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Welcome to Making an Impression.
This FAQ has been setup to introduce the Making an Impression family. Members have voluntarily submitted some background on where they are and from whence they came. Some have also provided the story behind the handle.
1DMF -- I'm a dyspraxic idiot with a handle to match. I've been in IT 20+ years and a member of TT coming up to 10 years. I'm studying for a Diploma in Computing so I can become a DIC! I also work full time as the IT department, run a record company for a hobby (well website), and release open source software when the urge takes me. I'm also currently (not right now!), playing Mass Effect 2 as I do like to play games still even at my age, and even though I'm not that good at them, can't beat a bit of death and mayhem on a Sunday!
aardvark92 -- The college I attended had several old houses that had been donated, and it fixed them up to use as dorms. The house I lived in was full of nonconformists, and we chose the aardvark as our mascot. I use aardvark92 because aardvark was taken, and I graduated in 1992.
acl03 -- New York state, USA -- I am working as a network administrator, and my handle is not very creative. It's simply my work user ID.
AdamRicko -- Manchester, UK -- Adam - Because it is my real name. Ricko - Because it is my real nickname. I work as a IT Support Technician, and I work at a large regional brewery in the northwest part of the UK.
akatoast -- My name is not what one might think it actually has nothing to do with any "illegal" substances you smoke. In fact it comes from my days in youth hockey. I wasnÆt that great and every one else on the team was, therefore when a player from the other team flew by me they would say I got burned, this led to toast. I was fine with it since when I scored my first and only goal the whole crowd chanted "toast à toast à toast" -- ah the glory days of pewee hockey.
AlexCuse -- Collegeville Pennsylvania. It is between 35 minutes and two and a half hours outside Philadelphia. I work in King of Prussia, which is about halfway between Collegeville and Philly, and it takes between 15 minutes and an hour and a half to get there. As I'm sure you can imagine, I hope to some day be able to work from home. I was born in Newark, DE. After 4 years there, I spent time in Las Vegas NV (1 year), Houston TX (4 years), Wilmington DE (3 years), Kennett Square PA (6 years), Syracuse NY (4 years for college), and Downingtown PA (2 years). -- My handle is my first (well, actually middle) name followed by 'Cuse (Syracuse University) to express my pride for the 2003 NCAA Basketball Champion Orangemen.
amdathlonxp1984 -- My unique handle comes from my love for AMD. I started off with a K6-2 333MHz back in '98, then I moved up to a K7 1000MHz. Next, I built my AMD Athlon XP 2500 system and now my AMD Sempron laptop. As you can see, I only run AMD. 1984 is my birth year, of course.
Andrzejek -- Ames, Iowa, USA -- Although I sign my posts 'Andy', my real name is Andrzej (born and raised in Poland). 'Andrzejek' is a nickname derived from my real name, which is way too difficult to pronounce by any Americans I've met so far.
AngelB -- Briton Ferry, South Wales -- Went to see London based indie group Echobelly play a gig in Cardiff a few years ago. Unfortunately for them, Blur were playing Cardiff on the same night so there was me, my mate and about 40 or 50 other people stood in the 'crowd'. We got a bit of banter going with them and after being a bit cheeky due to a few drinks, myself and my friend had the song Angel B dedicated to us by the singer. We were big fans so we were elated. Not used the handle before, needed something new for tek-tips and that was the first thing that popped into my head.
Annihilannic -- My nickname comes from the first sci-fi fantasy books I read, Blade of the Poisoner and Master of Fiends by Douglas Hill. Of all the cool names, somehow Annihilannic was the one I stuck with, even though it's painful when I need to spell out my e-mail address to people.
anotherhiggins -- I, live in Raleigh (North Carolina). We're 4 1/2 hours South of D.C., 6 Hours NE of Atlanta. It's not a bad town, I'd say. Pop ~ 300,000. It's big enough that there is some night life, but small enough that you might just run into someone you know while out and about. It is the lower right hand corner of 'the Triangle', the other corners being Durham (home of Duke University) and Chapel Hill (home of UNC). Here in Raleigh, of course, we have NCSU. There are several other Universities in the area as well. It's kind of like a smaller, less posh, not-as-cool version of Boston. -- In college I was in the drum line (the drum section of the marching band for all you non-band geeks out there). Most everyone in the line had a nickname. During auditions my freshman year, about 30-40 of us went to a restaurant for lunch. I was sitting right across from the only other 'Jon' in the group. We - being college students and unconcerned with the difficulty it would cause - asked for separate checks. As the waitress went around the table taking orders, she just wrote everyone's name on their ticket for easy sorting later on. This wasn't a problem for most folks, because they could use their nicknames to ensure a unique ID for every person. Jon was just about the only guy who had been on the line for a while without acquiring a nickname. Mainly the upperclassmen were concerned with assigning monikers for all the newbies for intimidation and light hazing. So John, being an upperclassman himself, wasnÆt likely to get a nickname at this point. When the waitress took his order he and I realized that we might mess up her system. I asked how he spelled his name. "J-O-N". "Great" I said, "I spell mine with an 'h'"! And that was it. Two guys at the table, one of them the drum captain, said, in unison, "H? (Dramatic pause, look at each other) Higgins!" I think it was the "in unison" part that gave it legs. In any case, that became my name - to the point that for several years after college I would run into people and shock them by telling them my name. Some people who had heard close friends call me 'John' jumped to the conclusion that Higgins must be my last name. A reasonable conclusion, especially given that my actual last name starts with 'H'. So if you've ever wondered, 'Higgins' has nothing to do with either Magnum PI or My Fair Lady. Anyway, fast forward to my trying to come up with a login that wasn't taken. Higgins usually is taken, so rather than become Higgins123 on one site and HiGGiNs95 on another site, I tried AnotherHiggins. Low and behold, it is just about always available.
asrisk -- Unfortunately my handle is almost as dull as some others: as = initials; risk = something I was involved in at work when I registered. You can imagine it took me a long time to come up with something so original.
avanderlaan -- Central Texas -- I'm a displaced Yankee in the home of Big Oil. Somewhere along the way I got a PhD in a field that is vaguely related to Mathematics, Statistics and Metrology. I have worked in petroleum exploration and refining since I stopped teaching Medical School.
AyJayEL -- AyJayEl is boringly simple. Just my initials spelt out!
BelgianBrownie -- Brownie as my surname is Brown and Belgian. Well, guess which country I live in! I have just taken on the maintenance and support of a bespoke-written system for a small local company, written in Clipper Summer 87. I have never used this before and this is the first programming work I have done since 1989! I am therefore in need of some help and support and am willing to contribute where I can.
BadBigBen -- Living in Germany for most of my life, except the three outings in the US, namely El Paso, Tx in my teens, Tucson, AZ where I attended College, and Hinesville, GA -- The nick comes from my stature, i.e. Big - I am 6'4" tall and weigh in at 275 lbs. (ca. 120 Kg)). Bad - besides the computers, I ride a Hawg (that is a Harley) and used to be in an MC. Ben - is the nickname given to me by my step dad (early teens) because he could not pronounce my real first name correctly, and it stuck to me ever since.
BillyRayPreachersSon -- Woolwich, London here, although I've lived in and around London for quite a few years now. Let me see ... Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; Uxbridge, London; Hayes (NW, not SE), London; Islington, London; Kentish Town, London. This is the first house we've owned, so hopefully won't be moving quite as often anymore! -- I needed a new nickname, and Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite films.
BJCooperIT -- Mine came from a need to have a "professional" sounding email ID for sending out my resume. BJ - my initials, Cooper - last name, IT - Information Technology (what else?). My "fun" ID is much more creative: icdedbd1 - reads "I see de itty bitty one" with a southern accent.
blister911 -- Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA -- Blister was my CB handle when we used to run them in our vehicles. It was given to me by a buddy of mine. It's been many years since it was given and I don't remember all the circumstances surrounding the name being given (wink, wink), but it stems from the old saying about "a blister showing up after the work is done." I added the 911 for a couple of reasons: 1. I've run into places where blister has already been used, and 2. Because I keyboard/mouse all day long, I joke with my buddies that if I get blisters on my fingers I might have to go to the emergency room.
BocaBurger -- Would you believe Boca Raton? (Florida) -- BocaBurger is just one of the handles I use. Currently I work in Boca and am on a low carb diet.
bosk00 -- I'm in Royal Palm Beach, FL.
CajunCenturion -- Lafayette, LA, USA: The Heart of Acadiana. -- My handle is a combination of "Cajun", which speaks to my local culture, and "Centurion", which was originally bestowed upon me many years ago (don't ask) by my CB friends. The nickname has stayed with me every since.
Calator -- From Adelaide, Australia
Chacalinc -- Almost falling down from the planet: Santiago, Chile. -- 'Chacalinc' û What does chacalinc mean? Actually, it could be stupid but, in my school days I was called 'Chacal' because of my 'heavy metal' music. Chacal (in Spanish) has two translations to English: 1-jackal, the animal (this is the formal one), and 2-our local context, someone who is very bad. (this is my context.. don't ask). The problem was that 'Chacal' is widely used, so I add 'Inc' for Inc. just to make 'a company with my old nickname'. So my nickname is "Chacal Inc."
chessbot -- I like chess and robotics, and I couldn't really think of anything else.
cjelec -- Wales (UK) -- Languages: English, VB(6/.net), HTML, javascript, and SQL; other skills: fomain admin/networking and a little 3D design/animation; occupation: IT consultant; and Hobbies: MTB and photography.
columb -- I'm from Europe's third most popular holiday destination. We lose out to EuroDisney and the Vatican but you get better fantasies at Blackpool UK.
cool3953 -- Cool because I believe people should be cool to one another, and 3953 is my birthday
CosmoKramer -- Obviously, my favorite TV comedy.
craigsboyd -- I used to use "slighthaze" and a signature of "SlightHaze = Null". Back when I was a bit younger I thought it cool to use this nickname when putting the author line in my code. I got it from friends because of my propensity for spacing out everything else when coding... someone can be saying my name and waving their hands back and forth only a few feet from me and I won't even notice. While this type of mono-focus serves me well in my chosen craft, it is irritating as heck to those attempting to communicate with me. Rather than write me off, I believe my friends decided it was just easier to call me names to relieve their frustration. I dumped the name a few months back and now use my real name (Craig S. Boyd). I began to feel that something a little more business-like would serve me well. I have been a little concerned about the image that handle may have been projecting on me and my business. It is perhaps easier to take Craig seriously than Slight. As an added benefit of the change, when a piece of code breaks that is found to have Slighthaze in the comments as the author I can deny all involvement. "Slighthaze? I never heard of him."
CrystalStart -- I choose mine because I just accepted a Crystal Report Developer position and I dealt with this about 5 years ago. So I am starting anew almost and CrystalStart sounded right for me. However yesterday I sent email to my friend from my new account and here what she said: "Oh gosh I didn't recognize your email address, and at first I thought it was one of those girls looking to meet guy things that come thru once in a while!!! LOL
I almost deleted it!!!"
DaBuggs -- Mine's from my early college days. There was DaBoss, DaKidd and I was DaBuggs (something about Bugs Bunny cheeks). It's usually not used.
DCliff817 -- Explaining my handle (dcliff) is very forthright. It is derived from my first and middle names (Donald Clifford).
dgillz -- Daphne, AL (near Mobile)
Dimandja -- I live in Voorhees, a suburb of Philadelphia in New Jersey. 89 miles from New York City. 48 miles from the casinos of Atlantic City. 16 miles from Philadelphia. 15 miles from "the most dangerous city" in America: Camden. Surrounded by a peaceful forest to shield me from all that mayhem. -- I just knew that no matter which handle I picked I would have preferred another one -- no, I am not "Marvin". And then, I figured my real first name will sound like a concocted handle anyway. You know, like showing at a toga party, wearing your regular everyday toga?
djj55 -- Central Ohio -- I have lived in Central Ohio all my life, so my vocabulary is slanted to midwest version.
donbott -- Portland Oregon, and it's still raining. I think we're famous for the color and quality of the moss that grows on everything, including people that wait at the bus stop for too long. -- Bott is a family nickname and I'm Don. If I knew there was going to be a quiz I would have picked something better, maybe PbBottom.
DPlank -- Wish I'd put a bit more thought into it now. Dave Plank == DPlank.
DrB0b -- I normally go with Dr_Bob but it was taken. My name is Rob and at my last job they called me the laptop doctor, so the owner would always call me Dr. Bob. I graduated from SIU Carbondale in Illinois with a BA in Networking. I worked at a PC repair shop for about 7 years. I'm Apple Certified and now work as the IT admin for a metal foundry/machine shop.
DrJavaJoe -- Santa Clarita, California -- Years ago I was trying to come up with a screen name while reading a Java book. Well my name is not Joe but Michael and JavaMichael didn't flow so good so I chose JavaJoe, but that was taken so tried MrJavaJoe, also taken, then DrJavaJoe and what do you know, it was available. I have been using it ever since.
dyarwood -- Nottingham
earthandfire -- City and County of Bristol, England (UK) -- The best group in the seventies. Not really known outside of Germany and the Benelux area unless you could receive Radio North Sea International.
edfair -- Have a long history as that, took out the space. But still get confused with the other one, who should really put a jr after his name.
EdwardMartinIII -- My handle is an extremely complex substitution algorithm from my name. That complex substitution was replacing spaces with no-space. You try typing no-character. I'm a writer, a filmmaker, a comic, and occasionally, I write the odd program. Someone else writes the even program. The writing includes technical writing, as well as essays, reviews, scripts, and other junk. Way fun. Not as fun as flying weasels, but you gotta' draw the line somewhere.
elanor -- I'm on Long Island, New York. I live in New York, but on Long Island, and when Long Islanders queue up, they stand on line, not in line. Just weird. -- Ummm...I'm not too tall, love mushrooms, and have hairy toes. (Elanor is a Hobbit's name.) I started reading Tolkien when I was 15 and I never stopped ... and as humble as my original explanation of my handle made it sound, Elanor means "sun-star" and is the name of a small, golden flower (and Sam Gamgee's oldest daughter). Too nice a name not to use!
ESquared -- My first name is Erik and my last name starts with E. Someone at work years ago started calling me E, E-man, E-two. It was my first nickname of any kind and I sort of liked it. After a while, it became E¦. It used to be a unique handle and every place I went it was available. But in the last few years other people have started to use it. It's become the name of a type of batteries, the title of a book (I thought, but I can't find it), and Google gives 29,500 hits for it. So, I have a fallback handle, VorpalMage. It doesn't mean much except that vorpal comes from the poem by Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky. Vorpal is an adjective describing some special kind of sword ... it might be technology or magical but it is definitely unique. Mage was just a random word I chose that seemed to go well with vorpal.
FatSlug -- UK -- 'FatSlug' is an insult someone threw at me during my university days, and it stuck as my nickname. Today I work as a software developer.
flapeyre -- I am a native New Orleanian, having been born in that city when cars still had fins. Moved to Mandeville, about a 34 mile (55 km) commute each way, when I got married 18 years ago. Takes me 40 to 45 minutes in the morning (I start work at 7:30), and about 55 minutes in the afternoon (leaving at 16:00). -- First initial, last name.
flyboytim -- Background: Molecular Biology/Plant Virology/Plant Pathology, Medical Database Development, Analysis, Stats/IT Management/Programming, semi-retired.
gbaughma -- Born in the Chicago area, I now live in Virginia, Minnesota, about an hour north of Duluth. I went to school in Eastern Tennessee, moved back to Chicago in about 1985, and to Minnesota in 1994. -- My handle comes from my name: Greg Baughman. If you're wondering why I dropped the "n", think of the old 8-character max login days ... talk about old habits being hard to break. I'm a computer geek and a musician, and I enjoy woodworking, motorcycling, and camping. I have 3 kids ages 21, 20, and 19, none of which live with me any longer.
gblush02 -- Florida, USA, but grew up in San Francisco -- 'gblush02' is a code name from my grade school days.
Genimuse -- It's the name of my company, and relates to genius, muse, and other stuff.
genomon -- I chose my handle for a few different reasons. My given name is Gene (actually Eugene), and a friend from Jamaica used to call me "Geno Mon". I did consulting under "Gnomon Software " for a bit (a gnomon being the pointer on a sundial, as well as being phonetically similar to the nickname). And finally, "genomon" translates from Greek as "one in the know". I enjoy camping, fishing, taking flying lessons, and playing guitar (mostly bass) in a local under-rated and under-talented Blues band. I went to School at University of Wisconsin - Madison, and go back to the local Tech college from time to time to try to stay current with new programming tools. I am currently single, but have a 22-year-old son who finally graduated college last December (2007).
GhostWolf -- My mom always said that even with seven brothers and sisters, I was the "lone wolf". Given that I prefer to work un-noticed and in the background, "Ghost" just seemed to fit.
gizmo1973 -- Independent republic of Mancunia (aka Manchester, England)
GlenJohnson -- 50 miles NW of Chicago. As for the list: Rockford, IL; Tacoma, WA; San Antonio, TX; Aschaffenburg, Germany; Rockford, IL; Tampa, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Rockford, IL; Clearwater, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Rockford, IL; and next stop will be back to FL for good. -- I wanted to be hard to find. Try running a search on my name, and see how many GlenJohnson's there are in the world.
gmmastros -- I'm from Gilbertsville, PA, about 1 hour northeast of Philadelphia. My commute is 6 minutes to travel 4.2 miles. Originally, I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Gooser -- I live in University Place, WA (where there is no university, despite the name) and I work in Seattle (which I always remember how to spell thanks to Sir MixALot lyrics, S-E-A-double-T-L-E, Seattle) -- As for my moniker, if you will, as a green programmer/DBA at my first assignment at Langley, when I arrived station, immediately upon entering the office, my sponsor, Zook (or Zuke, if you prefer) pointed and said 'Goose!' He was making reference to the fact that he thought I looked like Anthony Edwards character 'Goose' from the movie, Top Gun. It stuck...hard. Later, shortly before I left Langley, my good friend MikeD took to calling me Gooser, for whatever reason. So, when I arrive at a new website, and Goose is taken, I try Goosie, or Gooser, or sometimes longneckgoose, or longneckgoosie. (The longneck having a double meaning in that it both describes the goose, and a longnecked beer bottle or longneck)
Grenage -- Waterlooville, about 10 minutes outside Portsmouth -- 'Grenage' is a nick from my younger days. I used to play a lot of computer games and unique name was essential, so it was just plucked out of the air.
grnzbra -- Green Zebra ("funny looking animal, the color of ... money") was a CB handle when I drove a dark green Datsun (what Nissan cars used to be called) 280 Z.
GSCaupling -- Just my name.
guitarzan -- Long Island, New York -- My handle was given to me by a former colleague and friend who passed away a few years ago, based on my (moderate at best) abilities with a guitar. Out of college I worked in R&D for a company that made medical instruments in Westchester, NY, and currently I do some web/database programming and IT support for various small businesses in Long Island, NY.
GwydionM -- Gwydion is my first name, and I added an M because someone else already had the handle. Gwydion is an old Welsh name with no known meaning - it does not mean 'shining', that is gwyn. It is best known from the Mabinogian.
See Also
faq1256-6961
faq1256-6962
Please contact me with any suggestions, comments, and updates. Thank you.
This FAQ has been setup to introduce the Making an Impression family. Members have voluntarily submitted some background on where they are and from whence they came. Some have also provided the story behind the handle.
1DMF -- I'm a dyspraxic idiot with a handle to match. I've been in IT 20+ years and a member of TT coming up to 10 years. I'm studying for a Diploma in Computing so I can become a DIC! I also work full time as the IT department, run a record company for a hobby (well website), and release open source software when the urge takes me. I'm also currently (not right now!), playing Mass Effect 2 as I do like to play games still even at my age, and even though I'm not that good at them, can't beat a bit of death and mayhem on a Sunday!
aardvark92 -- The college I attended had several old houses that had been donated, and it fixed them up to use as dorms. The house I lived in was full of nonconformists, and we chose the aardvark as our mascot. I use aardvark92 because aardvark was taken, and I graduated in 1992.
acl03 -- New York state, USA -- I am working as a network administrator, and my handle is not very creative. It's simply my work user ID.
AdamRicko -- Manchester, UK -- Adam - Because it is my real name. Ricko - Because it is my real nickname. I work as a IT Support Technician, and I work at a large regional brewery in the northwest part of the UK.
akatoast -- My name is not what one might think it actually has nothing to do with any "illegal" substances you smoke. In fact it comes from my days in youth hockey. I wasnÆt that great and every one else on the team was, therefore when a player from the other team flew by me they would say I got burned, this led to toast. I was fine with it since when I scored my first and only goal the whole crowd chanted "toast à toast à toast" -- ah the glory days of pewee hockey.
AlexCuse -- Collegeville Pennsylvania. It is between 35 minutes and two and a half hours outside Philadelphia. I work in King of Prussia, which is about halfway between Collegeville and Philly, and it takes between 15 minutes and an hour and a half to get there. As I'm sure you can imagine, I hope to some day be able to work from home. I was born in Newark, DE. After 4 years there, I spent time in Las Vegas NV (1 year), Houston TX (4 years), Wilmington DE (3 years), Kennett Square PA (6 years), Syracuse NY (4 years for college), and Downingtown PA (2 years). -- My handle is my first (well, actually middle) name followed by 'Cuse (Syracuse University) to express my pride for the 2003 NCAA Basketball Champion Orangemen.
amdathlonxp1984 -- My unique handle comes from my love for AMD. I started off with a K6-2 333MHz back in '98, then I moved up to a K7 1000MHz. Next, I built my AMD Athlon XP 2500 system and now my AMD Sempron laptop. As you can see, I only run AMD. 1984 is my birth year, of course.
Andrzejek -- Ames, Iowa, USA -- Although I sign my posts 'Andy', my real name is Andrzej (born and raised in Poland). 'Andrzejek' is a nickname derived from my real name, which is way too difficult to pronounce by any Americans I've met so far.
AngelB -- Briton Ferry, South Wales -- Went to see London based indie group Echobelly play a gig in Cardiff a few years ago. Unfortunately for them, Blur were playing Cardiff on the same night so there was me, my mate and about 40 or 50 other people stood in the 'crowd'. We got a bit of banter going with them and after being a bit cheeky due to a few drinks, myself and my friend had the song Angel B dedicated to us by the singer. We were big fans so we were elated. Not used the handle before, needed something new for tek-tips and that was the first thing that popped into my head.
Annihilannic -- My nickname comes from the first sci-fi fantasy books I read, Blade of the Poisoner and Master of Fiends by Douglas Hill. Of all the cool names, somehow Annihilannic was the one I stuck with, even though it's painful when I need to spell out my e-mail address to people.
anotherhiggins -- I, live in Raleigh (North Carolina). We're 4 1/2 hours South of D.C., 6 Hours NE of Atlanta. It's not a bad town, I'd say. Pop ~ 300,000. It's big enough that there is some night life, but small enough that you might just run into someone you know while out and about. It is the lower right hand corner of 'the Triangle', the other corners being Durham (home of Duke University) and Chapel Hill (home of UNC). Here in Raleigh, of course, we have NCSU. There are several other Universities in the area as well. It's kind of like a smaller, less posh, not-as-cool version of Boston. -- In college I was in the drum line (the drum section of the marching band for all you non-band geeks out there). Most everyone in the line had a nickname. During auditions my freshman year, about 30-40 of us went to a restaurant for lunch. I was sitting right across from the only other 'Jon' in the group. We - being college students and unconcerned with the difficulty it would cause - asked for separate checks. As the waitress went around the table taking orders, she just wrote everyone's name on their ticket for easy sorting later on. This wasn't a problem for most folks, because they could use their nicknames to ensure a unique ID for every person. Jon was just about the only guy who had been on the line for a while without acquiring a nickname. Mainly the upperclassmen were concerned with assigning monikers for all the newbies for intimidation and light hazing. So John, being an upperclassman himself, wasnÆt likely to get a nickname at this point. When the waitress took his order he and I realized that we might mess up her system. I asked how he spelled his name. "J-O-N". "Great" I said, "I spell mine with an 'h'"! And that was it. Two guys at the table, one of them the drum captain, said, in unison, "H? (Dramatic pause, look at each other) Higgins!" I think it was the "in unison" part that gave it legs. In any case, that became my name - to the point that for several years after college I would run into people and shock them by telling them my name. Some people who had heard close friends call me 'John' jumped to the conclusion that Higgins must be my last name. A reasonable conclusion, especially given that my actual last name starts with 'H'. So if you've ever wondered, 'Higgins' has nothing to do with either Magnum PI or My Fair Lady. Anyway, fast forward to my trying to come up with a login that wasn't taken. Higgins usually is taken, so rather than become Higgins123 on one site and HiGGiNs95 on another site, I tried AnotherHiggins. Low and behold, it is just about always available.
asrisk -- Unfortunately my handle is almost as dull as some others: as = initials; risk = something I was involved in at work when I registered. You can imagine it took me a long time to come up with something so original.
avanderlaan -- Central Texas -- I'm a displaced Yankee in the home of Big Oil. Somewhere along the way I got a PhD in a field that is vaguely related to Mathematics, Statistics and Metrology. I have worked in petroleum exploration and refining since I stopped teaching Medical School.
AyJayEL -- AyJayEl is boringly simple. Just my initials spelt out!
BelgianBrownie -- Brownie as my surname is Brown and Belgian. Well, guess which country I live in! I have just taken on the maintenance and support of a bespoke-written system for a small local company, written in Clipper Summer 87. I have never used this before and this is the first programming work I have done since 1989! I am therefore in need of some help and support and am willing to contribute where I can.
BadBigBen -- Living in Germany for most of my life, except the three outings in the US, namely El Paso, Tx in my teens, Tucson, AZ where I attended College, and Hinesville, GA -- The nick comes from my stature, i.e. Big - I am 6'4" tall and weigh in at 275 lbs. (ca. 120 Kg)). Bad - besides the computers, I ride a Hawg (that is a Harley) and used to be in an MC. Ben - is the nickname given to me by my step dad (early teens) because he could not pronounce my real first name correctly, and it stuck to me ever since.
BillyRayPreachersSon -- Woolwich, London here, although I've lived in and around London for quite a few years now. Let me see ... Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk; Uxbridge, London; Hayes (NW, not SE), London; Islington, London; Kentish Town, London. This is the first house we've owned, so hopefully won't be moving quite as often anymore! -- I needed a new nickname, and Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite films.
BJCooperIT -- Mine came from a need to have a "professional" sounding email ID for sending out my resume. BJ - my initials, Cooper - last name, IT - Information Technology (what else?). My "fun" ID is much more creative: icdedbd1 - reads "I see de itty bitty one" with a southern accent.
blister911 -- Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA -- Blister was my CB handle when we used to run them in our vehicles. It was given to me by a buddy of mine. It's been many years since it was given and I don't remember all the circumstances surrounding the name being given (wink, wink), but it stems from the old saying about "a blister showing up after the work is done." I added the 911 for a couple of reasons: 1. I've run into places where blister has already been used, and 2. Because I keyboard/mouse all day long, I joke with my buddies that if I get blisters on my fingers I might have to go to the emergency room.
BocaBurger -- Would you believe Boca Raton? (Florida) -- BocaBurger is just one of the handles I use. Currently I work in Boca and am on a low carb diet.
bosk00 -- I'm in Royal Palm Beach, FL.
CajunCenturion -- Lafayette, LA, USA: The Heart of Acadiana. -- My handle is a combination of "Cajun", which speaks to my local culture, and "Centurion", which was originally bestowed upon me many years ago (don't ask) by my CB friends. The nickname has stayed with me every since.
Calator -- From Adelaide, Australia
Chacalinc -- Almost falling down from the planet: Santiago, Chile. -- 'Chacalinc' û What does chacalinc mean? Actually, it could be stupid but, in my school days I was called 'Chacal' because of my 'heavy metal' music. Chacal (in Spanish) has two translations to English: 1-jackal, the animal (this is the formal one), and 2-our local context, someone who is very bad. (this is my context.. don't ask). The problem was that 'Chacal' is widely used, so I add 'Inc' for Inc. just to make 'a company with my old nickname'. So my nickname is "Chacal Inc."
chessbot -- I like chess and robotics, and I couldn't really think of anything else.
cjelec -- Wales (UK) -- Languages: English, VB(6/.net), HTML, javascript, and SQL; other skills: fomain admin/networking and a little 3D design/animation; occupation: IT consultant; and Hobbies: MTB and photography.
columb -- I'm from Europe's third most popular holiday destination. We lose out to EuroDisney and the Vatican but you get better fantasies at Blackpool UK.
cool3953 -- Cool because I believe people should be cool to one another, and 3953 is my birthday
CosmoKramer -- Obviously, my favorite TV comedy.
craigsboyd -- I used to use "slighthaze" and a signature of "SlightHaze = Null". Back when I was a bit younger I thought it cool to use this nickname when putting the author line in my code. I got it from friends because of my propensity for spacing out everything else when coding... someone can be saying my name and waving their hands back and forth only a few feet from me and I won't even notice. While this type of mono-focus serves me well in my chosen craft, it is irritating as heck to those attempting to communicate with me. Rather than write me off, I believe my friends decided it was just easier to call me names to relieve their frustration. I dumped the name a few months back and now use my real name (Craig S. Boyd). I began to feel that something a little more business-like would serve me well. I have been a little concerned about the image that handle may have been projecting on me and my business. It is perhaps easier to take Craig seriously than Slight. As an added benefit of the change, when a piece of code breaks that is found to have Slighthaze in the comments as the author I can deny all involvement. "Slighthaze? I never heard of him."
CrystalStart -- I choose mine because I just accepted a Crystal Report Developer position and I dealt with this about 5 years ago. So I am starting anew almost and CrystalStart sounded right for me. However yesterday I sent email to my friend from my new account and here what she said: "Oh gosh I didn't recognize your email address, and at first I thought it was one of those girls looking to meet guy things that come thru once in a while!!! LOL
I almost deleted it!!!"DaBuggs -- Mine's from my early college days. There was DaBoss, DaKidd and I was DaBuggs (something about Bugs Bunny cheeks). It's usually not used.
DCliff817 -- Explaining my handle (dcliff) is very forthright. It is derived from my first and middle names (Donald Clifford).
dgillz -- Daphne, AL (near Mobile)
Dimandja -- I live in Voorhees, a suburb of Philadelphia in New Jersey. 89 miles from New York City. 48 miles from the casinos of Atlantic City. 16 miles from Philadelphia. 15 miles from "the most dangerous city" in America: Camden. Surrounded by a peaceful forest to shield me from all that mayhem. -- I just knew that no matter which handle I picked I would have preferred another one -- no, I am not "Marvin". And then, I figured my real first name will sound like a concocted handle anyway. You know, like showing at a toga party, wearing your regular everyday toga?
djj55 -- Central Ohio -- I have lived in Central Ohio all my life, so my vocabulary is slanted to midwest version.
donbott -- Portland Oregon, and it's still raining. I think we're famous for the color and quality of the moss that grows on everything, including people that wait at the bus stop for too long. -- Bott is a family nickname and I'm Don. If I knew there was going to be a quiz I would have picked something better, maybe PbBottom.
DPlank -- Wish I'd put a bit more thought into it now. Dave Plank == DPlank.
DrB0b -- I normally go with Dr_Bob but it was taken. My name is Rob and at my last job they called me the laptop doctor, so the owner would always call me Dr. Bob. I graduated from SIU Carbondale in Illinois with a BA in Networking. I worked at a PC repair shop for about 7 years. I'm Apple Certified and now work as the IT admin for a metal foundry/machine shop.
DrJavaJoe -- Santa Clarita, California -- Years ago I was trying to come up with a screen name while reading a Java book. Well my name is not Joe but Michael and JavaMichael didn't flow so good so I chose JavaJoe, but that was taken so tried MrJavaJoe, also taken, then DrJavaJoe and what do you know, it was available. I have been using it ever since.
dyarwood -- Nottingham
earthandfire -- City and County of Bristol, England (UK) -- The best group in the seventies. Not really known outside of Germany and the Benelux area unless you could receive Radio North Sea International.
edfair -- Have a long history as that, took out the space. But still get confused with the other one, who should really put a jr after his name.
EdwardMartinIII -- My handle is an extremely complex substitution algorithm from my name. That complex substitution was replacing spaces with no-space. You try typing no-character. I'm a writer, a filmmaker, a comic, and occasionally, I write the odd program. Someone else writes the even program. The writing includes technical writing, as well as essays, reviews, scripts, and other junk. Way fun. Not as fun as flying weasels, but you gotta' draw the line somewhere.
elanor -- I'm on Long Island, New York. I live in New York, but on Long Island, and when Long Islanders queue up, they stand on line, not in line. Just weird. -- Ummm...I'm not too tall, love mushrooms, and have hairy toes. (Elanor is a Hobbit's name.) I started reading Tolkien when I was 15 and I never stopped ... and as humble as my original explanation of my handle made it sound, Elanor means "sun-star" and is the name of a small, golden flower (and Sam Gamgee's oldest daughter). Too nice a name not to use!
ESquared -- My first name is Erik and my last name starts with E. Someone at work years ago started calling me E, E-man, E-two. It was my first nickname of any kind and I sort of liked it. After a while, it became E¦. It used to be a unique handle and every place I went it was available. But in the last few years other people have started to use it. It's become the name of a type of batteries, the title of a book (I thought, but I can't find it), and Google gives 29,500 hits for it. So, I have a fallback handle, VorpalMage. It doesn't mean much except that vorpal comes from the poem by Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky. Vorpal is an adjective describing some special kind of sword ... it might be technology or magical but it is definitely unique. Mage was just a random word I chose that seemed to go well with vorpal.
FatSlug -- UK -- 'FatSlug' is an insult someone threw at me during my university days, and it stuck as my nickname. Today I work as a software developer.
flapeyre -- I am a native New Orleanian, having been born in that city when cars still had fins. Moved to Mandeville, about a 34 mile (55 km) commute each way, when I got married 18 years ago. Takes me 40 to 45 minutes in the morning (I start work at 7:30), and about 55 minutes in the afternoon (leaving at 16:00). -- First initial, last name.
flyboytim -- Background: Molecular Biology/Plant Virology/Plant Pathology, Medical Database Development, Analysis, Stats/IT Management/Programming, semi-retired.
gbaughma -- Born in the Chicago area, I now live in Virginia, Minnesota, about an hour north of Duluth. I went to school in Eastern Tennessee, moved back to Chicago in about 1985, and to Minnesota in 1994. -- My handle comes from my name: Greg Baughman. If you're wondering why I dropped the "n", think of the old 8-character max login days ... talk about old habits being hard to break. I'm a computer geek and a musician, and I enjoy woodworking, motorcycling, and camping. I have 3 kids ages 21, 20, and 19, none of which live with me any longer.
gblush02 -- Florida, USA, but grew up in San Francisco -- 'gblush02' is a code name from my grade school days.
Genimuse -- It's the name of my company, and relates to genius, muse, and other stuff.
genomon -- I chose my handle for a few different reasons. My given name is Gene (actually Eugene), and a friend from Jamaica used to call me "Geno Mon". I did consulting under "Gnomon Software " for a bit (a gnomon being the pointer on a sundial, as well as being phonetically similar to the nickname). And finally, "genomon" translates from Greek as "one in the know". I enjoy camping, fishing, taking flying lessons, and playing guitar (mostly bass) in a local under-rated and under-talented Blues band. I went to School at University of Wisconsin - Madison, and go back to the local Tech college from time to time to try to stay current with new programming tools. I am currently single, but have a 22-year-old son who finally graduated college last December (2007).
GhostWolf -- My mom always said that even with seven brothers and sisters, I was the "lone wolf". Given that I prefer to work un-noticed and in the background, "Ghost" just seemed to fit.
gizmo1973 -- Independent republic of Mancunia (aka Manchester, England)
GlenJohnson -- 50 miles NW of Chicago. As for the list: Rockford, IL; Tacoma, WA; San Antonio, TX; Aschaffenburg, Germany; Rockford, IL; Tampa, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Rockford, IL; Clearwater, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Rockford, IL; and next stop will be back to FL for good. -- I wanted to be hard to find. Try running a search on my name, and see how many GlenJohnson's there are in the world.
gmmastros -- I'm from Gilbertsville, PA, about 1 hour northeast of Philadelphia. My commute is 6 minutes to travel 4.2 miles. Originally, I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Gooser -- I live in University Place, WA (where there is no university, despite the name) and I work in Seattle (which I always remember how to spell thanks to Sir MixALot lyrics, S-E-A-double-T-L-E, Seattle) -- As for my moniker, if you will, as a green programmer/DBA at my first assignment at Langley, when I arrived station, immediately upon entering the office, my sponsor, Zook (or Zuke, if you prefer) pointed and said 'Goose!' He was making reference to the fact that he thought I looked like Anthony Edwards character 'Goose' from the movie, Top Gun. It stuck...hard. Later, shortly before I left Langley, my good friend MikeD took to calling me Gooser, for whatever reason. So, when I arrive at a new website, and Goose is taken, I try Goosie, or Gooser, or sometimes longneckgoose, or longneckgoosie. (The longneck having a double meaning in that it both describes the goose, and a longnecked beer bottle or longneck)
Grenage -- Waterlooville, about 10 minutes outside Portsmouth -- 'Grenage' is a nick from my younger days. I used to play a lot of computer games and unique name was essential, so it was just plucked out of the air.
grnzbra -- Green Zebra ("funny looking animal, the color of ... money") was a CB handle when I drove a dark green Datsun (what Nissan cars used to be called) 280 Z.
GSCaupling -- Just my name.
guitarzan -- Long Island, New York -- My handle was given to me by a former colleague and friend who passed away a few years ago, based on my (moderate at best) abilities with a guitar. Out of college I worked in R&D for a company that made medical instruments in Westchester, NY, and currently I do some web/database programming and IT support for various small businesses in Long Island, NY.
GwydionM -- Gwydion is my first name, and I added an M because someone else already had the handle. Gwydion is an old Welsh name with no known meaning - it does not mean 'shining', that is gwyn. It is best known from the Mabinogian.
See Also
faq1256-6961
faq1256-6962
Please contact me with any suggestions, comments, and updates. Thank you.