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Starting with a big pile of data
n.b. the explanation for the picture above is a story, as told by this blog:
What can one do with a list of names from the US census? One example is the Name Generator, which lets you explore the data and play with it, and is surprisingly entertaining.
The most basic function it has is to create random combinations of first and last names, eg.
Craig Apple
Lashawn Ichinotsubo
Dixie Peon
Once you have some names, it invites you to tag the name with a descriptive term. For instance, I thought someone named Lashawn Ichinotsubo would have an exotic heritage, so I tagged it “multikulti” which is an awkward German word for that concept.
Then the site allows you to search and browse for names, as well tags. You can get a list of names that have been tagged with the term “math”:
- Lorean Eberst
- Neely Gerlach
- Wilbert Cofresi
- Yee Hodnefield
n.b. the explanation for the picture above is a story, as told by this blog:
Christmas is coming and little Johnny is determined to have Santa bring him a pony. His parents try to explain that a pony is too big for Santa’s bag and that they really don’t have the room for a pony, but he will have none of it. Every day, it’s all he can think about: Pony, Pony, Pony. Johnny’s dad is putting in a new lawn and a day before Christmas, while Johnny is napping, a truck delivers a nice pile of manure to nourish the rough dirt that has been their front yard. Johnny wakes and looks outside, sees the manure pile and tears down the stairs, out into the yard and right into the manure. He is digging through it with all the gusto and excitement he has. His mother rushes out and shouts, ‘My Goodness, Johnny! What are you doing?’ Without stopping, Johnny replies, ‘With all this shit, I’m sure there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!’
