HP Forum Archive 17

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Open45s: Name Message #1 Posted by Pavneet Arora on 6 Nov 2007, 7:35 a.m. I remember in grad school (a very long time ago), there was a colleague of mine who was doing research in naming as part of pattern recognition and the cognitive transition it invoked. If I can take (extensive) liberties and distill his PhD thesis: "You name it. You own it." We have on the table: 1. Phoenix 2. Sojourner Anyone else wanting to step up and offer some suggestions. Personally, going to the Astronomy Picture of the Day web site, for one of the images that Sojourner took (as a mosaic) of the Sagan Memorial Station, evokes strong emotions in me. I really do wish we still had Carl Sagan around: Sagan Memorial Station Cheers. Edited: 6 Nov 2007, 7:40 a.m.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #2 Posted by Maximilian Hohmann on 6 Nov 2007, 7:59 a.m., in response to message #1 by Pavneet Arora Hello! Quote: Anyone else wanting to step up and offer some suggestions. Well, honestly, whatver the psycho-guys wrote in their papers does not seem to apply to me. I don't go by names at all, rather by numbers. I can tell you without hesitation that an aeroplane is a Cessna 560, but wether they call it "Encore", "Excel" or "Bravo" I couldn't tell. The same with these calculators: Following your brainstorming over the last few days, I had to look at least five times (!) which series are the "Pioneers" and which are the "Voyagers". I simply can't remember. And since my memory is quite good otherwise, I think this is because I do not want to remember! (The same with Apple's operating systems: I can tell you at a glance if a Macintosh is running system 10.2 or 10.4, but wether this is "Tiger", "Panther" or "Leopard", who knows?) So for me, call it whatever you want (bearing in mind that there are a lot of non-native English speakers interested too, to whom a name like "Sojourner" tells absolutely nothing (you certainly wouldn't want it called "Verweilender" in German, would you?) as long as you give it a good and easily memorizable number as well :-) Like: ORPN-1 Greetings, Max Edited: 6 Nov 2007, 8:00 a.m.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #3 Posted by Pavneet Arora on 6 Nov 2007, 8:04 a.m., in response to message #2 by Maximilian Hohmann Which I call NeXTSTEP 5.4 ;) ;). NeXTSTEP 4 > MacOS X (10.0) Quote: I can tell you at a glance if a Macintosh is running system 10.2 or 10.4, but wether this is "Tiger", "Panther" or "Leopard", who knows?

Re: Open45s: Name Message #4 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 6 Nov 2007, 8:22 a.m., in response to message #2 by Maximilian Hohmann Quote: So for me, call it whatever you want (bearing in mind that there are a lot of non-native English speakers interested too, to whom a name like "Sojourner" tells absolutely nothing Surely these non-native English speakers, presumably engineers and scientists, or others who are interested in HP calculators, are familiar with the NASA space probes?

Re: Open45s: Name Message #5 Posted by Maximilian Hohmann on 6 Nov 2007, 8:41 a.m., in response to message #4 by Martin Pinckney Hello! Quote: Surely these non-native English speakers, presumably engineers and scientists, or others who are interested in HP calculators, are familiar with the NASA space probes? Yes, we are (if I am allowed to speak for my colleagues as well). But still, I am unsable to create a mental image or mind map of some kind that links a name like "Sojourner" to a pocket calculator. But if we have to name it after a space probe at all cost, why not call it Huygens, at least that's one of "ours" (*) ;-) Greetings, Max (*) my taxes went into it if nothing else Edited: 6 Nov 2007, 8:43 a.m.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #6 Posted by Ren on 6 Nov 2007, 11:59 a.m., in response to message #2 by Maximilian Hohmann Quote: Hello! (you certainly wouldn't want it called "Verweilender" in German, would you?) as long as you give it a good and easily memorizable number as well :-) Like: ORPN-1 Greetings, Max Verweilender...? I see your point. From this American's point of view OPRN-1 too easily derives to ORPhaN-1 probably not a good idea... the name could "curse" it to be a one night stand, ...a one horse town, ...a one joke act, et cetera, et cetera...

Re: Open45s: Name Message #7 Posted by Ren on 6 Nov 2007, 5:21 p.m., in response to message #6 by Ren I think naming the calc... Polish (Open) Reverse Notation also would not be not be a good idea. Its acronym would probably trigger email blockers. B^) Hmmmm, how about Anti-kythera?

Re: Open45s: Name Message #8 Posted by Frank Rottgardt on 6 Nov 2007, 5:23 p.m., in response to message #2 by Maximilian Hohmann Hi, when working for Ericssons in Sweden we used to give the different mobile phones "real" names rather than the "official" letter-number-codes printed on them. The phones itself got female names, equipment like chargers and the like got male ones. I still remember phones like Jane 4/5, Emily, Emma, Gilette. Only the very first massproduced mobile phone got the male name "Kurt". Ever since the above rule applied. It gave the phones a personal touch. I think that most people prefer real world names, easy to remember. Cars have names like Golf (Rabbit), Mustang, Thunderbird, Corvette etc. Many fighter aircrafts got names like F16 Falcon, F4 Phantom, Hellcat, Mustang, Thunderbolt, Eule (owl), Corsair.... I like the way HP-engineers used to gave their babies internal nick names. My personal favorite is "salad" for the do-everything model 27. Would be cool to know the internal names of the 50g or 35s. // Frank

Re: Open45s: Name Message #9 Posted by Meenzer on 6 Nov 2007, 9:26 a.m., in response to message #1 by Pavneet Arora Quote: I really do wish we still had Carl Sagan around: Sagan Memorial Station My thought exactly! Why not call the calculator after him: Sagan

Re: Open45s: Name Message #10 Posted by Pavneet Arora on 6 Nov 2007, 9:30 a.m., in response to message #9 by Meenzer That has my unequivocal vote! Quote: My thought exactly! Why not call the calculator after him: Sagan

Re: Open45s: Name Message #11 Posted by Meenzer on 6 Nov 2007, 10:12 a.m., in response to message #10 by Pavneet Arora Quote: That has my unequivocal vote! If there are more supporters, we could announce the name in 3 days, on November 9th - Carl Sagan's birthday! ;-) (We could even have a Contact Special Edition for the 1997 movie!)

Re: Open45s: Name Message #12 Posted by Ren on 6 Nov 2007, 12:01 p.m., in response to message #9 by Meenzer Quote: My thought exactly! Why not call the calculator after him: Sagan Didn't a recent thread question the use of another famous dead scientist to hawk calculators? (hint Einstein) Ren dona nobis pacem

Re: Open45s: Name Message #13 Posted by Eric Smith on 6 Nov 2007, 1:46 p.m., in response to message #9 by Meenzer Quote: Why not call the calculator after him: Sagan Because his heirs will probably sue. He sued over Apple using his name just as an internal code name for a product, not even the real product name! Apple changed the code name to "BHA", and then he sued for libel over that! I'd rather not have a calculator named after a person. Edited: 6 Nov 2007, 1:49 p.m.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #14 Posted by Don Shepherd on 6 Nov 2007, 2:17 p.m., in response to message #13 by Eric Smith Eric, I don't get it. What's BHA, and does it have anything to do with Carl Sagan? I only recall him being the "billions and billions of stars" guy.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #15 Posted by Pavneet Arora on 6 Nov 2007, 2:27 p.m., in response to message #14 by Don Shepherd Quote: Eric, I don't get it. What's BHA, and does it have anything to do with Carl Sagan? I only recall him being the "billions and billions of stars" guy. Hi Don, "Butt Headed Astronomer" which was the name Apple replaced as the code name (and promptly got sued again for). See: Carl Sagan's entry on wikipedia

Re: Open45s: Name Message #16 Posted by Walter B on 6 Nov 2007, 1:01 p.m., in response to message #1 by Pavneet Arora Please count my vote for Phoenix - not because of the NASA mission but because of the mythological bird arising out of the ashes.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #17 Posted by Meenzer on 6 Nov 2007, 2:28 p.m., in response to message #16 by Walter B Well, the arising part sounds nice (BTW, what ashes??), but that damn bird also dies repeatedly and is reborn and dies and is reborn and so on. A calculator that only works intermittently wouldn't be my choice... About Sagan as a name: being sued is something I also thought about. That would be an issue if it would actually be sold to the public. As long as it would stay a DIY project, that should be ok. Still, the project could be called CONTACT - safe and all the same honouring Carl ;-) Anyway, we should worry about the name when the rest is done...

Re: Open45s: Name Message #18 Posted by Walter B on 6 Nov 2007, 3:35 p.m., in response to message #17 by Meenzer Quote: what ashes?? The bird burns and is reborn from its ashes...

Re: Open45s: Name Message #19 Posted by Meenzer on 6 Nov 2007, 3:42 p.m., in response to message #18 by Walter B I know about the mythological ashes - but what ashes would the DIY calculator be born from? HP didn't burn down... ;-)

Re: Open45s: Name Message #20 Posted by Walter B on 6 Nov 2007, 4:01 p.m., in response to message #19 by Meenzer Well, the good ol' Corvallis Calculator Division doesn't exist anymore. But the remnants of the fire they lighted (by their outstanding calcs) shall now give birth to a new calc. Oooh, it's a real bad feeling if you have to explain a joke :(

Re: Open45s: Name Message #21 Posted by Meenzer on 6 Nov 2007, 4:18 p.m., in response to message #20 by Walter B Quote: Oooh, it's a real bad feeling if you have to explain a joke :( If you meant "Phoenix" as a joke, I think it's an unfortunate choice for this project. The intention of the NASA-related Phoenix name was not to make fun of this project.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #22 Posted by Walter B on 6 Nov 2007, 4:43 p.m., in response to message #21 by Meenzer Quote: If you meant "Phoenix" as a joke... I did not. I just think the connotation of this name suits this project well. Quote: The intention of the NASA-related Phoenix name was not to make fun of this project. The best jokes are the unintended ones ;)

Re: Open45s: Name Message #23 Posted by Mike T. on 6 Nov 2007, 2:03 p.m., in response to message #1 by Pavneet Arora I'd prefer Phoenix.. Mike T.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #24 Posted by DaveJ on 6 Nov 2007, 4:12 p.m., in response to message #1 by Pavneet Arora Quote: I remember in grad school (a very long time ago), there was a colleague of mine who was doing research in naming as part of pattern recognition and the cognitive transition it invoked. If I can take (extensive) liberties and distill his PhD thesis: "You name it. You own it." We have on the table: 1. Phoenix I like Pheonix. Also, I think it should be disassociated with OpenRPN, that's Hugh's baby, which he has different plans for entirely I'm sure. Unless he wants to join the bandwagon, I'd keep the two separate. Dave.

Re: Open45s: Name Message #25 Posted by Pavneet Arora on 6 Nov 2007, 4:23 p.m., in response to message #24 by DaveJ Quote: I like Pheonix. Also, I think it should be disassociated with OpenRPN, that's Hugh's baby, which he has different plans for entirely I'm sure. Unless he wants to join the bandwagon, I'd keep the two separate. Dave. Since Phoenix is slated to arrive on the surface of Mars on May 25 2008, it also gives us a target timeline for our own project...

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