08 nov 06
what's with the firstname.lastname format for gmail usernames?
i've been seeing it ever since gmail started up. i suppose it spread through the invitations: "you have been invited to gmail by ronald.reagan@gmail.com!" then, upon seeing this, the invitee thinks to himself "hmm, that's a nice format; i think i'll do that". i can't remember how i got my gmail account. i resisted for a long time, because it struck me as kiddy-ish and dumb -- masses clawing and grabbing for some hip thing, specifically designed to imitate an exclusive club. in fairness, i don't know that the whole "by invitation only" thing was a conscious marketing scheme -- google says that it was created to combat spammers and net-abusers (like it's inconceivable that these people have friends who might invite them to gmail). but i'm sure the side benefits of "VIP room email" crossed google's unimind -- imply that people can't have a thing, and then they want a thing.
a lot of what people want has to do with getting stuff that other people can't have. it's like when there are two puppies, and one isn't interested in a toy until it sees the other puppy start playing with it. i've noticed this with romantic relationships, too; guy friend B won't take interest in a girl until guy friend A takes interest in her first. it's a good way to make money, right along with sex and power. "with the new ronco turnip twaddler, you, too, can be sexy, powerful, and exclusive!" who can resist?
so, that's why i avoided getting a gmail account. well, also because i just didn't need one -- i was using barnacle@sdf.lonestar.org, and that was suiting my needs fine. i was unemployed at the time, and spent untold hours fiddling around with mutt (UNIX email client), getting it customized.
i guess you might say that gmail accounts are 1337 (computer-dork lettering for "elite"), except that 1337 is usually taken to mean "so difficult you can't use it". this would apply to mutt, when it's compared to pine (another UNIX email client that's more user-friendly). this would also apply to vim (obfuscated text editor) when it's compared to pico (user friendly text editor) -- vim is elite, or 'leet, or 1337, whereas pico is for lam0rz.
it's all an example of the "feel like you're better than everyone else" thing -- something that sets you apart from the herd, and makes you feel more powerful than the rest of them. we all want to be royalty, or rockstars.
maybe gmail will never go "public" -- ie, be set up so that people can go to gmail.com and register an account without receiving an invitation. when i get a group email, it seems like just about as many recips have gmail accounts as do yahoo and hotmail accounts. so, i can't imagine gmail "opening up" being that notable an event. mentioning yahoo and hotmail brings me back to the whole firstname.lastname thing. i have never seen a yahoo or hotmail username in this format. for some reason, someone thought it was a good idea in gmail, and this meme spread, virally, through the invitation system.
so, gmail users all end up as firstname.lastname@gmail.com. there are a few exceptions, such as myself -- i didn't realize this was the "thing to do", and so went with firstname initial, middlename initial, lastname, with no dots. later, when i discovered what was cool, i tried to register firstname.lastname, but someone had taken it. there are actually a number of people who share my name, first and last. this will prove useful in the future.
today is a ten hour workday. oh! i was going to try out a delivery man blog, like the one some reader suggested weeks and weeks ago. i'm still not sure it'll be very interesting, but you know me -- i can always squeeze a few words of text out of anything, as evidenced by this gay project right here. someone asked a question about abortion that i have to give some thought, so i'm going to answer that in a few days, when i'm mentally prepared. but for now, i can blog like a madman and give you some crapola to read.
my submissions trailed off right when i started blogging without input on this here project, and i'm not sure it's coincidental. i'll put myself in a reader/submitter's shoes for a moment: it's a pain in the butt to make submissions, and it's hard to think of any good questions. also, i'm not sure i'm going to be checking back endlessly to see if and when it's going to get answered. but mainly, it's hard to think of a question. if i try to think of one, i find myself coming up with silly ones, and "what do you think of 'issue x'" ones.
so i sympathize -- it's not the easiest thing in the world. in a way, you, the reader, has the duty of coming up with the real creative spark. i'm just building on it, here. ok, i'm sitting here naked in front of the computer, and it's basically time for me to leave for work.
i found a cretin for you:
actually, he's someone from "The Dillinger Escape Plan", a band. I think he might be the lead singer. this is his orignial home. but anyway, i saw him, looked away, looked back, looked at him for a few seconds, and then gave a few uncontrollable hoots of laughter. the humor arises from his trying to look tough, angsty, and arty, all the while having a neck that is roughly 1/2 the total width of his shoulders. and his hair. and his facial expression. and just generally the whole thing. i wouldn't ordinarily be so mean as to point out the neck-shoulder deformity, but the fact that he's gelling his hair up into tough angsty arty curls gives me some license, i think.
i think that body type is somewhat common, actually -- it's what happens when you spackle a fair amount of muscle onto a fairly small skeleton. like i said, i'm not ordinarily this cruelly critical of a person's appearance (even though i really do enjoy pointing out physical flaws), but anyone who's trying to look that cool really has it coming.