I’ve been watching language get turned into money. All languages, in fact, and all languages in concert with one another. It might be time to start thinking about how human language itself is becoming globalized — led, as usual, by the Internet.
Money is leading us toward one big global patois, [...]

I’m fascinated by behavioral science. But without academic credentials, I’m not allowed to view most papers published in scientific journals. Neither are you.

“Sorry Buster. No can do. Subscribers only. Subscriptions for institutions and academics only. Anyway you couldn’t afford it. Click here to go back [...]

The Wall Street Journal today, in a long article about book publishing on the Web, completely blew Names@Work’s cover as the producer of “Pulse.” There’s a long expose, in which we are accused of doing “innovative marketing.” Take that, Red Baron!

Answer: No. And I’m not a Libyan agent either (see below).
So why am I even bothering with this absurdity?
Because a story Dan Richman of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is giving currency to a backstabbing little dagger coming from one Brian Marcus, Director of Internet Monitoring for the Anti-Defamation League.

Mr. Marcus is either ignorant [...]

Names@Work is honored to host this week’s Carnival of the Capitalists, a travelling collection of the best blog posts about business and the world. Great stuff.

Soonr or latr, a new fad in names was bound to pop up. Remember the naming memes of yester-hour? You know, these (Igor calls them “morphemes”):

Acquient, Agilent, Alliant, Aquent, Aspirient, Aviant, Axent, Axient, Bizient, Candescent, Cendant, Cerent, Chordiant, Clarent, Comergent, Conexant, Consilient, Cotelligent, Equant, Ixtant, Livent, Luminant, Mergent, Mirant, Navigant, Naviant, Noviant, Novient, [...]

I was forwarded an interesting study from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which shows that companies with easy-to-pronounce names do better on the stock market.
Sez the NSF:

Researchers have found that companies with easily pronounced names and stock ticker symbols perform better in stock markets in the days following their initial public offering (IPO). The [...]

Fisherman at sunset, Lake Victoria
Just back from two weeks in Kenya. It was sort of a vacation. Probably better than a vacation, though I had to tromp around in the hot sun with 25 lbs of photographic glass on my back. I managed to get myself attached to a paleontological expedition as [...]

Dealing with some designers is hell. I’m talking about designers who think they know what a good design is and blather on about their superior knowledge. They don’t know what good design is. There’s no way they could. They might have a better idea of what might work, but it’s just [...]

Nothing this stupid ever goes away.
The .xxx idea has been kicking around almost as long as the unworkable schemes to create a rigidly hierarchical domain name system based on trademark classifications. Anyone for .SOAP or .PAIN?
On May 10, ICANN announced that it would not allow the proposed .XXX to go forward. [...]