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What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

I've been a regular MetaFilter reader since at least 2001, but didn't register for quite a while.

I have taught a lot of math, and am interested in all sorts of math- and science-related topics. I also have been branching out into more coding recently.

My family has a water cooler. His name is Earl. My sister's friend named him that because when you get a drink from him, air bubbles up and it sounds like he's saying "Earl!". Polliwogs are cute animals, and the word rolls off the tongue, much as a polliwog would.