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My name is Chris Baran, but I’m also known as possiblybob. I’m a software engineer with experience planning, implementing and delivering web-based products on Software as a Service platforms. In my career as a developer, I've developed blog engines, media centers, Twitter curation sites, coupon generators, restaurant ordering platforms, and payment solutions.

Possiblybob is a name I made up for myself, and it’s an example of my nerdiness. My progression of names began with my introductory C++ class back in college. When my professor would write sample code for problems from the textbook, he would always use variable names like “foo” and “bar,” as they’re fairly standard variable names in the industry. Whenever I’d work on problems for homework, I’d always end up using “bob” instead, since I found it easier to type.

After a few weeks of class, I learned about the principle of negation. In C++, you can negate a value or variable by placing an exclamation point (!) in front of it. Since I used “bob” quite often, I decided that I would take “!bob” (Not Bob) as my handle when playing video games in the monthly LAN parties hosted at college.

More often than not, people would misread my name, and they’d call me iBob (like the iPod). I guess it does look rather similar. I decided to spell out the name, and I became “not bob” or simply “notbob” when playing. I decided “notbob” would be my handle, and as such, I attempted to register screen names and accounts on several sites using the name. Since “bob” is used so much on the internet, I found that this screen name was more often than not already claimed by someone else.

I wanted to keep a name that was somehow related to “bob,” and the first name that came to mind after “notbob” was “possiblybob,” since it seems about half-way between “bob” and “notbob.” It was available on every site I tried, so I decided to keep it.

To this day, if you search for “possiblybob” on Google or most other search engines, you’ll find references to me or to my activities.