Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Boaty McBoatface

This is topic Boaty McBoatface in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=007394

Posted by Jonathan Worthing (Member # 803) on 03-29-2016, 03:33 AM:

This story made me smile all weekend

http://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2016/03/27/boaty-mcboatface-internet-craze-priceless-publicity/#65bdf7b83b0f

The Story

You may have seen Boaty McBoatface in the news recently and it sparked you to do a bit of digging on Google GOOGL -0.17% to get the full story. After doing some research on Boaty McBoatface, you likely found yourself on the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) website. This is exactly what NERC wants you to do.

This story started when NERC opened an internet poll for naming suggestions on their brand new $287 million polar research vessel. Quickly, Boaty McBoatface rose to prominence, fueled by viral posts on the potential name of the British government’s newest research ship. Despite many comments and stories surrounding the merits of naming the ship Boaty McBoatface over more traditional names, one cannot deny the publicity this has provided to the NERC.

When James Hand offered his suggestion for the new ship’s name, he likely did not foresee the popularity it would soon garner. NERC has James, who is a public relations professional, to partially thank for their sudden popularity. Regardless of the final ship’s name, NERC has been given crucial and valuable publicity on a topic worthy of our attention.

Boaty McBoatface Brings Publicity To NERC

The popularity of the NERC poll, asking for recommendations to name the new UK ship, has led to a sudden spike in traffic to the site and searches in Google. Google Trends provides information on how many times a keyword was searched for in a relative sense compared to past months. This search information can be broken up into regions around the world, languages, etc. What you will notice in the screenshot below is that searches for “NERC” rose from a score of 32 in December of 2015 to a partial month score of 71 in March of 2016. Therefore, searches for NERC on Google rose over 100% in a matter of months, seemingly largely due to the popularity of Boaty McBoatface and their naming contest.

Posted by James Biggins (Member # 8574) on 03-29-2016, 04:53 AM:

A stroke of pure genius! [thumbsup]

Posted by Jonathan Worthing (Member # 803) on 03-29-2016, 06:39 AM:

They are trying to name it something else.

I think it should be what the public vote for.

Cast your vote here.

https://nameourship.nerc.ac.uk/

Posted by Jason McMillan (Member # 5542) on 03-29-2016, 10:08 AM:

Didn't we learn when the internet tried to name a new flavor of Mountain Dew "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong", or when the internet voted to send rapper Pitbull to any Walmart in the United States and they picked Kodiak, Alaska ... to NOT let the internet vote on things? Just terrible, terrible people.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 03-29-2016, 02:31 PM:

I love "Boaty McBoatface"

Posted by David Buckley (Member # 2600) on 03-29-2016, 03:17 PM:

The Royal Navy has had a number of vessels with the name HMS Cockchafer over the years, so Boaty McBoatface is quite tame by comparison....

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-30-2016, 01:54 AM:

Reminds me of when Lufthansa decided to name a new fleet of jets after former German chancellors (with one notable exception, obviously), sometime in the '90s. So there was an Adenauer, a Kohl, a Schröder, etc. etc. ... and a Hindenburg. Apparently they were minutes away from painting the name on the side of the thing before someone in middle management asked if putting that name on an aircraft was a good idea, common sense prevailed and one notable exception became two.

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 03-30-2016, 04:29 PM:

The other popular suggestions are not much better

Bloody Cold Here, Pingu, Usain Boat, What Iceberg, Captain Haddock, Big Shipinnit, Science!!! and Big Metal Floaty Thingy-thing

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-30-2016, 09:51 PM:

You'd think "peopole in charge" would have learned from the ridiculous online petitions that have cost our president valuable presidenting time to worry about things like whether to create and fund a functioning "Death Star."

That said, I just went and voted for Boaty McBoatface.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 04-03-2016, 07:00 PM:

I voted for "Boaty McBoatFace" too.

I'm still on the "Let's make a Death Star" committee.....

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-06-2016, 02:23 PM:

Another online ship naming.

I vote for Bonaparte's Bollocks (given Napoleon's St. Helena connection).

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-14-2016, 07:45 PM:

quote: David Buckley
has had a number of vessels with the name HMS Cockchafer over the years...

And the Cockchafer beetle looks like our ten lined June Beetles ...

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 04-17-2016, 01:00 PM:

Boaty McBoatface tops poll of name for polar research vessel

quote:
Boaty McBoatface has topped an online poll to name the U.K.’s newest polar research vessel, beating entries that honoured scientists and explorers.

Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council had asked for help finding a name that would reflect the 200 million-pound ($284 million) ship’s mission and celebrate British naval history.

The council asked for inspirational entries about environmental and polar science. But in the contest ending Saturday, Boaty McBoatface won with 124,109 votes — more than three times its closest contender. The vote was advisory and the name will be decided by the council.

Former BBC radio host James Hand, who proposed the winning entry, has apologized for the controversy, though he still thinks it’s a “brilliant name.” He voted to name the ship after naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 04-26-2016, 12:38 PM:

'Schoolie McSchoolface' proposed as new name for Texas elementary school

Fox News

quote: Fox News
From the same Internet that brought the public Boaty McBoatface comes… Schoolie McSchoolface?

After a school board in Austin, Texas voted to rename Robert E. Lee Elementary School, the district sought community input for the new name, KXAN reported.

The top nomination: Donald J. Trump Elementary (45 nominations).

Other candidates included: Adolph Hitler School for Friendship and Tolerance, Bleeding Heart Liberal Elementary, Boaty McBoatface Elementary School (of course), Hypothetical Perfect Person Memorial Elementary School and Schoolie McSchoolface. Also, Schooly McSchoolerson.

Though the Austin Independent School District asked for recommendations, its board members will have final say on the new name.

Apparently, idiocy is contagious.

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 04-26-2016, 03:48 PM:

HAHAHAHA FANTASTIC

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-26-2016, 06:56 PM:

Why do they ever "ask input" from people for these things? Even the ideas that are serious invariably suck. Makes for some hilarious humor though.

Posted by James Biggins (Member # 8574) on 05-06-2016, 05:40 AM:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36225652

The UK's new polar research ship is to be named RRS Sir David Attenborough, despite Boaty McBoatface previously topping a public vote.
A website inviting suggestions to name the vessel had attracted huge interest, with "Boaty McBoatface" being the clear favourite.
But Science Minister Jo Johnson said there were "more suitable" names.
The £200m vessel will instead be named after the world-renowned naturalist and broadcaster, days before he turns 90.
Sir David said he was "truly honoured" by the decision.
While the ship will not be named Boaty McBoatface, one of the remotely operated sub-sea vehicles will be named Boaty in recognition of the vote.
James Hand, who first suggested the name Boaty McBoatace, said he was pleased the name would "live on".
In a tweet, he also said that RRS Sir David Attenborough, which came fourth in the public vote, was a "fitting and excellent choice".

Sir David Attenborough said he was "truly honoured" by the decision
Mr Johnson said: "The public provided some truly inspirational and creative names, and while it was a difficult decision I'm delighted that our state-of-the-art polar research ship will be named after one of the nation's most cherished broadcasters and natural scientists."
He added the ship would "put Britain at the forefront of efforts to preserve our precious marine environment".
And Prof Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic Survey, one of the principal users of the ship, told BBC News: "We are delighted with the name RRS David Attenborough. He is an important public figure who has engaged and inspired the public over generations with his passion for the natural world.
"This new ship will be at the forefront of polar science and deliver world-leading capability for UK research in both Antarctica and the Arctic."

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-06-2016, 10:35 PM:

I can't help thinking that this is aa lost opportunity.

Everyone in the world has heard of Boaty McBoatface now, and the name will now disappear from the public awareness.

Had they gone through with naming it Boaty McBoatface, imagine the opportunities to promote the science to kids and everyone else. Boaty McBoatface Marine Kids Explorer Club, with a grand prize every year of a trip aboard the real Boaty McBoatface research vessel! Boaty McBoatFace stuffed toys. Boaty cartoon television show (and eventual movie).

And have you heard about the latest discovery by the scientists on Boaty McBoatface? It's really incredible!

But now it's just another stodgy old research ship... yawn....

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-06-2016, 11:13 PM:

Pixar should immediately greenlight a "Boaty McBoatface" movie.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 05-13-2016, 04:51 AM:

Google just named something "Parsy McParseFace":

"As much as we love to fawn over artificial intelligence (AI), it’s still not great at recognizing and parsing natural language. That’s why Google is open sourcing its new language parsing model for English, which it calls ‘Parsey McParseface.’

Before you even ask, the name has no meaning. When Google was trying to figure out what to call its language parsing technology, someone suggested Parsey McParseface; it’s a bit like Apple’s Liam, which has no clever backstory either. The overall AI model model is called SyntaxNet (please make your SkyNet jokes now); ‘ol Parsey is just for English."

The Link