#laserlemon

What name do you use on the Internet?

laserlemon

You may also recognize me as:

or:

Do you keep the same name everywhere?

Yes, as demonstrated by my Keybase profile.

Where did it come from?

"Laser Lemon" is a Crayola crayon color.

What does it mean to you?

Nothing at first. Now it's very much a part of my identity. I'm considering this costume for Halloween this year.

Why did you choose it?

The date was November 13, 2008 and I was trying to come up with a good GitHub handle. I picked a crayon color because they've always had clever names. It was a tight race between "Laser Lemon," "Outrageous Orange," and "Electric Lime." Lime was out because I like alliteration too much and even though orange is my favorite color, "Laser Lemon" is shorter and has better symmetry. I collapsed it into one word because I couldn't commit to an underscore or a hyphen.

Do you ever think of changing it?

No. I like the consistency. I hardly ever change my lemon avatar either so it's always recognizeable.

Why do you / don't you use your real name?

I was tired of people messing up my last name (spelled "Richert," pronounced "Rickert").

What was your first internet screen name?

I was "stevericher1" on AIM. Technically, I still am. My dad's work email address was [email protected] and I always thought the "1" was kinda cool and a little bit l33t.

What is your favorite name you've seen in your travels across the net?

I just don't think you can beat tenderlove but I consider myself more of a connoisseur of gem names.

Whose origin story would you like to hear next?

I'd love to hear the story behind "tenderlove." Also:

mercilessrobot

qrush

travisci

Now that people have heard your story, where can they go to find out more about you?

You can keep up with the internetty things I do at GitHub and Twitter. Or you can email me at [email protected].