the name game

April 9, 2004 11:04 PM

Michelle Branch found by someone doing their taxes. No, it's not the pop singer. But have they ever found terrorist David Nelson? And will liberal radio host Michael Jackson ever get a job again?
posted by calwatch (6 comments total)

Um...what is this post about...? I'm glad that the missing lady was found...and I've heard about the confusion over the many David Nelsons...but how does Jackson figure into this?
posted by davidmsc at 12:46 AM on April 10, 2004

It's about people with the same name.
posted by calwatch at 2:01 AM on April 10, 2004

I don't know whether Michael Jackson is more in to good head or his "passion for 12- and 15-year-olds."
posted by stuporJIX at 2:51 AM on April 10, 2004

Ah! Thanks - if I had noticed the tag up top, I might have understood it sooner (sorry).

FWIW, I am eclipsed in Googling due to a seller of wine, an author, a Stanford professor, and others who are more famous than me.
posted by davidmsc at 7:54 AM on April 10, 2004

I am the only one of my kind, it seems.

I guess that makes me the famous one.
posted by Jairus at 8:22 AM on April 10, 2004

I work at the IRS, and as part of my job I often have to try to look up people's social security numbers, using their names and zip codes as keys. You would be *amazed* at how many people share the same name, especially when you are dealing with common last names like Garcia.

I'm continually surprised at the occasional non-conventional names that I run across that have over thirty pages of matches, for a single zip code.

And at the IRS alone, there are three people with the same name as me. I just let lapse my main domain (I gave up the fight against spam), so someone else with my name can grab it and get all that spam. Whee.
posted by beth at 11:18 AM on April 10, 2004