Reclassifying Pluto was a good idea. Useful classes or groupings are a big part of science. Paradigm shifts are even more important. Our conception of the phenomena is of equal import to our understanding of it.

What the fark is up with the lols and hehes in the interview?

In this very special IM Interview, Dr. Brown takes some time out with space producer Ian O'Neill...

This guy sounds more like a space occupier.

nitefallz: What the fark is up with the lols and hehes in the interview?

FTFA: In this very special IM Interview

Sounds Good! I'm a Scientist! Lol!

theorellior: Odd subcultures are so awesome, and the Planet X/Nibiru people are very very special to me.

To get a taste of how awesome, let me introduce this instructional video of the various "kill zone" scenarios we face in the upcoming years.

Ugh. Saw Van der Worp and "YOWUSA" and killed it. I don't need to lose those IQ points.

ookami_sama: Reclassifying Pluto was a good idea. Useful classes or groupings are a big part of science. Paradigm shifts are even more important. Our conception of the phenomena is of equal import to our understanding of it.

you must be a real hit at parties!!

You have been to a party, haven't you??

theorellior: Odd subcultures are so awesome, and the Planet X/Nibiru people are very very special to me.

To get a taste of how awesome, let me introduce this instructional video of the various "kill zone" scenarios we face in the upcoming years.

Wow. I've always wondered where stupid comes from. There's so much of it around, but I've never seen a stupid mine or a big industrial plant to extract it from the air. How is it discovered, extracted and purified?

But now i understand: you simply tap a vein of pure, unrefined stupid and draw off as much as you might need. No purification needed- go to Youtube videos like this and it's the genuine 24-kt stuff.

/cue The More You Know...

I thought TFA would be about Neil de Grasse Tyson.

/sigh. He's so dreamy.

Ian O'Neill: Lol, sounds good!

Was that a transcription of Ian laughing out loud, or did Ian actually say "LoL"?

theorellior: Oh, but the lulz are so worth it.

You really ought to go sign up at AboveTopSecret.

I was a frequent poster there until someone put up a "do you work for the government" questionnaire which I answered sort of accurately, and out came the pitchforks and torches. Apparently they enjoy the thought of someone 'in the community' being on the board more than the reality of it.

On the other hand, on the way out the door I didn't "out" the design guys from InQTel and QinetiQ that troll the board for fun. There's a couple of guys ZipSplat might know, David Hambling posts under an alt there, and I'm pretty sure Noah Schactman is there.

It's like having a window on the insane asylum, you just never know what crap will come up next, but Nibiru is definitely a topic of serious debate.

nitefallz: lols and hehes in the interview?

This. I got as far as the "Lol", closed the tab and hoped that the Farkiverse would present a readable condensation of the article.

Apparently, it gets worse? When did "lazy, unreadable dreck" become acceptable journalism, especially for a _science_and_education_oriented_ website? Ick.

/ adjusts belt onion

But Mondas blew up in 1986.

ookami_sama: Reclassifying Pluto was a good idea. Useful classes or groupings are a big part of science. Paradigm shifts are even more important. Our conception of the phenomena is of equal import to our understanding of it.

How long have you been waiting to use the word paradigm?

Confabulat: Most people, especially well-educated ones, have managed to adjust to IM language. It says volumes about you that you cannot.

Meh. I find it hard to read, jarring and annoying in an unexpected context and hard to take seriously. (But your point does apply to the latter bit there....)

But -- Isn't the point of journalism (or, obviously, any writing) to communicate your ideas clearly to your audience? When I IM with a friend, LOL / ; ) / STFU makes sense for the context and communicates clearly. When I go to a football game, a big poster with "FARK THE TROJANS" does.

If I want to try to help a professor get his point across, wouldn't clearer, more accurate and useful language be a better choice than IM-isms?

Was anyone here on the old usernet sci.astro group when the "zetatalk" kooks were constantly posting? That stuff was comedy gold.

Confabulat: If it still upsets and confuses you at this point, just shout for everyone to get off your virtual lawn already, cause it's going away.

It neither upsets nor confuses me, but I would expect someone discussing a topic for publication would use language appropriate to publication. In casual conversation, we all speak one way, but in an ostensibly formal setting, our manner changes.

People are complaining because the manner (casual) doesn't jive with the purpose (professional publication). Real journalists will have casual interviews, and then pull apart the record for quotes, and use them to construct an article. Simply copy/pasting a chat transcript provides the impression that the interviewer did not consider this interview terribly important, or at least, certainly not important enough to put effort into reporting on.

ookami_sama: Reclassifying Pluto was a good idea.

I agree. Given the number of Kupier Objects, it would be daunting to winnow out which are planets and which are not, and since none of them actually resemble a planet, including Pluto, it's not worth putting them in the same category as planets.

Confabulat: wildsnowllama: ookami_sama: Reclassifying Pluto was a good idea. Useful classes or groupings are a big part of science. Paradigm shifts are even more important. Our conception of the phenomena is of equal import to our understanding of it.

How long have you been waiting to use the word paradigm?

He's probably referring to the theories of Thomas Kuhn's classic "Structure of Scientific Revolutions."

This thread is hilarious. You've got half the Farkers whining the language in TFA is beneath them, and the other half whining the posts are too smart.

I just haven't heard paradigm used except as a useless buzz word.

See My Az Go: I thought TFA would be about Neil de Grasse Tyson.

/sigh. He's so dreamy.

You and me both, especially since I just saw this this (new window)morning. That man could hold an audience captive explaining how paint dries.

surprised the interview isnt in Klingon

The question I always had but never got answered was did he originally name Eris and Disnomia Xena and Gabrielle because he was a geek like the rest of us who still had a thing for them or because Xena was a play on the planet X thing...

Now to go google the picture of the episode where they were bathing together... so many good memories :)

of course there is a Planet X

Confabulat: If it's an IM interview, why wouldn't you just post it as is?

Because no journalism (written or filmed) ever posts anything as-is? Because the whole point of having a journalist involved is to improve the presentation of the information and help the audience understand it? Because actual transcripts of real conversations are difficult to read... because reading is not the same as speaking and interacting, just as reading a story on a website is not the same as having an IM conversation?

But, maybe it's just me. All journalists are lazy, but this struck me as a new low, considering the source.

Confabulat: It's almost 2010, the second decade of the 21st century. You've had over a decade to learn to speak LOL. If it still upsets and confuses you at this point, just shout for everyone to get off your virtual lawn already, cause it's going away.

Learned and been speaking it flently for way more than a decade, LOL.

Yet I'm still confused by why it's a *bad* thing to expect some attempt at decent writing and/or standards. And, again, Science/Education Site != Smoking Gun / etc.

If publishing IM conversations is really supposed to pass for decent journalism, maybe I'll go buy a Cracker Jack box, shake out a journalism degree, and start applying for jobs.

/ and here I was hoping for a good conspiracy thread.

Confabulat: I can read IM, and it doesn't offend me, so I prefer it this way. More honest, you know.

Wish I had caught that before replying. That's an excellent point... but isn't "informative article on science site" different from "big book of transcripts," and shouldn't it be?

edremy: I've always wondered where stupid comes from.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity."