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General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: JohnnyMalaria on May 11, 2018, 04:01:53 pm

Title: Where does your username come from?
Post by: JohnnyMalaria on May 11, 2018, 04:01:53 pm
Usernames come in all kinds of interesting flavors. I often wonder if there are stories behind them.

Years ago, my boss at the time and I started pronouncing stores in the US as if they were French. Wal-Mart = Walmair, Target = Targe-ay, Harris-Teeter = Arrees-Tittair and so on. And I started being called Zhonny Millair which soon morphed to JohnnyMalaria.

What about yours?
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: metrologist on May 11, 2018, 04:13:21 pm
I like measurements, the instruments, the results, the theory, in all fields.

To measure is to know.
-Lord Kelvin
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: BillB on May 11, 2018, 04:21:02 pm
I'm unimaginative.  :palm:
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Avacee on May 11, 2018, 04:23:46 pm
At uni I was introduced to a DikuMUD called apocmud.org (port 4000) .. Avacee was a Boss Mob of one of the zones.
I started using character names, or variations thereof, from that MUD as my various usernames.

And bl**dy hell, that MUD is still being played - I haven't logged in for 15+ years :p
Bet if you mentioned text-based MUD's to many youngsters they'd roll their eyes at the graphics and having to use pen+paper to map zones and solve puzzles.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: rx8pilot on May 11, 2018, 04:25:26 pm
I was always a rotary engine enthusiast. My 1st and 2nd cars were RX7's. I also built a few race Mazda's.

A very memorable moment in my life is when I sold my first business. I purchased one of the very first Mazda RX8's in the country and drove it directly to my first flight school lesson.

rx8pilot took off and landed that day.

PS: The RX8 was a 'meh' car....the 3rd gen RX7's were the last great rotary powered car.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Towger on May 11, 2018, 04:31:07 pm
Generated by line noise in the days of V22bis and BBSes.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Messtechniker on May 11, 2018, 04:40:01 pm
Sort of pun across two languages:  Messtechniker = technician messing around :palm:
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Rolo on May 11, 2018, 04:41:50 pm
It's a nickname for my first name : Roland.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: 4cx10000 on May 11, 2018, 04:50:32 pm
4CX10000 - which is a very powerful RF tetrode - is clearly pointing to my hobby HAM radio  ;)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: floobydust on May 11, 2018, 05:10:05 pm
From 1976 National Semiconductor Audio Handbook.
Chapter 5 has Radio Shack Mach One 15" loudspeaker with LM386's, feel the power of the IC.

Bob Pease coined the term:
“Floobydust” is an old expression around our lab that means potpourri, catch-all, or miscellaneous.
In this chapter, I’ll throw into the “Floobydust” category a collection of philosophical items, such as advice about planning your troubleshooting, and practical hints about computers and instruments."

I miss breadboarding the LM379S...
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Ampera on May 11, 2018, 05:56:13 pm
Originally I had the name Ampera (not on this forum, but elsewhere).

That was actually something I had come up with when I was younger, before I found out it was the name of a car. I still use it, and actively prefer it, but I don't use it here since I can't change names.

TwoOfFive is an obvious reference to Star Trek's Borg race, which uses fractional names. I don't much like the name anymore, and the EEVBlog is the only place I use it afair. It's not that bad, so I'm not too upset.

Funnily enough, the reason I use the flag of San Marino as my image is for two reasons, neither of them are because I am Sammarinese, which I am not. The first reason is I just happen to find the nation interesting. The second reason is at the time, it was my only picture available on my computer.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Nominal Animal on May 11, 2018, 05:58:58 pm
I am, in three ways at least.

(I probably enjoy that way too much, to be honest.)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Miyuki on May 11, 2018, 06:42:21 pm
Just my middle name  ::)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: pigtwo on May 11, 2018, 06:46:03 pm
I have a healthy respect for pigs and I feel like they are unfairly maligned.

I tried to sign up to a website as 'pig'.
Error: Too short.
'pig1'
Error: Numbers not allowed.
'pigone'
Error: Already taken.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Stonent on May 11, 2018, 06:56:08 pm
When I first started playing Final Fantasy 7 I chose the name Stone for Barret since I thought the name fit him.  At the time I was trying to acquire a copy of Windows NT to play with and found a Warez IRC channel called WarezNT.  And many people in that channel had a name with NT in caps after it, so I followed suit and became StoneNT, so yeah it's not Stone-ent.  It's Stone N T.  Get it right you gobshites!  :-DD

I used to always capitalize the NT part, but eventually stopped doing it after it lost its significance and I was big into Gentoo Linux for a few years.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Stonent on May 11, 2018, 07:00:07 pm
One of the most interesting online names I think belongs to the Youtube channel UXWBill.  His name is William, and it was a combination of an "unexpected bill" (as in paying bills) and a nickname he had "Wild Bill"  So he put it together "UneXpected Wild Bill"
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: oldway on May 11, 2018, 07:10:13 pm
For me, the golden era of electronics was the years 1970s and early 80s.
We had good quality components and we did a lot with little ....

Now we are living the golden age of computing.

It does not surprise me that some believe that the Apollo 11 mission and the first step on the moon in 1969 were not possible without the current technology ....

They do not know that we were replacing the lack of sophisticated technical resources with cunning and intelligence.

With the "old way", we did a lot with almost nothing, with the new way we too often do very little with a lot of resources.

I prefer the "old way"  :-DD :-DD :-DD

EDIT: Another small explanation: why did I not provide informations on my location?
I spent half of my life in Europe and the other half in South America, I don't want to give more informations.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: MosherIV on May 11, 2018, 07:25:34 pm
Mosher use to be the term for someone into heave metal (just like me).
The urban dictionary defines it as someone who wants to be different
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mosher%20%28n%29 (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mosher%20%28n%29)

Why "IV" ?
Just because I like the look of the roman numerals.

Why the icon of an angry cat?
Well I like cats, and Im pretty angry some of the time.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: GreyWoolfe on May 11, 2018, 08:54:27 pm
GreyWoolfe comes from 2 different things.  First, being in my 60's, I have grey hair, I started going grey in my 20's.  SWMBO says it's more white/silver than grey but I can't tell.  Second, I have an affinity for wolves, have had for years.  Wolfie is my nickname in the ham radio circle I am part of and it shows in my callsign NW0LF.  I spelled it the way it is because I liked the spelling from 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe'.  Below was my digital signature for quite a long time but I haven't used it for years.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: T3sl4co1l on May 11, 2018, 09:03:30 pm
An interest in Tesla coils, and a modest l337-speak corruption as was the style at the time.  I've used this nick for many years, so long that l337-speak literacy has all but disappeared nowadays!

Tim
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: jmsc_02 on May 11, 2018, 09:04:29 pm
My initials and the year when internet arrived to my home...
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Synthtech on May 11, 2018, 09:21:12 pm
I run a vintage synthesiser repair and restoration service centre.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: HighVoltage on May 11, 2018, 09:32:29 pm
I have done a lot of high voltage measurements in my life
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: InductorbackEMF on May 11, 2018, 09:34:31 pm
Always liked Inductors and always hated killing meters with Back EMF spikes  :)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: tautech on May 11, 2018, 09:46:49 pm
Derived from my company name which if I was ever gunna be an Ltd. was dreamed up 20+ years ago when I was choosing an email address. The company evolved many years later ~6 years back. Worked well to keep everything short and simple....even the company website URL.  :)

Late last year our bloody ISP* pulled all email support  :wtf: and a mad panic ensued in order to at least retain tautech as the predominant part of my mail address and luckily only had to add .nz@....  :phew:



*Vodafone NZ...... :rant: They've been given the big V two fingered salute and are happily no longer part of our lives.  :P
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: MLXXXp on May 11, 2018, 10:23:00 pm
I needed a username for a certain audio/video forum. At the time I was setting up a home theater system. I then started using it for most other things that need a username.

Hints: roman numerals. HDTV.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Andy Watson on May 11, 2018, 10:37:16 pm
When I had to choose a user name I was in correspondance with a friend called Andrew - hence Andy, and (still) sitting beside me at my bench is a salvaged/recycled Microsystem70 Watson microscope.

Sorry, in real life I'm neither an Andy nor a Watson ;)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Rutherfordium on May 11, 2018, 10:37:31 pm
I'm an element!
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: SG-1 on May 11, 2018, 10:59:45 pm
It comes from the product that I make my living on, MV Switch Gear.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: gnavigator1007 on May 11, 2018, 11:01:59 pm
It comes from the product that I make my living on, MV Switch Gear.

I just assumed you were a fellow Stargate SG-1 fan.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: georges80 on May 11, 2018, 11:02:47 pm
Hi, I'm george and this is my 80 series, hence georges80 - though one of my sons appears to think it is his :)

(http://www.taskled.com/mud/usal2k10a.jpg)

cheers,
george.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: tautech on May 11, 2018, 11:19:42 pm
I'm an element!
And named after a famous Kiwi !  :-+
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: RomDump on May 11, 2018, 11:25:36 pm
Found my handle when I started a project to get the contents of a flash chip to a binary file without a commercial chip programmer.  ROM Dumping I guess is the slang term. I abbreviated to Romdump to create my handle.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: High_vacuum_house on May 11, 2018, 11:58:12 pm
High vacuum house.
Due to the large number of valve based electronic equipment I have here that I enjoy tinkering with and restoring. From 1930's radios and 405 line television sets to valve oscilloscopes and weird ex government or forces test sets ;) with the occasional  :-BROKE

Christopher Capener
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: retrolefty on May 12, 2018, 12:14:25 am
Retrolefty = Old left handed pitcher. Use to throw a decent screwball in my younger days.  :-+
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Alex Eisenhut on May 12, 2018, 01:25:45 am
My parents!
Eisenhut, from the great House of Eisenhut in Bavaria. Just kidding, we're nobodies. But there is a Hotel Eisenhut in Bavaria. No relation AFAIK.
Alex from a Russian friend of my parents at the time.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Fsck on May 12, 2018, 01:33:25 am
file system check, for linux.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Halcyon on May 12, 2018, 01:58:13 am
Completely made up and not related to anything else.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: NiHaoMike on May 12, 2018, 02:10:22 am
The university I went to (Texas A&M) had a club called Cepheid Variable that's basically a hackerspace for software engineering, as in if you want to do hardware, you have to bring your own tools and supplies. (It's best described as sort of a study area that encourages conversation.)

Anyways, because I'm Chinese, they always say "Ni Hao Mike" when I arrive (it just means "Hi Mike!"), and the nickname stuck.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: geekGee on May 12, 2018, 04:30:10 am
I'm a geek of Portuguese ( 'Gee ), more specifically Azorean, ancestry. 
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Brumby on May 12, 2018, 05:15:25 am
Mine comes from the free roaming wild horses in Australia.


... but I'm not free-roaming and quite the opposite of wild.  Maybe that's part of the appeal...
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Rerouter on May 12, 2018, 05:26:05 am
Was setting up a username for Whirlpool forums, banged the desk because my old one was already taken, and an old Dlink router fell off my shelf and hit me on the head.

Funny how moving to an electronics forum made it even more relevent.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Nusa on May 12, 2018, 05:42:10 am
I've run into people with the same first and last name that I have, and one of them is even in the same field that I am. I've even gotten email intended for him by mistake on my gmail account. I got there first, so I'm the one with the obvious first-initial-last name@gmail account. I'm glad my last name isn't something really common like Smith or Jones. Even my real off-line nicknames are too common for online continuity, although I did use one of them in the early days, before social media really took off.

Nusa is the name of a character I played for a long time in an online game. I no longer play that game, but the name lives on.
It was cleverly derived from an earlier character in the same game: Asun Nyday
Asun Nyday is from the phrase "A sunny day". Making up character names is a process, at least for me.

For a four-letter word, Nusa is amazingly conflict free online, so I use it when I can. I have a longer variation for when it isn't available that hasn't failed me yet.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: dexters_lab on May 12, 2018, 08:39:08 am
what a great list of stories!

mine is just a reference to the cartoon Dexters Lab shown on the Cartoon Network, the theme music has also been my phone ringtone for what must be a decade or more!
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Lord of nothing on May 12, 2018, 10:47:47 am
I was lazy and put some random words in.  >:D
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: capt bullshot on May 12, 2018, 11:54:43 am
Inspired by the 1983 movie "Bullshot"
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: fourtytwo42 on May 12, 2018, 01:06:27 pm
Easy, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy :) Most of my machines are/have been named after characters from there too.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: TerraHertz on May 12, 2018, 02:57:47 pm
Completely made up and not related to anything else.

Except that it is a word, and does have a meaning.
So does 'halcyon days.'

TerraHertz is meant to be simultaneously a combined dual-meaning pun, and political statement.

Terra is the Latin name for Earth.
Also similar to Tera, for 10^12. The unit prefix in SI for 10^12 Symbol T.
Tera is derived from Greek word τέρας teras, meaning "monster".
Hertz as in Heinrich Hertz, cycles per sec, Hz.
Energy in the THz range lies in between visible light and microwaves. It acts like light, but penetrates more materials. We just can't see it. The world would look pretty weird if we could. We could see right through a lot of shit. We could see the monsters behind the facade.
So one meaning - penetrating Earth light.
Another, by the sound: terror hurts. Which has both a personal meaning for me, as well as the obvious one.

I use other nics in other contexts, but the whole point of that is to keep things separate and unconnected. So not going to list them. One is electronics-related and simple, so you'd think I'd use it here. But unfortunately, that would not be good.

Used in the past: BinaryTears, CylentRage
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Fgrir on May 12, 2018, 04:10:32 pm
ROT13
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: rdl on May 12, 2018, 04:13:12 pm
At one time there was a model kit company based in the UK named Halcyon Models. They were mostly known for their kits based on the Alien series of movies, but they did others. There were a couple from Aliens that I really wanted but I lost interest in modeling before I could acquire them. They also did a version of the DeLorean from BTTF.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: 2N3055 on May 12, 2018, 08:51:41 pm
Old, slow and dependable , kinda like me :-)
..... Made many PSU-s with it as a kid... good times..
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: VK5RC on May 13, 2018, 12:11:40 am
Amateur radio callsign, 73
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: brucehoult on May 13, 2018, 01:49:31 am
I'm so boring. I just use my real name FirstLast on every web site and app. Either I'm the only person in the world with this name, or else the rest of them don't use the internet, because I've never had a problem getting that name. (It's probably the "u" that does it)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Tom45 on May 13, 2018, 02:27:00 am
My name is Tom and I was born in 1945.

When I needed my first computer user name in the 60's a coworker suggested tomc. I used that for several decades until so many people were on the internet that tomc was often taken. So I now use Tom45.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: warp_foo on May 13, 2018, 03:08:05 am
warp is from OS/2 Warp...
foo is the first meta-syntactic variable usually listed (foo, bar, baz...)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: ucanel on May 13, 2018, 04:15:56 am
What is mine would be?
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: VEGETA on May 13, 2018, 05:10:52 am
Mine is obvious, from by favorite character in Dragon ball franchise... which matches my personality 100%: VEGETA, the prince of all Sayians.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: BBBbbb on May 13, 2018, 06:47:15 am
Mine is obvious, from by favorite character in Dragon ball franchise... which matches my personality 100%: VEGETA, the prince of all Sayians.
Also a name for a very popular spice/seasoning in ex Yugoslavia. It’s a universal seasoning heavily used in food preparation. Vegeta, the character, is by far better known globally, but not in this region.


My name came long long time ago, as a reaction to all the 1337 names that were popping up when I played multiplayer games (same room times), I just got bored and hit the random button on the keyboard (letter ‘b’). Later I added some formatting (3 upper and 3 lower case) just to add a bit of differentiation.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: VEGETA on May 13, 2018, 07:36:01 am
Mine is obvious, from by favorite character in Dragon ball franchise... which matches my personality 100%: VEGETA, the prince of all Sayians.
Also a name for a very popular spice/seasoning in ex Yugoslavia. It’s a universal seasoning heavily used in food preparation. Vegeta, the character, is by far better known globally, but not in this region.


Actually, Akira Toriyama got the names for his show from food: http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Origins_of_character_names (http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Origins_of_character_names)

and Vegeta is from vegetables.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Lord of nothing on May 13, 2018, 07:39:31 am
(http://www.balkanstore.de/out/pictures/generated/product/1/450_450_75/vegeta-fix-cevapcici-und-hamburger.jpg)

 :-DD....
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: JPortici on May 13, 2018, 07:41:43 am
A tribute, to the most beautiful city i had the pleasure to be and live in for a few years.
Bologna.

And my name is jack
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: IanMacdonald on May 13, 2018, 08:31:40 am
Ian - Scots version of John, or Yohan.
Mac - son of
Donald - From the gaelic Dòmhnall - Ruler of the (Celtic) World.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: bd139 on May 13, 2018, 08:55:49 am
My favourite transistor :)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Dataforensics on May 13, 2018, 09:18:11 am
Comes from over three decades of examining computers and associated devices as a forensic scientist. Out of touch now though as been retired for nearly six years.

Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: gamalot on May 13, 2018, 09:25:57 am
Game a lot  :-DD
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: SG-1 on May 13, 2018, 12:14:57 pm
It comes from the product that I make my living on, MV Switch Gear.

I just assumed you were a fellow Stargate SG-1 fan.

I do like Star Gate, all of them.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: vk6zgo on May 13, 2018, 12:42:46 pm
Obviously enough, my Amateur Radio callsign.

When I started posting on QRZ.com, I naturally used my callsign.
Later, I used it for eHam, so when I started posting here, out of laziness, I stuck with vk6zgo.

I suppose, I could have called myself "Blue Wombat" or something, but it sounded a bit too "CB-ish".
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: radar_macgyver on May 13, 2018, 02:26:29 pm
A colleague once quipped that if the situation was dire enough, I could turn a wok, coat hanger, microwave oven and AM radio into a radar. He wasn't saying anything about my skills, just commenting on the awful budget situation :)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Nominal Animal on May 13, 2018, 03:00:57 pm
I was hoping for it to be a MASH reference; a prescient kludge-builder.  :o
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: German_EE on May 13, 2018, 07:18:26 pm
I'm an Electrical Engineer and I live in Germany, kinda obvious.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: kj7e on May 13, 2018, 07:32:25 pm
https://www.qrz.com/lookup/kj7e (https://www.qrz.com/lookup/kj7e)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Edison on May 13, 2018, 08:55:14 pm
Thomas Alva Edison - the inventor in the field of elektrics, electronics, audio and an electric car.
My name is Tomas and from childhood playing with electrics, electronics, audio, motorcycles and cars.
Nobody told me otherwise than Tomas Alva and from there .......
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: rsjsouza on May 13, 2018, 10:53:49 pm
The initials of name (Rafael), two family names and the third is spelled in full. Brazilians tend to have quite long names, mostly because the family names of the mother and father are passed on to the descendants (the father's family name is last and we rarely have middle names). I happen to be a somewhat rare case as my dad passed both his father's family names down to us.

Here in the US that becomes a loooooot of fun when dealing with official paperwork or trying to explain to confused droids why there's no middle name...
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: newbrain on May 14, 2018, 07:59:31 am
The largely underrated NewBrain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundy_NewBrain) home computer.
Very handy for tinkerers: dual RS232, the full Z80 bus available from a connector on the back.
Half-compiling BASIC language, quite fast.
All the I/Os were seen from the system SW as streams, and could be treated the same (very Unix-like: open, close read, write).
You could write to (or read from) tape, or the screen or the RS232 with exactly the same code; of course writing to keyboard was pointless.

The SW was extensible, so I added a Centronics interface: just another device number to use in the OPEN call.

The avatar, though, is Oscar from Syberia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syberia).

Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Daixiwen on May 14, 2018, 08:27:32 am
My Chinese name when I started learning Mandarin Chinese at the university.
Dai is not a very common name in China but it was the closest one phonetically.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Gary350z on May 14, 2018, 02:04:41 pm
I was always a rotary engine enthusiast. My 1st and 2nd cars were RX7's..
I used to have an RX7. Nice car. Drove the heck out of it.
I'm sure with your background you can figure out my username. ;D
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Calambres on May 14, 2018, 05:13:46 pm
Quite an old long story. Basically a pun.

Many moons ago... let's say mid '90s, three friends and I went to a mountaineering trip in the Pyrenees. When we were about to reach our target summit (Posets (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pico_Posets)) one of my friends suffered a very painful episode of leg cramps. We couldn't reach the summit and went back to the refuge. On the road back home we all decided to form a rock and roll band, which we did and we named it... Los Calambres ("The Cramps", in spanish)  8)

Some years later, once the band was just history, I joined a guitar forum where I announced my then new web site: www.pisotones.com (http://www.pisotones.com) dedicated to electric guitar effects DIY. The name "Calambres" was ideal because, in spanish, this word means both "cramps" and "electric shocks"   ;)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: basinstreetdesign on May 15, 2018, 04:46:12 am
I have inherited an interest in traditional jazz from my father.  There is a tune I like called Basin Street Blues.  When I decided after retiring the first time to hold myself out as a design service I decided to use the name Basin Street Design.  The service didn't go very far but there you go... ::)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: CJay on May 15, 2018, 11:58:46 am
Initials, at least some of them.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: woody on May 15, 2018, 12:21:16 pm
My last name translates loosely to Woodhouse in English. As that was also the stage name of an (in)famous Dutch accordionist I was called Woodhouse by friends when younger. That got shorted to Woody. And then 'Cheers' came along and it stuck :D
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: eliocor on May 15, 2018, 02:10:11 pm
1992 1982: at the university I had to choose my access name to the VAX 11/780.
I proposed my single name (rather unusual) but they said: too short!
I added 3 letter from my second name: since then I have always used such nickname.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: ModemHead on May 15, 2018, 03:04:45 pm
Speaking of VAXes... Many years ago a young lady in another department called me for help with her MicroVAX computer, something VMS-related. After a successful resolution, she dubbed me a "modemhead" because I could set SYSGEN parameters off the top of my head.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Syntax_Error on May 23, 2018, 11:30:03 pm
I always name forum aliases after "problems" or "troubles" usually related to the nature of the forum. So for a car forum it might be Spun_Bearing whereas for gardening it might be Root_Rot, etc. off the top of my head. For this forum I was hasty and used an old one. It could have been more electronics-related. Oh well.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: @rt on May 24, 2018, 02:48:19 pm
Some letters from my surname, Martin. Boring really :D
.. and for forums, if “Art” is taken, “@rt” is next.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: mathsquid on May 24, 2018, 07:37:14 pm
I'm a math professor, and I've always been fascinated by squid.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: GreyWoolfe on May 25, 2018, 02:13:55 am
I'm a math professor, and I've always been fascinated by squid.

I am also fascinated by squid, as in breaded and fried.  Calamari, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :popcorn:
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: CatalinaWOW on May 25, 2018, 04:00:35 am
A place I lived plus initials.  Used on a wide range of forums.   Interestingly I did a Google search on this username and found that it is also being used by a lady in a very old profession.  Apparently she doesn't do much of her business development on line since it only shows a few hits.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Cubdriver on May 25, 2018, 06:22:38 am
I used to flit around a lot in yellow colored, rag covered flying machines that were built in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.  Some one of these years, I'll get back to doing it.

-Pat
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Keicar on May 25, 2018, 07:54:24 am
I drive a 1991 Honda Beat - and have difficulty coming up with unique usernames...

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car)

Karl.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Acecool on May 25, 2018, 08:32:50 am
I created it in 1989 to serve as my philosophy in life... A School, or Acecool.... To learn as much as I can for as long as I can and to be able to easily communicate it a way understandable to someone who isn't familiar on the topic... And to be a master in as many fields as I can...

Legally, I own the trademark starting in 1989 the date of conception and first use because TM law acts like Copyright law - it's automatic for something new / unique / creation immediately upon completion... I don't need to register it unless I have to go to court over infringement - someone stole my domains in 90s and finally got them taken down but I still need them to be retransferred to me - they're trying to hold them hostage for $9000 so I'll need to fight them and provide the proof that I registered it, starting out for 10 years and GoDaddy or whoever it was ended up reselling it within that 10 year period ( remember those 10 year domain specials? Then them stealing domains from people - happened to me )...
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: lmester on May 26, 2018, 07:52:08 am
My username was created because of email server limitations and a lack of imagination.

It was in the early 1990's when I first had internet access. This was only available at the school where I work. I used Windows V3.11  for internet access. Windows V3.11 required add on programs to add a TCP/IP stack and a web browser. Dial-up internet service was not available in west virginia. I'd expect that it was not generally available anywhere in the US at this time. 

The west virginia schools email system allowed a maximum of eight characters for an email  username. I chose my first name initial and full last name.

Using even a part of your real name is probably now a bad idea on the internet. It's far too late for me to change this. The Wayback Machine has decades of archives with me using "lmester" and my full name "Luke Mester"

I still use lmester as my username. I now also use two factor authentication for anything that's critical like my bank web site.

I'll probably still get hacked.  :(  I've at least tried to make my net access a little more secure.

The internet used to be a safe place for geeks to play. I used a browser for years before I saw the first pop-up advertisement on a web page. And, A virus was some rare nasty code that you got from a copy of a  friend's floppy disk or a BBS (bulletin board system) download.

Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: GlennSprigg on May 27, 2018, 11:56:51 am
My "Mummy & Daddy" gave it to me in 1955 !!   ;D
Mostly, in 'Forums', 'Quora', 'Youtube' etc, I use my real name, as I don't/need/want
to Hide my true self. I'm open to anyone.
On certain specialized sites/followings, I use the name "NeutralDensity"......
Mostly just for 'fun'...  due to my life long interest in photography, amongst others !!

(Orig pre-digital, a 'Neutral Density' Filter, as by the book, is a filter that reduces or modifies
the intensity of all wavelengths of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition).
I used to often utilize some almost as dark as a welding-mask glass !!!! (on a tripod of course).
NORMAL exposure, may be something like....  F11, 125th/Sec. However with this 'filter' it may
be an exposure time of 1 or 2 minutes !!...  Why do this ???....
Transient objects in the 'scene' like moving vehicles/people walking past, have LITTLE effect on
the framed exposure. The 'myriad' of pedestrians etc simply vanish for architectural shots!!!
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Eka on May 27, 2018, 06:37:28 pm
My nickname that some old friends and coworkers know me by. Everybody else uses a different nickname.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: PlainName on May 27, 2018, 10:52:38 pm
Quote
Legally, I own the trademark starting in 1989 the date of conception and first use

Are you sure? I am not a lawyer, never mind a US patent lawyer,  but the USPTO site says (my emphasis):

Quote
Must all trademarks be registered? No, registration is not mandatory.  You can establish “common law” rights in a mark based solely on use of the mark in commerce, without a registration.

ISTM that just creating a cool name doesn't also create a trademark or servicemark unless you actually use it (and continue to use it) for trade or service.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: capt bullshot on May 28, 2018, 05:35:26 pm

(Orig pre-digital, a 'Neutral Density' Filter, as by the book, is a filter that reduces or modifies
the intensity of all wavelengths of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition).
I used to often utilize some almost as dark as a welding-mask glass !!!! (on a tripod of course).
NORMAL exposure, may be something like....  F11, 125th/Sec. However with this 'filter' it may
be an exposure time of 1 or 2 minutes !!...  Why do this ???....
Transient objects in the 'scene' like moving vehicles/people walking past, have LITTLE effect on
the framed exposure. The 'myriad' of pedestrians etc simply vanish for architectural shots!!!


Using these filters one can make real stunning photos, like the first one on this page:
http://world.wideweg.de/fotografieren-im-wasser-das-solltest-du-beachten/ (http://world.wideweg.de/fotografieren-im-wasser-das-solltest-du-beachten/)

Note: Not my photos, it's GFs daughter who does these great photos, she just published an ebook about aurora borealis  (northern lights), planned to translate to English. It features really great photos, I'm impressed every time I look at them.

Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: AntiProtonBoy on May 29, 2018, 09:19:11 am
I wanted a cheesy comic book style superhero sounding name.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: pelule on May 29, 2018, 07:32:03 pm
Mine is quite simple, no philosophy or other fancy things behind - just the first   2 chars of each of my two first names and my last name. PeLuLe -Done.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Red Squirrel on May 29, 2018, 10:00:14 pm
When I was a kid and camped a lot I used to like playing with squirrels and chipmunks, feeding them, taming them, even petting them etc.  We mostly get red squirrels here, and I'm a red head, so picked that on a whim once on a forum and I stuck with it.  Used this username for at least 15 years.    When it's already taken I just add FTW at the end. 
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: GlennSprigg on May 31, 2018, 12:09:47 pm

(Orig pre-digital, a 'Neutral Density' Filter, as by the book, is a filter that reduces or modifies
the intensity of all wavelengths of light equally, giving no changes in hue of color rendition).
I used to often utilize some almost as dark as a welding-mask glass !!!! (on a tripod of course).
NORMAL exposure, may be something like....  F11, 125th/Sec. However with this 'filter' it may
be an exposure time of 1 or 2 minutes !!...  Why do this ???....
Transient objects in the 'scene' like moving vehicles/people walking past, have LITTLE effect on
the framed exposure. The 'myriad' of pedestrians etc simply vanish for architectural shots!!!


Using these filters one can make real stunning photos, like the first one on this page:
http://world.wideweg.de/fotografieren-im-wasser-das-solltest-du-beachten/ (http://world.wideweg.de/fotografieren-im-wasser-das-solltest-du-beachten/)

Note: Not my photos, it's GFs daughter who does these great photos, she just published an ebook about aurora borealis  (northern lights), planned to translate to English. It features really great photos, I'm impressed every time I look at them.

Dear Capt BullShot.....
Thank you for your reply xxx
I know WE are slightly off-topic here, but that is life !!! xx
The photos you showed from your GF's daughter are very good!!!!!!!!!
However, it does not demonstrate what I meant about LONG time delays in order to
eliminate transient 'objects' in a 'scene'.   What they demonstrated was 'Parts' of a
second to highlight 'movement' of water... to create the animated 'milkiness' needed.
They were LOVELY photos none the less !!! xox
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: DG41WV on May 31, 2018, 12:47:03 pm
My old motherboard.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: woody on June 01, 2018, 01:13:00 pm
Oedipc complex?
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Acecool on June 10, 2018, 01:16:11 pm
I do use it in commerce. I created it in 89 but I either used it for commerce near that time or 90 or 91... I have the records on an old hard-drive... and I've been continuing to use it to this day - it's how I bill my customers when I do work for them and I have the name registered for my company name in South Carolina.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Jeroen3 on June 10, 2018, 02:03:45 pm
My username is my name. And I was the third Jeroen at work and the scouts, so I guess I decided to be 3rd on the internet as well.

Didn’t work out entirely, name was taken on some places.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: senso on June 10, 2018, 04:31:59 pm
Mis-remenbered Sesto Sento, my head made a mashup and created senso.

Only years latter I even noticed that it means sense in my mother tongue.

Have a couple more that I use, but this is my main one, first used 15 years ago on an ogame account.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: T3sl4co1l on June 10, 2018, 11:01:35 pm
My username is my name. And I was the third Jeroen at work and the scouts, so I guess I decided to be 3rd on the internet as well.

Didn’t work out entirely, name was taken on some places.

That's kind of funny because there's like half a dozen Dougs at a place I work with.  There's also several with the same last initial, so you have to refer to them by context ("send that layout over to Doug to check" = the hardware/layout Doug) or full last name.

Tim
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Eka on June 18, 2018, 03:46:00 pm
My username is my name. And I was the third Jeroen at work and the scouts, so I guess I decided to be 3rd on the internet as well.

Didn’t work out entirely, name was taken on some places.

That's kind of funny because there's like half a dozen Dougs at a place I work with.  There's also several with the same last initial, so you have to refer to them by context ("send that layout over to Doug to check" = the hardware/layout Doug) or full last name.

Tim
My first name is the exact opposite. Always been unique at school, college, work, clubs, etc. I've never meet another who uses the same first name. I know there are a few others here in the USA, most being emigrants or refugees. Census data tells me that, but there are too few of us so I can't even find out which states they live in.  For privacy reasons the census won't tell counts that a name is used in a state or region if the number is under some cutoff value. The downside to it being so unique is nobody can spell it. If they try, they almost always want to use the more popular form, or the Russian form which are both pronounced different.
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: free_electron on June 18, 2018, 04:41:18 pm
semiconductor technology. The free electron wanders around. i wander from project to project
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: frog_jr on June 22, 2018, 03:59:42 pm
An homage to my father who most people only knew as Frog.

When he was a new born, a young cousin came over and asked his name, the middle of which is Woolfolk.
The youngster misunderstood and said "Bull Frog? What a funny name!"
Well, Frog stuck from that point on...

My mother said she never knew his "real" name until he signed the marriage license!

So obviously I am Frog Jr. ;)
Title: Re: Where does your username come from?
Post by: Raven Luni on June 23, 2018, 12:14:59 am
Its a pun but also has spiritual significance.