This morning, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was reviewing a Java Web Services Tutorial and it was making sense. I tried the examples, and with a little bit of classpath fudging, I got them to work. I tried a quote generator I found on xmethods.com and got it to work. I was impressed with myself. Then I looked through the “additional resources” section at the end and found my way to a book on XML-RPC. Generally, this would be a good thing. I like books on stuff I want to learn — particularly O’Reilly books as they’ve been stand-up publishers of computer technology books since I’ve been in the market for computer technology books.
But this particular book had an author whose name I recognized: Simon St. Laurent. I recognized this name because he and I went to Swarthmore College together. We were friendly acquaintances. He was a history major with a knack for computers.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had this sense, but it’s happened to me before at reunions. A sense of “Wait, you’re in my field now? And you’re kicking my ass at it!?!” But that happened again. Simon’s written and edited a stack of technical books on subjects I only know peripherally but feel like I should know better. He’s given invited talks at the ACM. He’s a player. He’s a floor wax, he’s a dessert topping.
So, I did a vanity google (here are the results). Not surprisingly, much of it has to do with my time in grad school at UVa and the “research” (AKA failed apprenticeship) I did under Randy Pausch. There were some surprises though:
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The most popular hit is a test page for Downtown Anywhere from when the web was young. It links to my “home page” at Virginia. I no longer have accounts at either Downtown Anywhere nor Virginia to update any of that information.
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Google still doesn’t seem to know about my new home page.
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My (again) mostly empty PSU faculty page ranks several pages higher than my home page.
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My mention in my grandmother’s obituary in my dad’s local newspaper is on the same page as the Casagato links and my home page — the 5th of 6 pages. and possibly the biggest surprise:
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According to the Revolver Directory, I’m a prominent member of the International Brotherhood of Single Action Revolver Shooters — or Casagato for short.
So, my self-esteem is buoyed once again. I may be no match in my own field for a history-major co-student of mine, but at least I’m mis-credited as a Single Action Revolver Shooter. An International one, no less!