Yep, it's true. I learned yesterday listening to National Public Radio that my old home town has a new name.
On March 1 of this year, the Mayor issued a proclamation that changed the name of Topeka, Kansas (the name is an Indian word that means "a good place to dig potatoes") to Google, Kansas. They are trying to suck up to Google to become Google's Fiber Project test city. Should they be chosen, its citizens will have super ultra high speed Internet - about a zillion times faster than what we have now.
Google recently announced plans to build super fast, even uberfast, networks. According to the NPR story, they are looking for towns of about 500,000 - a lot larger than Topeka, um, Google is now. And Topeka, um Google is not alone. Several other communities are also trying to get Google's attention, including Madison, Wisconsin, Iowa City, Iowa, Portland, Oregon, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Rochester New York, to name a few. But none has resorted to a name change to improve their chances.
Gee, maybe I should think about moving back - or to whatever city Google selects.
But back to the name.
Back in 1826, the original city founders chose the name of Topeka because they wanted to suck up to the Indians, and when Kansas was finally admitted to the Union as the 34th state, Topeka became its capital. Lawyers have advised Mayor Bill Burten to not to make the name change permanent or official, so his proclamation makes Topeka Google only for the month of March.
And I'm glad. I still have a soft spot for the place.
Hey! What about Washington, DC? We could use a little competition for RCN and Comcast, our local cable and Internet providers!
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