanwhile, in Hawaii....
Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele's name finally fits on ID (http://markholtz.info/ip)
It's 2014 now, so NJ better get their crap together. It's not anywhere near new for people to have names with hyphens, accents, apostrophes, spaces, etc. in them, so there really is no excuse.
I am now the proud owner of a hyphenated last name, and while I didn't have problems changing my name with SSA or the Maryland Vehicle Administration, I've had private companies kindly suggest to me to keep my name as Bianca in the system because their systems don't recognize the hyphen, lol. When people ask my last name (like at the credit union or something), I usually start by telling them "Bianca" and then confirming when they ask "Laura Bianca-Pruett" because telling someone "Biancapruett" or "Biancahyphenpruett" might as well be jibberish.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 30, 2013, 05:34:23 PM
How is it that NY and NJ can't get this together, and yet in Oklahoma, whose state government is dysfunctional as they come, I've seen driver licenses with 18-character last names with hyphens (together with a 12 character first+middle name, no less)?
I was thinking about this Florida and Alabama; even with all this added STAR ID nonsense, they have no issues with spelling and placement of names (it can use two lines, if needed). I'd processed hundreds of rental/loaner car contacts in the past, and there was rarely much conflict with the repair order names and their IDs. Florida did have an odd habit of letting people use identification cards that were even 25+ years old, if their name never changed.
The latter state does have two very silly requirements for some folks (signature must be "legible", even if you do not sign your name that way and you can't wear prescription glasses in the ID photo) which make not a lick of sense, but they're not computer or data-storage related.
Quote from: Laura Bianca on January 01, 2014, 12:47:00 PM
I am now the proud owner of a hyphenated last name, and while I didn't have problems changing my name with SSA or the Maryland Vehicle Administration, I've had private companies kindly suggest to me to keep my name as Bianca in the system because their systems don't recognize the hyphen, lol. When people ask my last name (like at the credit union or something), I usually start by telling them "Bianca" and then confirming when they ask "Laura Bianca-Pruett" because telling someone "Biancapruett" or "Biancahyphenpruett" might as well be jibberish.
You could ask if it accepts a space. My workplace's customer database substitutes spaces for hyphens, so your name would be displayed as "BIANCA PRUETT,LAURA". I would think most places would accept spaces due to people named things like "Mary Lou".
Quote from: formulanone on January 01, 2014, 03:28:32 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 30, 2013, 05:34:23 PM
How is it that NY and NJ can't get this together, and yet in Oklahoma, whose state government is dysfunctional as they come, I've seen driver licenses with 18-character last names with hyphens (together with a 12 character first+middle name, no less)?
I was thinking about this Florida and Alabama; even with all this added STAR ID nonsense, they have no issues with spelling and placement of names (it can use two lines, if needed). I'd processed hundreds of rental/loaner car contacts in the past, and there was rarely much conflict with the repair order names and their IDs. Florida did have an odd habit of letting people use identification cards that were even 25+ years old, if their name never changed.
The latter state does have two very silly requirements for some folks (signature must be "legible", even if you do not sign your name that way and you can't wear prescription glasses in the ID photo) which make not a lick of sense, but they're not computer or data-storage related.
In Oklahoma, we just switched from one line to two lines by default, with the last name on the first line and first and middle names on the second. Not only does this allow for longer names, but makes it clearer what is to be considered the surname (which can get confusing for people named something like "Thomas John George" (or is that "Thomas, John George"?).
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/hawaii-woman-36-character-license-article-1.1562313
Janice Keihanaikukauakahihulihe'ekahaunaele got the state to change its policy regarding extra-long last names on drivers' licenses.
A Hawaii woman with a 36-character last name has won her fight to get the entire thing printed on her driver's license.
Janice "Lokelani" Keihanaikukauakahihulihe'ekahaunaele fought for months to get her mouthful-of-a-moniker printed on her license after the state officials said it was too long.
At issue was one single character.
Hawaii licenses made space for names with 35 characters, but Janice's was 35 plus an okina, or a single apostrophe mark that is used the Hawaiian alphabet. It appeared after the 24th letter of Janice's name.
For the past two decades, the 54-year-old got by carrying a driver's license showing her truncated name along with an ID card that had the full spelling.
But the ID card expired earlier this year. In May, she received a new one with the shorter spelling.
When she contacted the Department of Transportation, they told her she should either lop off some letters or use her maiden name.
Janice's name doesn't fit on a piece of paper – but now fits on her driver's license, thanks to a change in state policy.
"And I went, 'How disrespectful of the Hawaiian people,'" Keihanaikukauakahihulihe'ekahaunaele said at the time.
Janice took the campaign to the press, and state officials eventually relented.
A new state-wide policy allows last names with up to 40 characters to appear on licenses and ID cards.
Keihanaikukauakahihulihe'ekahaunaele said she feels vindicated.
"Now, in the state of Hawaii, we are no longer second class citizens because of the length of our name," she told Britain's Independent newspaper.
Keihanaikukauakahihulihe'ekahaunaele was Janice's late husband's name, the only one he used.
She told The Independent it meant, in part, "one who would stand up and get people to focus in one direction when there was chaos and confusion, and help them emerge from disorder."
Quote from: woodpusher on January 01, 2014, 06:16:59 PM
A new state-wide policy allows last names with up to 40 characters to appear on licenses and ID cards.
this is all well and good until someone with a 41-character last name shows up. given 36 exists, I wouldn't put 41 out of the question.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on January 01, 2014, 06:24:54 PM
Quote from: woodpusher on January 01, 2014, 06:16:59 PM
A new state-wide policy allows last names with up to 40 characters to appear on licenses and ID cards.
this is all well and good until someone with a 41-character last name shows up. given 36 exists, I wouldn't put 41 out of the question.
Nobody will have a 41-character name. It would be 42, since that is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
But a 42-character name would still not fit.
Quote from: formulanone on January 01, 2014, 03:28:32 PM
[Alabama] does have two very silly requirements for some folks (signature must be "legible", even if you do not sign your name that way and you can't wear prescription glasses in the ID photo) which make not a lick of sense, but they're not computer or data-storage related.
So how does Alabama deal with people, like me, with illegible signatures (well, you can discern the first letters of my first, middle, and last names)? As I've told people who've asked me for a legible signature, you can have my signature, or you can have something legible, but you can't have both.
Quote from: oscar on January 01, 2014, 06:58:41 PM
Quote from: formulanone on January 01, 2014, 03:28:32 PM
[Alabama] does have two very silly requirements for some folks (signature must be "legible", even if you do not sign your name that way and you can't wear prescription glasses in the ID photo) which make not a lick of sense, but they're not computer or data-storage related.
So how does Alabama deal with people, like me, with illegible signatures (well, you can discern the first letters of my first, middle, and last names)? As I've told people who've asked me for a legible signature, you can have my signature, or you can have something legible, but you can't have both.
Actor Ryan Phillipe grew up in New Castle County, Delaware (where I work) and still has a house here. At one point he and his then-wife Reese Witherspoon borrowed against it for some reason. The mortgage document is in our system - "Laura R. Witherspoon" is represented by a big cursive L and a long scribble.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 01, 2014, 05:45:05 PM
Quote from: Laura Bianca on January 01, 2014, 12:47:00 PM
I am now the proud owner of a hyphenated last name, and while I didn't have problems changing my name with SSA or the Maryland Vehicle Administration, I've had private companies kindly suggest to me to keep my name as Bianca in the system because their systems don't recognize the hyphen, lol. When people ask my last name (like at the credit union or something), I usually start by telling them "Bianca" and then confirming when they ask "Laura Bianca-Pruett" because telling someone "Biancapruett" or "Biancahyphenpruett" might as well be jibberish.
You could ask if it accepts a space. My workplace's customer database substitutes spaces for hyphens, so your name would be displayed as "BIANCA PRUETT,LAURA". I would think most places would accept spaces due to people named things like "Mary Lou".
That's a good idea. Fortunately, the places that I've had issues with so far aren't mega important. For instance, one place that told me not to change my name was Weight Watchers. Not exactly critical, like a bank account or medical records.
Quote from: elsmere241 on January 01, 2014, 10:23:31 PM
Quote from: oscar on January 01, 2014, 06:58:41 PM
Quote from: formulanone on January 01, 2014, 03:28:32 PM
[Alabama] does have two very silly requirements for some folks (signature must be "legible", even if you do not sign your name that way and you can't wear prescription glasses in the ID photo) which make not a lick of sense, but they're not computer or data-storage related.
So how does Alabama deal with people, like me, with illegible signatures (well, you can discern the first letters of my first, middle, and last names)? As I've told people who've asked me for a legible signature, you can have my signature, or you can have something legible, but you can't have both.
Actor Ryan Phillipe grew up in New Castle County, Delaware (where I work) and still has a house here. At one point he and his then-wife Reese Witherspoon borrowed against it for some reason. The mortgage document is in our system - "Laura R. Witherspoon" is represented by a big cursive L and a long scribble.
Fascinating! Because that information is super easy to access in Maryland, a lot of celebrities and wealthy people will register under trusts or LLCs. Even the apartment that I previously rented was under an LLC even though it was owned solely by my landlord.
[Fixed quoting. -S.]
Quote from: oscar on January 01, 2014, 06:58:41 PM
Quote from: formulanone on January 01, 2014, 03:28:32 PM
[Alabama] does have two very silly requirements for some folks (signature must be "legible", even if you do not sign your name that way and you can't wear prescription glasses in the ID photo) which make not a lick of sense, but they're not computer or data-storage related.
So how does Alabama deal with people, like me, with illegible signatures (well, you can discern the first letters of my first, middle, and last names)? As I've told people who've asked me for a legible signature, you can have my signature, or you can have something legible, but you can't have both.
Basically, you make you sign the pad roughly sixteen times until it meets their demands of cursive "first-middle-last". A) Cursive? I last used that in ninth grade! B) I never sign my full name C) having a former job which required signing about 50 invoices/forms a day meant that something swifter had to be created. Signed for my license plate, mail forwarding, utilities, bought my home, et cetera in that state and with that signature in that same state.
Put another way, shatteringly stupid: a signature should look like your signature, so when you sign something, it can be verified as you (which is the whole point of an ID card). So yes, five minutes of people determining if my signatures were fit for the State of Alabama is something that reminded me of some sort of twisted second-grade handwriting test.
But it prevents all that suspended-license rigmarole which is far worse, so you deal with it now, laugh about it later.
Quote from: Laura Bianca on January 02, 2014, 12:40:15 AM
Fascinating! Because that information is super easy to access in Maryland, a lot of celebrities and wealthy people will register under trusts or LLCs. Even the apartment that I previously rented was under an LLC even though it was owned solely by my landlord.
[Fixed quoting. -S.]
That house is registered under a trust, but there is a mortgage document out there with Ryan and Reese's "signatures" on it.
Sage Stallone owns a house here that she and Sylvester used to own together. His signature (showing that she got the house after the divorce) looks like a funky "S Stallone" and it's representing "Sylvester E. Stallone".
NJ's license system actually truncates my first name despite it being common. The system only supports 9 letters!
If you will pardon the resurrection of a dead thread, this discussion reminded me of this article:
Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names (http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/)
Quote from: jbnv on March 10, 2014, 08:11:50 PMIf you will pardon the resurrection of a dead thread, this discussion reminded me of this article:
Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names (http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/)
I especially like the last two items:
Quote39. People whose names break my system are weird outliers. They should have had solid, acceptable names, like 田中太郎.
40. People have names.