…and this is a 
Reason #10 to vote for Pharyngula
Category: Humor • Weblogs
Posted on: December 13, 2006 8:50 PM, by PZ Myers
The bad news: the shameless astronomer is gaining on us, and has closed within a hundred votes.
The good news: Deep Sea News has joined the scienceblogs stable! This is either a portent of the squid-fans victory, or a consolation prize that will make up for any loss.
Vote for Pharyngula (and remember, you can vote every day!). Unless you are incapable of being dazzled by carnivorous sponges.
Comments
I suppose PZ's just kidding, but it's not funny anymore. His shameless, desparate huckstering is marring my usual fun visiting this blog.
Posted by: Jon | December 13, 2006 9:01 PM
I heard a rumor that the man dabbles in astrology and alchemy. Just wanted to throw that out there. Don't ask me where I heard it.
Posted by: A Teapot | December 13, 2006 9:12 PM
Well PZ, I gotta tell ya. I'd been voting faithfully for Pharyngula, but then Phil posted this, and, well...
Got any great squid toons in the pipeline?
Posted by: Martin Wagner | December 13, 2006 9:28 PM
Don't worry, all the shameless huckstering ends on Friday. I'm also not too desperate or at all serious (as a hint, look at the categories all of these have been filed under). If I lose, though, I am going to give him such a noogie on the day I get a chance to actually meet him.
I have to post squid cartoons now?
Posted by: PZ Myers | December 13, 2006 9:34 PM
PZ ... the most powerful Old Ones, are associated with stars ... Cthulhu is nothing compared to the likes of Hastur.
Posted by: llewelly | December 13, 2006 9:45 PM
send your "congressional aides" out to research for you...
http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/squid.asp
you could even make your own squidly animations with this handy 3d model (contact Vassili):
http://ncca.bournemouth.ac.uk/main/staff/vassili/giant_squid.html
Posted by: Ichthyic | December 13, 2006 9:52 PM
If you're going to post cartoons, I suggest "Hello Cthulhu".
Posted by: A Teapot | December 13, 2006 10:25 PM
And don't forget a vote for Berube under best educational blog. He's about to get steamrollered by the homeschoolers.
Posted by: secular alarmist | December 14, 2006 12:48 AM
If cartoons will win the day for you, here is one to add.
https://www.americanscientist.org/template/ProductDetail/prodid/1986?detail=Y
Posted by: bernarda | December 14, 2006 3:46 AM
Astrodude is now AHEAD by 6 votes. Ack!
Posted by: George | December 14, 2006 9:05 AM
Astrodude is now AHEAD by 16 votes. Double Ack!
Posted by: George | December 14, 2006 9:06 AM
Yeah, I suspect that he has more people who have discovered that it's easy to cheat on these awards and vote multiple times than I do. There are strange off-hour surges in the voting that suggest a small number of people are doing the obsessive vote - clear cookies - vote thing.
Not that there's anything wrong with that -- this is a blog award contest that has a tradition of strange rules and porous accounting. It's very Republican.
Posted by: PZ Myers | December 14, 2006 9:30 AM
Aren't the rules kinda silly to begin with? Say I have access to a lab with 100 computers. I can legitimately vote 100 times? Doesn't seem much of a gauge of real popularity. More a question of persistence, and easy access to hardware.
Posted by: faux facsimile | December 14, 2006 9:43 AM
Anybody think Bad Astronomy should try to get a Hungarian bridge named after it?
Posted by: A Teapot | December 14, 2006 9:53 AM
No, you don't get it. The idea isn't to gauge the popularity of weblogs or reward real value: it's to drive traffic to Wizbang, which they then turn into ad revenue. Looking at it from that perspective, the multiple voting and sloppy coding are a rational benefit. The Koufaxes are very different -- you get the impression they dread the headaches of all the traffic, and their rules are designed to get minimal impact on their server.
But don't get me wrong -- this isn't sour grapes. Phil and I are in this "war" to promote each other (rational selfishness again!), and whether he wins or I do doesn't matter...just so we make more people aware of more good science blogs. (In other categories, one goal is to snatch the prize from some right-wing horror -- take a look at the likely winner of "best blog", for instance).
Posted by: PZ Myers | December 14, 2006 10:15 AM
Uh, Bad Astronomy has a one vote lead, and I can't vote again until tonight! The suspense is slaying me!
Posted by: argystokes | December 14, 2006 11:53 AM
Well, I don't pretend to know how Wizbang's revenue model works. But if all I wanted to do was, say, vote for PZ, I simply go to here . Bye bye exciting ads for blog adsense and whatnot.
Granted not everybody will do that, but if you want to promote the Science blogs, mostly spare Wizbang's servers, and save them some ad revenue, there you go.
Posted by: faux facsimile | December 14, 2006 12:02 PM
There. I voted for you. You may ship my Cephalopodmas present to Maronan Saretene at 123 Fake Street, Sydney, Australia.
Posted by: Maronan | December 14, 2006 12:37 PM
PZ, you will have to make way for a new ambassador for all cephalopod!
Posted by: Craig R. McClain | December 14, 2006 4:03 PM