Comments on: A banner day

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:19:03 +0000

The logo fits Bad Astronomy.

I didn’t see the astronaut relieving himself until it was pointed out.

What I saw immediately was the planets hanging from strings, giving credence to the thought that they are “hanging from the celestial sphere” (which is what your backward-loving republicans like).

By: Mike Torr

Mike Torr — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:00:46 +0000

Not sure about the logo – it doesn’t quite grab me I’m afraid. The blog banner now looks more like the title of one of the articles. Also I think #61 nailed it – too cartoony.

The mobile page works OK for me, although it does seem slower to load than before. But PLEASE fix the RSS issue if possible (complete article used to be shown, now it’s truncated at the jump)! I usually read the blog on my phone at lunch time, and it’s such a pain to have to keep opening pages in the browser instead of reading them inside the newsreader app. I’ve actually got a backlog of unread BA articles now because of the amount of effort required to get through them in this way.

By: SkepTTic

SkepTTic — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:16:59 +0000

Why don’t you run a competition to design a new banner?

By: DP in CA

DP in CA — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:48:28 +0000

Just dropped in to say how bad the logo looks, but I see that it’s already all been said.

By: The Barber of Civility

The Barber of Civility — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:19:54 +0000

Sorry. I don’t care for it. Too cartoony.

By: BradC

BradC — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:34:34 +0000

Mobile site fixed, thanks!!
(Posted from my iPhone!)

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:45:47 +0000

@ ^ Atticus : What like Al Shepherd on Apollo 14?

Seen here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZLl3XwlAIE

That’s over 40 years ago now – 5th feb. 1971 – but, natch, on Youtube today.

By: Atticus

Atticus — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:38:34 +0000

To me anyway, he looks like he’s addressing a golf ball.

By: James

James — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 02:24:53 +0000

I get the sound stage, and (I assume) why the ring is at about 20N longitude on the red planet, but really- it was intentional to have an astronaut’s pee get sucked into the gravitational pull of a planet and comes back around to hit him in the back???

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:17:52 +0000

@35 Happy Head: Hahaha! Unfortunate but true, like all the best comedy. Sheesh.
I love my Android phone, but I do run into incompatibility on a regular basis.
The one that really drives me nuts is when an article is paginated (like Cracked.com) and the link uses some weird javascript redirect (I think it has something to do with counting pageviews for advertisers) that doesn’t play well with smartphone browsers. So you get halfway through the article, then find out that you can’t get to the second part. Grrrr.

Fortunately, a lot of mobile browsers now let you identify yourself to the server as a Windows/Mac/Linux PC, so at least there’s a workaround for that issue..

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:11:10 +0000

@ 47 Amos Zeeburg: The astronaut’s name is Enceladus. His “geyser” is replenishing Saturn’s E-ring.

Bahahaha! I like it.

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:08:52 +0000

I do like the idea of having the blog logos tied together stylistically, but I have to agree with many here – even ignoring the “urination illusion,” the logo just doesn’t do Bad Astronomy justice. It could easily be improved by flipping the astronaut or the planetary backdrop, but even so, I’m not quite seeing what the artist was going for. Are the planets on strings because they’re an example of bad astronomy? Is the astronaut standing under a blue sky to symbolize the moon hoax nutters?

@Phil Plait: Would the folks at Discovery be ok with you accepting submissions from readers and picking out the best one?

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:24:23 +0000

Nice to have an indentifying banner, though I do agree that the logo from the BAUT forum would fit better.

But I suppose the choice was not yours to make, right Phil?

By: Dan Glass

Dan Glass — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:20:12 +0000

“Gordo, I have to urinate.”

Yeah, I’m afriad I saw it immeadiately.

By: Shoeshine Boy

Shoeshine Boy — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:16:53 +0000

Not a bad logo, but I agree it should be flipped.

Of course, the astronaut pictured in the “Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum” logo would kick this guy’s buttocks.

http://www.bautforum.com

By: Keith Bowden

Keith Bowden — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:50:50 +0000

They are on a sound stage… c’mon, the planets are on strings!

I just bet Enceladus is listening to J. Geils Band…

(“Seems like everybody’s shakin’
‘Cause the big one’s ’bout to fall
I’m just tryin’ to hold it steady while I…”)

By: BJN

BJN — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:38:51 +0000

Mr. Whiz-ard aside, I don’t think the image is BadAs… enough. I do like the idea of showing a lunar landing on a sound stage.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:32:58 +0000

Haha, everyone was so set on thinking that he “accidentally” looks like he’s peeing, that no one stopped to wonder if he actually *is* peeing!

By: Amos Zeeberg (Discover Web Editor)

Amos Zeeberg (Discover Web Editor) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:53:54 +0000

I’m a little disappointed that no one saw the symbolism of the banner. Some people wondered about the astronaut’s name, while others commented on the wizzing effect (fully intentional, I assure you), but no one realized that those two mysteries answer each other.

The astronaut’s name is Enceladus. His “geyser” is replenishing Saturn’s E-ring.

As for why the giant/moon is facing away from Bad Astronomy, well, that’s a secret…

PS: Sorry ’bout the mobile site—just a bug that’s since been fixed.

By: nondaretur

nondaretur — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:45:36 +0000

Perhaps beneath the banner it should read “to boldly go where no man has gone before …”

By: HappyHead

HappyHead — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:34:41 +0000

Mobile version is fixed now.
Also, I didn’t see the astronaut as peeing until after reading the comments about it – then I had to stop and think “man, he needs to see a doctor if the stream is that black. What has he been drinking?”

By: MT-LA

MT-LA — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:17:35 +0000

BA: “… then look up a few centimeters.”

Uh oh…Phil’s been radicalized into metric system! You all were distracted by the Whizinator, and missed the real controversy!

Seriously, I like the new banner. Not that I minded the old one, but it adds a bit of legitimacy when the banner of the blog does not include a picture of the blogger. Same goes for “The Intersection”.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:14:27 +0000

I didn’t notice the new logo yesterday but I sure noticed it today and I haven’t stopped giggling since – and that was BEFORE I read the other comments. I thought he was looking a little “deflated.” Urinating in rings…hahahaha, still giggling. Otherwise, an awesome blog that always gives me inspiration for my own blog!

By: Jean Russell

Jean Russell — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:57:42 +0000

Another vote for broken on mobile.

By: Trebuchet

Trebuchet — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:55:02 +0000

The astronaut in boxing gloves as used on the BAUT forum would have been far better.