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Comment by reificator | Hacker News Reader

I've seen and used nirsoft products for years, never realized his name was Nir Sofer. What a great name for a software developer.

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Almost as good as Mike Rowe ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft

Haha. Never heard about that case.

>>> A settlement was eventually reached, with Rowe granting ownership of the domain to Microsoft in exchange for an Xbox and additional compensation.

Depending on how many games he later bought for that xbox, MS may well have been the ones that came out on top.

It's strange to me that people still remember this. It's been 14 years, but I guess it's nice to be known for something :)

Wait...are you the legendary Mike Rowe????

He is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6074487

Every time I say or hear Microsoft, I think of Mike Rowe Soft in my head. Every single time.

Mnenomic devices are a powerful thing

I think the story blew up around the time that I connected with a bunch of Linux-loving friends in college, so in my case, the timing was perfect for memorability. I'll bet that some friends from then would remember it too, if I brought it up.

Hey, it still works: https://MikeRoweSoft.com

http://MikeRoweSoft.com

The thought of Microsoft still paying for that domain name is funny. I like to imagine they don't dare to stop doing it or they'll risk opening this whole can of worms again.

Come on now, you were near the top of fark.com for a moment. That kind of infamy can never leave you.

The name Nir Sofer "ניר סופר" means "Field Scribe" ("nir" also means plowed, but refers to a plowed field, too.

Now you know!

So if he travels to Israel he's a DBA?

He's Israeli. Not sure if he lives there right now though.

I think it was Ted Nelson who pointed out that Mark Miller's name is his vocation.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_S._Miller )

What's a miller do?

A miller operates a mill. The joke hinges on the idea of a computer as a "mill" for information, a symbol grinder.

Babbage called the 'cpu' in the Analytical engine the 'mill'.

Nir is his first name, Sofer last, which in Hebrew means “writer” (as in scripture etc.)

I agree. His marketing almost writes itself.

My parents have been shortening my name to "Code" pretty much since I was born. My friends and coworkers tend get a kick out of it when they realize my name can be shortened that way.

Why, what's your full name?

I'm struggling to come up with anything other than "Cody".

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