mather@uicsl.UUCP (12/07/85)
Is this net.consumers or net.flame? Jeff Johnson's last response seemed a little hot. Also, the responses to having a phone or not so that other's rights of calling you can be exercised seemed awfully heated for net.consumers. What has happened to civility? ---- b.c.mather Software Surgeon uiucdcs!uicsl!mather
ayers@convexs.UUCP (12/12/85)
>It's Christmas season again, and time for the annual deluge of >advertisements on talk radio stations concerning the "International >Star Registry." > >Now this carefully worded ad sounds real nice, but it occurs to me that >I could say the exact same thing this ad says if I just decide to call >myself "International Star Registry," get a sky atlas, and start naming >stars after people for a $35 fee; after all, it only costs me $10 to the >Copyright Office to get any book registered with the Library of Congress. >(ANY published work submitted for copyright registration must be >accompanied by a second edition that will automatically go in the >Library of Congress.) So once I have named a few stars, I send in my 10 bucks and presto! The International Star Registry book is now >"official!" Your suspicions are well founded. That was exactly what they planned to do. I have followed the "International Star Registry" folks with interest for awhile now for several reasons. One, I used to teach astrophysics at college before getting a real job, and two (because of "one"), a friend gave me a gift of a binary star named after me (through these people). This year (spring/summer?) the ISR folks tried to do exactly what the above poster said and the Library of Congress TURNED DOWN THE REGISTRATION! Said it wasn't really a book and refused to give it an ISBN number. So, unless they have been able to get that changed, they are advertising something they can't come through on... <look for me in the heavens> blues, II