A couple of days ago I turned 41. So who am I? Well, using a search engine, there are things you’ll discover, things that I will confess to and even some embarrassing things. The rest you’ll have to discover through reading the site. Initially the pseudonym was a joke but, now I hide behind it to keep an e-mail signal to noise ratio that approaches infinity.
What do I do in real life? I am a freelance webmaster and computer technician. Four years ago, I was the webmaster for Microsoft’s assistive technology site, a position I first took in 1997. I had a vision about where things were headed, felt a little arrogant about my power and thus sallied out on my own–straight into the dot com crash. Oh well.
So where did the handle, Mr. Farlops, come from? I got it from the ska band Dr. Calypso who did this tune called, “Mr. Farlops.” It’s a punchy little number with the frequent chorus, “Who is that guy? Mr. Farlops!” The name stuck in my head and I decided to take it as a handle and eventually as the name of my business. Well meaning friends counseled me against taking the silly name “Farlops Industries” for a freelance proprietorship but, in a crowded field, being mnemonic counts for a lot and I am glad I didn’t listen.
And because his life is a lot more interesting than mine, Mr. Farlops will live on, especially in gaming environments and dodgy rants. My real name will continue to be mildly hard to discover, especially for spambots. I will continue to be the humble secretary to an entirely fictitious person, hiding behind his greatness. The Farlopsian Bubble (An expression attributed to Odin.) shall be maintained.