Starship Asterisk*

Found it hard to believe all the silly -pardon me- complains...

Millions of hours and counless dollars in search for a drop of water/life in the universe... true astronomers can not lose sight of how unique planet earth is, so far the only planet in the known universe that searches the universe.

I'm happy APOD found a good descriptive video of our planet that did not require complicated time exposure algorithms to see clearly and upclose.

Thank you for your choice and for this reminder.....

Earthbelow wrote:Somewhere in an alternate universe the Dancing Picture of the Day site is being besieged by complaints about the inclusion of a picture of the Horsehead Nebula.

Best comment of the thread!

asher501 wrote:Millions of hours and counless dollars in search for a drop of water/life in the universe... true astronomers can not lose sight of how unique planet earth is, so far the only planet in the known universe that searches the universe.

I'm happy APOD found a good descriptive video of our planet that did not require complicated time exposure algorithms to see clearly and up close.

Two questions:

1) If this video had been sent on the Voyager Golden Record:

http://goldenrecord.org/
http://goldenrecord.org/images.htm

would aliens assume that Matt was our God?

2) Is Matt our God?

neufer wrote:would aliens assume that Matt was our God??

Perhaps we should ask Professors Nemiroff or Bonnell...

neufer wrote:Is Matt our God?

Not yet, but give him a couple of decades.

I must be dense; What is the connection between God and Matt?

Orin

The connection between God and Matt... Hmmm... first synapse that hit me was Elvis... an icon for sure and there is a shrine in Tennessee, USA... just making a joke and relating it to humans elevating other humans beyond their human physiology... again I hope Elvis fans can see the humor and won't come after me with torches and stakes...... torches and steaks would be OK though... 8)

As far as the questionable message sent in 'Voyager Golden Record' I believe it more apropiate to keep things simple, without disclosing unesesary information that could be used against us, friend or foe 'anyone/alien'?

Yes keep it simple... any inteligent being will realize that Matt is a friend and not a foe, and certinly not a God...

I don't believe watching the 'Voyager Golden Record' would describe our essence, it's too technical... the beauty of our planet is easy to see.

I truly don't understand, what was the point of Voyager's message. Not that I want to compare or suggest sending Matt's video [/quote]

Being a steady observer of APOD for the last dozen years I always appreciate the occasional diversion from hard astronomy to what goes on here (geological, geographical, sociological, etc. – they're all connected). "Happy People Dancing On Planet Earth" is a breath of fresh air all around, and I (for one) would not have seen this video had it not been here. Today we're back to the astronomy but it was the 22 July installment that got me to linking to APOD from my homepage. Maybe someday the Picture of the Day will show happy beings doing the equivalent thing on some other planet.

Andy Wade wrote:Kayuga lunar mission has been delivering incredible videos of fly-overs of Tycho crater on the moon

Pete wrote:It's Kaguya.

"Cayuga" got into our heads from Cornell University, Carl Sagan, Rod Serling, and the Twilight Zone's production company.

"Kaguya" came from Japan.

According to http://www.space.com/businesstechnology ... amoon.html ...

Kaguya is named after a moon princess in a Japanese folktale.

While I fully support Robert's and Jerry's rights to post anything they wish to APOD, I thought the video inane. The only part I found entertaining was when Matt got wiped out by the wave. I find it incredulous that given the time and money required to visit all those places, the best thing he could find to do is make these silly videos.

Robert, Jerry and all the folks at APOD, keep up the good work. While I may not always agree with your selections, I'm not offering to take your place, either. Keep in mind, my fellow asterisk posters, these people have day jobs, too. You may criticize the content, but not the folks at APOD (or Asterisk).

Earthbelow wrote:Somewhere in an alternate universe the Dancing Picture of the Day site is being besieged by complaints about the inclusion of a picture of the Horsehead Nebula.

Andy Wade wrote:Best comment of the thread!

Agreed

emc wrote:The connection between God and Matt... Hmmm... first synapse that hit me was Elvis... an icon for sure and there is a shrine in Tennessee, USA... just making a joke and relating it to humans elevating other humans beyond their human physiology... again I hope Elvis fans can see the humor and won't come after me with torches and stakes...... torches and steaks would be OK though... 8)

According to Men In Black (1997), Elvis is actually an alien ...

J: You do know Elvis is dead, right?
K: No, Elvis is not dead. He just went home.

And I'll have my "steaks" with peanut butter and bacon.

And don't let Ed Sullivan (who also went home) see Matt's video.

Okay, by so many folks posting so many messages in this thread, it will become most obvious to the APOD guys that photos of people drum up more interest than mass conversion into energy on a cosmic scale.

Egad, now I've added to the popularity!

-Noel

Elvis an alien… I remember that MIB scene. Elvis made a lot of movies, right? You know, I have often thought Hollywood was full of aliens, but just as a distraction... like Matt Harding... Harding is just a distraction thrown right into our APOD faces to make us tender and happy... and the LEAD aliens are posing as scientists slowly taking over our planet from the inside out... confusing common folk like myself with notions of Black Holes, Dark Matter, Antibodies.... real scarry stuff... but nobody’s pullin' the wool over me…! ... Hey... maybe there's a pony in the hole!!!?

apodman wrote:And I'll have my "steaks" with peanut butter and bacon.

Peanut butter and bacon??? You're giving your alien self away apodman... Now where's my Ionizing Alien Matter Vaporizor? (Hope it didn't fall in that pesky hole. You know, I just bet that's where the pony is... )

What's this? Anthropology Picture of the Day? I visit APOD, in part, to put things in perspective. Usually it works. Not this time.

bystander wrote:While I fully support Robert's and Jerry's rights to post anything they wish to APOD, I thought the video inane. The only part I found entertaining was when Matt got wiped out by the wave. I find it incredulous that given the time and money required to visit all those places, the best thing he could find to do is make these silly videos.

Robert, Jerry and all the folks at APOD, keep up the good work. While I may not always agree with your selections, I'm not offering to take your place, either. Keep in mind, my fellow asterisk posters, these people have day jobs, too. You may criticize the content, but not the folks at APOD (or Asterisk).

Earthbelow wrote:Somewhere in an alternate universe the Dancing Picture of the Day site is being besieged by complaints about the inclusion of a picture of the Horsehead Nebula.

Andy Wade wrote:Best comment of the thread!

Agreed

I'm just a regular guy who stumbled on this site some years back. Besides the knowledge and trivia I learn by viewing the APOD, I especially like the links in the text which can lead off into so many directions - from the hard core scientific papers to Wikipedia to simple reference sites. RJN gave an explanation that this now gives a link to "humans" which will get used in future APODS. That makes sense.

Bystander, I too thought this was weird, but with one link, we are taken around this world to different cultures and lands. There's different backgrounds and different dress. It's our world. Yes, not a meaty scientific subject for the day, but - as you say - we're not the one doing the work. So I appreciate this site, and thank them for their daily effort.

For everyone, I dont know about you, but I don't buy everything I see on the grocery store shelf. If you had no appetite for the selection today, then simply move on.

(I very infrequently view the discussions, but figured this would be a hot topic. I also agree Earthbelow's comment was best of day!)

I thought this was very cool. Sometimes we all need to be reminded that all of who we are here on Earth is "home" to our astronomy. Well done, APOD. Well done. And thank you.

Earthbelow's comment, thus far, wins the "best comment" consensus and deservedly so...

MrDon wrote:For everyone, I dont know about you, but I don't buy everything I see on the grocery store shelf. If you had no appetite for the selection today, then simply move on.

I like your comments MrDon!... especially the above quote. Only difference I can see is groceries usually cost money. So far, I haven't paid a cent for APOD or Asterisk... maybe there should be a "paid" version of APOD for the people that are seriously unhappy with the two volunteers' efforts.

BTW You can call me MrEd - like my friends do... I feel a kinship with the TV star... (now where's that pony?)

Merci beaucoup plus encore, Robert! Loved the video; a great view of some of the inhabitants and locales of this little blue-green orb we call home.

owlice wrote:Merci beaucoup plus encore, Robert! [snipped]

If you don't mind please, I am curious... How do you know it's Professor Nemiroff?

Curious Ed (another name friends call me)

emc wrote:How do you know it's Professor Nemiroff?

RJN wrote:I posted that video to APOD...

http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... ght=#95720

emc wrote:Earthbelow's comment, thus far, wins the "best comment" consensus and deservedly so...

MrDon wrote:For everyone, I dont know about you, but I don't buy everything I see on the grocery store shelf. If you had no appetite for the selection today, then simply move on.

I like your comments MrDon!... especially the above quote. Only difference I can see is groceries usually cost money. So far, I haven't paid a cent for APOD or Asterisk... maybe there should be a "paid" version of APOD for the people that are seriously unhappy with the two volunteers' efforts.

BTW You can call me MrEd - like my friends do... I feel a kinship with the TV star... (now where's that pony?)

Hmmmm... I'm not sure you thought that one through. People paying for something they didn't like.
Even with a free resource there's always the risk that people will simply *stop coming, which I'm sure is not the intention of the people who run this site. As someone who runs a very well visited website I could never consider changing it in any way as it is very specific, which is why people visit it in the first place. They come looking for something very specific and personal to themselves.
Which is why I come here.




*Not me of course. Hopefully it was just a blip.

Andy Wade wrote:

emc wrote:[snipped]... maybe there should be a "paid" version of APOD for the people that are seriously unhappy with the two volunteers' efforts. [snipped]

Hmmmm... I'm not sure you thought that one through. People paying for something they didn't like. ...

Hi Andy, Thanks for your comments!

You are absolutely right about my not thinking this through... Some would argue that APOD is paid for indirectly with tax dollars so my comment is just simply off-base. I was grasping for some rational means of controlling the content of APOD from a disgruntled viewer's vantage point.

Andy Wade wrote:... Even with a free resource there's always the risk that people will simply *stop coming, [snipped]

You are right about that... the internet is pick and choose and everyone will and should certainly do that...

Meanwhile, IMHO, this particular APOD has been blown way out of proportion. Much grumbling about little. And you know, I expect someone will want to grumble about that... which is OK (within the guidlines of the forum)! We all have our opinions and preferences (O'P's) or is that (P'O's ) It is fun to express one's self when nobody gets hurt.

I may not keep visiting here for the duration of my life... I can't say... but for right now I plan to keep viewing, learning and sometimes posting.

Long live APOD and Asterisk! And Robert and Jerry! (even if you are aliens)

I can see how the dancing in different locations across our planet ties in with Astronomy, which I have explained in previous posts... stars are great but so is our Earth... and so can people be.

And what if we are not alone in the Universe? What if aliens are tapped in to our internet and Asterisk? What kind of impression do we make in our writing behavior? Hope I'm not being too preachy here. More importantly, I hope I am not making a bad impression.

bystander wrote:

emc wrote:How do you know it's Professor Nemiroff?

RJN wrote:I posted that video to APOD...

http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... ght=#95720

THanks bystander... I totally missed that!

How did you link to RJN's post?