July 21 2008
GoogleUnique Names and Other Choice Links
posted by Ana Samways at 12:19 pm
Arty: In Alex Sandwell Kliszynski’s surreal photographs, models are transformed into barbie-like dolls. NSFW
There are many modern strategies for naming children — traditional family names, balancing a strange last name with a more conventional first name and vice versa, or you can just like the fact the name can’t easily be truncated or changed into an annoying nickname that’ll stick for life. In this modern age of the web and a new child-naming trend is emerging. Finding GoogleUnique names for your kids. These are invented names, or name combinations, which will yield singular results in a Google search. In other words, when you search for the child’s name, your child is the only result. I didn’t see what the big deal about having a GoogleUnique name until I googled my son’s name. The top result, from the USA, was a headline with my son’s name, then “UNDER ARREST; Accused of Murdering His Mother…”
Update on a couple of stories featured on Spare Room: The Gourmet Food Store’s Margaret McHugh, who generated huge publicity for her business when she let rip at a client via email, has relocated from Auckland to Piction. Maybe all publicity is not good publicity after all. And our Whangaparaoa couple Maria and Brian Wright, who set up a website to panhandle for money from strangers for a vasectomy reversal, have split up according to our latest comment.
Glass blowing: Humour derived from coming in halfway through a conversation….
The Hoax Photo Database at the Museum of Hoaxes has examples of “photo fakery, from the beginnings of photography up to the present. Included in the database are photos that are “real,” but which have been suspected of being fake, as well as images whose veracity remains undetermined.”
Lapdog gets lapdance — not a good look for Auckland City Council.
Video: Unsuccessful building demolition.

July 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
I was disturbed by you including the Barbie Doll art in your column. The other pictures on that page are pure pornography – I am disappointed in your judgement!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am
Apologies for not marking the link NSFW. I have done so now.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Not everyone knows what NSFW is.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
It means Not Safe For Work – it’s not hard to find the definition. The Wikipedia entry comes up as top result in a Google search for the term. The acronym is in common usage online.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Who doesn’t know what NSFW means?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I didn’t know – not everyone is up on all the acronyms used online!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Megan, how can the Barbie Doll art be considered pornography? No genitals are shown at all – that’s the whole point, they’ve been removed. If your daughter (or son) took off the clothes from their Barbie (or Ken) doll, would you consider that pornographic?
How about if I took a photo of the naked doll, and posted it on the web?
NSFW, definitely (as at first glance it looks like naked people).
Art – probably.
Pornographic? No way.
Ana, thanks for the pics – always good to see unique artwork in your column.