Name The MySql Dolphin

JayBonci writes: "In case you all missed it, everyone's favorite database engine, mysql is having the name the mySql dolphin contest, and everyone is invited. Nothing like a million suggestions to choose from to help them out. Not only that, but it might be a good time to help them choose a better name than some other attempts at open marketing submissions." Bill! Thom! Nguyen! Samwise! Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate!

Comments

I name this dolphin....

[phyberop]

... flipper. Seems like the obvious choise ;)

Re:I name this dolphin....

[Bob McCown]

or better yet...

Re:I name this dolphin....

[john@iastate.edu]

SQLipper (rhymes with flipper) :)

that's easy

[anser]

I will nominate: Bottleneck (the Bottlenose)

Maybe if it bulked up a bit..

[dat00ket]

The could call it Dolphin Lundgren

SQueaL

[kitts]

Not bad, eh? EH?

Re:SQueaL

[jd]

What about "Squeakwell"?

Closer phonetically to "Sequel" (SQL), and squeaking well is exactly what dolphins do! :)

Re:SQueaL

[neo]

But now everyone is posting it. Not like the name I choose:

Albert Finster Jr. III

Re:SQueaL

[Peyna]

Which brings up an interesting point, how many people pronounce SQL as "Sequel"? I had a TA get all pissed at me once for calling it "Sequel" and insisted that we should call it ess-queue-elle. I think less syllables is better no matter how you look at it.

Re:SQueaL

[Fishstick]

I never heard 'sequel' until I started running into Microsoft SQL Server. My first db class at school the prof pronounced it S-Q-L. and I never heard anyone say anything different until we started seeing projects at work using Microsoft.

To this day, the only time we say 'sequel' is when we are referring to MS SQL Server, otherwise it's S-Q-L.

Re:SQueaL

[Hard_Code]

I thought people were talking about some totally separate product (perhaps an SQL client or database?), until I eventually inferred that "sequel" meant SQL. "Sequel" just sounds too detached and vague (imagine: "Is SQL2 the sequel to SQL1?", "Company X is producing a sequel server since it's first server proved so successful"). I thought I was just clueless, I'm glad there's others that say S-Q-L.

Re:SQueaL

[leandrod]

The original pronounciation for SQL in IBM was Sequel, but it was changed to S-Q-L because of trademark issues.

It's ironical that people feel like they have to say S-Q-L instead of Sequel to be in the know, since if you know the history of the product *and* don't want to appease lawyers you can much more comfortably say Sequel.

I want to name it...

[cr@ckwhore]

I want to name it "tuna", because a can of tuna tastes better with dolphin.

Re:I want to name it...

[dark_panda]

And don't forget, you can tune a database, but you can't tuna fish.

(blatantly modified from tunefs(8) manpage)

J

Chicken of the Sea?

[wiredog]

Or "Starkist"?

Easy

[Violet Null]

It's a dolphin. It's associated with SQL.

So you call it 'squealie'. Squealie the Dolphin. See? Rolls off the tongue.

Well, ok, maybe not. How about Sam?

Howard.

[dschuetz]

It's obvious.

fnord!

Re:Howard.

[Rentar]

D'oh! You beat me on that one, should've checked more carefully. Btw, do they check for double submits? If so I managed to suggest it first. I'd love to see it named Howard.

I don't get it

[Britney]

What's the Porpoise of this?

Re:I don't get it

[Steev]

I think it was just a fluke :)

How about GameCube?

[Uttles]

...er, wait, Nintendo already took that path...


(intended as humor, please don't flame me oh mighty moderators)

Larry, after Oracle's dolphin

[astrashe]

Either that, or Gates.

Senor SQueakLy

[decipher_saint]

*crickets chirping*

err nevermind...

Humpy

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't care what they say, that dolphin is definitely doing something unnatural to the rest of the logo. "Humpy" or "Frisky" are my votes.

CELESTE.

[Tom7]

Call it CELESTE, cos it sort of sounds like SELECT.

Re:CELESTE.

[Leven Valera]

Or you could name him JOIN, because it'll be a constant reminder to get around to writing it.

LV

Oh Great!

[mESSDan]

First, they name the dolphin. Next, we get mandatory addons for MySQL that popup a cartoonish animation of the newly named dolphin everytime we click on something in the menu.

Then they're going to record some dolphin sounds, so everytime we do anything in MySQL, we get to hear "eeeeee-eEeeEeeEee eeeeeEEeeeee"

(popup)"Do you want to know about 'Primary Key'? eeEEEeeeeeeeee-eEEEEEeeeeeeE!"

Ahh heck, lets just call it Clippy. Hmm. Or maybe Tuna. Yeah.

Re:Oh Great!

[kitts]

Ahh heck, lets just call it Clippy.

Uh oh. "Flippy".

Dont' be like SuSE

[cloudmaster]

SuSE certainly got a bunch of good names for their chameleon a while back, but decided that the worst entry should win. "Geeko?" Please MySQL folk, for the love of Pete, don't pick the dorkiest name possible... :)

Porky

[squaretorus]

It has 'cute', it has 'familiarity', it has 'innuendo', it relates to bacon sandwiches... perfect!

MySQL

[Refrag]

Why the hell do all open source applications have an animal mascot?

Re:MySQL

[kitts]

Why the hell do all open source applications have an animal mascot?

Quiet you. What would you rather? Paperclips?

Re:MySQL

[Rentar]

Maybe O'Reilly is influencing some open source developers? (I am influenced for sure, 'though I can't really call myself an open source developer). AFAIK at least the perl camel was initially used by O'Reilly and not by the Perl-crowd.

Re:MySQL

[Bostik]

Possibly to show that things evolve.

You know, that biology stuff? According to what, the best and most adaptive practices are found to be dominant over time.

Re:MySQL

[dkoyanagi]

For the halibut?

Re:MySQL

[GTRacer]

Damn, and I just used up my last mod point! Where's ^Z on this thing?!

Somebody bump this guy!

GTRacer
- punny stuff!

Re:MySQL

[dmuth]

Why the hell do all open source applications have an animal mascot?

Animals can't file lawsuits against us under some obscure law.

The obvious choice

[TheWhiteOtaku]

The obvious choice is Samuel McSamuelson. No reason, it's just a funny sounding name.

Re:The obvious choice

[Jason Earl]

I think that they should name it after the Oracle guy from the article the other day "Hugh Barrass," now that's a funny sounding name!

I think they should go with...

[Hugh Kir]

CowboyNeal. This would grant the dolphin instant name recognition within the geek community, and would save space on the "What's your favorite open source mascot?" Slashdot poll.

How about "Star"

[Uttles]

As in "SELECT *" (spoken "star" by some)

Target demographic error

[CaptainAlbert]

From the competition website:

> If your suggestion wins, you will receive three
> custom-made T-shirts with the message 'I named
> the MySQL Dolphin' as well as a Palm IIIC with
> Camera. Three T-shirts, because when one shirt
> is in the laundry, you still have two other
> shirts to wear!

This kinda presupposes that the sort of people who hack MySQL actually *do* any laundry :)

qmail !

[cperciva]

After all, the dophin has been qmail's mascot since qmail-1.00 in February 1997.

Like it or not, DJB claimed the dophin first... what would people say if Microsoft started using a Penguin as mascot and held a naming contest?

Name the dolphin

[Pathetic Coward]

"Flux" (Flipper + Tux)

Screw MySQL...

[dasmegabyte]

does the PostgreSQL elephant have a name? I vote for "stampy."

Seriously, though, what kind of a logo is a dolphin for a database? When I think of dolphins, I think of these unreliable, playful creatures that basically live the life of riley, eating fish and playing tricks on sailors all day long. Whereas an elephant...well, they never forget, do they?

dM

Re:Screw MySQL...

[Rentar]

When I think of dolphins, I think of these unreliable, playful creatures that basically live the life of riley, eating fish and playing tricks on sailors all day long.

Well, go read Illuminatus and you'll get quite a different impresion ;-)

Whereas an elephant...well, they never forget, do they?

On a more serious note this quite correctly describes the difference between MySQL and Postgresql. MySQL is the faster, but less reliable one of the two, mainly for simple, not-really-mission-critical Databases, whereas PostgreSQL is the more Oracle-like heavyweight.

Re:Screw MySQL...

[denshi]

you're right... a dolphin really doesn't connect well with 'database'. OTOH, 'dolphin' really doesn't connotate 'must lock tables and runs like a dog under concurrent load' nor 'speaks a tiny subset of SQL'. So maybe a trick playing, sailor diverting mascot is good for them.

Re:Screw MySQL...

[Lemmy Caution]

Dolphins are the only animals other than humans that have sex for pleasure.

Clearly, this man has never owned a pug.

Re:Screw MySQL...

[dasmegabyte]

This is not only stupid, it is totally untrue. ALL the beasties of the world have sex for pleasure, and only for pleasure, because they are unable to make the jump in symbolic logic that says "hey, if i get my swerve on I contniue my species." There are species of monkeys that have been seen to be homosexual, and many many animals that rub their genitals against things for arousal. But don't take my word for it...Cecil Adams did a column on it YEARS ago that's available in the annals of straightdope.com.
I might give you that cetaceans are the only animal besides humans that understand what sex results in, however. They seem clever enough to understand simple symbolic logic, but so are apes. Personally, I think a big, smelly, sweaty ape would be the perfect mascot for MySQL, a database which has thrown its dookie at real developers for far too long.

Ginger? Segway? IT?

[nanojath]

Man all the good names are taken

Suessian

[jheywood]

Hmmmm. If not Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate, then maybe Sir Michael Carmichael Zutt....

is there a *neal option?

[fenux]

maybe whe should have a slashpoll about it.. but then again dolneal/myneal or whatever isn't likely to be accepted as the official name for the mysql dolphin .. myabe dotphin might be something... naaah

From the far side...

[His name cannot be s]

I think we're getting another one of those
"habla a spanole" sounds.

The Fin

[SimJockey]

Or Mr. Smarty Pants

Shhhh

[Uttles]

Don't give Billy any ideas... I mean the Butterfly thing is fading out, they're probably looking for a new one...

Howard

[Rentar]

Why not call it Howard, now thats one cool dolphin.

And for those who don't get the reference it still doesn't sound offensive or anything.

Re:Howard

[Steev]

Howard the Dolphin is just a little to close to Howard the Duck.

I like SamWise

[Palapatine]

"Don't lose data Samwise SQL, Dont lose any"
And he doesnt intend to, he doesnt intend to.

Charlie

[GMontag]

Yes, we oldsters know that Charlie was not a dolphin, he was the Starkist(tm) tuna mascot.

We also know that MySQL is not *really* a database management system either.

OKAY, OKAY, what about Fa? Wasn't that the killer dolphin in an old movie about trained killer dolphins, swam around saying "Fa loves Pa" to George C. Scott?

In the great tradtion..

[chabotc]

In the great tradtion of Clippy and other helpfull and friendly computer entities, i name you

'Fishy'

Re:In the great tradtion..

[Jeremi]

Except that Dolphins aren't fish, they are mammals. But, it's not a bad idea...

I don't think the poster was referring to the type of animal, but rather to the smell...

Dude, where's my dolphin?

[ImaLamer]

Johnny Potsmoker

But seriously... Chuck. Chuck Whitehorse to be exact.

South Park Wisdom

[DeadBugs]

To Quote Cartman Of Southpark

"If Dolphins are so damn smart why do they keep getting caught in those fishing nets"

And also:

[CptnHarlock]

Celseste means celestial or "light blue" in Spanish.. :)

How about "Fin"

[the_2nd_coming]

I think it sounds nice.

Re:How about "Fin"

[Steev]

Or Finnigan?

Delphi

[EccentricAnomaly]

Delphi was the best Oracle after all....

It also sounds like Delphinus, the dolphin constellation...

Re:Delphi

[Rupert]

The Oracle at Delphi was interpreted by the Pythoness.

[totally OT]
If the interpreting priestess had been a Cameless, the whole point of the Oracle ("this is what will happen") would have to be changed ("there's more than one way it could turn out").

My Friends Know What To Name The Dolphin

[namespan]

See, I've got these two friends, Flippy and Hambone, and I'm sure one of them would know what to name this dolphin, but I'm just not sure who which one would do a better job...

Coming soon...

[Bazman]

• Name The Register's bird!
  
• Name Zope's Z-on-a-sphere!
  
• Name ZD-Net's slightly rotated red rectangle!
  
• Name Slashdot's rounded green corner!
  

How about "Blowie"?

[AugstWest]

Operator It's a great day at Sea World. How may I direct your call?

Mike Hi. Get Blowie the dolphin, please.

Crow and Tom Blowie?

Mike Yeah, there's always a Blowie. (Devil Fish)

Salazar

[Steev]

Damn you, Salazar!

Jones

[daeley]

What about Jones, as in the jacked-in dolphin from Johnny Mnemonic?

May be in for a surprise

[Rubbersoul]

I hope our friends over at Microsoft do not try to stuff the ballot box on this one as they have in the past

I can see it now:
In a surprise move the Mysql group has named their mascot "MS rules, use Microsft SQL server".

Very odd this will be.

Um..seems obvious

[Raleel]

FlipperTwo

let's see how many figure that one out :)

Dolphins feel like wet tires, so...

[Lethyos]

SQeekLe?

candygram

[Alien Being]

You're that sneaky land shark aren't you?

Ah, I'm just a porpoise ma'am.

Gravenreuth

[r_j_prahad]

I vote we name it Gravenreuth, after the lawyer in Germany who got the injunction against SuSE. Then every time this turd's name appears on a public document, sue the shit out of him for trademark violation.

Dolphins are supposed to be cute!

[KjetilK]

With every /. story, there has to be someone not answering the question, but go off along a tangent ranting on something, so here goes:

They've completely lost the point with this dolphin! Dolphins are supposed to be cute, you can't do that well with a stupid line drawing. They have to re-draw that dolphin, so that you get a cute, cuddly dolphin.

It should be more like Tux. Really. Learn from Tux!

They forgot rule #1!!!

[Zen Mastuh]

Rule 1--Length of Valid Entries:

Only strings less than or equal to four characters in length are accepted, as MySql will not index them.

Sorry, I just have a problem with arbitrary limitations

[ot] Re:Screw MySQL...

[msouth]

bummer--and I had mod points today, too. Switched to PostgreSQL for my last few projects--the views and sub-selects alone are a godsend! Thanks for a great project.

mike

Oh please

[Nastard]

Don't get me started on dolphins.

My vote for the name? "Tasty".

Re:Flipper?

[Decimal]

iFlak. Make the dolphin a translucent neon blue and put a hole in it's flipper for a handle.

This'll stir a commotion.

[Decimal]

Name it "Findows". (Please wait 3 business days for Microsoft's injunction to ship.)

We can't wait!

[Decimal]

That'll take to long. Call it "Findows". Microsoft's lawyers will show up with a subpeona and a giant net.

(So I posted it twice. =p)

Re:mysql? favourite?

[spudnic]

This is not meant as a troll, but they need to come up with a better name for the product itself. I tell people who've never heard of it that I'm working on a project with MySQL and the first impression is that it is some simple little personal database program that I found on a shareware cd with 5000 other crappy programs on it in a bin at compusa for $1.99.

You know the kind of program I'm talking about; MyResume, MyPhotoAlbum, etc.

I must point out at this time that I love working with MySQL and mod_perl for database driven web sites. It suits me just fine for that purpose, so I'm not trying to be insulting. It just doesn't sound, um, what's the word... serious?

.

Blowhole?

[doom]

Yeah, I think "blowhole". It'll make the
limericks easier.

By the way: "everyone's favorite database"?
Don't you feel embarassed by shameless trolling
like that?

Please do not be misleading

[leandrod]

This thing shouldn't have the SQL, relational or DBMS words in it. It is a simple data access engine, supporting neither even the most basic SQL features properly (like datatypes), nor the most basic DBMS requirements (like ACID transactions).