Fake Forum Economy

[Green1]

Usually when I wear an atheist hat and want to have a visual reminder, I upload a Carl Sagan avatar. So I guess I fall into the 'science geek' category.

I am kind of with you. But then again, when is there a need for an "atheist hat"? Even the "Scarlet A" got kind of meaningless in that everyone on those particular boards were atheist.

Funny thing. I made scouting missions to a local atheist meet up a few years back. New to a town, I journeyed to the library across town where they had their "meeting" then cocktails after at a nice bar here. Of course - no where near working sections of town. Only upper middle class. Nice folks, but some of those guys are ultra militant. One dude had the DNA double helix tatooed on his forearms. Awesome discussions, but some of them would put the most zealot Jimmy Swaggart fan to shame with militant attitudes. But, just like a church, friendships were made. Some found a bf/gf out of it.

Now being AWARE instead of militant is understandable. We have some very closed minded folks in powerful places. I am not militant, but I do watch those folks that want to marginalize people. But enough to wear a hat?

But.. I digress and am tipsy.

If atheism, or "new atheism" has a symbol, it is one of those two. Or none.

[Valka]

I don't mean a literal hat. The only hats I own that have any kind of logo on them are the ones that say "I Can Has Cheezburger?".

But back when I started a thread about the NDT version of Cosmos over at CFC, for the duration of the series I switched from my usual cat-themed avatars to one of Carl Sagan sitting in front of a radio telescope.

[Buster's Uncle]

The more I think about it, the less I like the scarlet A.  The sciencey icon is better; it's about what it is, or is trying to be, not about a political complaint/persecution narrative (a thing that's annoying when Christians do it, too).

I was making a joke, of course, (and I daresay an ironic but not insulting one) when I created a no-icon Item about belief that there's nothing (note how I phrased that last), an Item that, like all of them, does nothing save give you a use message when used.  Adding a symbol sorta ruins that thematic unity.

However, by my own rules, I don't get to make the final call.  What'll it be?

[Valka]

Well, if people are going to spend virtual currency, they should have something either visible or functional to show for it. So some kind of image should be offered.

If something suggesting both science and literacy can be found, that would be ideal.


BTW, there doesn't seem to be a Doctor Who image to go with the Doctor Who fan favorite...

[Buster's Uncle]

You mean the .gif isn't displaying?

[Valka]

Not for me.

Firefox, using the Enterprise theme

[Buster's Uncle]

...I'll see if I can confirm, but those constant problems with Firefox are a mystery to our tech guys, let alone me...

[Buster's Uncle]

I got only a little no-load box in Chrome; Firefox insists on taking me to a login page when I try to look at the Shop, and so I'm stuck on that, since I can't log in at all in Firefox...

-So, probably only working in IE.

I guess I need to make a still .png of the Tardis...

[Buster's Uncle]

Done.  Not as cute, but should have less display problems.

[Buster's Uncle]

Well, if people are going to spend virtual currency, they should have something either visible or functional to show for it. So some kind of image should be offered.

If something suggesting both science and literacy can be found, that would be ideal.

Okay; how about I find an open book icon and superimpose this:
?
-At least, if I can make it look like anything at 32-40x ...

[Buster's Uncle]

I think this is an excellent good-faith effort, awaiting approval of those who consider themselves qualified to choose to give me the thumbs-up before I proceed with uploading...

...Which I can't beLIEVE I didn't think of waiting before I went to the trouble with the Tardis image 20 times over, and now will have to do it twice.

[Buster's Uncle]

...And I'll keep the files open the rest of the day, so if you'd like some jiggering of colors or proportions or anything, now is when to ask.  I went to this much trouble, and want it to be good/satisfying...

[Green1]

Doesn't need a book. Just the symbol itself. The atom symbol, when seen on monuments and stationary never appears with a book.

[Buster's Uncle]

You and Valka work this out.

[Valka]

I won't fight about the book - it's just that I've always considered literacy to be a crucial step in how the Renaissance developed. There's no mystery why Johann Gutenberg was chosen as the most influential person of the last 1000 years in a pre-2001 A&E special. Without movable type and the printing press, scientific progress would have been much slower and there wouldn't have been such a robust exchange of ideas that occurred during the last 400 years in particular.