APOD: QR Codes: Not for Human Eyes (2011 Oct 04)

[Jerel]

I have never posted a comment before, and I am relatively certain nobody in their right mind would ever read this particular thread all the way to my message, so I'm pretty sure nobody will ever read this post anyway, but..... SHEESH!! Everybody just calm down and get a life! If seeing an actual astronomy picture in "Astronomy Picture of the Day" is the only thing keeping you from ranting on and on and actually never coming back here... you need some therapy, and maybe take a look at your priorities! The picture here is not always about astronomy. Sometimes it's just... something else. Whatever! I use the site as my homepage, so I see this every single time I start my browser, and yeah, a huge bar code is not something I enjoy seeing a zillion times a day, but tomorrow (actually 9PM pacific time) it will be something else, and there are WAY more important things to be upset about if you need to be upset about something. People are starving to death every day, and others are dying from incurable diseases, while still others are out in space doing science. The Astronomy Picture of the Day is pretty far down on the list of things worth getting your panties in a wad. I am grateful for this service and have been a constant viewer for over 10 years. I don't LOVE every picture, but not much in life is fantastic 100% of the time. Deal with it.

[horvendile]

My issue is that it says "Can you figure out what the Above QR Code means but there is no way of figuring it out. If you have a smartphone you have it read it. Otherwise you say, "who cares?" Or you do what I did and figure that it isn't just a QR but somehow a puzzle related to astronomy. It wasn't. I should have said, "who cares?"

[skater314159]

Wow! Ppl really got their knickers in a right ol twist over this! Geeez! Get a frakkin' grip! I thought it was ok, just a little bummed it didn't lead to a cool NASA site...wow. just wow. I mean some ppl on here need anger managment or meds instead of good ol APOD! (I've had you guys as my home page ever since like, '95 or so and I was using the computer lab @ school!)

[owlice]

Star*Hopper, yes, of course I know it doesn't apply to you! Surely you recognize that there are many many people who don't like this APOD, and have said so here who have, in all likelihood, not made it known (here) when one pleases them!

And that is what I am lamenting. If only they took the time to say when something pleases them, to say when they find an APOD gorgeous or interesting or informative, instead of being silent here when that happens! Yes, you and I and some others will comment when an APOD makes us happy! But we're at 12 pages and counting, with a lot of negative comments. How often are there 12 pages of comments when the image is of a beautiful galaxy? An interesting nebula? A never-before-seen shot of a moon of Saturn?

Not often.

A pity!

[iambrucethemoose]

I have never posted a comment before, and I am relatively certain nobody in their right mind would ever read this particular thread all the way to my message, so I'm pretty sure nobody will ever read this post anyway, but..... SHEESH!! Everybody just calm down and get a life! If seeing an actual astronomy picture in "Astronomy Picture of the Day" is the only thing keeping you from ranting on and on and actually never coming back here... you need some therapy, and maybe take a look at your priorities! The picture here is not always about astronomy. Sometimes it's just... something else. Whatever! I use the site as my homepage, so I see this every single time I start my browser, and yeah, a huge bar code is not something I enjoy seeing a zillion times a day, but tomorrow (actually 9PM pacific time) it will be something else, and there are WAY more important things to be upset about if you need to be upset about something. People are starving to death every day, and others are dying from incurable diseases, while still others are out in space doing science. The Astronomy Picture of the Day is pretty far down on the list of things worth getting your panties in a wad. I am grateful for this service and have been a constant viewer for over 10 years. I don't LOVE every picture, but not much in life is fantastic 100% of the time. Deal with it.

I made it all the way to your post and I couldn't agree more! well said!

[ljt]

Really? I expect to be wowed with an interesting image and a mind-expanding explanation.....and instead get mind-deflating garbage.

[bystander]

Thought I would check back and see what others had to say after my intitial post.

All you people who support the decision to post a bar code... I like you to sit back and listen for a minute..
There is a whole slew of Amature Astro Photographers out there that submit images for consideration to the prestigous honor of being chosen for Astronomy Picture Of The Day. Amature does not mean bad or low quality or lesser than, it simply means we don't collect a pay check for what we do. I'm OK when images I've submitted aren't chosen because someone else has a better submission. In reality, I've probably submitted nothing that is worthy when compared to others fine works.
It might be free for you to link this as your home page and view the winners of the daily selection...But it's not free for me or anyone else that creates these images. There's substantial cost to get started, there is a incredible amount of time that is required to learn the craft, and hone the skills. Many of the images you see submitted by "Us Lowly Amatures" take any where from several hours of data collection to sometimes years to compile enough exposure on a given target. I personally know of one 18 panel narrow band mosaic that was submitted. It took six months for the imager gather all of the data to create that fantastic image and IS certainly worthy.
I'm not saying that every Amature Astronomer gets involved in it so they can be chosen. Not at all. We do it because we love the cosmos, the galaxies, nebulae, starfields, and the challenges we face in taking part in these activities.
So many have poured their hearts into imaging these jewels in our night sky, processed the integrated stacks of multiple imaging sessions, looked at the results and thought...Hmm Maybe this one is good enough to be selected, Maybe?
and there before us is the selection out of all of the possibilities... a bar code!

So you are saying APOD costs you money because you chose to do astrophotography? Rubbish! If you chose astrophotography on the remote chance your image would be selected as an APOD, you probably wasted your money. You may still yet get your image chosen as an APOD (good luck to you), but to imply that APOD is responsible for your expense is beyond ridiculous.

[Lenticularis]

c'mon people. There isn't only astronomy in the universe. I found it interesting nevertheless. If you want to see an astronomy picture go to an other site for this day, and don't complain about things you don't like

[zerro1]

So you are saying APOD costs you money because you chose to do astrophotography? Rubbish! If you chose astrophotography on the remote chance your image would be selected as an APOD, you probably wasted your money. You may still yet get your image chosen as an APOD (good luck to you), but to imply that APOD is responsible for your expense is beyond ridiculous.

That is absolutely NOT what I said!!! I said it's free to link and look at the pictures! It cost a lot of money to get involved in it! I made it very clear that we amatures do it because we love it. Nobody starts this path with the expectation of posting on here. Very few would even think it possible in the early days of their trials in this sink hole of a Hobby! . You want to look at the pretty pictures and go OOH AHH isn't that a wonderful picture? BUT HAVE NO FRICKEN CLUE as to what it takes to create it? keep your head buried in the sand. I got about $3500 in CCD camera's alone with $10,000 total investment. Do I think think that anyone is responsible for that but me?? HECK NO.

Get a Clue Bystander!

[Dave Ussell]

I am blown away by the rudeness and arrogance of some the responses.
Lets see a show of hands from the people bitching and moaning out there. How many of you would like to take on some of the responsibility of producing this web site daily ... ? I thought so ... !
As a person who has volunteered copiously throughout my life, I know that when outcomes are pleasant and seem easy, some poor man or woman has worked their ass off to make it that way.
To all the folks who rattled their sabers and threatened leaving the site. Good riddance. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Needless to say, I did find it an interesting diversion and very, very much appreciate the efforts of those who labor, behind the scenes to (apparently thanklessly) bring us such fascinating beauty, daily. Please accept my most sincere gratitude.

[April fool again]

Well,

I wonder if Nasa has any kind of barcodes on space faring craft which might be encounters by aliens at some future Date?

Just think 10 million years from now Voyager 1 & 2 will still be going! Any Alien's who could decrypt English, should be able to do bar codes as well. Any we can store much more uniform information in a 2D barcode (driver's license) than in English. A CD/DVD/Blu Ray might not be readable just because of the technology differences.

Cool, next April day prank: A QR Code mentioned as Pioneer plaque 2.0/Voyager Golden Record 2.0 or Arecibo message 2.0

[gene33]

I don't have a smart phone, might have one eventually, but you helped me understand what I thought these "things" are. I feel sorry for those APOD fans with no sense of humor. Perhaps they need to go outside on a dark night and look up rather than just depending on the web for their space pictures.

[bystander]

That is absolutely NOT what I said!!! I said it's free to link and look at the pictures! It cost a lot of money to get involved in it! I made it very clear that we amatures do it because we love it. Nobody starts this path with the expectation of posting on here. Very few would even think it possible in the early days of their trials in this sink hole of a Hobby! . You want to look at the pretty pictures and go OOH AHH isn't that a wonderful picture? BUT HAVE NO FRICKEN CLUE as to what it takes to create it? keep your head buried in the sand. I got about $3500 in CCD camera's alone with $10,000 total investment. Do I think think that anyone is responsible for that but me?? HECK NO.

Get a Clue Bystander!

Oh, but it is what you said, or at least implied:

... It might be free for you to link this as your home page and view the winners of the daily selection...But it's not free for me or anyone else that creates these images. ...

As, for me getting a clue, I think I may have a few more than you.

BTW: You might want to get a spell checker for your browser.

[Penny]

I thought something was vastly wrong with our computer on seeing today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. I generally find the images so awesome and look forward to seeing each day's picture. What a great disappointment to find the "code" as today's Picture of the Day especially since we, as I am sure many others, do not have the ability to 'scan' the code. Please stick with your awesome astronomy pictures!

[David@apod]

I have learned a lot through this website. First thing tomorrow, I'm printing the QR and posting it on my lab.
Probably someone else will appreciate the game and follow the web.

Thanks for the work!

David

[owlice]

Well, Penny, have you taken a look at the Recent Submissions thread over in the Observation Deck area? I left a link for it pages and pages ago. There's also a lovely APOD Retrospective thread that gives you a peek back at all the APODs published over the years on October 4.

Yet, alas, few (if any) followed the links to those threads. People SAY they want astronomy pictures, and I gave links to TWO threads of astronomy pictures, and yet... and yet....

[zerro1]

That is absolutely NOT what I said!!! I said it's free to link and look at the pictures! It cost a lot of money to get involved in it! I made it very clear that we amatures do it because we love it. Nobody starts this path with the expectation of posting on here. Very few would even think it possible in the early days of their trials in this sink hole of a Hobby! . You want to look at the pretty pictures and go OOH AHH isn't that a wonderful picture? BUT HAVE NO FRICKEN CLUE as to what it takes to create it? keep your head buried in the sand. I got about $3500 in CCD camera's alone with $10,000 total investment. Do I think think that anyone is responsible for that but me?? HECK NO.

Get a Clue Bystander!

Oh, but it is what you said, or at least implied:

... It might be free for you to link this as your home page and view the winners of the daily selection...But it's not free for me or anyone else that creates these images. ...

As, for me getting a clue, I think I may have a few more than you.

BTW: You might want to get a spell checker for your browser.

How much does it cost for an image from hubble? How much is JWST that isn't even off the ground yet? Are those free? Somebody pays for it! Every single large scale observatory on the face of this planet was Funded By some entity or government agency! None these pictures were "free". either donated time(just because someone donates time that doesn't mean "Free"), donated money, or self financed, it cost a lot.

I don't really care about the spell checker but if that's your best shot, your welcome to it..

[owlice]

zerro, you REALLY need to go back and read your post about how much it costs you to create the images. The entire point of your post was that because YOU spend money on YOUR hobby, APOD should NOT have had a QR Code as today's image -- an image by an amateur astrophotographer should have been selected instead.

Seriously -- go back and read that post.

[mexhunter]

It's scary to enter the discussion.
Between my bad English and by the passions unleashed by a drawing, which at the first glance think that is an exercise of Suduku.
APOD administrators have the right to publish what they decide. We have the ability to see or not see the image published. Really are not many more options. To say that the image is beautiful or that is a pathetic picture (just to use a word that I have read many times today) does not affect that one day will come the end of time.
But it is important to say that without this information, did not understand was that picture in the newspaper ad comencial today. (For the picky, an apology, but the newspaper is Mexican, and it is published in Spanish).

http://a.yfrog.com/img618/979/afyuh.jpg

[star-geezer]

I seriously question what in the world the QR Code has to do with astronomy. And how does this apply to the statement at the top of each APOD post that it contains a "brief explanation written by a professional astronomer." Seems to be a gratuitous ad for the Kaywa QR Code Generator.

Still - APOD has been my home page for many years and will continue to be so. I've only been disappointed very few times with the images. This one just happens to be the topper.

[bystander]

I am reminded of a post by Phil Plait on Bad Astronomy back in 2007, and while this has nothing to do with politics or religion ...

Politics, science, me and thee
Discover Blogs | Bad Astronomy | 2007 July 15

Whenever I write about politics, religion, or something that is not 100% straight-up science, I get a handful of protests in the comments, usually along the lines of "I came here because this is supposed to be an astronomy blog…".

Well, for the n^th time, I’ll let y’all know: this is primarily a science blog, but not exclusively so. I think people like what I write about astronomy because I add a dimension of humanity to it, since I’m personally involved with some of it, and I know some of the fun back story. But that same humanity means I’m human, and I have other things on my mind too.

This may sound crass, but it’s true: it’s my blog, and I’ll write what I want to. If you don’t like it, there are lots of other sites about astronomy on the web. Spare me the lectures, the drama, and the grandstanding in the comments. If you don’t want to read my blog, that’s fine. ...

So, if you want to leave, leave. Don't waste my time and yours grandstanding about it.

[Esseffe]

I think that you have missed the point. You can send this and show people astronomy photos who wouldn't normally go there. So I say, share that code with others and hopefully it will educate if not entertain or spark something in a sibling.

[Guest]

This is by far the most insulting image you could have posted! With all of the amature astronmers who have taken the time to submit their images and you people choose this as an APOD....I'm through! Bye Bye!

oh no what would we do without you and your 11 posts lol....idiot.

[BMAONE23]

Will this be the first APOD to generate 300 responces within the first 17 hours of having been posted as an APOD

[zerro1]

zerro, you REALLY need to go back and read your post about how much it costs you to create the images. The entire point of your post was that because YOU spend money on YOUR hobby, APOD should NOT have had a QR Code as today's image -- an image by an amateur astrophotographer should have been selected instead.

Seriously -- go back and read that post.

I went and read it. it's plain english, NOT CODE. I tried to provoide a view from a position of the little guy's that open up APOD and see that their picture was less desirable to post compared to a bar code. That's the inference I get when I look at todays APOD. I didn't say the words "they should have chosen". Go look at all of the images stored there on the servers. There are people behind every one of those images. People that struggled to "get it right". You put it out there to be measured and judged by the best in Astronomy. They chose a bar code.

by Guest » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:27 pm

zerro1 wrote:
This is by far the most insulting image you could have posted! With all of the amature astronmers who have taken the time to submit their images and you people choose this as an APOD....I'm through! Bye Bye!

oh no what would we do without you and your 11 posts lol....idiot.

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