[tsimionescu]

Seems to be a pattern in these circles - there's at least also Palantir, named after the crystal ball that corrupted Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.

[Havoc]

To be fair it is a pretty cool/appropriate name for their line of work

[mandmandam]

If we're being fair, they're an evil company that does evil work for evil people. It's abhorrent that they're using Tolkien to give themselves nerd-appeal.

[saagarjha]

The uncomfortable truth is that nerds can be evil too.

[tsimionescu]

I think that's more than obvious to any nerd who has ever played an online game.

[sparky_z]

What on earth do you consider the common thread between those two names?

[stanac]

Both are "evil". (edit: I am not the poster you replied to)

[amelius]

But in this case the thinking went probably like

phishing -> fishing -> bad fish

[tsimionescu]

The common thread I'm seeing is "something you shouldn't aspire to be". That is, no one should want to be a candiru fish, nor a palantir.

[ragazzina]

@AlexBlechman

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus

11:49 PM · 8 nov 2021

https://x.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538