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Phoenix Project Considers A Name Change
Magpie writes "Recently Blake Ross, a developer of the Phoenix web browser, has made a post on the Mozillazine forums looking for a new name for the project.
Apparently the people over at Phoenix Technologies decided that the name interferes with their trademark since they make an 'internet access device .'" Maybe they could start with this list.
Ho-Ho/ Ho-Oo
The name for the Japanese phoenix
Come on, wouldn't that sound great? "Yeah, you Run Internet Explorer 7.2, but *I* run "Ho ho oh-point-nine".
Minizilla?
Microzilla?
Nanozilla?
Picozilla?
Personally its not God I dislike, its his fan club I cant stand (bash.org)
Mini-Mo
Personally its not God I dislike, its his fan club I cant stand (bash.org)
Tucson? Yuma? Flagstaff?
Ya know, I get sick of this crap. This is exactly why trademark laws as they currently exist are bullshit.
The Phoenix browser will not be confused with things produced by Phoenix Technologies. And the Mozilla developers certainly didn't name it Phoenix to take advantage of the wide name recognition (sarcasm here) of Phoenix Technologies.
Trademarks should only come into issue between competing products which are the exact same type of product (i.e., two different web browsers).
Another case of companies getting in the way of progress.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
... to, say, Feenyx / Feenics / Fienix or something.
Just don't start a Hukt on Feenics marketing campaign.
That might not "fly" too well, if ya know what I mean...
Have EVDO, will travel.
Mothra?
Pterodactyl (sp)? Pterry?
Ostrich?
Emuzilla?
THERE IS NO DATA. THERE IS O
Hmmm ... Mozilla is short for Mosaic Killer, right? What would Internet Explorer Killer be?
x plorilla(*)
Exiller
Exilla
Expilla
Explilla
Explolla
E
*possible Trademark infringement (ie. they may be catching on at this point)
----- rL
asshole
dweebs
employed by
phoenix
technologies
so the adept browser.
US Citizen living abroad? Register to vote!
MacGuyver isn't using that one anymore. Damn, I am a geek.
---
When you come to a fork in the road, take it! --Yogi Berra--
browzilla
...no, wait....
surfnix
fred's browser
YABWWAHTOF --yet another browser when we already have tons of them
northgone--no really,this'll help obfuscate netscape evidence
XbrowzX --why, it's da rulez you need an x in there someplace, just because
interbrowznavplorerzilla
We*B*browzin
yomomsendmoney.browz
coca ~ cola
they can use my name, call it browzogger, I don'tcare
OK, these are from my friend plantlady on irc
speedzone
pumper
gadabout
hopper
viZilla
I live in a giant bucket.
You mad fool, don't you know Geocities and Slashdot don't mix!
I vote for "Anka".
;+)
It's just like Phoenix, only it can carry off elephants (read between the lines here).
According to the list:
Anka
Arctic mythical bird that was said to carry off elephants. It was also believed to live for 1700 years and, like the phoenix, had the ability to burn and renew itself.
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!
Just call it Jean Grey
That was the worst thing I've ever posted! ;)
"Yeah, well, Dracula called and he's coming over tonight for you and I said okay."
>Maybe they could start with this list.
That's actually a good suggestion. Some of those names are pretty bitchen... I especially like:
Tlanuwa
Cherokee name of a great magical hawk. According to the Natchez it's feathers were made of metal.
- Have a picture
"Also one of the oldest animals in the world, geoducks can live as long as 146 years."
Gee, we sure are learning a lot about gastropods today!
link
- Have a picture
I vote for "Anka".
I second that vote. As well as being a cool mythological bird (like a cross between a phoenix and a roc), it's got a nice phonetic equivalence with "anchor" (as in <a href=etc>).
|>
Here be Dragons
i vote for Hydra, it's all about tabbed browsing anyways right?
A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
"swift robber" or something
plus, has that dinosaur theme
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
bird-like *and* dinosaur
May we never see th
To be told more than anyone but a trademark lawyer would want to know, check out the USPTO's trademark page, or their FAQ.
The question of ``trademarks for competing products'' is addressed in Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual , which lists all the different categories which will be considered for registration, from `Abacuses' to `Wholesale travel agencies'. (What, no zippers? :-) They've
got five (5) subcategories of `Computer cursor
control devices'---go look it up.
The one that looks closest to Phoenix, the browser, is
With that background, we can now check out Phoenix(the bozo)'s site.
Their full name is Phoenix Technologies, giving absolutely no clue as to what they actually make or do. We find mondo marketing buzzwordmanship (``Connect with Phoenix Technologies for Strategy2003'' ``undisputed device-enabling and management software leader'', &c.). The divisions listed on that front page are
Digging deeper reveals: Sonofabitch!, they're the Phoenix BIOS people, gone all upscale and gooey.Searching on ``Phoenix Technologies'' turns up three entries. two of which are still in use (``live''), with serial numbers
- 2625542,
and
- 2484133
Both are our pals', and both descriptions specify ``all sold to original equipment manufactures.'' The second one adds user manuals into the mix. As mentioned in an earlier post, there's a claim for ``interpretation of page description languages'', which I suspect means the BIOS can phone home for upgrades from a web site. It certainly doesn't sound like a general-purpose browser.(The raw entries (not the links above) also include:
Too bad they didn't add ``Phoenix'' to it.)Thus, they build stuff no normal human would ever go looking for, so only a geek would have to ``care for the differentiation'', which is why it counts. Any conflict between the two Phoenixes is purely in the minds of the greedy.
That said, of course, ramming it down their throats in a court of law is a lot more costly than a name change. However, if they could find a lawyer to write a letter pro bono, it might be enough to do the job.
I certainly hope the browser folks give the letter a try.
I refuse to believe corporations are people until Texas executes one. -- desert rain on http://www.dailykos.com/user/
I kept waiting for someone to say it, but... so here it is: Less-Zilla?
"Hydra" would be the name for a browser that not only made it impossible to disable pop-ups, but opened them on its own.
;)
Every time you closed a window, two more would open before you could blink.
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
-- Scott Meyer
Also forget the "...zilla" because too many zillas already exist. People will be confused between Mozilla, Ghostzilla, This-zilla, That-zilla, not to mention the term "Mozilla" is included in every browser identity string. However Phoenix is the browser you want to target to the common user if you are competing against IE. So give it a fresh name.
If you are going to keep the dinosaur (mozilla) pictorial reference then at least consider something more sensible like dinosaur names in order to target this browser in a meaningful way toward non-geek users. Or even change the mascot! .. if that's allowed by the License. For those who have pre-conceived negative ideas about Mozilla browsers, this might move them over to Phoenix based completely on its features rather than association.
Over the last couple of months I have switched over to Phoenix from IE! (The exclamation mark indicates that I am very surprised because I never thought it would happen). I think this represents the first time (for myself) that another browser has been comparible enough to the broad functionality and ease-of-use of IE, such that I can finally switch over without feeling I am missing something. Mozilla/Phoenix is a great piece of work. The fast startup time and lack of UI complexity in Phoenix (compared to Nescape 7 or other Mozillas) was just the icing on the cake that I needed to finally go the Mozilla-based way. Microsoft had better get tabbed browsing soon or else I might never use IE again.
Bring this great browser into the mainstream with a unique name that people will remember.
Ickypickypitang.
Someone you trust is one of us.
Mozilla, mozilla,.. ..and Mozookie
(or should that be Mozuki?)
I'd have thought that would have been the unanimous first 300 suggestions, but maybe our cartoons were different in Scotland?
Stick Men
If it's within the same industry, people will get confused. Trust me on this. If you've ever had to handle tech support calls from irate users demanding support for a product made by a different company, you know how frustrating that can be.
"I'm sorry sir, but you'll need to contact Widget Internet. We're Blodget Technologies."
"But it says here on your web site that you provide support for Widget."
"Sir, if you're having problems with your Internet service, than you need to contact your service provider."
"That's not you? Your web site says that you provide computer connections."
*sigh* "I'm sorry for the confusion, sir. The Widget that we support is a product that connects two computers, but that's a very different thing from an ISP like Widget Internet."
etc., etc.
/.
The smallest dino discover so far is the MicroRaptor at 18cm and may or may not have had feathers.
I like the micro part in that it definatly ties in with computers, and it ties in with the Phoenix Project goal of small.
Of course there's nothing wrong with Slashzilla ; )
I just feel that the whole zilla thing has had it's day, and Sony could get nasty about it again with little notice.