Knowing meme, knowing you

Quick question, pop quiz fans: What do I have in common with Rick Astley, Snakes on a Plane and a golf club-wielding fat kid? No, it's not that we'd be terrible company on a long-haul flight (I may look like a terrorist in all my hirsuteness, but I couldn't hijack a second bag of peanuts).

The answer is, we're all subjects of Internet memes - a sort of web 2.0 inside joke, a catchphrase or concept that's spread quickly from person to person via the Internet.

The movie, Snakes on a Plane, inspired a raft of parodies, songs and fan fiction; YouTube made a reluctant star of the 'Star Wars kid' (now, sadly, under psychiatric care "for an indefinite amount of time"); and the recent surprise (though not undeserving) recipient of this year's Best Act Ever MTV award, Rick Astley, was the subject of a phenomenon called Rickrolling, whereby web surfers were tricked into watching the 1987 music video, "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Similarly, users of the social networking website, Facebook, might be mildly irritated to click the status updates of their friends, which are beginning to lead to my website. Mine changed last week to "San Sharma is sansharma.com"; it was followed by similar URL-toting updates from my girlfriend and now two of her colleagues. In the nicest way possible (and in a way that won't alarm my girlfriend), I'm viral! And my web statistics are beginning to show. Facebook is the top referrer, followed by Google, where one visitor found me with the query "massage parlours shropshire" (I'm on page 8 of the results, which says more about said visitor's appetite than it does my website).

Let's hope I don't befall the same fate as other Internet memettes (though I'd rather a Best Act Ever award than a lifetime of psychiatric care). On that note, I'll leave you with my favourite of the memes, viewed an estimated 1 billion times - ladies and gentlemen, the Star Wars Kid.

"It's a small world..."

Welcome, if it works, to version 2.0 of my website. To quote Barack Obama (quoting Sam Cooke), it's been a long time coming, but tonight, change has come to sansharma.com.

And it very nearly didn't.

I've switched domain registrants and web hosts so many times over the last few years that I found myself in an infinite loop, unable to remember usernames, passwords or even the companies with whom I'd parted cash. Once I did, I began working behind-the-scenes, tinkering with code and little bits of script, which had all the appeal and terror of stepping off a Disneyland ride and seeing how all the Animatronics work. Now that it's done, I hope you'll find that version 2.0 has more to offer, including the full archive of my blog (and new posts!), my portfolio, including my books, and a growing audio and video page.

I've pulled the lever, I'm hopping back on my carriage and I hope you'll join me for the ride. Don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed and add me up on Twitter. And drop me a line, by visiting my contact page.

Lots of love,