Just when you think you've seen every variation of "webmaster" on the planet, including such lovelies as "webmaestro" and "webguru", along comes moi with this puzzler of seemingly random capitalization: "Web MaJoR". What's up with that?
It does make one pause, doesn't it?
"What is wrong with the term 'webmaster'?", you may ask. To which I reply, "Nothing, in the proper context. The term truly does apply—by my very uneducated guesstimation—to probably a good 0.00003728 per cent of the web creators out there.
(Oooh, raise your hand if you correctly deduced that the number I cited above is meaningless, that I totally came up with it off the top of my head. I do stuff like that; most of the time you won't even be told about it—I'll give you credit for the smarts to figure it out on your own. That's part of my charm. If that bothers you, get over it.)
My problem—if you wish to view it that way—with the word stems from the fact that I cannot apply the term master to myself as it is being used (follow the link above to the definition at the Free Online Dictionary). In this context it is supposed to mean "an expert", which I, most certainly, am not, even though I do most of the web site management and modification for a certain company in the Twin Cities area.
"So why 'MaJoR', then?" you ask.
Well, the number one definition for major at the Free Online Dictionary is "Greater than others in importantance or rank"; while I'd say I'm certainly not greater than everyone when it comes to web development—there are, as I said, actual masters out there—I'm better than many and have performed the task professionally. More appropriate is definition number six ("Of or relating to the field of academic study in which a student specializes"): I am, and of necessity must continue to be, an ongoing student of internet technologies. (This is one of the reasons I'm currently working on the take-home portion of my Introduction to Photoshop mid-term!)
"Okaaaaayyy . . ." I hear you wonder, "so what's up with the funky capitalization?"
Well, my first name is Michael, my wife's is Julie (there are some projects—web and otherwise—for which her help is indispensable), and my kindergartener is Riley (anyone with a kindergartener will understand that he'd want to be involved and express his opinion on our projects).
And so—to make a long story short ("Too late!")—MaJoR stands for "Michael and Julie or Riley.
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