TITLE: I Gotta Get More Famous...
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: July 25, 2012  4:09 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
Duncan Davidson
<A HREF="https://twitter.com/duncan/status/227988806924632065/photo/1">
   tweeted</A>
a check of Google search suggestions for his name.  Now, Duncan's
a well known guy in a certain corner of the technical world, but
he didn't even crack the top six:

<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/google-search-caps/duncan.png"
     ALT="a NameSurfer cap of the popularity of Eugene versus Duncan"
     ALIGN="center"
     WIDTH="201" />
</CENTER>

A spell-corrected "dunkin donuts" did, though.  Ha.

Hey, why not try "Eugene"?  Until 1970, it was a much more common
first name for boys than "Duncan":

<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/eugene-vs-duncan.jpg"
     ALT="a NameSurfer cap of the popularity of Eugene versus Duncan"
     ALIGN="center"
     WIDTH="500" />
</CENTER>

I'll bet you didn't know that Eugene had ever been so popular!
Alas, since 1930, it has been in steady decline.  Duncan, on the
other hand, has been on the rise since 1970 and passed Eugene in
2000.  I haven't grabbed 2010 data to update my
<A HREF="http://nifty.stanford.edu/2005/NameSurfer/">
   Name Surfer</A>
app, but I'm sure the recent trajectories have continued.

So:

<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/google-search-caps/eugene.jpg"
     ALT="top ten Google search suggestions for 'eugene'"
     ALIGN="center"
     WIDTH="245" />
</CENTER>

Eugene, Oregon, is my Duncan Hines.

I don't make my first appearance in the top ten until we get to
"eugene wal":

<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/google-search-caps/eugene-wal.jpg"
     ALT="top ten Google search suggestions for 'eugene wal'"
     ALIGN="center"
     WIDTH="244" />
</CENTER>

One more letter vaults me near the top of the list:

<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/google-search-caps/eugene-wall.jpg"
     ALT="top ten Google search suggestions for 'eugene wall'"
     ALIGN="center"
     WIDTH="248" />
</CENTER>

Finally, we add an 'i' and push the pesky Eugene Wallace off his
throne.  Indeed, I begin to dominate:

<CENTER>
<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/humor/google-search-caps/eugene-walli.jpg"
     ALT="top ten Google search suggestions for 'eugene walli'"
     ALIGN="center"
     WIDTH="248" />
</CENTER>

Even so, my blog barely nudges past Mr. Wallace.  I am so unpopular
that Google would rather believe users have misspelled his name
than believe they are looking for my Twitter page.

I think I'd better start working on my legacy.
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