What’s in a name?


How did you come up with the name AP42 for your company?

Thank you, Gary Peare, for the name! The “AP” are the initial letters of our company’s previous name – Alejandrino Partners. Alejandrino is my last name and has 11 letters, not great for a web address. Since others couldn’t spell my name which has happened to me, we shortened it. “Partners” came from our partnership network of talented professionals with specific offerings.

Now “42” has its own Wikipedia page. The number 42 is often considered significant in popular culture due to its appearance as the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” in Douglas Adams’ science fiction series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” In the story, a supercomputer named Deep Thought is asked to find the answer to the ultimate question, and after much contemplation, the answer it gives is simply “42.” The joke of the answer being meaningless yet definitive has made the number 42 a popular cultural reference and a symbol of absurdity and humor which is important to creativity.

To that end, 42 is “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”. AP42 is the “Everything” else when it comes to innovation and creativity.

Here are some 42ism and more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(number)

  1. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams – as mentioned earlier, the number 42 is famously referred to as the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.”
  2. “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson – In this science fiction novel, the number 42 is used as a code that has the power to destroy the virtual world.
  3. “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – In this book, the number 42 is referenced as the number that the character Adam Young, who represents the Antichrist, chooses as the number for his house.
  4. “The Matrix Reloaded” – In the film, Neo’s fate is prophesied by the Oracle, who says he will have to choose between two doors, one marked “33” and the other marked “42”.
  5. Computer Programming – In the computer programming language C, the constant “42” is often used as a placeholder value for a test or demo program.

These are just a few examples of how the number 42 has been used in popular culture. The number continues to be referenced and used in various forms of media as a nod to its iconic status as the “Answer to the Ultimate Question.”