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ISS's Node 3 Might Be Named "Colbert"
Panzor writes "NASA is running a contest to name the new addition to the space station, Node 3. The polls are open until March 20. The selection that is getting the most votes is 'Suggest your own,' and the leading name besides the official four (Earthrise, Legacy, Serenity, and Venture) is 'Colbert.' Comedian Stephen Colbert suggested on the air that fans write in his name. On March 5th, his vote count passed that of Xenu and Colbert pronounced himself Scientology's 'Galactic Overlord.'"
Technically, being in space and all, it should be named Alpha Squad 7.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
He asked for it Tuesday night, the next day it was so.
Colbert cannot be stopped...EVER!
I don't know where people are getting the number of votes from. I see "Colbert" is leading the User Suggestions, but I don't see a vote count anywhere. I see "Serenity" has 85% of the regular votes, but it doesn't say anywhere whether it has more or less votes than Colbert does.
I have no doubt that Colbert can and will (or has!) overtaken everything else, but where are people seeing actual results here?
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
But I bet he won't be so smug when the reavers come and there's no one to save him.
They should name it the Coulter, since the Node 3 recycles and feeds off of it's own waste products.
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
Principal Skinner: All students please proceed immediately to an assembly in the Butthead Memorial Auditorium.
Principal Skinner (to himself): Dammit, I wish we hadn't let the students name that one.
I don't suppose anyone takes these kinds of things seriously anymore... a LITTLE pride maybe? Funny, yeah. A good idea? Sorry, I don't think so.
Why? Colbert gets to have a module named after him and NASA gets more free publicity then they could ever muster up on their own.
It's win win.
In fact, the contest rules state that the poll is not binding and they'll choose whatever name they like.
Sucks, really.
That doesn't make any sense at all: the Coulter module would have to spread waste products far and wide.
I am officially gone from
How is this a bad idea, and how does it show a lack of pride.
Essentially, the entire process was created to generate media attention, otherwise the module would be given a sterile name, or just a number. In an age where NASA seems positively boring they must actively compete with reality TV and myspace/facebook for the attention of the public.
I would be all for naming the module "FUCK" if it would make the public more interested in our space program; and I think Colbert encouraging the public to participate in an entertaining way can do nothing but good things for NASA. It helps make space fun again.
Most societies have used entertainment to help keep important issues in the public interest. Even Rome had it's gladiators to help remind it's citizens that the country was still at war, without them the citizens would have lost interest and stopped backing the expansion.
Seriously? Yes, and why should we be so serious all the time... let history reflect that our generation was both highly productive and capable of good spirited fun.
Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.
Slashdot is maintaining it's journalistic integrity, even with the threat faster moving and more distracting spam filled sites like digg and reddit.
Seriously, it's refreshing to know that at least when an article does get published on slashdot it will be newsworthy.
Eh, that makes sense for an online poll with write-in. It discourages 4chan et all coming along and flooding the poll suggesting the node should be named something along the lines of "NIGGER COCKS OLOLOL".
These Colbert naming games are funny, until they happen to you.
Now I have to redo all my stationery...
Let me explain it:
Colbert and his show is one big satire on the right-wing and the pompous right-wind media.
One of the most important parts of the satire is letting the fans play along.
When fans vote to put his name on the space station, really they're joining in on the act.
Its kinda like when Spinal Tap actually went on tour. Fans came to see them and did man-on-the-street interviews talking about how they've seen them on the past 12 tours and have been fans of theirs since the '70s, etc.etc., even though the band didn't exist until the '80s.
Colbert, and Colbert fans, are doing the same thing only in the political/media spectrum and throwing it in the face of the right-wing.
$7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
I'm pretty sure it not being binding is better than them naming the satellite Penis or Stalin.
Would love to see Rain beat out Colbert.
No it won't. One of the rules of naming such semi-permanent structures is that they're not often named after living people. Colbert is amusing now (though I find him annoying, to be truthful) but what happens if in 5 years he runs over a group of children in a drunk driving incident? Do you really want a NASA module named after that? Is that going to be funny?
There are exceptions, but they're fairly rare and usually involve someone who either: a) invented the thing (Colt revolvers or Ferris Wheels), or; b) donated a tonne of money (anybody remember Enron stadium, or the Ken Lay Chair in Economics at Methodist University?)
Xenu is too religious, and a government agency wouldn't name anything after Scientology.
That's why NASA's suggestions are more benign, and why one of them will likely be chosen.
Besides, the subtlety of the shout-out to the Big Damn Heroes is awesome and not overt enough to eliminate the name.
Skot Nelson music is my saviour / i was maimed by rock and roll
We know where the next "launch failure" is going. Michigan.
It should be noted that Buddy is number 3. And a much cooler name than "Colbert". Or "Xenu" And much better than "Serenity".
Best Slashdot Co
I for one welcome our new Galactic Overlord.
he's not even that funny. ah well - they'll toss the results and name it whatever they want.
to each their own, humour is a matter of personal taste.
But he is a truly a nerd. his enthusiasm for comics, sci-fi, lord of the rings... etc, is genuine. And it always cracks me up when he makes a D&D reference.
Eh, that makes sense for an online poll with write-in. It discourages 4chan et all coming along and flooding the poll suggesting the node should be named something along the lines of "NIGGER COCKS OLOLOL".
The actual *chan hive-mind selection for this contest is "Battletoad"
More Twoson than Cupertino
Sure there is- in the past, there have been plenty of exploits that tap into Firefox caches, saved passwords, history, and system settings (where all your personal information is really kept these days)
Then there's all the XSS, CSRF, and clickjacking exploits that can compromise websites and services
Let's not forget the fact that Javascript can just be annoying- preventing loops of popup windows and alert boxes is reason enough to disable javascript
"The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
Now that I know that there a bunch of "liberals" pushing Colbert... I'm going to set out and build a script for my right buddies to get it named after one of America's greatest Presidents....
In fact, we should even introduce legislation to rename the WHOLE space stations...
The Richard Nixon Space Station.
Man, that WOULD be the most expensive troll in the history of the world.
This is my sig.
In fact, the contest rules state that the poll is not binding and they'll choose whatever name they like. Sucks, really.
Tell me about it. My alma matter had the same rules when it voted for a new mascot. Nobody ended up happy.
Jump'n Jesuits baby!
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Let me explain it:
The jokes not as funny if you explain it.
Actually, the name "Xenu" was pushed to the top by 4chan...
I &%@!$%! hate Pod 6!
Also, Coulter is an anorexic. The ISS modules are portly and rounded.
Naming it the "Limbaugh" would be a better fit based on physical attributes. Besides, it's mostly men inside it. That fits with naming it "Limbaugh" too.
...and then when it was pushed back off, Anonymous declared War on Colbert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJc4V4oKURM
Trolls trolling trolls, it's all good fun.
Your "sad statment" is indicative that you're a humorless twat.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
I would actually prefer Battletoad over Xenu or Vista... but hey maybe I'm just biased against cults and unsuccessful operating systems and am not caught up on the nuances of what precisely a "battletoad" is.
What I don't get is why anyone would lobby hard to name a space station module after a space ship. I could see naming the next generation launch vehicle Serenity, but a module on a space station? Meh.
The last time this happened, a whole bunch of people lobbied NASA to have a space shuttle named after the Enterprise. What they got was the practice shuttle, that never actually flew in space. I would think it would be more memorable if they lobbied to get an actual shuttle that flew missions named after their favorite ship. Although, in retrospect, that shuttle will probably be seen by many more people than the actual shuttles since it is now sitting in the Udvar-Hazey center at Dulles (or, the Uday-Qusay center as my father affectionately calls it). So maybe it was worth it.
Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
In Scientology, Xenu is the bad buy.
I traded all my mod points for these magic beans.
Don't feed the AC trolls. We all know space western is one of the most interesting and under-used genres - Cowboy Bebop anyone?
Nick
Battletoads is a video game created by Rare Ltd. to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games.
Two anthropomorphic toads named after skin disorders (Rash and Zitz) have to save their friends Pimple and the Princess Angelica from the Dark Queen, ruler of Planet Ragnarok, with the assistance of Professor T. Bird and his space ship, The Vulture.
It is also the game eBaum's World asks for when they call GameStop because douchy (actually made with vinegar and water!) Eric Bauman thought it was funny about 9000 years ago.
Its kinda like when Spinal Tap actually went on tour. Fans came to see them and did man-on-the-street interviews talking about how they've seen them on the past 12 tours and have been fans of theirs since the '70s, etc.etc., even though the band didn't exist until the '80s.
And many of these Spinal Tap "fans" bood the opening act off the stage. And just who was the opening act? The Folksmen. If you've seen the movie A Mighty Wind, you know that the Folksmen are none other than Spinal Tap with different costumes and different music.
Very clever of the boys.
It is a good joke, if taken in fun. The real joke is that this democratic system, in a slightly more elaborate, slightly more bot-resistant way, is basically how we elect our Presidents.
When I first glanced at the name, I saw Dilbert. Not sure if it's fitting, but the living spaces up there must be the side of cubicles or smaller. :)
If anyone needs me I'll be in the Angry Dome!
Why does it suck?
Do you believe that if someone else works on something very hard and puts a lot of time and money into it (something which you have put no time or effort into at all) and then takes the time to ask for your opinion on some small aspect, that your opinion should be somehow binding? That they are being rude, or even cheating you by not committing themselves to your whims?
Good luck with that.
US publci sckool sytim, babbie
Think Deeply.
Actually, they probably stole the idea of being their own opening act from Hot Rize, who for 30 years changed costumes and instruments and came out as "Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers", parodying themselves as a Country and Western Band.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Unless.. Colbert simultaneously renames himself "Node 3". But I guess that's about as likely as Illinois renaming itself to "Pluto".
It's actually an even bigger troll than that.
Lucasfilm isn't suing people who reveal that Emperor Palpatine is the big bad in the Jedi religion, and the various churches aren't suing people who reveal that Satan is the big bad in the various Judeo-Christian religions. (In the latter case, they actually PROMOTE revealing that fact for free.)
The Co$ is suing people who reveal that Xenu is the big bad in Scientology, and requires hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to the point in the "religion" that you find that out.
That is why it's such a troll - if something like that is named after Scientology's big bad...
And "Enterprise" is any different?
Personally, I like both of them. I think you'll find a lot of very talented folks who really make this stuff happen have been influenced over the years by the creative folks who create scifi. Neither Gene Roddenberry nor Joss Whedon could engineer a space vessel any more than I could, but creative individuals like them almost certainly inspired some of those that *could* do the job.