Monday, August 18, 2008

Amihood Amir more famous than Dick Cheney

(Guest post by Richard Beigel.)

Top-9 list of internet fame criteria. You know you are famous when ...

    9. You show up on the first page of google hits for your full name (Richard Chang)
    8. You take up all 10 slots on the first page of google hits for your full name (Carolyn Gasarch)
    7. You show up on the first page of google hits for your last name (Lance Fortnow, Johnny Carson)
    6. You take up all 10 slots on the first page of google hits for your last name (Bill Gasarch)
    5. You show up on the first page of google hits for your full name ... even when it is misspelled (Richard Beigel)
    4. You show up on the first page of google hits for your job title (Richard Cheney)
    3*. You show up on the first page of google hits for your first name (Amihood Amir, Don Knuth, Lance Armstrong, Johnny Depp, Johnny Cash)
    2*. You show up on the first page of google hits for your initials (Richard M Stallman)
    1. You show up on the first page of google hits for your middle initial (George W Bush)

*It was hard deciding which of these two should come first, but Richard Stallman shows up under both and, surprisingly, Don E. Knuth doesn't show up under 2.

Disclaimer: These criteria are intended for the purpose of humor only. They do not represent the opininion of the Natiοnal Science Fοundation or the the Federal Gοvernment, and they will not affect your chances of getting a grant. ~

9 comments:

  1. Is Amihood the first name?
    always thought it's Amir (which is much more common in israel as a first
    name than as a surname)

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  2. Or perhaps these are really criteria for how unusual your name is (except for 1 and 4). Case in point: me.

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  3. what about L. Ron Hubbard? he shows up for "L"

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  4. Woo hoo! I'm number 3!

    (if you show 50 results per page)

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  5. 1001. You obsess about your fame by google stalking yourself and your colleagues.
    ...

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  6. If you google "Amihood Amir" you do find out that this is indeed his name.



    Another fame test: goto

    famousbirthdays.com

    and see if you are listed.
    This is just a YES/NO
    as opposed to Richards
    fine-tuned scale of fame.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. I liked the disclaimer... I want grants :D

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  9. This may be true for English language and several other big languages, but for languages with few speakers (and thus less namesakes) it's much easier to find yourself in the first page when googling with your first name.

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