For the record, no–his real name is not Ramanujan. And he did pick the name because of the mathematician. The weirdo just likes math a lot. 
Kitarak has my blessing to change his name to Amazing Genius. It’s a user name. Doesn’t mean a damn thing.
Well, damn. Now I’m going to have to email the mods telling them to change my username from that of a well-muscled well-read well-hung ubergenious to something more appropriate.
Mundane, check. Pointless, check. You chose wrong.
I’m sure few would disagree that you’re being arrogant and presumptuous. (I’m aware of the irony, thanks.)
So why the fuck are we here?
I think you’re on to something there, kitarak.
If you don’t fucking care, why are you subjecting everyone else (ok, just poor idiots like me who clicked on this thread) to your nitpickin’ non-problem?
I have Robert Kanigel’s book, The Man Who Knew Infinity, A Life of the Genius Ramanujan. It was a featured selection of the Book of the Month Club, and received excellent reviews in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. He ate, drank, and dreamed numbers. He contributed too much to mathematics to list here, but his life story is inspirational.
One of my favorite stories about him is the one about his visit to G. H. Hardy (another famous mathematician) at the hospital. Hardy noted that he had taken cab number 1729, and that he was disappointed that the number was singularly unexceptional. But Ramanujan instantly exclaimed, “Oh, but it is a very exciting number! It is the smallest integer that can be represented in two ways by the sum of two cubes!” (1^3+12^3 and 9^3+10^3).
Despite his genius with number theory, he was inept in ordinary social situations and everyday living. It was quite some time, for example, before people in his dormitory figured out that the reason he never turned down his bed was that he didn’t realize that you could sleep under a blanket, and that it would help to keep him warm.
I really am a month.
<sigh> Looks like another RPO.
Well, I am Qadgop the Mercotan in real life too!
From my eponymous autobiography:
That’s got to help with patient compliance. :eek:
Qadgop, how does one claw through neutronium without a strong nuclear force generator?
And you have any recipes that can be made with one?
My claws are equipped with the capacity to alter both the strong and weak force. At will.
Recipe: Quark parmesan. 4 lb of quarks, at least 1/4 strange preferred. Pound flat in a containment field using the strong force to keep them from recombining, dip in beaten egg, and coat with neutronium (One particle deep only!). Put in dish greased with olive oil, and top with your favorite marinara sauce. Bake at the core of a G-class star for 45 minutes, covered. Top with mozzarella for the last 7 picoseconds. Dust with parmesan and serve with breadsticks and strange dark matter. Serves 2 ordinary Mercotans, or 0! Dexitrobopers.
Oh, you’re on the list. But not in a good way. i haven’t seen anything Ramanujan has posted, but i already like him. and mhendo, you have nothing to worry about!!!
May I take this opportunity to say that Bug Vomit was the best poster name ever here? Thank you.
I thought Smartass was pretty good.
I am actualy comprised of several particles.
Just thought I should let you all know…
This has to be one of the stupidest Pit rants I’ve seen in awhile, and that even includes Cisco’s recent Pitting of Shayna, which sets the bar pretty high.
As a math type, I’ve been aware of who Ramanujan was for decades. But someone calling him/herself Ramanujan or KarlGauss - what’s the big deal? Maybe I’ll change my handle to Augustin-Louis Cauchy, who is my all-time favorite mathematician.
As others have noted, a lot of usernames are of persons who, in reality or fiction, are/were extremely remarkable. But our choices of handles don’t say but so much about us. Enderw24 is not a child genius who saved the human race. Sauron isn’t really the Dark Lord from Tolkien’s fictional world. And I am not one of the greatest comedic geniuses of all time. (If you don’t believe me, ask my wife! ;))
[sub]OTOH, Libertarian really is a libertarian. No ifs, ands, or buts. :)[/sub]
All Ramanujan’s choice of username means is that he’s in all likelihood a fan of the great Indian mathematician. It doesn’t mean he’s claiming to be a super-genius any more than Gauss or Ender is. So give this one a rest, kitarak.
I don’t see anything wrong with it, It is like he’s honoring Ramanujan, get it?
But for that matter we did have a Adolf Hitler
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=732
“Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Coyote, Wile E. Coyote, Supergenius.”
And yes, as my user name suggests, I am hairy, lumbering, and fond of honey, and I have been known to shit in the woods.
What the hell kind of timewarp thread is that? 
I was confused for a minute there.
Hell yes. Nothing I’d ever actually complain about, but damn. LOL Glad to know I’m not the only one.
I like his name quite a bit, even though I kept misspelling it when he first came into my sights. 
Which is terrible, because I’ve always been fascinated by that particular mathematician, myself.
I knew it! ;j