The only difference between Hotmail and Hailstorm is R and S... So what do the R and S stand for?

September 5, 2001 9:14 AM

The only difference between Hotmail and Hailstorm is R and S... So what do the R and S stand for?

Reading this article a few months back, I was struck by how inappropriate the name "hailstorm" was for a feature whose sole intention is user-friendliness. It just seemed too aggressive. Then, while reading something which also referenced hotmail's recent security problems, I misread "hotmail" as "hailstorm."

Now, I hate to seem like a numerologist here, or even worse, a scrabble player, but how else can you explain the similarity AND the impropriety of the name? Getting to the point, does anyone have guesses about what the "r" and the "s" are brought to you by?
posted by Sinner (10 comments total)

Dammit, lost the link in "brought to you by?"
posted by Sinner at 9:19 AM on September 5, 2001

I am sorry, but Hailtom just doesn't sound too great.
posted by costas at 9:30 AM on September 5, 2001

what the "r" and the "s" are brought to you by?

"rearrange" and "scramble"?
posted by iceberg273 at 9:31 AM on September 5, 2001

Really sad.
posted by jragon at 10:06 AM on September 5, 2001

Richard Stallman, shurely? 8)
posted by chrimble at 10:12 AM on September 5, 2001

Hailtom just doesn't sound too great.

It would sound better if your name was Tom, I bet.
posted by kindall at 10:20 AM on September 5, 2001

Here is how it came to pass. Long before the project was started, one of the people now in charge of HailStorm was trying to find a good name for one of his servers, and after trying several different names, he finally settled on HailStorm.

Read the rest of the not-so-scary etymology of the name here.
posted by anildash at 10:37 AM on September 5, 2001

So happy - and sad - to know the true answer to that question. Mostly sad that there's not more to it. Unless - ah-ha! it's some sort of conspiracy.
posted by Sinner at 10:47 AM on September 5, 2001

Here's a Microsoft naming trivia theory.
posted by southisup at 12:38 AM on September 6, 2001

from the theory above: "XP is a common abbreviation for christos, i.e. Christ."


whoa.
posted by bshort at 4:25 PM on September 6, 2001