Not that this is what you were talking about at all, but I thought that I'd point out that http://www.howstuffworks.com/'s Marshall Brain really is named Marshall Brain. I've been to a party at his house and even seen his driver's license (unsurprisingly, many folks don't believe that's his real name, so I think that's a farily common occurrance). He was the instructor in my first college programming course, and one of the better teachers I've ever had. He did make us call him Marshall, though, and not Mr. Brain.