I so wanted BMcBF.

She exists after last week.

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".

#BoatyOrBust

It's entirely in keeping with the British outlook.

It shows how out of touch our politicians are that nobody stood in yesterday's elections as "Votey McVoteface".

Shows that they do have a sense of humor.

They missed an opportunity to have a popular ship generating interest in polar research.

What kids will "follow" a boat named "Attenborough"?

Boaty McBoatface was an infantile idea.

They have now legitimately generated negative public feelings with this public vote bullshit.

When I was in high school, they asked for nominations for class song. The most nominated song was "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother". When we got the choice to vote that wasn't on it. We were given the choice between "Making Friends" by Elton John, "Old Days" by Chicago and another song that I don't remember. I voted for "Making Friends" but "Old Days" won. I can understand why we weren't given the choice to vote for "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother" and I'm glad that wasn't our class song.

We were a class of stoners, though.

When you have a competition on the internet to suggest and register support for a ship name, and say on the page "this vote is not definitive - we will make the final decision", only people who mistake internet popularity votes with 'democracy' could think there's something 'legitimate' about their resultant negative feelings, or that it's 'bullshit' to get the public to give an idea of name popularity.

But this whole exercise has left a bad taste in the mouth.

It could be a generational thing, i don't know.

Had you actually heard of the vote before the 'Boaty McBoatFace' entry got into the news? If not, I'd suggest that it's something not to get too worried about. It's a ship name, and for most of us, we scarcely ever hear the research ship's name. for those who work on it, though, a serious name is probably far better than something people will laugh at.

Yes, I found out on Twitter. No, I didn't pile on and vote. Yes, I think the NERC does good work and am happy to contribute my meagre amount to it. No, I don't think it would have been the end of the world if they had gone with Boaty McBoatface. Yes, they let this play out way too long before squashing it. No, I don't think they should ever waste people's time and tax money with a similar public vote. Yes, the PR genius behind it should be fired.

There's lots of injustices in the world worth being upset over. A 200 million dollar ship not being called a really stupid fucking name isn't one of them.

Last edited Fri May 6, 2016, 08:14 AM - Edit history (1)

I think it's actually because the subject is so objectively trivial, that I can really focus on what rankles me about the public vote process.

Go build your own boat.

That felt good.

Who paid for this one?

You elect a government to make decisions in the public interest.

If you don't want a government ... there are other parties dedicated to the drastic reduction or elimination of government that would welcome you.

If you want to put every government decision and every naming up for online vote it would get ugly. Worse even than selling naming rights to publicly funded buildings like a "Rexall Arena". Be ready to retch all up when the next Cape May ferry gets named the "Honorable Mitch McConnell" by popular vote.

If the public ruled by direct mob vote, we would have had concentration camps for muslims in most parts of the country on Sept. 12, 2001. The founders wisely warned against the Tyranny of the Majority.

Frankly, I think the people who created the naming vote were stupid not to offer a selection instead of making it wide open. But in the end I think a good decision was made.

... want to be crew on the Ronald Reagan?

But then, I have almost as hard a time with my native state's name being applied to a terror weapon (SSBN-735).

-- Mal

,,, things should get real interesting here in a couple of months.

-- Mal

Another person at DU -- I misremember who -- was in DC a few months ago, and was waiting to cross the street with an elderly gentleman with white brillo-pad hair. He said to the gent "I guess people tell you you look like Bernie Sanders all the time," and of course the reply was, "Yeah, probably because I am Bernie Sanders." That must have been priceless, too.

-- Mal

The name was 'voted' for by a kind of flash mob, not by the taxpayers as a whole, and certainly never by a majority of taxpayers.

In which a majority of taxpayers vote on anything.

Hey, I was taxed when I was working at 16 years old, and couldn't even vote!

But I hardly think naming this thing Boaty McBoatface is the first step toward concentration camps.

I wrote:

They are not, as far as I know, a British taxpayer. I am, though, and I'd much rather have 'RRS David Attenborough'.

[font size=6]CALL CONGRESS RIGHT FUCVKING NOW11!!![/font]

That's gooood!

I takes me science seriously, and I love that they are naming a scientific research ship after a prominent U.K. naturalist.

Boaty McBoatface forever!

Nice 90th birthday present for him. Good show Brits.

Both the RRS Sir David Attenborough and acknowledging the vote with a little Boaty. Nice solution.

Yeah, it's a cute little social media joke now, but how funny would it still have been 10, 20, 30 years later?

he is fine with the decision, and since the rules always state the final decision would be with the board there really is no issue here

Sorry. This eclipses the monumentally childish "Boaty McFuckingBoatface" every day, and twice on Sunday.

If you are indeed, a fan of the popular vote, it must be ironic to know that as per this thread, overwhelming consensus is that you're irrational.

Well that appears to be the verdict of the overly earnest
(did I do it right?
did I do it right?)

Does anyone honestly believe they will just stop using that name because it now has an "official" name? Boaty McBoatface is unique. The chosen official name, while it is that of a famous naturalist, is not nearly as unique or memorable for that ship.

Because of this very public request for names, it will now be forever known in the public mind as Boaty McBoatface