User:Byrnereese/OpenMelody Name Selection

From Open Melody

Note: This page is only preserved for historical reasons and holds absolutely no current relevance.

Contents

The next phase in choosing a name after brainstorming was to each select the 15 best names we could find. Some people even did! Those votes were tallied and are listed below. Greater detail can be seen here:

Final Name List

At this point, we need to push for the names we want over email. I will be copying all of the previous context added to this page. Feel free to add anything you like under each name below. However, please try to keep it civil and not overly negative and leave the actual point-counterpoint discussion for email. Below, just make your own case for each.

Running Tally

Rank five items below from 1 (higest) to 5 (lowest). Do not repeat a rank or rank more than five items. If your choice isn't shown, you may add a row. You may update your rankings at any time.

It is very important that you make every attempt to find five choices you can live with. If you rank less than five and none of your choices are front runners, then you have essentially given up your vote.

Compilation of Top 5's
Name JA TA SK BR JG DW MS AS SG Points
Melody 2 4 1 3 2 2 2 1 31
Hansa 1 5 4 8
Larkspur 3 3 4 1 1 3 21
Texet 4 2 2 5 5 5 2 17
Talkoot 5 1 6
Harmonic 1 5 1 4 13
Janata 5 3 3 3 10
Twill 3 3
Monarch 2 4
Ensemble 4 2
Ignite 4 2

Note: Each ranking is scored on an inverse scale where a 1 gets 5 points, a 5 gets 1 point and unranked items get 0.

Melody

  • The venerable default username pre-MT-4. Users new to MT since 4 won't get this. I didn't. -markstos
    • New users won't get it, but they don't need to. It's a nod, not an overt reference. The other associations stand on their own; this is just a small inside-joke bonus.
  • Something you compose, something that gets stuck in your head, something that makes you remember happy times.
  • http://www.melodysoftware.com/ exists
    • I wouldn't give this too much weight. It's a company, and they don't produce software. Any anyone searching for our Melody would probably be providing other contextualizing terms that would make these people fall out of the results altogether. --Su

From Byrne

The following was copied from User:Byrnereese/OpenMelody_Naming.

I don't know honestly if this name has grown on me because its in active use by the group, or because it is legitimately a good name, but be that as it may - I kinda like it.

I am in strong opposition to the name "Open Melody" for all the reasons I have stated before. The fact that it is open source does not need to be reinforced in its name. It would otherwise just seem pedantic.

From Mark

The following was copied from User:MarkStosberg/OpenMelody_Naming.

This is on my list, but didn't pass the "first impression test". I feel luke-warm about it.

From Jesse

The following was copied from User:Plasticmind/OpenMelody_Naming.

Carries with it the same simple, approachable feel, but it's more generic and doesn't stand out quite as much as Larkspur. Might also be a liability for those searching for the app.

From Su

The following was copied from User:Su/OpenMelody_Naming.

We've been over and over about this one. I still like it.

From Tim

The following was copied from User:Tima/OpenMelody_Naming.

Like Byrne this name has grown on me a bit though its not a hands down favorite. I think there is context and relevance to the name though. According to Wikipedia (at the moment) says "in music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing, chanting" ), also tune, voice, or line, is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord (see harmony)." Linear events or succession such as reverse chronological order. Also the concept of harmony and voice is in there.

From Jay

I liked this name enough to start with it as a project name (as OpenMelody of course) and I like it even today and despite the fact that I don't want to name this project in such a way that we seem like some little sycophantic offshoot of a larger project.

As I mentioned here, this is my wife's favorite name her preference had nothing whatsoever to do with Melody/Nelson (about which she was completely ignorant). To her, it was a pleasing word with positive connotations related to creativity and composition. That holds a lot of weight with me and it obviously passes the femininity test.

Things this name makes me think of

  • The most memorable part of most songs and the part that many composers start with.
  • A meandering theme which guides the listener with its meaning
  • Beauty, creativity, composition, the backbone of an artistic work

Larkspur

  • This references Larkspur Press which is one of the very few places still prints exclusively with movable type.
  • "Larkspur" is also a flower, so you get some logo possibilities built in. see larkspur flower photos] Described as having "very tall stems with many branches."[[1]]
  • Better Larkspur floral pics: [2] [3] [4] [5]
  • Larkspur will also tap into something that's been severely overlooked by most publishing platforms: feminine sensibility. In other words, we have a very strong development team, no doubt about it; but Larkspur could help define for us an overarching principle: make it easy to do great things with the app. We've been using "human" as our touchstone characteristic, but "human" can mean many things. If we go the route Nintendo took the Wii and target people who don't care about the technology and only care about what they can do with the technology, then we win both fronts. Our strong dev approach and well-documented, rock solid code will ensure we bring on serious devs to the project, while a kinder, gentler marketing approach will bring on those wary of code. -- Plasticmind 16:47, 1 April 2009 (UTC)
  • The British Army used the Larkspur radio system [6] in the 1950's and 1960's.
    • Trivia: "In 1962, while the Larkspur program was underway, a horse named Larkspur running in the Derby won at 22/1. This was considered to be a good omen for the Larkspur project."
  • Visual brainstorming
  • Larkspur is a city in Marin County, California, United States. Larkspur is located north of San Francisco near Mount Tamalpais. Adjacent to Larkspur's downtown is Madrone Canyon, which is a residential area and a redwood grove.
    • Janis Joplin's last known residence was located in Larkspur at 380 West Baltimore Drive. Ki Longfellow grew up in Larkspur's Madrone Canyon.

From Mark

The following was copied from User:MarkStosberg/OpenMelody_Naming.

Much has already about said about this, I'll try to add a different perspective: We need to be sensitive about the existence about Larkspur Press. The projects don't compete and I don't see a conflict, but we don't yet know how they feel about the name use. That's a consideration, not a blocker.

From Jesse

The following was copied from User:Plasticmind/OpenMelody_Naming.

Easy to spell. Has some very vivid and immediate imagery associated with it (flowers, birds, motion). Also has deeper layers of association to the software for people to "discover", adding to the interest factor. What I like most about the word, though, is that it's not a harsh, technical sounding word. It's very simple and understandable and that's a message we definitely need to communicate. If we present them with a name that's confusing or complicated, we risk them carrying that emotional prejudice into the app.

From Tim

The following was copied from User:Tima/OpenMelody_Naming.

The context of this name has been discussed a great deal already so I'm not going to retype it. Its multifacets is what draws me to it -- feminine, a subtle (obscure?) reference to a movable type press, and that there is a specific image tied to its name.

From Jay

It's easy to spell and at two syllables long it's easy to say. Its sound isn't harsh or unpleasant although I must say, coming from the South, I think of Vickburg every time I say it. My only real issue with it is that I have no emotional tie with it. I was unfamiliar with the word before this exercise yet being a real word, there are bound to be those who do have them, for better or worse.

I like the Movable Type tie-in although I'm glad it's completely obscure.

Harmonic

  • When referring to sound, [7]. The fundamental frequency/overtone relationship seems similar to the blogger/community relationship.

From Dan

The following was copied from User:Danwolfgang/OpenMelody_Naming.

This is the name I decided I liked when I wrote my general thoughts on a name. I really think the harmonic metaphor of the fundamental frequency and complementary overtones creating a fuller, better, and more complete sound is very apt to the simple idea of communicating where one voice is the fundamental frequency and the community is the overtones.

From Mark

The following was copied from User:MarkStosberg/OpenMelody_Naming.

A simple, pronounceable, immediately evocative word of a group of people making music together, not in unison. It's the diversity of voices that creates the harmony.

From Jesse

The following was copied from User:Plasticmind/OpenMelody_Naming where Jesse had voted for "hamoniq".

I like this auditory concept of working together. I didn't really like how the word looked with a C at the end, but adding the q really gave it a nice zing IMO. Might be to audio-centric for a content management system.

From Jay

Every time I read this, I think it's missing an 'a' at the end. It doesn't sound to me like the piece of software and the project we're building. The most frequent word in my mind associated with it is the word "resonance" and that word, by comparison, feels more right for this software. I like "Harmony" but adding the 'ic' suffix destroys the metaphysical meaning and shifts it into the realm of physics.

Further review shows why I feel that way. Let's see, in addition to the acoustic/sound meaning, we have:

  • Electricity: Harmonics are electric voltages and currents that appear on the electric power system as a result of certain kinds of electric loads. Harmonic frequencies in the power grid are a frequent cause of power quality problems.
  • Geogrpahy: Harmonic tremor describes a long-duration release of seismic energy with distinct spectral (harmonic) lines that and often precedes or accompanies volcanic eruptions. More generally, volcanic tremor, is a sustained signal that may or may not possess these harmonic spectral features.
  • Mathematics: The similarity of this terminology to that of music is not accidental: the equations of motion of vibrating strings, drums and columns of air are given by formulas involving Laplacians; the solutions to which are given by eigenvalues corresponding to their modes of vibration. Thus, the term "harmonic" is applied when one is considering functions with sinusoidal variations, or solutions of Laplace's equation and related concepts.

OMG that's some geeky, boy-oriented and, sometimes, negative stuff! Is there something we can do to get the hell out of that neighborhood and get back to something more -- you know -- harmonious?

Talkoot

  • I should have done this research earlier, but since we have not closed the door on names, I wanted to share something I learned when looking into the concept of a "barn raising.". The word/concept stems from a Swedish/Finnish word "talkoot" (pronounced "talk-oo"). The background is fascinating wrt our mutual endeavor.
  • This concept is present in many languages:
    • Turkish word imece has "the same" meaning.
    • Estonian word talgud has the same meaning.
    • Norwegian word dugnad has a similar meaning.
    • Hungarian word kaláka has a similar meaning.
    • Cherokee word Gadugi has a similar meaning.

From Byrne

The following was copied from User:Byrnereese/OpenMelody_Naming.

To be honest, the name I am not 100% on, but its meaning is 150% apt IMHO. I also think there is great potential in finding a name derived from this root - given the obvious phonetic tie to "talk". Here is an excerpt from [wikipedia] about the word's meaning:

"Talkoot is a group of people gathering to work together, for instance, to build or repair something. The word is borrowed into Finland-Swedish as talko. It is the cultural equivalent of common work in a village community, although adopted to the conditions of Finland, where traditionally many families lived in isolated farms, often miles away from the nearest village. A talkoot is per definition voluntary, and the work is unpaid. The task of the talkoot may be something that is a common concern, i.e. for the good of the group, or it may be to help someone with a task that exceeds his or her own capacity. For instance, elderly neighbors or relatives can need help if their house or garden is damaged by storm, or siblings can agree to arrange a party for a parent's special birthday as a talkoot. One of the most common urban forms is to help friends move. The institution bears considerable similarity to barn raising but is more general in application."

Alternate pronunciations and/or semantic equivalents

  • talko, talkon, flera, talkor
  • imece
  • talgud
  • dugnad
  • kaláka
  • Gadugi

Making the case

I personally believe that the software that powers the publishing world today has a value that is rapidly being driven to zero (if it is not there alredy). The true value of software lies in the community that powers it. Movable Type as a name is no longer apt because the core problem the printing press solved (the distribution of news and information on a mass scale) is simply no longer relevant. To quote [Clay Shirky], "With the old economics destroyed, organizational forms perfected for industrial production have to be replaced with structures optimized for digital data. It makes increasingly less sense even to talk about a publishing industry, because the core problem publishing solves — the incredible difficulty, complexity, and expense of making something available to the public — has stopped being a problem." Therefore we need to find a name that encapsulates this paradigm shift, that is more community focused and less technology focused.

One name idea that stemmed from this concept was "Walkie Talkie." I like the idea of this being a tool that helps people communicate over great distances. I like the playfulness of the name itself as "walkie talkie" reminds me personally of my childhood. The word "walk" is drawn from the concept of a "walkabout" which, when you think about it, is a lot what blogging is about. And the word "talk" has its roots in "talkoo".

What I would love to see is for the group to brainstorm and riff on the "Talkoo" theme and see what we come up with.

From Mark

The following was copied from User:MarkStosberg/OpenMelody_Naming.

I look the meaning, and it's fun to read and speak. My hang-up without is that the meaning won't jump out at people, but "talk" will. And "talk" sounds too casual for what I would want to convey. Is blogging to be thought of as talking? That certainly feels different than "publishing", "communication" or a "platform". You could sell me on this if I could be convinced that "talk" is not a major strike against it.

From Tim

The following was copied from User:Tima/OpenMelody_Naming.

This one is fine though I think its more applicable to any open source project then the one we are spear heading. It also sounds more like a chat application. Other concerns I have is how to pronounce and spelling mistakes. Some of the phonetic spellings such as talkor may be better.

From Jay

I love, love, love the concept. I hate, hate, hate the word. It's simply not one that stands on it's own for me. It sounds way too much like we were trawling foreign dictionaries for words or that it was conceived of by some social media Web 2.0 douchebag. There are other examples of similar names but I can't think of them at the moment. In any case, this is one of those names that I think people will roll their eyes at a la Joomla. It seems like a liability to me despite how much I love, love, love the concept behind it.

From Dan

As Jay said: love the concept; hate the word. It's largely unpronouncable. How do you say it? "Talk-oo" is how it's written. When I say the work "talk" I don't pronounce the "l" and the word comes out "tawk." So if I say "tawk-oo" that makes me think of tacos! Mmm. Tacos. I love tacos. Tacos, tacos, tacos. Beef, or chicken, with sauce, and cheese! I love cheese! Wait, what was I talking about?

Perhaps I should pronounce it with the "l"--"tal-koo" or "talc-oo." Of course, there's a "t" at the end of the word, so maybe I should say "tal-koot" or "talc-oot." Or "talc-ute?" I don't know. I can tell you from experience that needing a pronunciation key on your web site means that people don't know how to say it as you immagine it.

Janata

  • Sanskrit for community
    • It's not immediately clear how pronounce it. -markstos
      • See Drupal -- Jayallen 02:30, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

From Mark

The following was copied from User:MarkStosberg/OpenMelody_Naming.

A pleasant, unique work that I think could be pronounced. The meaning of community adds another layer.

From Jesse

The following was copied from User:Plasticmind/OpenMelody_Naming.

Of all the foreign words, this one is probably easiest to pronounce, so it makes it on my list.

From Jay

Obviously, I like the word "community" (although I think that talkoot has that beat in terms of deep meaning). My problem with janata, like talkoot, is the word itself although it's less overall than with the latter. Honestly, I can't stop thinking of Jakarta and, if by some miracle I do, then I think of Torquemada. ("Hey Torquemada, whaddaya say?" "I just got back from the auto-de-fé" "The auto-de-fé, what's the autos-de-fé?" "It's the things you shouldn't do but you do anyway")

Funny, except when we're trying to name a damn product. I'm not ruling this out, mind you. It's just not grabbing me as much as others. ("You can't talk em outta anything...")

Twill

  • Twill is a type of fabric woven with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs... Examples of twill fabric are chino, drill, denim, gabardine, tweed and serge(?!).

From Jesse

The following was copied from User:Plasticmind/OpenMelody_Naming.

As you can see, simplicity is a running theme with my name choices. Short, punctuated and the cloth reference has the idea of being woven together, a nice new paradigm for the software. Instead of "publishing" you're "weaving" a site. I can see this being a little too "simpleton" and may drive away more hardcore users.

Ensemble

No previous context had been added.

From Byrne

The following was copied from User:Byrnereese/OpenMelody_Naming.

This resonates with me personally because for years I was in the theater. Among my friends there was a distinct difference between a "cast" and an "ensemble." An ensemble happens when the group comes together in a way that completely transcends all individuals in the group, even in spite of the "stars" of the show. That concept is what I think our product can be about, us and the entire community coming together to create something truly amazing.

From Jesse

The following was copied from User:Plasticmind/OpenMelody_Naming.

This is a great word, but I can't seem to make it work as a product name in my head. "Hey, do you use Ensemble?" This one also might be too audio-centric.

Hansa

  • Both German and Sanskrit for "Swan"
  • The Ugly Duckling. Perhaps appropriate for what we're hoping to achieve here with the project and community.
  • Premium quills use exclusively swan feathers, hence an additional connection to the craft of writing

From Byrne

The following was copied from User:Byrnereese/OpenMelody_Naming.

Not sure where this name suggestion originally emerged, but I though it was sanskrit for community or people. In looking it up again I found:

Literally "swan," for the swan can separate milk from water, and the realized soul can perceive the Real behind the unreal and separate the consciousness of spirit from consciousness of matter. Hansa also means "I am [aham] He [sa]" in the sense of conscious identity with God. [source]

Again, I am also drawn to the image of the Swan. It is ripe with design possibilities.

From Jay

I was the one who added this to the list and did so while looking for other "swan related" words (e.g. cygnus). I would agree with Byrne about the design possibilities. They're beautiful and alluring birds who mate for life so you can use two in the logo!

Since I already put in the context above, let's talk about the word itself. Hansa is easy and, to me, even pleasing to say and is easily spelled. If someone said the word to you, it should be very easy for you to spell or at least get very close. And it just *seems* like it could be the name of a piece of software. What's more, since it means the same thing in German and Sanskrit, we get a two for one.

Texet

  • texet is a conjugation of the verb "to weave". texet translates to "he/she/it weaves"
    • texo texere texui textum, to weave; to twine together, plait; to put together, construct, build; of speech and writing, to compose. N. of partic. as subst. textum -i, woven cloth, a web; fabric; of composition, style.
    • There are a lot of myths about weaving in many different cultures which I found interesting as with the general themes and concepts shared between the craft of weaving and the craft of writing.

From Su

The following was copied from User:Su/OpenMelody_Naming.

I like the weaving(the web) connection. It's a nice palindrome that lends itself to easy representation. Has a nice, contained, clipped sound without being harsh, either.

From Jay

I like because it's 1) short, 2) a palindrome, 3) easy to write, 4) unambiguous pronunciation and actually fun to say and 5) has an extremely relevant meaning in Latin (of which I took 8 years, so I may be biased).

In fact, I liked it so much that when I found a night or two ago that texet.org was available, I bought it. So, if the project wants it, I'll gift it. Otherwise, I'm going to use it for something else.

Other names

If you're looking for one of the other names with votes, you can find them here

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