Starship Asterisk*

See,it's not hard to come up with an astronomical explanation for seemingly un-astronomical pictures.
(I'll explain after I figure what I just said)

ROFL....

these posts make me laugh. =)

Dr. Skeptic wrote:

Once again, I find myself amongst a group of people who are either incapable of handling constructive criticism or are too blinkered to notice when something needs to be corrected or improved.

APOD and You

Visiting APOD is like engaging in a human relationship - if you abandon it because of imperfections – it’s your life that will be the lesser for it.

This is one of the nicest, friendliest and informative forums on the net; enjoy it for what it is.

I'm saving my complaints for starvation and unjust wars.

My Bold.
I'd add a caveat to that with the words "Most of the time" at th start of your statement.
Sometimes the people who post on here are downright rude (and there are some examples of that on this thread).

Surely the point of this forum is to discuss APOD?
Then every comment that concerns itself directly with an APOD is on topic.
Whether positive or negative.
The posts that attack other people for voicing their opinion of a particular APOD are off topic and looking within the terms of the forum they should really be considered for removal.

PaulM.
Keep coming on here and voicing your opinion. It is just as valid as anyone else's. More so as you keep your comments to the point and civil. Ignore the rude posters. They love their anonimity where they can hide behind their keyboards and wouldn't have the guts to say it to your face. Cowards. If they want to take it off topic they should PM you.
Most of the time the pictures are great. Some are not astronomy related without a very convoluted and tenuous explanation.
I like pretty pictures of what is out there - by that I mean off this planet.
It's why I visit every day. I am disappointed sometimes but rarely feel the need to complain.

Hans Kanitschar wrote:I found a connection of the dancing video to planetary thinking:

The guy with the clumsy movements in this video went to all corners of the world by plane, thus polluting our planets atmosphere for no result. In addition he probably considers himself a great artist.
This video is proving a lack of ecological understanding and shows the way our planet should not be treated . . .

Hans

Indeed. That's an excellent point Hans.

It's a sad indictment of what has become acceptable behaviour, what a waste of resources.

Mutter, mutter, mutters about the starving millions and species going extinct for the sake of man's selfishness and polluting behaviour...

Andy Wade! An interesting view. I don't believe most people were trying to be rude to PaulM; but rather trying in their own way to defend APOD. Paul does have a right to express his opinion however; and I believe enough has been said on this subject. Anyway PaulM should be welcomed to the forum. That being said; welcome PaulM. 8)
Orin

While I commend Andy's and Orin's conciliatory efforts in welcoming PaulM to the forum, I think that one of the rudest and most confrontational posters in this thread was PaulM himself (re: his diatribe with Art). Nothing said here enhanced this forum or apod in anyway. Most of what PaulM had to say has all been said many times before, as he would have found if he had taken the time to read the forum first. While I support his right to voice his opinion, I would caution him to not be so quick to take offence when others disagree.

Unfortunately though APOD has grown to the extent that it would be a daunting task to read 1366 topics containing almost 50000 posts to see if your thought has been covered in the past. Even Key word searches can turn up 2 or 3000 options.

Yes, APOD’s forum is HUGE. It is intimidating especially for newcomers. I was intimidated and was afraid when posting for a long time after joining. But posting has developed into fun for me even though I needed to overcome feeling inferior to many existing posters… not anybody's fault… I’m just blown away by the knowledge base. I am just a guy without qualification who loves the APODs and has grown to enjoy Asterisk. I have learned a great deal more than I knew before interacting and I am grateful this internet activity exists. I don’t expect it to be perfect and I assume first that everyone here is my friend. I have developed a sense of loyalty to APOD and IMHO the two gentlemen providing the day to day images are doing a great job.

< I edited this because it initially could have been read, by mistake, like I was leaving BMAONE23 out of the knowledge base... my apology for that! >

I think I'm beginning to understand PaulM's viewpoint,because there have been a few photos that express more earth features than space features.
(just for clarification,this is not a complaint about APOD.It's great!Keep up the good work!)

jesusfreak16 wrote:I think I'm beginning to understand PaulM's viewpoint,because there have been a few photos that express more earth features than space features.
(just for clarification,this is not a complaint)
keep up the good work!

Hi jesusfreak16,

I can’t say complaining is bad… I complained about complaining.

In my little over a year here, I’ve seen several folks come into Asterisk, complain about what image their browsing then vanish (Or perhaps re-register under some other alias)… kind of like those shooting stars we’ve talked about… anyway the folks that frequent Asterisk become at least marginally defensive about their “home”, some a little more than marginal.

You strike me as someone who wants to fix things… an admirable trait. But people are actually like the light bulb in the psychiatrist joke... they gotta want to be fixed.

It all seems pretty normal to me. I expect some folks have “baggage” or deeper issues that overshadow APOD, so APOD just becomes a kind of “punching bag”.

We should be more tolerant of the complainers and follow Orin's advice. They will either flame out like a meaty ore or else become part of the fun and learning.

Regards,
Ed

I have come to believe that well-established websites do not need to be defended. So I will tiptoe around the horse carcass I see before me.

emc ... looks like I'm not one of those light bulbs. Sorry to disappoint you.

Andy ... thanks for your support. I love APOD and will continue to visit everyday, even if the moderators and their minions go on the defensive when someone complains. No matter what anyone says, this is not a good thing.

Thanks also to jesusfreak. You came round in the end. Well done! Never be afraid to complain if you really feel it's necessary.

At least we didn't succumb to Godwin's Law (LOL)

PaulM

PaulM wrote:emc ... looks like I'm not one of those light bulbs. Sorry to disappoint you.

[snipped]

PaulM

I am not at all disappointed.

PaulM wrote:Today there is an enhanced photo of a flock of birds representing what someone thinks it would be like if the sky were filled with stars. ... let's get back to ... astronomy related images.

I think the subject of clusters is not only astronomy related but also of notable interest these days. And even you request "images" rather than "photographs". So maybe you'd accept this picture if the fake stars were rendered in oil paint or inserted pixels?

It appears you have something against birds. I tell him to calm down, this is about cats and horses and not him, but my friend Petey keeps chirping up a storm in protest until I let you know he's upset. And nobody can tell Petey he hasn't a right to complain.

While this APOD might lack a degree of technical accuracy in its rendering, IMHO it more than makes up for it in (1) a visually interesting and appealing picture and (2) an original idea. The world may be running out of original ideas (depending on whether accelerating expansion can coexist with a shrinking Hubble factor), so I'm not too hasty to discourage somebody who has one - nice picture, Roger. I hope it's still okay to discuss the picture here.

P.S. If I were allowed to borrow the keys to the lab where emc is building that Universe Model, I might use the facilities to make a virtual RJN. In addition to screening for other criteria and requirements, this machine would rate candidate APODs in the categories of "Astronomy", "Picture", and "of the Day". APODs would be selected from candidates whose total scores exceeded a set threshold. Further, for variety, APODs would be selected to fill quotas for 1-, 2-, and 3-sigma variance from nominal in 1, 2, and 3 categories. IMHO (and I'm programming the beast), this picture would land comfortably in the thick of the cluster; surely we can find example APODs with much greater deviation from nominal in any or all of those rating categories.

PaulM wrote:emc ... looks like I'm not one of those light bulbs. Sorry to disappoint you.

Andy ... thanks for your support. I love APOD and will continue to visit everyday, even if the moderators and their minions go on the defensive when someone complains. No matter what anyone says, this is not a good thing.

Thanks also to jesusfreak. You came round in the end. Well done! Never be afraid to complain if you really feel it's necessary.

At least we didn't succumb to Godwin's Law (LOL)

PaulM

See, I told you we are a friendly bunch, why I think Ed has a beer in the frig waiting for you. I think Hitler gave him that frig.

PaulM wrote:At least we didn't succumb to Godwin's Law

maybe if we can find convincing connection between hitler and astronomy, rjn will post his picture

Dr. Skeptic wrote:See, I told you we are a friendly bunch, why I think Ed has a beer in the frig waiting for you. I think Hitler gave him that frig.

Sure, have a beer on me. And since this is a virtual meeting place… beers for all! So next time you partake… just imagine it’s from me… and you’re welcome!

BTW - I think we should all wear steel toed boots to these forum threads.

BTW - BTW - I have a sale going on for a line of forum attire I have labeled, Asterisk Protection Over Dimensionings… (Insulating wear for things that are negatively mentioned)… designed to help keep the mind and feet safe from the black hole singularity. Shipped as is without warranty.

makc wrote:

PaulM wrote:At least we didn't succumb to Godwin's Law

maybe if we can find convincing connection between hitler and astronomy, rjn will post his picture

That’s too easy… Hitler was like a black hole… gobbling up everything close enough and converting it to the singularity.

V2 Rocket, Done.

I somewhat agree, that sometimes the pictures are too unrelated.

On the other hand, there can't be a something new in astronomy every day, so rather than just showing some old picture of something we've seen enough of already, I prefer that they show something that is not always clearly related to astronomy, like something about the earth itself and creatures on earth.

What I think is more of a problem, is when APOD choses to show pictures of the same thing over and over, like when that comet was on the sky (Name slipped my mind right now), there was a picture of it something like every other day for a months. That was really ridiculous. Then I'd rather see some pictures less astronomy related.

One thing that is for sure though, when they are not astronomy related, at least don't make it a video. The dancing video was COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE. That is something that belongs on funny video sites. Next thing would be a rick rolled video! In general I don't like videos on APOD, but that one was way over the limit.

Dr. Skeptic wrote:V2 Rocket, Done.

hey, good idea

Does tomorrow's picture say O.B.L.?

makc wrote:

Dr. Skeptic wrote:V2 Rocket, Done.

hey, good idea

YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!

makc wrote:

Dr. Skeptic wrote:V2 Rocket, Done.

hey, good idea

Excellent rendition makc.

You really live up to your alias! 8)

looks like someone mailed my host *itching about this hitler thing, I had my site down for two days and now had to move it to different host. jeez, some lunatics just cant take the joke.

p.s. links above are updated