Using technology to find baby names is fine, but using technology terms as names is not, claims an old-timer.
AD: Hi, those people who just left — clients of yours?
BC: No, my neighbours. They are looking for a name for their baby — one that’s well-recognised and easily pronounceable.
AD: How about Facebook?
BC: Are you're suggesting that they use Facebook to find a name for their baby?
AD: No, they could just name their baby Facebook.
BC: You're kidding.
AD: Well, a proud father in Egypt named his daughter Facebook... in honour of the revolution that took place there.
BC: What will they think of next? The Like button?
AD: Sorry, that's taken too. A baby in Israel has been named ‘Like’, because its parents were inspired by Facebook’s ‘Like’ button.
BC: Why is it that when Egypt and Facebook come together, there’s always a revolution brewing? I get the feeling that today’s generation is getting too casual when it comes to naming kids.
AD: I don’t know about getting casual, but one can get rich by choosing the right name. A couple in Kansas won $5000 by naming their baby IUMA, or Internet Underground Music Archive, an online music site.
BC: Sounds complicated… Why can't they just use simple names like Jack, John or Richard?
AD: Even those are inspired by technology... Jack Kilby co-invented the microchip, John Sculley was the CEO of Apple from ’83 to ’93, and Richard Stallman is the American programmer who started the GNU Project.
BC: This is getting ridiculous. At this rate, there won't be a name untouched by technology.
AD: That's perhaps why you need to crowdsource it.
BC: What's that?
AD: It’s like outsourcing, but to a large number of people. For instance, you could go online and ask your friends and colleagues to come up with name options.
BC: Sometimes, I wonder if the parents are too busy to come up with a name themselves.
AD: If you are the CEO of Yahoo!, then you would have many things on your mind, I guess, besides your baby's name.
BC: Really?
AD: Marissa Mayer apparently had a nine-day maternity leave and got back to work, so you really can't blame her for leaving the naming to her employees and friends.
BC: I'll never understand this. Naming your kid can be such a memorable experience.
AD: It can be quite rewarding too. A couple in the U.S. have named their new-born Dovahkiin, after a character in a computer game.
BC: And their reward?
AD: Free games for life! Of course, the prerequisite was that the baby should have been born on 11/11/11.
BC: I don't know what to say.
AD: How about coming up with a name that you can pass on to your neighbours?
BC: How about iPhone apps?
AD: Are you suggesting that they name their baby iPhone apps?
BC: Don’t be silly, they could use an app to come up with a name. There are so many of these apps around to help young parents find a name for their baby.
AD: I’m amazed by these parents who go through such pain to find the perfect name, but when it comes to their choice of colours for the kid.
BC: Right, baby girls have to be in pink and boys in blue.
AD: And then they grow up and swap colours, so when you mention pink to boys and blue to girls, it's music to their ears.
BC: Really?
AD: Well, as long as it's a singer named Pink and a boy band named Blue.
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