Posted by PZ Myers on April 29, 2008 Since I changed my profile photo, the ideas for radical revision of the site have come pouring in. Here’s a possible new logo:
What do you think? I thought it was keen, until I read all the new speculation about why I was kicked out of a movie theater. Oh, no!
In the same freakishly weird spirit, here’s a new poll for you to crash: it asks what your favorite marine animal is, and the choices are otter, squid, blowfish, and “land animals are far superior”. You know what to do.
It’s a bit loud.
There may be no fish
Like the blowfish
Squid will still be hotter
Don’t give me land
Or even sand
Cos squid are like no otter.
I like this disclaimer beneath the poll:
The Signal poll is not scientific and reflects the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate. The results cannot be assumed to represent the opinions of Internet users in general, nor the public as a whole.
I’m not being facetious. I really do think it’s a good thing to put beneath an internet poll, even if it is about something silly a thing as what marine animal is superior.
Your (new)profile photo is interesting …
Was it taken in London, with Westminster Bridge in the background?
just don’t hang out in adult theaters PZ
I don’t know, man: a blowfish is like almost the world’s most poisonous animal, people pay good money to be poisoned by it in restaurants, and it has a pretty good encryption algorithm named after it. I respect that.
That’ll draw all of the cool kids away from Overwhelming Evidence and Expelled.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Pff. Squid. I’ll risk the wrath of my future cephalopod overlords – I voted for the hairy, endothermic lactogenic mollusk eaters.
Well, your fashion sense has improved.
The “Squid” section of the pie chart looks like a Pac-Man trying to eat the other choices, and it’s chomping down as more pharyngulites vote. Too bad it’s blue.
And squid really are the best sea creature in that poll. Now, if they’d included lobsters or stomatopods, it would have been a tough choice.
Squid would’ve won without our crashing the poll. I mean, come on– OTTERS and BLOWFISH??
Thank you, PZ, for getting me off the depressing story (and depressing comments thread) of “Can We Please Just Establish This One Principle?”
I suppose that’s why I come to this blog directly instead of starting on The Last 24 Hours page: Your ability to put the angering, the depressing, the inspired, the funny, and the so-stupid-it-becomes-funny side by side by side.
PZ’s Playhouse: but will there be action figures?????
You can’t put the word “colossal” in front of those lesser animals and hope to be taken seriously. Squid it is!
Dude, I’d like to help, I really would, but BLOWFISH? They have BLOWFISH?
Awesome. Simply awesome. lol
PZ: “Incomplete, too. Does it help if I mention that we’d also change the text to yellow-green on a purple paisley-patterned background?”
That might just earn you your first well-deserved EPIC FAIL.
Where’s PZ’s horns and tail? And tentacles?
“Where’s PZ’s horns and tail? And tentacles?”
Under his clothes. If he whips his tentacles out, he will get kicked out of another theater for sure.
PZ you have way too much influence!
It may be heresy to say but… my favorite is the sea otter. I have seen quite a few of them in Santa Cruz bay while scuba diving and free diving and they are damn cute. Cutest of all the marine mammals I think and waaay cuter than squid 
Blowfish are cool just cuz they are badasses… though hardly cudly. Since the question was for “favorite marine animal” the last choice of “land animals are superior” doesn’t even count.
-DU-
PZ’s Playhouse. When will you be showing Waiting for Godot?
what a surprise, finding my obscure alma mater’s newspaper on Phayangula getting crashed. haha.
Notice the poll under that one: “Can one prove God exists?” Not sure I like any of the options…
80% for squid… it seems like PeeZed has his own army of evil monkeys, “Fly, my pretties. Fly! Fly!”
it seems like PeeZed has his own army of evil monkeys, “Fly, my pretties. Fly! Fly!”
Do his evil monkeys fly out of his man-boobies? Do they have tentacles too?
Otter’s no good fried. Blowfish are tricky to clean. Land animals are OK for BBQ, but squid is Good Eats!
I realize your new logo is probably I joke, but I think it’s awesome! What better name for a site that features cephalopod porn than PZ’s Playhouse? 
Done!
Your evil minions await your next command.
… 81% …
“Power corrupts …”
That 81% looks awful PacMan-y, “eatin’ ur fudz”.
The “Squid” section of the pie chart looks like a Pac-Man trying to eat the other choices, and it’s chomping down as more pharyngulites vote.
“In my country, calamari eat you!!!”
Adding, since this is the Intarnets, Om nom nom….
Looks like Squid are 82% so far, but otters do it silkier. Go Otters!
Evil flying monkeys are cool, but it would be even better if we could be PZ’s Evil Flying Cephalopods.
[quote]Notice the poll under that one: “Can one prove God exists?” Not sure I like any of the options…
[/quote]
What a terrible poll. The choices are essentially ‘yes’, ‘yes’ and ‘yes’.
What do you think?
#1 Science Blog?
I think not. I can think of a dozen that provide better science.
This blog has become nothing more than a cynical, creationist-bashing blog, marked by and displaying contemptuous mockery of the motives and virtues of others using insults, ad hominem attacks and rude and offensive behavior.
Does the phrase “jumped the shark” mean anything to you?
It’s too bad the poll doesn’t show the number of votes for each category. Can we break 100,000?
#18 –
Hey, the colossal otter is no joke. It’s a CR6 and its claw attacks do 2d8+22!
*shameless D&D joke*
Just voted at your command…congratulations, PZ, you’re the new Atheist Pope!
In the summer of 1991, we were at an ocean side resort. The speed with which sarcastic T-Shirts were available was remarkable. No, I did not buy any. This was at Ocean City, NJ.
This blog has become nothing more than a cynical, creationist-bashing blog, marked by and displaying contemptuous mockery of the motives and virtues of others using insults, ad hominem attacks and rude and offensive behavior.
Yeah, well, those other ‘better science’ sites won’t be around much longer if the creationists we bash have their way.
If you don’t like Pharyngula, you can always pray that it gets better.
Speaking of polls, the Expelled myspace one has been expelled.
@#39 Chirality –
[quote]Notice the poll under that one: “Can one prove God exists?” Not sure I like any of the options…
[/quote]
What a terrible poll. The choices are essentially ‘yes’, ‘yes’ and ‘yes’.
Not only that, but I don’t think their three “yes” options are very good either:
Option 1: Science can prove God. Ummm…science=natural, God=supernatural, so…no. Moving on.
Option 2: No, you need faith. While this is a theoretically possible answer, in reality I’ve met exactly one religious person in my life whom I think actually had this strange thing called “faith”, rather than wishful thinking involving rationalization, denial, pseudo-logic, etc. I am basing this on my outward interactions and conversations with various people of various religious persuasions, and on my own experiences.
Option 3: I see him/her every time I look in a mirror. …this is either meant to be sophistic (I think I’m god), or it is intended to refer to the idea that God made man in his own image, and that God is reflected in all of us…I can’t really figure it out…anyway, it’s a crappy and unclear option.
There should be two more options, IMO:
Option 4: God can be “proved” in the minds of believers, but these “proofs” do not hold up to objective scrutiny.
Option 5: No, and God/Goddess/gods/etc most likely do not exist.
This blog has become nothing more than a cynical, creationist-bashing blog, marked by and displaying contemptuous mockery of the motives and virtues of others using insults, ad hominem attacks and rude and offensive behavior.
And that’s just MY posts!
Broken Spectre: ‘Does the phrase “jumped the shark” mean anything to you?’
No, are they doing it at the Beijing Olympics?
PZ provides some pretty good biological education for someone like me who left uni 20 years ago and occasionally likes the mental rust knocking off. He also provides links to other good science sites and articles, entertains me (as do many of the commenters – guys, I love you!) and for me that makes it a pretty good blog. If you don’t like it, have a full refund and fuck off.
It could be good for your image.
I heard Pee Wee was an excellent masterdebater.
peter g
When will you be showing Waiting for Godot?
Feh. Beckett. I dislike Beckett, ever since I saw Endgame more than once. What about Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter? Or Genet’s The Balcony? Albee’s The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? PZ’s Playhouse would do much better to show these than have to dip into Beckett.
Oh, come on, now. No way would you have been kicked out of a theater showing EXpelled for the reason you suggest.
Intelligent Design advocates do nothing but jerk themselves off — and now they’ve captured it all on film.
This blog has become nothing more than a cynical, creationist-bashing blog, marked by and displaying contemptuous mockery of the motives and virtues of others using insults, ad hominem attacks and rude and offensive behavior.
That’s a new one. When have we ever mocked the virtues of others? Surely you don’t count fatuity, credulity and slack-jawed empty-headed parrot-like repetition of musty old superstitions as virtues???
#18
You can’t put the word “colossal” in front of those lesser animals and hope to be taken seriously.
Squid it is!
True, true; but the mere suggestion of a Colossal Otter is awe inspiring.
When do we find out what today’s secret word is?
Re: the new logo- it must needs have a cephalopod in it somewhere to be a good one. And hidden squids in PZ’s pockets don’t count.
81% favor the squid…hmmmm….
The pie chart looks like a giant blue Pac-Man trying to eat the other three entries.
Re: #56
There’s a very large concrete otter on the shores of Ottertail lake in Fergus Falls, MN- it would qualify as colossal.
BLOWFISH! Come on, squid are cool, but blowfish have a lot going for them, too, ya know. Since they left ctenophores off the list . . . .
The Signal article isn’t going to get comments until its security feature is fixed, but this is what I would have commented:
“Eric, you may have fallen prey to a homonym. I’m fairly sure those handout materials were _hawking_ the movie, rather than _hocking_ it… though, given its dismal ticket sales, perhaps taking the entire enterprise to a pawnshop would be the more profitable business plan.”
I don’t mean to be offensive, but this logo is horrible in my opinion.
And boy, you get a lot of comments really quickly. Congratz!
I voted PZ, I mean PC, but baby otters are cute, as everyone says.
By Your Command
Squid slipped down to 80% Let’s get on the stick folks!
There is an opportunity to leave a comment about that MOAB (Mother of all Bombs) Expectorate movie. It might be “preaching to the choir”, but what the heck.
“PZ’s Playhouse. When will you be showing Waiting for Godot”
PZ is showing “Waiting for Godbot” almost every day… and sure enough, Kenny will be along soon!
Stop that… don’t vote for squids… squids… hum… hum… they were inteligently designed, so don’t vote for them…
Please people… think of the otters…
… we’d also change the text to yellow-green on a purple paisley-patterned background…
Better than the gray-on-gray of Pharyngula 1.0!
I merely have this to say with regards to your new site design:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y198/sbblondie/Buddy_Christ2.jpg
“land animals are far superior”.
Yeah, rabbits FTW. *scampers off*
You mean, “#1 Science blog… two years ago.”
#74
Just for that, Phil will be playing the role of “Chairry.”
Oh thanks so much, PZ. PeeWee was one of my favorite shows. Luckily, I have the series on DVD, and as soon as my daughter gets home, we’ll have a Family Time Mind Warp at the TV.
And I for one welcome our colossal cephalopod overlords.
Squid are down to 79%. “Fly…” again!
“This blog has become nothing more than a cynical, creationist-bashing blog, marked by and displaying contemptuous mockery of the motives and virtues of others using insults, ad hominem attacks and rude and offensive behavior.”
Isn’t that odd? Those particular behaviors you describe are the exact reason I no longer lounge around Carl Sagan videos on you tube and read the comments. If I make a comment, even if it is to someone of my own persuasions, there is always some dickweed just like you to jump in and fuck up a nice conversation with your unenlightened bullshit about life, the universe, and everything.
Like Peter Mc said in #51: If you don’t like it, have a full refund and fuck off.
What, a static purple paisley-patterned background? Short-ball hitter. Here’s the site you want to emulate.
Urgh. My eyes… hurt…
Just a few thoughts:
Me:”So Ben Stein-”
PZ:”AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
Me:”What? Did I say the secret word?”
PZ:”No, I just have that reaction to Ben SteinAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
D:”What are you?”
O:”I’m an otter.”
D:”And what do you do?”
O:”I swim around on my back and do cute little human things with my hands.”
D:”You’re free to go.”
D:”And what are you?”
C:”I’m a cow.”
D:”Get in the fucking truck, ok pal!”
C:”But I’m an animal.”
D:”You’re a baseball glove! Get on that truck!”
C:”I’m an animal, I have rights!”
D:”Yeah, here’s yer fucking cousin, get on the fucking truck, pal!”
THIS POLL IS INVALID! THERE IS NOT A HYPNOTOAD OPTION! ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!
#80 Denis Leary FTW
Done. 80% squid, 10% otter, 2% that dried out stuff.
Your humble PZombie awaits your next command, professor!
The new logo would present you as a garish parody of yourself. Good marketing, similar to Ben Stein in his knee sox and shorts with that innocent grin………
I voted “land animals are far superior”. Dinosaurs FTW.
Though I do like sharks and whales. Whales are cute, and sharks (esp. the big predatory ones) are awesome.
This poll fails, no bacteria option.
We made it into a blue Pacman
Squid are great, but come on … I mean … otters! Who doesn’t love an otter?
-OEJ
Personally, my favorite logo option is the secularism kills cephalopod…I still can’t believe that wasn’t a joke…
Wow, PZ…you have far too much power for a mere mortal. No poll is safe from you and your minions!
Good thinkg you’re not a ‘mere’ mortal. And I rather like being a minion.
Was it taken in London, with Westminster Bridge in the background?
Isn’t that Morris? How disappointing.
“You know what to do.”
I cracked up with that line.
That’s too funny…that’s my school newspaper. What a small world it is…
I merely have this to say with regards to your new site design:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y198/sbblondie/Buddy_Christ2.jpg
You know what, the more I look at that picture I think Buddy is just missing his M16…
Teh Jebus sez buhleaf or yewz getz wasted!
As much as I like the proposed logo, I want to discuss more technical matters.
I think Pharyngula is outgrowing the flat list commenting model. A threaded view would be much more practical for the number of comments we’re getting lately. I get the impression that some lines of conversation are being prematurely extinguished because they’re interleaved with a more vigorous discussion.
Much as I respect Broken Spectre (#40)’s right to go jump in a lake if he doesn’t like the comments on this blog, a threaded view would also provide him with the ability to quickly and easily ignore the bits he doesn’t like.
Sadly, I’m not sure scienceblogs has the technology to implement such a system. The system at slashdot.org has been working effectively unchanged for over 10 years, and deals gracefully with a large user base and continual nonsensical trolls. The comment moderation system is good too; for all that it is accused of abuse it works in practice. Unfortunately it requires (optional) user accounts or at least cookies to keep track of which posts are new to each reader, which I don’t think scienceblogs touches on at all.
I’m keen to hear thoughts from other readers.
AND I mistyped it …
It SHOULD have read…
“Is that in London, with WATERLOO Bridge in the background?
Oops
Please do tell, nonetheless!
There is a lot of squid love going on in that poll. Wait.. that sounds wrong…
Otters are adorable, but you know, they’re half-land, half-marine, sorta thing. It’s squid all the way, baby, yeah!
PZ’s Playhouse is an awesome concept but… can’t we get a better photo for the head? You look like you’re silently screaming “Help! I’m trapped in a Gumby body!” Sad, really.
Otters are adorable, but you know, they’re half-land, half-marine, sorta thing
actually, they’re pretty much all marine, unlike pinnipeds that haul themselves out frequently.
OTOH, they eat squid, so that might make some a bit anxious round these parts.
like you said, it’s hard to get around the charismatic mammal thing…
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9810/19/otters.yoto/seaotter.jpg
whatever.
I voted for the blowfish.
I like the new logo. Does this mean you’ll get busted jacking off in a movie theater?
Jeez, Physio…talk about late to the party. You didn’t see the line of text under the Pee-Zee logo?
I would not redesign your site along Pee Wee Herman if I were you. You would definitely have trouble getting into movie theaters then! (sorry, bad joke. I could not resist)
Squid is at 80%. I’m guessing that poll was written specifically for Pharyngulites to crash.
If he whips his tentacles out, he will get kicked out of another theater for sure.
……..Waitaminute. PZ is a Centauri?
It’s hard to resist voting for otters when they do things like this:
http://mfrost.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/29/ohterr_2.jpg
or for those who prefer links that are a little less lengthy:
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