I like playing with English and the feel of a good sentence rolling off the tongue. As such, creating a memorable and fun project name brings me immense joy. And while my choices of Disobey and Morbus Iff weren't influenced by each other, future names would be undeniably tinged by these simple origins.
It wasn't until a few years after choosing Morbus did I realize it meant "disease" in Latin. Of course, I was perfectly happy with that translation, and it became a proud badge of esoteric knowledge. The idea of "disease" influenced the naming of another project of mine: Gamegrene (for "gangrene").
When this project scurried into view, I wanted to further the trend. I had a word that meant "disease" and I had a type of disease - now I needed something that could cure, help or invigorate. After the brainstorming session below, AmphetaDesk (for "amphetamines") came into existence. I think it fits pretty well.
| IRC Chat Transcript - Early January 2001 | |
|---|---|
| morbus: | basically, i'm trying to think of a name that oozes some sort of portal, desktop, news, aggregator, sort of thing. |
| morbus: | but is also rememberable, like disobey, gamegrene, etc. |
| morbus: | newsability.com? whatdyathink? |
| leandro: | Nah. People will never be able to spell that. |
| morbus: | you think? it's just two common words together? |
| leandro: | It also sounds kinda gay. |
| leandro: | hmmm |
| leandro: | Luftnews |
| leandro: | hehe |
| morbus: | heh. desktopdesire.com? |
| leandro: | gay |
| morbus: | yeah, i know <g>. |
| leandro: | newsbound ? |
| leandro: | and you could give it a Boston subway theme. |
| morbus: | newsmazement.com? |
| leandro: | Uh? |
| morbus: | hehehe |
| morbus: | newsbound is taken. |
| leandro: | Figures |
| morbus: | newsangel? <g> |
| morbus: | just going through a dictionary |
| leandro: | nethernews |
| leandro: | or drop the n |
| leandro: | ethernews |
| morbus: | hmm. |
| leandro: | stratonews |
| leandro: | rocketnews |
| leandro: | hehe |
| leandro: | newsaway (From "Bombs away") |
| morbus: | welp, nethernews is available, but i'm not sure if it's too ... "dark" for some people. |
| leandro: | Atlanticnews. |
| morbus: | desktopbackbone.com? |
| morbus: | ethernews is taken. |
| leandro: | redfordanger |
| morbus: | what's net-ty... |
| morbus: | like bitbucketnews.com? |
| morbus: | nah... |
| morbus: | maybe focus on desktop - since "news" could be too restrictive in the future. |
| leandro: | Jupiternews |
| morbus: | eagerdesktop.com? |
| leandro: | netgraphnews |
| leandro: | marconinews |
| leandro: | newshorizon |
| morbus: | bravenewdesktop.com? |
| morbus: | deskcosity.com? |
| leandro: | Does it have to have the word desk in it? |
| leandro: | Deskosity is cool. |
| morbus: | you like deskosity? |
| leandro: | Well, it's better than what we came up so far. |
| morbus: | doesn't need desk in it, no. but it's mostly a desktop program. |
| leandro: | Pyronews. heheh |
| morbus: | heheh. |
| leandro: | Luftpost |
| leandro: | hahahaha |
| morbus: | heh |
| morbus: | heildesktop.com? <g> |
| leandro: | That will piss people off. You know, Amerika. |
| morbus: | yeah, i know. but it's pretty funny |
| leandro: | metamews |
| leandro: | netnews |
| morbus: | hmm... medical terms. |
| morbus: | i got gamegrene (gangrene), disobey, and morbus (disease)... |
| leandro: | cracknews |
| leandro: | newsfix |
| morbus: | someone else recommended newsfix. |
| leandro: | neuronews |
| morbus: | neurotop? |
| leandro: | Nice. |
| morbus: | newsOcain? |
| leandro: | newsorein hehe |
| leandro: | newstasy |
| leandro: | newamine |
| leandro: | newsamine rather |
| leandro: | oxynews |
| leandro: | newsphine |
| leandro: | morphnews |
| leandro: | methanews |
| leandro: | newsopium |
| leandro: | opiumnews too |
| leandro: | blacrussiannews |
| leandro: | dexenews |
| leandro: | newsdrine |
| leandro: | Amphetanews |
| morbus: | hehe |
| leandro: | I can't think of any else. |
| morbus: | desktopium.com? |
| leandro: | Not bad. |
| morbus: | nah. not easily prouncable. long o? short o? no one knows. |
| leandro: | I like amphetanews |
| morbus: | yeah... i like that one the best out of them all too... |
| morbus: | news seems too restrictive now though. |
| morbus: | like... i dunno. like "oh, it's only about news." that sort of thing. |
| morbus: | so far, we got deskosity, amphetanews, neurotop... |
| morbus: | all are available. |
| leandro: | newscatter |
| leandro: | scatterednews |
| morbus: | someone else really liked amphetanews. |
| morbus: | ok. question. |
| leandro: | Yes? |
| morbus: | i'm working on a desktop app that's designed to grab news for you each morning, or whenever you run it. |
| leandro: | amphetatruth? heh |
| morbus: | my initial problem is that i may want to expand it in the future, and amphetanews wouldn't grow with the program cos of the "news" part |
| leandro: | Desuetude.com? |
| morbus: | wha? |
| morbus: | heh |
| leandro: | excitation |
| leandro: | Penitence.com |
| morbus: | desktopiminal.com? |
| leandro: | deviation.com |
| leandro: | REvelation.com |
| morbus: | desktopminal.com? |
| morbus: | deskscab.com? |
| leandro: | heh |
| leandro: | amphetanews remains my best choice so far. |
| morbus: | same here. i just worry it won't allow growth past news |
| leandro: | A name ain't the limit. |
| morbus: | amphetadesk? <g> |
| morbus: | well, it'll limit people's thoughts just based on the name. |
| leandro: | desktoxin |
| morbus: | if i'm looking to play games (?? i dunno ??), and someone says "amphetanews", i'm like "uh, ok. that sounds newsy"... |
| morbus: | oooh. |
| morbus: | that' good |
| morbus: | desktoxin, desktoxin... hmmm. |
| leandro: | newstoxication |
| leandro: | heh |
| morbus: | heheheh. |
| morbus: | deskfection.com? |
| leandro: | deskfection not bad either |
| morbus: | amphetatop.com? amphetadesk.com? deskfection.com? |
| leandro: | all 3 are good |
| morbus: | i like amphetadesk - does it roll for you? as good, or not as good as amphetanews? |
| leandro: | deskvirii |
| morbus: | nah, that'll scare idiots. |
| leandro: | yeah it rolls with me as well |
| morbus: | k... assuming this other guy i'm asking doesn't have any major issues, that'll be the working name. |
| morbus: | deskphetamines.com? |
| leandro: | If you don't know the context and read it, it sounds weird... "mines?" |
| morbus: | ah. yeah. you're right. |
| morbus: | welp, i'm gonna use amphetadesk as a working title. if you think of anything better, let me know. |
| leandro: | Will do! |