The name was originally just my IRC nick. I picked it because at the time, I was into programming computers, and I liked the two meanings of "hex" - as in hexadecimal, and as in a magical hex. The activity of programming reminded me of the Jewish legend of the golem, bringing life to inanimate matter with magic words.

Would a melon-shaped house really be that practical? You'd have to prop it up with big sticks to stop it rolling away with all your stuff in it.