ISS's Node 3 Might Be Named "Colbert" 276
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.'"
Not quite right (Score:5, Funny)
Technically, being in space and all, it should be named Alpha Squad 7.
The Nation responds with force! (Score:5, Funny)
Colbert cannot be stopped...EVER!
Re:The Nation responds with force! (Score:5, Funny)
Colbert cannot be stopped...EVER!
You must be unaware of the orbital grizzly bear.
Imagine one of those coming at you at 15000 miles per hour: Roar!
Re:The Nation responds with force! (Score:4, Funny)
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But you still can't stop the signal. It remains quite likely that Serenity will be the final choice.
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Where is the count? (Score:5, Informative)
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?
Re:Where is the count? (Score:5, Funny)
Serenity sounds like a module where lady astronauts would go to take care of various lady business. They need to give these things more masculine names like "Power Eagle Hammer 8000 Type R AMG".
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Re:Where is the count? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Where is the count? (Score:5, Informative)
You're slightly wrong - in fact some rough numbers are available (for those who read space.com, anyway):
http://www.space.com/entertainment/090305-colbert-space-station.html [space.com]
This marks only the second time that NASA has sought public input for naming a piece of U.S. space station hardware. The Harmony module was named by 2,200 students who entered NASA's naming contest for Node 2. By contrast, 169,000 people have voted online at NASA's naming contest site so far.
The NASA-chosen name Serenity, which shares the name of a spaceship in the cult favorite television series "Firefly", continues to maintain a huge lead with more than 66,000 votes, according to NASA. But a surge of votes has given Colbert 29,000 in just two days, enough for second overall. The trailing vote-getters include Xenu (9,200), Earthrise (4,200), Legacy (3,500) and Venture (3,200).
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Probably because its first in the list. Regardless, its a shame slashdot didnt get in on this. I'd love to see part of the ISS named Bender. Perhaps the Russians can store their vodka there.
Maybe its not too late. I just voted for Bender.
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Instead of Bender why not the full name 'Bender B. Rodriguez'
Re:Where is the count? (Score:5, Informative)
On a more personal note, I could be happy with either Colbert or Serenity -- while I am a huge fan of Stephen Colbert, I am also a huge fan of Firefly,... The Serenity name would go along a bit better with the whole theme of the space station, though. I'd bet money that what happens is Colbert wins, but they decide to stick with the theme and dignity and name it the second place name of Serenity . To recognize Colbert's contribution, they'll name the toilet on board the module after Stephen,... ;-)
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You're right, the linked page doesn't report any such tally. I conclude that this story is either a first-hand report from the guys running the poll, or rubbish.
Sure he's winning now... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sure he's winning now... (Score:5, Funny)
Oblig simpsons quote (Score:5, Funny)
Principal Skinner (to himself): Dammit, I wish we hadn't let the students name that one.
Roy Focker (Score:2, Funny)
Roy Focker: Let's honor our heroes the way they deserve
Serenity has 86% of the votes (Score:2)
I voted and then it showed a graph with Serenity having 86% of the votes. A screen shot is posted here. [blogspot.com]
I grant it appears to be a miss leading GUI design on the pole system.
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It'd be really cool if it's named Serenity and then one of the crew brings up an unofficial bit of "nose art" that's a copy of Serenity-from-Firefly's.
Re:Serenity has 86% of the votes (Score:4, Funny)
Colbert's naming games (Score:5, Funny)
These Colbert naming games are funny, until they happen to you.
Now I have to redo all my stationery...
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My name IS Colbert, you insensitive clod! Really!
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Colbert's naming games are nothing.
A while back we (Canada) had a right-wing politician (Stockwell Day) trying to pass a law that would force a binding referendum if a particular number of citizens signed a petition for it. I think he wanted to stamp out gay marriage, or immigration, or some other thing that "white skin and red neck guys don't like". (Sorry I don't recall the details.)
Before the "force a referendum with a petition" law passed, Rick Mercer (Canadian comedian who hosts a fake news show) st
RAAAIIIIIIINNNNNN!!!!!!!!! (Score:3, Funny)
Would love to see Rain beat out Colbert.
Not likely... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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I get Serenity, of course, and Legacy appears to be a reference to the flight that took Doohan's remains into orbit, but what are the other two?
Is Venture a reference to the Sci-Fi mag of the same name?
Earthrise? No clue on that one.
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Is Venture a reference to the Sci-Fi mag of the same name?
Hardly. The pollster is a fan of Hank and Dean. [wikipedia.org]
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Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
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cf. The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
We're embarrassed about that one now.
Re:Not likely... (Score:4, Informative)
So who is to say that the name Colbert refers to a living person? There is a Colbert County [colbertcounty.org] in Alabama and of course the famous Jean-Baptiste Colbert [wikipedia.org] who served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. There are also: Charles Colbert, marquis de Croissy (1625-1696), French diplomatist, brother of Jean-Baptiste Colbert; Claudette Colbert (1903-1996), American actress; Conn Colbert (1896-1916), Irish rebel; Edouard Colbert (1774-1853), Napoleonic French Baron and leader of the Red Lancers; Edwin Harris Colbert (1905-2001), American vertebrate paleontologist; Holmes Colbert, developer of the Chickasaw Nation's constitution in the 1850s and Jacques-Nicolas Colbert (1655-1707), French churchman, son of Jean-Baptiste Colbert. No way did I voted 30 - 40 times for Stephen Colbert.
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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?
My god, you're right! We should throw him in prison now on manslaughter charges, just to be safe.
Or, you know, we could maybe think for a second and realize that honouring someone doesn't mean that we automatically approve of every future action taken by that person.
Re:Not likely... (Score:5, Funny)
"Sophomoric and crude Ann Coulter"
That sounds like an accurate description to me.
no (Score:5, Insightful)
Your "sad statment" is indicative that you're a humorless twat.
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Satire is generally more insightful and incisive than reality, that's why people in power hate it so much and dictatorial regimes work so hard to suppress it. It's even more the case when the establishment has screwed up in a massive way like the current situation.
In fact political satire feeds on the failings of those in power to such a degree that it's often not funny when the government appears to be doing OK. Rory Bremner was at his peak during the Major years but lost his bite whilst Alastair Campbell
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Sorry, there is absolutely zero proof that it is more insightful. It sounds good, but that's it.
Actually, the opposite is often true. Satire may work like a safety valve. People who discharge their pent-up emotions through satire rarely take their anger to the streets.
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Sorry, there is absolutely zero proof that it is more insightful. It sounds good, but that's it.
Religious people once had this idea that "everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" as a way to justify all the horrible suffering that God allows, then Voltaire wrote Candide.
Actually, the opposite is often true. Satire may work like a safety valve. People who discharge their pent-up emotions through satire rarely take their anger to the streets.
Now who's making claims without evidence? In my (obviously personal) experience, all the best lefties I've met stage demos, organise campaigns and attend political comedy nights.
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Very good point, I was imprecise. What I had in mind was ugly, messy street affairs, uprisings, revolutions, etc. Those usually happen when people run out of outlets for expressing their frustrations.
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I'm dutch and watch daily/colbert the day after it goed online. :)
I voted for Colbert too, it's sort of a thank you for making me laugh so much
Great. We Slashdotted NASA (Score:3, Insightful)
We know where the next "launch failure" is going. Michigan.
It should be noted that Buddy [herald.com] is number 3. And a much cooler name than "Colbert". Or "Xenu" And much better than "Serenity".
Reminds me of Hank the Dwarf (Score:2)
Anybody remember People Magazine's contest for online voting for 'most beautiful person'? Howard Stern urged his listeners to vote for Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_the_Angry_Drunken_Dwarf [wikipedia.org]
In 1998, People magazine ran an online poll to determine the most beautiful people in the world, where somebody facetiously entered Nasiff as a write-in candidate. Nasiff won the contest, receiving hundreds of thousands of votes. At the time the online poll was launched, People led voters to believe that it would influence the print magazine's annual listing of "the most beautiful people." People refused to allow online votes to influence the magazine results. The poll was configured so that users could vote multiple times, by deleting a cookie given from the site. Many contestants had scripts written that would allow users to vote repeatedly.
Other Obligatory Simpson's Quote (Score:2, Funny)
I for one welcome our new Galactic Overlord.
I'm working on the Nixon script myself... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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How could you not vote for our greatest Robotic-bodied president? Now where's Agnew's headless body? Ow-oooo!
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Nixon was too liberal for the current GOP, although they appreciate his theories on executive power.
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Troll or whoosh? I'm confused on this one.
It's just a joke... I was just thinking of the one Republican President that would pretty much piss off everyone if something was named after him was the joke. I picked Nixon because if I said Bush it would be too fresh in the minds of my liberal friends and the humor would overridden by the immediacy of it. Wanted to make people laugh at something over the top, not start a flamewar.
They should call it Pod 6 (Score:4, Funny)
I &%@!$%! hate Pod 6!
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If you're looking for me,
You better look under the sea,
'Cuz that is where you'll find me...
My response to Colbert (Score:2)
alternate suggestions (Score:2)
I'm a big fan of Colbert, but some of the other write-in suggestions are even better:
* Buddy
* Synergy
* Vista (!)
* Social Vibe
I, for one, am writing in "Slashdot".
What I saw at the first glance (Score:3, Insightful)
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. :)
This means war (Score:2)
First he vandalizes Wikipedia, then he pisses off the Browncoats...
If Colbert doesn't clean up his act, the internets will be taking revenge soon! :P
Damned comedians. (Score:2, Funny)
If anyone needs me I'll be in the Angry Dome!
Re:weak (Score:5, Funny)
Re:weak (Score:5, Funny)
That doesn't make any sense at all: the Coulter module would have to spread waste products far and wide.
Re:weak (Score:4, Funny)
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.
Re:weak (Score:5, Informative)
In fact, the contest rules state that the poll is not binding and they'll choose whatever name they like.
Sucks, really.
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Re:weak (Score:5, Informative)
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"
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Are you accepting pre-orders yet for Battletoads?
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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
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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
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...and then when it was pushed back off, Anonymous declared War on Colbert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJc4V4oKURM [youtube.com]
Trolls trolling trolls, it's all good fun.
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In Scientology, Xenu is the bad buy.
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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 f
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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 [wikipedia.org] had the same rules when it voted for a new mascot. Nobody ended up happy.
Jump'n Jesuits baby!
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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.
I'm just glad that (Score:3, Funny)
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.
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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.
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They'll name it Serenity, since that's the "real" option with all the votes. I'm sure Colbert will be pissed when he finds out that he was beaten by a pack of rabid Joss Whedon fans :)
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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
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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I would be all for naming the module "FUCK" if it would make the public more interested in our space program...
Our space program should elevate the public's interests, not degrade itself to grab their attention. I, for one, would be much happier working to build the "Serenity" than the "Colbert".
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Wow, really? "Serenity" is just as much of a joke as "Colbert" is - the only difference is the Colbert option isn't intended to be serious. "Serenity" would be the ultimate nerd cheese choice and I say this as someone who enjoyed Firefly.
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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.
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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.
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To be honest, the space program hasn't been relevant for about 15 years. Money spent on them could be spent elsewhere for a bigger gain.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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Let me explain it:
The jokes not as funny if you explain it.
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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.
And that's why NASA would be wise to not name the node after him, just as they would be wise not to name the node "O'Reilly" or "Limbaugh" or what have you.
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They should name the Bigelow Aerospace stuff "Limbaugh" since it's just a big bag of air.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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Yeah. What could possibly be worse? 'Wagon Train' to the stars, maybe?
Re:Serenity? (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't feed the AC trolls. We all know space western is one of the most interesting and under-used genres - Cowboy Bebop anyone?
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I remember long ago watching BraveStarr on Saturday mornings. Something you don't see often - a guy with a super power he never uses because he has a machine that does it better. Strength of the Bear, Ears of the Wolf, Speed of the Puma, and an infrared scanner thing in my hat...