I have a secret. And it really is one I can’t share just now. I promised someone.
You may speculate all you want in the comments, and I won’t confirm or deny anything until the time is right, and I can reveal all. It’s not Earth-shattering or anything, but if things work out the right way, it’ll be a whole lot of fun.
Until then, for reasons I can’t explain just yet, I need some help. It’s totally self-serving, and I make neither apologies nor excuses for it.
Basically, I’d like for you, me droogs, to spread the word about my blog. I don’t want anything artificial, like people clicking my posts lots of times just to rack up traffic — that won’t help, and may hurt, so seriously, please don’t. I want this to be at least somewhat organic, though with a kick start. If you like something I’ve written, tell a friend. Email someone with a link to a post here that you liked. You can help promote it via social networks like Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon (use the buttons at the top of each post; you may need to register with those sites which is free and actually worth your time, since there’s lots more great content waiting for you there).
I also do a lot of chit-chatting and such on Twitter, so you can follow me there (I link to a lot of friends’ stuff you might otherwise miss, too). I’m also on Facebook.
Like I said, this is self-serving, but the end result should be fun. And if it pans out — well truly, even if it doesn’t, but I hope it does — I’ll reveal everything, in probably more detail than you’ll want. That’s a promise to you.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 pm
What if we already do promote your nefarious ways, oh blogalicious one?
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I am CONSTANTLY promoting your blog. What else can I do? I Digg you, follow you, friend you, etc. It’s as if I have a mancrush on you (not that there is anything wrong with that!).
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Hmm, your own podcast?
I really dunno why you don´t have one, Phill.
I always like to hear you in AWA or Astronomy Cast and, that´s obvious, read your ideas. So, I think a podcast would be great and you have, I guess, a large fan basis to start with some sponsor or something!!!
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I know, blogging from space!
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
You already have Adam Savage and Wil Wheaton as your close personal friends(TM) and Brea Grant following you, what else do want the world?
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Are you helping Dr. Wiseman with some kind of quirky study perhaps?
I’ll try to help out.
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Battlestar Galactica was less obtuse than this
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I rather suspect that the secret will be revealed one week Wednesday.
It is, after all, the closest thing the net has to a national holiday.
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
ooh…oooh… is this where the atheists take over the world and the religious realize the error of their ways??? Is that the surprise?
You aren’t going to disappoint me are you?
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Skeptogolists finally got picked up.
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Phil, since you’re
crazykind enough to allow me to post cartoons on your blog, I can assure you that I Digg your posts at every opportunity. Never “misunderestimate” your bloggees!March 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Oooh, I know! You reanimated Einstein’s body and have set up a chat/interview with him which you shall post on YouTube?! Or are you going up on a flight with Virgin Galactic?
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Does the secret involve jumping sharks?
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Anyone who doesn’t both join the Skeptic sub-reddit *and* upvote this submission is a traitor and a generally horrible human being:
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/86wqk/phil_plait_my_nefarious_plan/
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Who are you people and how did you get inside my computer?
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Is it a guest spot on Doctor Who?
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:21 pm
He is going to give it all up and join the squirrels jumping on his fence.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Does it involve me getting candy is some way or another? ‘Cause, you know, I’ve been disappointed before….
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Does your nefarious plan involve taking over the world at some point? If so and you’re successful, I’m pretty much going to have to insist on being given a Caribbean island of my own as the price for my assistance. I don’t come cheap.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Part of your plan should be to actively promote where you are going to make appearances, in case someone’s in the area and wants to attend. That’s how I got to attend a talk by Neil Tyson back in January. He had it listed on his website.
Your calendar on your old site out of date by two years.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
ZOMG! He’s planning to TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
(Narf!)
BA: Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Scalzi?
Scalzi: I think so, Plait. But how are we going to attach the bacon to the cat?
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I second the Skeptologists guess. Fingers crossed!
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
So, Phil has a plan…. Where have I heard this before???
OMFS!!! Do we have a Battlestar BAblogee in our future???
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
My guess is that this is about Phil’s long-coveted appearance on the Colbert Report. He wants more evidence for the proposition that he is more popular than Colbert or The Beatles or some such. Or maybe this is going to be some cheap stunt related to Colbert’s write-in victory in the NASA pod naming contest.
In my opinion if Phil really wants to make a splash on TV, methinks he will have to get busy with some hair plugs and/or stylish hats. Maybe he can have Randi conjour him up a wig. Or maybe he will give in to reality and rename the blog “Bald Astronomy”.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:01 pm
I got it! I got it! There is no secret! It’s just to get everyone riled up and come here to see the unreveal!
Heh…too smart for you, Phil.
Oh by the way, did you see this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090323/ap_on_re_us/sci_space_station_colbert
I think we might have to break out the baseball bats.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I do not know a studio could hold Phils and Colbert ego at the same time.
@Micheal L
The fool said to wiseman “there must be someway out here.”
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Here’s another reason why BA vs Colbert should be on the air:
NASA naming contest falls for Colbert prank
J/P=?
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I was going to try to help out by posting something on my favorite message board, but since Phil is half owner I suspect most of them have heard of him….
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:25 pm
@Davidlpf:
Phil Plait created the BAblogees…
The BAblogees rebelled…
There are many copies…
And They have a plan…
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
;
Really this is obvious. In these hard economic times, NASA has reduced your salary as an agent in their Hide The Moon Hoax And The Aliens Project (HTMHATAP). This is obviously a veiled threat you’re making. You’ll become a whistle-blower if they don’t restore your salary. The truth will out.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Another case of beer on a silly bet? That’s how I always get in trouble – lowing like a moose in a shopping mall, mooing or baaing in a queue as it slowly moves along. Of course it’s even worse if you’re in a place where people have no idea what a moose sounds like.
Then again, why guess at something common – inventing conspiracies is much more fun.
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:00 pm
A studio can’t hold Colber’s and the BAD Astronomer’s ego at the same time? Hell, I’m not sure the UNIVERSE can!
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
“lots of fun” eh? hmmm let’s see, April 1st is coming, could it be that Phil is preparing a huge hoax for the occasion and wants as many people as possible to fall for it? Considering the recent talk about (possibly innacurate) news spreading like crazy on Twitter and the internet, his position at JREF etc i bet that’s it :p
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Hey everyone! Read Phil Plait’s blog!
no wait… oh you mean out THERE on the interweb! Right… lemme get onto that…
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Or maybe next Wednesday Phil’s going to announce he’s going up on the next Shuttle.
Or maybe those guessing the Colbert Report are right.
March 24th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Well I’ve already mentioned the Bad Astronomy blog numerous times to various groups & people such as my local SF writers group & the Astronomical Society of South Australia …
So I guess I’m already doing my part in your nefarious scheme although I’d do this anyway!
March 24th, 2009 at 4:54 am
Actually I’ve even quoted the BA blog in a few astronomy articles I’ve had published in the SA Astronomical Society’s monthly newsletter.
For instance, I got an article there from answering a question someone (SLC) asked back on the T Leporis Z (red giant, Keck twins dying gasp image & animation) thread about how giant & supergiant stars compare & quoted the original discussion thread in the references :
***
As you can see, supergiants and giants then really are quite different and shouldn’t be confused!
References
Croswell, Ken, “Is there Life around Alpha Centauri?” in ‘Astronomy’ magazine, April 1991, Kalmbach publishing Co.
English, Neil, “A Summer Sizzler” (Antares) in ‘Astronomy Now’ magazine, July 2007.
English, Neil, ‘Arcturus : Up Close & Personal’ in Astronomy Now, July 2006.
Frazier, Kendrick & Editors of Time-Life, ‘Solar System’, Time Life Books, 1985.
Kaler, James B., ‘Extreme Stars’, Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Kaler, James B., ‘The 100 Greatest Stars’, Copernicus Books, 2002.
Kaler, James B., “The Largest Stars in the Galaxy.”, Astronomy, October 1990, Kalmbach Publishing Co.
Kaler, James B., “Kaler’s Stars” website :
[Snip! website removed so this can come through here.], accessed March 5th 2009.
Murdin, Paul, ‘End in Fire – The Supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud’, Cambridge Uni. Press, 1990.
Plait, Phil, “Bad Astronomy Blog” :
.. blogs dot discovermagazine dot com / badastronomy / 2009 / 02 / 18 / wonder-twins-telescope-sees-stars-dying-gasps /, accessed February 20th 2009. (& click my name above to go there.)
Schaaf, Fred, ‘The Brightest Stars’, Wiley, 2008.
***
Wonder of the person I was actually answering there – SLC I think -ever saw what I wrote? Hope so – I’m sure glad the question was asked!
March 24th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Actually I’ve even quoted the BA blog in a few astronomy articles I’ve had published in the SA Astronomical Society’s monthly newsletter.
For instance, I got an article there from answering a question someone (SLC) asked back on the T Leporis Z (red giant, Keck twins dying gasp image & animation) thread about how giant & supergiant stars compare & quoted the original discussion thread in the references :
***
As you can see, supergiants and giants then really are quite different and shouldn’t be confused!
References
Croswell, Ken, “Is there Life around Alpha Centauri?” in ‘Astronomy’ magazine, April 1991, Kalmbach publishing Co.
English, Neil, “A Summer Sizzler” (Antares) in ‘Astronomy Now’ magazine, July 2007.
English, Neil, ‘Arcturus : Up Close & Personal’ in Astronomy Now, July 2006.
Frazier, Kendrick & Editors of Time-Life, ‘Solar System’, Time Life Books, 1985.
Kaler, James B., ‘Extreme Stars’, Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Kaler, James B., ‘The 100 Greatest Stars’, Copernicus Books, 2002.
Kaler, James B., “The Largest Stars in the Galaxy.”, Astronomy, October 1990, Kalmbach Publishing Co.
Kaler, James B., “Kaler’s Stars” website :
[Snip! website removed so this can come through here.], accessed March 5th 2009.
Murdin, Paul, ‘End in Fire – The Supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud’, Cambridge Uni. Press, 1990.
Plait, Phil, “Bad Astronomy Blog” :
.. blogs dot discovermagazine dot com / badastronomy / 2009 / 02 / 18 / wonder-twins-telescope-sees-stars-dying-gasps /, accessed February 20th 2009.
Schaaf, Fred, ‘The Brightest Stars’, Wiley, 2008.
***
Wonder of the person I was actually answering there – SLC I think -ever saw what I wrote? Hope so – I’m sure glad the question was asked!
March 24th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I’ve posted on LJ, Digged, gave Thumbs Up on StumbleUpon and posted links on Facebook. Because the Plan is Nefarious, and I can’t resist a Nefarious Plan!
March 24th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Just started browsing the blog yesterday actually. I have been a fan for quite sometime, via podcasting and your other doings in the skeptical community, but for some reason I just failed to delve into the skeptical blogs.
I was missing out, and I’ll surely let everyone know. I post frequently in forums all day and often post about news articles which could easily be linked to your site.
Let me know if there’s anything more I can do.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:38 am
[...] As part of his his nefarious plan Phil Plait is asking for people to pimp his [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Does being subscribed to the RSS feed count? Or do you need people to look at the blog itself? Just curious on that one…always wondered how people count RSS readers
March 24th, 2009 at 8:51 am
I’m thinking Black Velvet Scalzi.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:01 am
It’s the least I could do:
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=76571
I like the rainy US northwest by the way
March 24th, 2009 at 10:10 am
OK Phil. I sent your link to everyone I know who might exercise their brains(which is basically all of them).
Now, do I get a cookie???
GAry 7
March 24th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Shoot, there goes the follow up to “Death from the Skies!”.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
OK, already had Bad Astronomy in the blogroll, but have now added an article about Bad Astronomy at http://www.metalvortex.com/blog/2009/03/24/291.html
I’ll pass that on!
April 7th, 2009 at 9:58 am
[...] He asked, so I’m pimping. [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 9:15 am
[...] month, I hinted that I have a secret. The time has come to reveal [...]