The Challenge
As one of the final three in MacSurvivor Castillo, I also have the opportunity to give
away a book that I reviewed during the contest. The book is Micro-ISV: Vision to Reality.
This book is a fascinating guide to all aspects of setting up a small business based
on writing software. Elements of the book are also applicable to software consultancy
and businesses outside of the software industry.
In order to find a good home for the book I have decided to hold a competition.
The competition task is:
| What is the best name you can think of for an iPod ? |
Example from Mac Guild editor:
Default names like "Diane's
iPod" need not apply.
Since I'm the one giving away the book, I will be the judge of the competition and
my decision will be final. The best name will win the book!
| The deadline is 11:59pm Castillo time (same as Pacific) on Friday 28 April. |
iPod model iPod name 20GB Cybernaut nano NanoSam 60GB photo PaceMaker 5GB 1st gen iLuvPod any MiPod nano Nanolicious shuffle IchabodPod 60GB MegaloPod shuffle OddPodd shuffle WannabePod White Nano Little Nano Black Nano Black Beauty Black Nano Mite shuffle Spike any iQuetzal white 40GB Bali
And the judging goes as follows:
John Gebhardt entered Cybernaut and NanoSam in the full knowledge that he was ineligible
due to being in the last 3 (and of course the winner) of the MacSurvivor challenge.
"Cybernaut" is the iPod he won in the competition. I guess it had to be
called that. John knows he can't win this competition as well as MacSurvivor but,
ever the competitor, he couldn't resist joining in.
Steve Larsen entered "PaceMaker". Neat if you use it at the gym I suppose.
I guess I find this a little alarming for the medical aspects.
Tom Hughston entered "iLuvPod" for his 5GB 1st Gen iPod - a lasting affection
that has survived the competition from younger, slimmer models with docks and color
screens. Good job persevering without the dock for all these years - just like me
and iCecube.
Mike LaChance entered MiPod, Nanolicious, IchabodPod, MegaloPod, OddPodd and WannabePod.
How come you didn't spell that as iChabodPod, Mike? And is OddPodd an obscure reference
to Auric Goldfinger's henchman Oddjob? Do you hurl it at enemies like a steel-rimmed
bowler hat?
Bud Simrin and Vilma Manteiga entered Little Nano and Black Beauty for their black
and white nanos. I like Black Beauty, though I feel a nano is more of a foal compared
to a fully grown 30GB or 60GB iPod.
Halle Winkler entered Mite and Spike. Mite is a pun on "Might" indicating
that the Nano is both small and powerful. Spike indicates the way the shuffle tends
to stick out of whatever it is plugged in to.
Craig Ehrlich entered "iQuetzal" because since childhood he has admired
the Quetzal: to quote Craig,
"This elusive bird, the Quetzal, is beautiful in every aspect, and it is a spectacular
sight when found in its natural habitat, deep in the tropical rainforest jungles.
The Mayans prized its plumage and they wore it in their ceremonial attire. I fell
in love with its legend as well as its flight. I remember the first and only time
I saw it in flight. It has brightly colorful and very long tail feathers, so when
it flies, its entire body and tail undulates beautifully in the air. It literally
dances between the trees, its tail and wings making soft whispers as it makes its
way across..."
Thank you Craig for the wonderful description of this bird and the added photo. It
was one of the unexpected bonuses of the competition.
Lastly Bali was entered by my husband Scott, ineligible due to his not-even-a-lurker
Guild membership status. He just wanted to reassure me that his iPod had a proper
name in keeping with the household naming convention for machines and storage and
was not called "Scott's iPod".
And the results?
The name that stuck in my mind over the weekend was the one that combined the huge
with the tiny. It fully evokes the feeling of running around with a black hole in
your pocket that I had when I got my 5GB first generation iPod. It makes me think
of a giant dinosaur, but it actually means the larval stage of Xanthidae and other
similar creatures. When I Google searched for it, I found the following immortal
prose:
"The diet of the Peruvian Diving-Petrel (Pelecanoides garnotii) was studied
from 211 stomach pumpings collected on San Gallan and La Vieja Islands, on the central
coast of Peru. Planktonic invertebrates were the dominant food items representing
85.3% and 91.1% of the items ingested on San Gallan and La Vieja, respectively. The
remainder of the stomach contents was fish. Euphausia mucronata was the principal
prey, composing 22.1% by mass of the food ingested on San Gallan and 30% on La Vieja.
Fish larval stages represented 23.6% and 19.4% of the ingested food mass on these
islands, respectively. Peruvian anchovy was present in only 3.2% of the stomach contents
on San Gallan and 7.8% on La Vieja. Prey consumption varied seasonally probably due
to changes in resource availability. Planktonic invertebrates were the main prey
in summer, while there was a high proportion of fish larval stages during in winter..."
I have to conclude I would likely never have read anything like this if not for this
competition entry. (I'm also grateful I'm not a Peruvian Diving-Petrel.)
So there it is. Mike
LaChance wins with "Megalopod".
Thanks everyone for entering and sharing your innovative iPod names. The rest of
you, get out there and give those iPods the names they deserve!
- Diane Love